GROWTH MINDSET

What Got You To Where You Are Now Will Not Get You To Where You Want To Be

In order to grow, you need to leave behind what you already know so that you can make space for bigger growth

I remember when as a 17-year-old, my football coach (soccer for my American readers) pulled me to the side one day after training and told me that he was gonna switch me from playing as a right-back to a central midfielder for the next game.

For someone who had been playing as a right-back for over 5 years and never played in any other position before that, I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

I remember during that first game as a central midfielder, just before we went out onto the pitch, my coach put his hand around me and told me that I should just play my game, enjoy myself, and do what I always do.

Sounds like pretty good advice right?

Well, it was good in theory but pretty shitty in practice.

The reason is that while I was still enjoying myself because I just love the game that much, I played really badly as I wasn’t accustomed to that role at all.

For someone who played as a right back for so many years, only to be thrown into a totally different position without a single training session in that position, I was terrible.

Needless to say, I was hooked off at half-time and had to watch the rest of the match on the bench.

My coach even gave me a stare as if to say, “What the f**k were you doing out there?”

Now, I actually went on to play in that position for another good few years (and got good at it) before a horrific knee injury ended my dreams of being a professional footballer early.

And the reason why I was able to get good at playing in that position was because I had to forget how to play as a right-back so that I could learn how to play as a central midfielder.

Had I just stuck to my ways of playing as a right-back, I would have continued to fail as a central midfielder.

I wouldn’t have been able to grow as a player.

It’s the same with any situation in your life.

Where you are now, the things that got you to where you are now, will not get you to where you want to be.

You’ll need to grow, to be better than who you are now, in order for you to continue progressing in life.

Another example I can give is once you become a parent.

Whether you like it or not, you will have to change your ways from when you were not a parent.

There will be certain things that you will quickly need to learn like changing diapers, burping a baby after a feed, how to shower a baby properly, etc., and all of these things require you to make room for growth.

If you’re eyeing a promotion within your company, you will have to show competencies that are above your current level.

Bosses will want to see that you’re capable of handling more than your current level in order to feel comfortable in giving you that promotion because once you do get it, your responsibilities will be more, your workload will be more, you will be required to do more than what your current requires of you.

If you can’t show that, you will forever be stuck in your current level. What got you to your current level will not get you to the next level.

You will need to keep growing, to keep progressing in skills, etc., in order for you to keep moving towards where you want to be.

It’s just like the saying:

“Never rest on your laurels.”

If you’re not familiar with this saying, it basically means that you shouldn’t be so satisfied with your achievements that you do not to make an effort to do anything else.

I mean, if where you are now is exactly where you want to be and you really don’t wanna go anywhere else, then that’s great.

But if you do seek to progress further, you will definitely need to make space for more growth.

And that can only be done by doing things differently from how you normally would.

So, don’t stay stagnant if you want to keep progressing in life.

Keep learning new things, keep improving your skills, keep growing as a person, and as an individual, and keep an open mind for continuous growth.

My late father used to say that life is a never-ending journey of learning.

And he’s right.

There will always be something new to learn in life and as long as you keep that mindset, you will keep growing.

And as long as you keep growing, you will keep moving toward the life you want to live.

Good luck!