You can help adult learners develop a growth mindset by using activities that guide them towards a mindset shift that instill positive habits, by encouraging them to learn from their mistakes, and by teaching them how to set meaningful and achievable goals. Exercises such as the Positive Feedback Circle, the 30-Day Growth Mindset Challenge, and mindset journaling are all useful exercises to include. Feel free to use these activities to teach a growth mindset to participants.
What Is a Growth Mindset?
We explain it in the Growth Mindset teaching materials, but to reiterate the meaning of growth mindset:
A Growth Mindset is the attitude one has and the self-belief that with hard work, dedication, and by putting in the time and effort needed, one can grow and achieve things one desires to.
10 Growth Mindset Activities for Adults
1. Positive Feedback Circle
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
Intention: This feedback circle activity involves giving constructive and positive feedback to colleagues to help each other learn and progress.
Number of Participants: 4 to 16.
How to Run the Activity: This activity works best when used between colleagues, such as employees from the same team. As an activity for teaching a growth mindset for team building, this is also a good activity.
Before starting this activity, make it clear to participants that all feedback must be constructive and positive, as this is about growth and moving forward.
It is about supporting and helping each other, so it’s about giving feedback in a constructive manner.
It is also worth making clear that the feedback receiver must listen when they are receiving the feedback and not try to reply immediately or feel they need to defend anything.
Now start with one person to receive feedback from the rest of the group, with 3 minutes given for receiving feedback, and then 2 minutes allowed for the feedback receiver to ask any questions to clarify the feedback.
Go around the group until everyone has received feedback.
As the training facilitator, do step in if any feedback is not deemed constructive, as it is essential that this is a positive exercise that aids growth and development.
When run well, this activity is great for building a feeling of support and trust between colleagues.
2. Growth Mindset Poster
Intention: Creating and then always being able to visually see your own Growth Mindset Poster as a reminder of your intent to grow helps many people.
With this in mind, this exercise is about guiding participants (be it students or employees) to create their own posters. This is a fun growth mindset activity that brings out the creativity of those involved.
Time Needed: 60 minutes.
Number of Participants: Any number of participants.
Items Needed: Large pieces of paper, coloured pencils, scissors, glue, magazines and newspapers (for cut-out images and words), access to the Internet to find useful growth mindset quotes, and anything else that might be useful and that is available.
How to Run the Activity: If practical, ask participants ahead of time to bring whatever media they wish to, such as magazines, photos, or anything they might wish to include on their growth mindset poster.
On the day of the activity, start by asking the participants to spend 10 minutes brainstorming by writing down any ideas and thoughts they have about what should be on their board (they might already have a strong idea, but they can still write this down and reflect on it).
Now allow participants 30 minutes to make their poster using all the resources available that you have provided and that they might have brought in.
To make their poster, they can cut things out and glue them onto the poster, write or draw things, etc.
At the end of the 30 minutes, ask participants to walk around the room and take a look at each other’s posters. If they see something that inspires them from someone else’s poster, they can use these ideas to adapt theirs later on, or as an extra 5 minutes at the end of this activity.
3. Overcoming Failure Stories
Intention: This is one of the more unconventional growth mindset activities in that we do look at failure, BUT in such a way that it creates a positive way forward by showcasing resilience and how we can learn and develop despite setbacks.
Time Needed: 45 minutes.
Items Needed: Writing materials and a circular seating plan.
Number of Participants: 4 or more.
How to Run the Activity: To get this activity started, give participants 10 minutes to think about a personal experience or work experience where they experienced failure or a significant setback.
If participants struggle to think of an example, you might want to walk around the classroom/training room and help them, i.e., suggest they might want to consider a problem about finding a job, an issue dealing with a customer, or difficulty passing an exam. Or you can have a list that you hand out as needed, of 20 or so ideas to aid the participants in case they get stuck.
Ask them to write down some bullet point notes on:
- The experience in question
- Why it failed (or failed at the beginning)
- How they initially reacted
- How they overcame the challenge
- What they learned as a result of the situation
If you have a big group, you might want to split them into groups, i.e., have 6 to 8 people in each group. Otherwise, one group will suffice.
Now, one by one, for 5 minutes each, each person in the group will share the story about their situation, and they should cover the bullet points they wrote down.
After the 5 minutes are up, the others in their group can ask them questions about the experience to learn further. They can also offer constructive feedback.
As the teacher or training facilitator, you might want to end this growth mindset activity by reminding them that resilience and always having a growth mindset can greatly help in overcoming obstacles that they might experience in their personal and working life.
4. The 30-Day Growth Mindset Challenge
Intention: Developing a growth mindset often takes time, and the 30-Day challenge can be a great growth mindset exercise in this respect. This activity involves focusing on one thing each day that helps to get you into the growth mindset way of thinking. This is, in other words, about making growth and positive thinking something that becomes a habit.
Time Needed: 30 minutes a day over 30 days.
Number of Participants: No limit.
Items Needed: This activity can be done either on paper or digitally, so a printed 30-day list or a digital version is good.
