Growth Mindset Journal Prompts (30+ persona-based themes)
The ideas below add a fresh spin on growth mindset journal prompts. They are persona-based and avatar-themed.
It’s a nuance that’s helped me tremendously in getting more value out of prompt-based journaling and mindset development.
Because getting into character and leveraging our imagination through metaphors is a powerful strategy.
The prompts in this post will help you better imagine and visualize a growth mindset. And I’ll keep adding to this list as I find new ideas worth sharing.
Otherwise, let’s wrap up this chit chat – let’s get it.
1. The Sailor (anchors, compasses + lighthouses)
The purpose of this prompt is to clearly identify your anchors and compass – so we don’t drift too far off course or get lost.
Answer the following questions:
Anchors: What are your values that keep you anchored?
Compass: What is your why or purpose for building a growth mindset?
Lighthouse: What are your goals or vision for building a stronger growth mindset?
2. The Cartographer (creating your map)
This prompt will add practical strategy to your growth goals. Because having a clear map forward makes adopting the right mindset much easier.
Write down your biggest goal(s) and reverse engineer things by breaking down your main goal into micro goals and then even smaller nano ones:
Macro goal
Micro goals required for meeting the macro goal
Nano goals or tasks needed to meet each micro goal
3. The Professor (putting on a teacher’s cap)
Teaching can improve our own confidence, knowledge and understanding of concepts. It’s called the protégé effect and can help boost our growth mindset skills.
Imagine you were a teacher or professor, tasked with teaching a growth mindset. Define what a growth mindset means to you and explain tips for how to cultivate it.
4. The Personal Trainer (a mindset workout)
Having a growth mindset means practicing and training a growth mindset. This is like going to the gym and strengthening a new muscle. It’s a workout routine – it’s a workflow.
How can you practice and train a growth mindset? Create a daily mindset workflow. Here’s a simple format you may follow:
Identify areas you’d like to improve and strengthen in your current mindset
Create a timeboxed daily schedule for practicing and mindset training
Create activities and tasks designed to strengthen your target mindset area
Identify your potential bottlenecks or common mindset obstacles that come up
Create workarounds and responses to address your bottlenecks and obstacles
Keep track and review your progress
5. The Author (the stories we tell ourselves)
The purpose of this prompt is to clearly identify any limiting beliefs you may have. Because the first step to building a new mindset is shining a light on the stories we tell ourselves.
Explore the following questions about your mindset:
What limiting beliefs do you have about yourself?
Why do you believe these ideas?
What proof or evidence do you have for your limiting thoughts?
Do you have more of a fixed or a growth mindset?
6. The Optimistic Innovator (loving failure)
The ability to see silver linings and the brighter side of setbacks or failures is a core skill. Developing this ability will be essential for a growth mindset.
Write about and explore these topics:
Write out your top 3 benefits of experiencing failure.
What are some (or one) of your top mistakes – what did they teach you, or how did they make you stronger?
Is failure necessary for success and growth?
Do you hold on to any resentment or negativity for past failures or struggles?
7. The Counselor (an introspective session)
Being self aware is a lifelong practice, but is incredibly important for building a growth mindset. Our doubts, fears and beliefs play a big role in how we think and feel.
Here are some question prompts to consider:
What does imposter syndrome mean to you? Have you ever felt like an imposter?
Who do you compare yourself to and are they healthy and realistic comparisons?
What fears or doubts do you have? How could a growth mindset help them (or how does a fixed mindset make them worse)?
8. The Artist (a creativity workshop)
Creativity is a big topic, but practicing it can help build a growth mindset. Creativity requires risk taking, vulnerability, trying new things, patience and intuition.
Here are some prompts on creativity and a growth mindset to explore:
What role does creativity have in a growth mindset?
Can doing more creative things help build a growth mindset?
How does a growth mindset help us be more creative?
Are you a creative person?
What parts of your life could benefit from a more creative way of thinking?
9. The Entrepreneur (time to SWOT yourself)
Applying new skills like a growth mindset in real life requires clarity and strategic self awareness. One way businesses and entrepreneurs do this is by using a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Consider your own SWOT and write them down:
Your mindset strengths
Your mindset weaknesses
Your mindset threats
Your mindset opportunities
10. The Researcher (studying idols + icons)
If you want to know the path that lies ahead, ask the person coming back. Studying people who have overcome great things gives us invaluable insights and direction.
Write about some challenge(s) experienced by successful idols of yours or well-known icons.
What role did a growth mindset play in their success and what lessons can you learn from them?
Here are some potential people worth exploring:
Walt Disney
Jerry Seinfeld
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Louisa May Alcott
The Beatles
JK Rowling
Steven Spielburg
Albert Einstein
11. The Coach (a self feedback session)
Being able to take and deconstruct feedback is essential for growth. While outside opinions are great, auditing yourself for constructive feedback is also valuable.
