The simplest way to understand growth mindset: you believe you can continue to learn and grow throughout life. On the other hand, if you have a fixed mindset, you think there is some mystical cut-off where you have maxed out and cannot grow anymore. Hmm. No matter how I have searched the literature I cannot seem to find that number! I know I personally have not found it and guess what? I don't intend to! In fact, I don't believe it exists and I know you are right there with me. That's why you are still reading. You aren't cursed with a fixed mindset!

Grandma Moses didn't have a fixed mindset either. When her arthritic fingers no longer permitted concise needlework at age 76, she took up painting. And you know the rest of that story. Her art is hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York! And at age 64, Diana Nyad swam for 53 hours straight and claims to be the first person ever to reach Florida from Cuba. Oh, and Dorothy Davenhill Hirch at age 89 took a bit of a road trip with her family and the famed octogenarian found herself in the Guiness Book of World Records as the oldest person ever to reach the North Pole. And if you need to see what a growth mindset looks like physically, head on over to you-tube and consider the case of Ernestine Shepherd. Amazing woman, pushing 90 years of age and still teaching the art of bodybuilding and claims no plan to stop! Look around for your role model. Lots of women still learning and growing in their queen-age years.

So maybe you're not talented like a Grandma Moses. Or maybe you're thinking about the sharks Ms. Nyad might have encountered. I get it. Your goals may be entirely less glamorous and lofty, but important to you, nonetheless. But, I suspect there is that something...that thing hidden back in your thoughts...you know, you never told anybody but you'd like to...Whatever. I suggest you start by working on your growth mindset. Let's look at ways you can do that starting, well—now!

Determine Your View of Growth Mindset

First, it is essential that you describe your own mindset as malleable and not a fixed trait. You've likely already discovered this thing called aging has taken on a life of its own with new and yet to be discovered problems and challenges (and opportunities!). Success will require new ways of doing things. New interventions to negotiate life through the next third! New skills and attitudes in this unchartered territory! Clearly realizing a growth mindset will be invaluable in getting that done. Explore where you are in the next third and discover exactly why it is important for you to develop a growth mindset. How possessing a growth mindset can improve your life.

Identifying your own mindset is the place to begin. Think of your brain as a muscle, capable of strength training just like biceps and quads! Sure, a bit more challenging for us queen-agers but entirely possible! (Read about brain plasticity if you're into physiology and a little "light" reading. Interesting indeed.) Begin to use the word "yet" in your communications with yourself and others. When I first took on the challenge of adding a gym to my life, a trainer-friend would always add "yet" every time I said I couldn't do something. "I can't lift 25 pounds..." YET! "I can't do a squat" YET! Of course, there will be limitations and learning them is as important as setting goals. I don't expect to accomplish what I could at 25 years of age, but I'm sure going to take some calculated risks and believe I can reach my realistic goals!

Become a Lifelong Learner

Challenge the notion of a fixed mindset by becoming a lifelong learner. That's not a new term at all and I suspect since you are here reading this you are already quite familiar with it! It means you have been a learner all your life and you're not stopping now! It means you wake up in the morning and greet the challenge of learning something new every day! You look proudly upon your accomplishments when you've met that challenge head-on and succeeded. When you've improved even the tiniest corner of your life. You used the mistakes you made while learning to make the next adventure more productive. You've stepped outside your comfort zone and accepted the risk of failure to learn something new.

Let me assure you, going to the gym was the farthest thing from my mind when I began. I had not a clue what went on there. I only knew I wanted to be Healthy. Strong. Beautiful. And I had heard the gym might be a good place to start. Oh, yeah, risky behavior for a queen-ager who had never set foot in there! Clueless, but I learned. Much intimidating, shaking like a leaf. But suck it up, Buttercup, I told myself! And I did! Oh, and let me tell you how little I knew about writing a blog when I got that notion. I only knew I had a strong growth mindset in me and it had to come out somewhere!

Take a Friend Along for the Ride

And how important is a growth mindset to building and maintaining social connections in the next third? I have made many connections at the gym. Found out I wasn't the only queen-ager who wanted to grow stronger and healthier! Early morning hours there definitely provide a fertile environment to foster development of a growth mindset. It's important for you to see how others are growing and to get the feedback you need to continue to grow. Find occasion to seek that feedback wherever you are growing. Look for examples where you recognize a strong growth mindset in your peers.

Gym not your thing? How about a class? A cooking class perhaps. One friend has just started to learn Spanish so she can converse with her grand-daughter's new friends. She said she had wanted to do that for years and now she has the time! Maybe you've thought about learning antiquing or birdwatching or gardening. How about a book club? Or the community theater group? There is just so much to do! Call on a fellow queen-ager and get going—er, growing! Put that new mindset to use!

In conclusion...

So where do you want to grow? Maybe there is indeed another Grandma Moses among us: pick up those acrylics and go for it! (Did you know she lived to be 101 by the way? What does that say about her growth mindset!) Perhaps it is time to finally make that George Thorogood concert: yeah, that was me! And if you are secretly in love with the term gym rat: get after it! And you know that Sunday School class you've been sitting in on for years: you can totally teach that! Where do you want to grow?

And please change your outlook on failure. Be kind to yourself. No, you're not going to be successful at everything you choose to do. And how is that any different than it ever was? Be realistic but step out there and give it a try. Grow! Ok, I'm off to give that pickle-ball game a shot. Well, maybe not. YET!

You have always heard you can't teach an ole dog new tricks! Turns out that isn't the case at all.