Success isn’t overnight. It’s when everyday you get a little better than the day before. It all adds up.”
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock” is famous for his killer workouts and insane cheat days. One of his quotes stating “Success isn’t overnight. It’s when everyday you get a little better than the day before” is used to motivate others to endure the effort because only through sacrifice can one improve and achieve their desired results. But why is sacrifice for improvement’s sake so difficult for the human being?
The human brain is satisfied by two types of entirely opposed activities: habits and challenges. Each of us needs a balanced diet of both to be able to feel satisfied. What has a strong impact on our ability to learn and improve is our mindset: Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset.
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
In her TED Talk, Carol Dweck, a distinguished researcher in the field of motivation, says: “I gave 10-year-old children problems to solve that were a little too difficult for them, some of them reacted surprisingly positively. They said ” I love challenges!” or “You know, I was hoping that this exercise was going to be difficult.” They understood that their skills could be developed, they had what is called a Growth Mindset. Other students have experienced the situation in a tragic, catastrophic manner. According to their point of view, the result of a Fixed Mindset (static mentality), their intelligence was tested and they failed instead of embracing the power of learning, they clung to the tyranny of the hour. ” The children with this kind of mentality then confessed that they would cheat instead of studying more, in order to pass the test. After a failure, they looked for someone worse than them to feel better.
On your team, just as in Carol’s story, the sense of improvement is closely linked to the fear of failure (Risk Attitude pillar). To be in a position to learn means to face greater challenges than our skills, to accept possible failure, and to improve thanks to the feedback received.
Do you feel like you’re consistently learning? Check your dashboard! If your Sense of Improvement level is low, ask yourself if there is something new that you can learn. The most frequent obstacle to learning is the failure to request opportunities (for example, you can always start practice earlier or finish later to work on developing a personal skill). If you find you are lacking in learning opportunities, meet with your coach and ensure your skill development is given the right attention in your personal and team goals.