What constructive feedback would you give yourself about yourself, your mindset habits and actions and any of your limiting beliefs?
12. The CEO (a reverse thinking exercise)
Reverse thinking is a thought exercise where you try to think of ways to make a problem worse, rather than think of solutions. It’s counterintuitive, but can reveal fresh insights.
Let’s try some reverse brainstorming:
How could you avoid a growth mindset?
What could you do to keep or strengthen a fixed mindset?
How could you make sure you never develop a growth mindset?
13. The Traveler (planning an epic trip)
A growth mindset requires new experiences, a little pressure and some discomfort. And traveling is one of my favorite ways to do this.
How does traveling and having new experiences boost a growth mindset?
To take this prompt even further, let’s plan an adventure. First, decide on a destination:
Where is some place you’ve always wanted to travel to, but were maybe too nervous to go, or felt like it was too far out of reach?
Now let’s actually work out the trip details:
Find your hotels
Look at flights
Write out a budget and an itinerary
Next, let’s plan out the logistics of how you would make that trip happen:
How much money would you need and how would you start saving?
When would you go – would you take time off work (or from family life)?
Here are some more reflection questions:
How did planning the trip make you feel?
What’s realistically holding you back from actually booking the trip?
Do you think a growth mindset is necessary for travel and new experiences?
14. The Scientist (bust out the lab coat)
Understanding mindset and the power of our thinking using science and empirical data is incredibly helpful for building a solid belief framework.
Explore one (or more) of the following topics and write about how it relates to a growth mindset:
Neuroplasticity
The placebo effect
The nocebo effect
Habit loops
15. The Healer (the mind + body connection)
Our physical and mental health play a significant role in our mindset. Understanding the mind-body connection and being able to think with clarity are key elements.
Here are some self-care prompts to explore:
Is self care important for building and maintaining a growth mindset?
What are some ways that you take care of yourself and your mind?
How can a growth mindset support your wellbeing and overall health?
16. The Philosopher (unpacking quotes)
Understanding concepts on a deeper, nuanced level is a personal and helpful process. And the concept of growth mindset has a lot of ideas worth unpacking.
Choose one (or more) of these ideas and write about what they mean to you:
It takes a really long time to be an overnight success
Growth is a frame of mind
Quantity (not quality) makes you better
“Slow and steady” wins the race
Hard work, focus and uncompromised discipline are the ingredients to success
Success is where preparation and opportunity meet
Without pain, there is no growth
Delayed gratification and patience are core virtues to hold
Nothing great was built quickly or by taking shortcuts
17. The Yogi (finding balance)
Doing most anything at full steam, 100% of the time isn’t sustainable. Sometimes, grounding your growth mindset can turn out to be just as beneficial too.
Should we always have a growth mindset, or are there times when a fixed mindset is helpful? Why is balance important? What are some ways you like to find balance?
18. The Pilot (it’s not the destination…)
A process-oriented person is focused on the journey more than the destination. This way of thinking has a lot of benefits, which can support a growth mindset.
Here are some prompts to consider:
Is the journey or the destination more important?
How can a growth mindset help you focus more on the journey or the process?
How do you feel when you reach your goals?
Do you like the journey or the destination more?
19. The Lawyer (a devil’s advocate game)
A growth mindset is many things, including the ability to expand your thinking and consider new perspectives. Being able to change your views amidst new evidence is a form of growth.
Prompt 1:
What are some assumptions you have? Try challenging some of those beliefs. Look for holes in your logic, as if someone was debating you. Try to separate emotion from things.
Prompt 2:
Do you believe people have innate, natural-born talent or that everything is learned (or is it a mixture of both)? Make an argument for your stance (then challenge it with counterpoints).
20. The Self-Help Guru (your habit loops)
According to Harvard Business Review, around 95% or our thoughts and behaviors are unconscious. So understanding and managing our habits is critical.
What types of habits support a growth mindset? How about your habits, are they helpful for growth thinking? Create a habit loop for your mindset by considering the following:
What are your thinking habits?
What are your cues for this type of thinking?
What are the responses and rewards to this type of thinking?
Here are some other questions to consider:
What is your response to stress?
Do you fall back on old habits or double down on your goals when stressed?
Do affirmations help you cultivate a growth mindset? If so, which ones are your favorites?
21. The Samurai (finding your bushidō)
Bushidō is the samurai spirit in Japanese. Some of the central tenets of this way of life include discipline, compassion, duty, loyalty, courage, respect, honor and honesty.
Here are some bushidō growth mindset prompts to try:
Which bushidō ideas can you use to improve your mindset?
What do you think about the concept of “zen discipline”?
Do you practice any of the tenets above? If so, why? If not, how come?
Which of the samurai spirit ideas do you think is most important?
22. The Investor (compounding + growth)
Compounding is real. Takng small steps and changes will compound over time, like investing in the stock market over decades. Understanding compounding requires a growth mindset.
Here are some questions to ponder about growth thinking and compounding:
How much time do you spend on cultivating a growth mindset?
How can you invest in your growth mindset? (What small changes can you make and implement each day?)
Does having a growth mindset compound and become exponential with time?
23. The Biologist (mindset + adaptation)
Biologists study living organisms, their behaviors, origins and development over time. We can draw interesting parallels with concepts like evolution and a growth mindset.
Here are some bio-inspired prompts to try:
Why is being flexible and adaptable important in modern life?
What role does a growth mindset play in flexibility and adaptability?
Is a growth mindset helpful for survival in modern day life?
24. The Tech Wiz (modern mindsets in a modern world)
Modern life moves fast – especially technology. Having a growth mindset is essential to keep up with the latest trends, innovations and opportunities.
Here are some prompts worth pondering:
Does modern life help or hurt a growth mindset?
What are ways to use tools and tech in mindset development?
How can a growth mindset help you adjust to new technologies and tools?
Do you embrace fast technological change, or do you prefer a slower paced evolution?
25. The Student (skill building)
Learning and skill building requires the right mindset. The best place to grow is to learn within your zone of proximal development, which is the ideal pressure zone of new knowledge.
Here are some prompts to try:
What new hobbies or skills do you want to learn or start?
How can a growth mindset help you in starting and achieving those objectives?
What is one new thing you always wanted to learn?
How can you make progress towards your skillbuilding goals?
26. The Professional (climbing ladders)
Professional goals are important motivators. Building a growth mindset can make you more competitive and boost your chances for professional growth and development.
What are the benefits of a growth mindset for professionals and career growth?
Do any of your past or current colleagues embody a growth mindset?
For the people who grow quickest in your industry or company, do they have a fixed mindset or a growth one?
In what ways could you use a growth mindset in your professional life and/or career development goals?
27. The Anthropologist (your human story)
Anthropology is the study of humans and the cultures and societies we live in. Our cultures and the context we grew up in can play a big role in how we think and grow.
Here are some anthropologically-inspired prompts to try:
What does epigenetics mean to you and how does it relate to a growth mindset?
What cultural or societal nuances and norms do you have about a growth mindset?
Were you raised in an environment that supported a growth or fixed mindset and how did your upbringing influence you?
Do you believe in nature over nurture or nurture over nature? (or both?)
28. The Dealer (stacking cards)
Our environments can play a significant role in our habits, beliefs and success. This prompt is all about our current conditions and how we can control or stack the deck in our favor.
What does stacking the deck in your favor mean to you? Does your current deck support a growth mindset? What context would be ideal for cultivating a growth mindset?
Here are some themes worth exploring:
The people in your life
The content you consume
Your physical environment
29. The Gardener (what are you growing?)
The things we give our energy to are the things that grow. So let’s take stock of what’s in our life using a garden analogy.
Let’s explore our “garden”. Here are some prompts to get you started:
If your life was represented by a garden, what would it look like? Minimal? Overrun with a lot of weeds? Full of healthy plants?
What seeds have you planted, and which plants are bigger or smaller?
Where do you put your energy in life? (What things are you watering?)
How are you protecting your garden from invaders or “animals”?
What do you focus on most days?
30. The Forecaster (looking ahead)
Living in the present is usually the goal, but we tend to look backwards and ahead. Having a growth mindset can improve our timelines and expectations.
Here are some prompts to try:
How long do you think it will take you to reach your growth mindset goals?
Are you a short-term or long-term thinker?
Do you tend to have realistic time horizons and expectations or do you tend to rush things along?
31. The Marketer (selling the dream)
Great marketing addresses a customer’s pain points and provides a specific solution. It taps into customer emotion and highlights the before-and-after effect a customer can expect.
Imagine you were the team lead for a new marketing campaign at an up and coming agency. You’ve been tasked with promoting a new growth mindset product:
How would you market it?
What points would you highlight to potential audiences?
How would you “sell” a growth mindset to an audience?
Why should someone “buy” a growth mindset?
32. The Cobbler (a walk in someone’s shoes)
Putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes is a great way to practice new perspectives. We can leverage this thought exercise to reveal solutions and a new mindset.
Think of a specific challenge you’re having, or a limiting belief you have that’s preventing you from reaching some goal.
Now imagine you were someone with a strong growth mindset:
How would they address your current challenges, fears or limitations?
What advice would they give you and what would their action plan look like?
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