How to Run the Activity: Start by explaining to participants that they will be writing a list of 30 goals for 30 days and that the idea here is to create a variety of tasks, one for each day. The tasks should include “things to learn, time to self-reflect, and the tasks should also include some things that make you step outside of your comfort zone, but that ultimately will be a positive experience for you”.
If needed, hand out a copy of a blank 30-day challenge sheet (with the 30 days listed but space on the sheet to write down the daily challenge in a box).
Each activity they add should be something that will help them grow. Some growth mindset examples are:
- Day 1: Self-Assessment: Reflect on your current mindset by identifying areas where you perhaps have a fixed mindset and where you already have a growth mindset.
- Day 2: Positive Affirmations: Write down and repeat three growth mindset affirmations.
- Day 3: Embrace a Challenge: Tackle a difficult task you’ve been avoiding for a while. Reflect on the experience.
- Day 4: Seek Feedback: Ask for constructive feedback from a colleague or friend on a recent project or task.
- Day 5: Growth Mindset Reading: Read an online article or chapter of a book on growth mindset principles.
- Day 6: Set a Learning Goal: Set a specific learning goal for the month and outline steps to achieve it.
- Day 7: Visualization Exercise: Visualize yourself successfully completing a current challenge.
- Days 8 to 30: Would need adding too.
5. Mindset Shifts Exercise
Intention: The Mindset Shifts Exercise is a great mindset activity for participants to understand what a fixed mindset is and to learn how to reframe their thoughts to become growth mindset thoughts. Reframing is important for building a growth mindset.
Time Needed: 30 minutes.
Items Needed: Writing materials.
Number of Participants: No limit.
How to Run the Activity: If you have not already done so as part of the teaching, you might want to clarify the difference between a fixed vs. a growth mindset and reframing.
Just to give one example here, also with one expression:
- Fixed Mindset: “I’m useless at trying to learn languages.”
- Growth Mindset: “I don’t find learning languages easy, but I know that if I practice enough, I will gradually pick up words and learn over time.”
Ask participants to spend 5 minutes coming up with a recent challenge they have experienced where they felt self-doubt.
If participants struggle to think of anything, you can provide them with a handout with example scenarios on it, such as “You are asked to learn to use new admin software at work, but are worried you will not be able to do it”.
They should write down what thoughts they had (or imagine they’d have had if using one of the scenarios on the handout), and then they need to write these thoughts down to represent their fixed-mindset thoughts.
Ask them to try to come up with 5 to 10 fixed mindset statements.
If it helps, you can put people into pairs so that they can help each other come up with fixed-mindset examples and ideas.
Now ask them to reframe each of the fixed-mindset statements into growth-mindset statements.
To end this activity, you might want to bring the class together and ask each person to read aloud one fixed mindset statement and the new growth mindset statement they turned it into.
This will give participants a chance to hear a variety of ways to turn fixed into growth mindset ways of thinking.
See the Growth Mindset Training Materials for Teaching this topic
6. Self-Compassion Practice
Overview: Having a positive mindset is much easier when we have self-acceptance and self-compassion, and this is one of the best growth mindset activities for working toward understanding this sense of self.
Time Needed: 20 minutes.
Items Needed: No special items are needed.
Number of Participants: No limit.
How to Run the Activity: You might want to begin the activity by explaining that self-compassion is important for our mental health and is central to having a positive mindset that helps us grow as individuals.
Now, to get the activity itself started, run an organised guided self-compassion meditation script. This meditation should last for 10 minutes.
Then ask the participants to write down any thoughts and feelings they have from having just done the meditation.
You can provide prompts, such as asking them how they feel about themselves and if they normally give themselves the time to think and relax.
If you are working with the same group for more than one session, I recommend asking the participants to buy and read the book ‘Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself’ by Dr Kristin Neff to support the learning.
7. Learning from Criticism
Overview: Feedback can be an invaluable opportunity to grow (as long as we learn how to take the positives out of any feedback we receive). This growth mindset activity is aimed at helping participants learn how to receive and use criticism constructively.
Time Needed: 30 minutes.
Items Needed: Writing materials.
Number of Participants: No limit.
How to Run the Activity: Ask participants to think of a time when they received criticism of some kind and to then write down the following about their experience:
- How did you initially react to the criticism
- Did you act defensively, or did you listen carefully?
- Did you take it personally?
Now think about the criticism you received and consider how you might reframe anything that might be construed otherwise as negative.
Ask the participants to write down how they can use the feedback to improve.
8. Growth Mindset Visualisation
Overview: This growth mindset exercise is all about helping participants understand how they can and should use visualisation to help themself overcome challenges and push towards growth.
Time Needed: 25 minutes.
Number of Participants: Any number.
How to Run the Activity: Guide participants through a visualisation exercise using your own script or the example script below:
| Example Growth Mindset Visualisation Script – Close your eyes, relax, and take a few deep breaths. – Now, imagine a difficult situation you are currently facing or a goal you want to achieve. – Visualise yourself taking steps to overcome the challenge or achieve the goal. Visually imagine and picture the action you take and the positive outcomes that result. – See yourself managing any setbacks with strength. You feel strong, and you feel resilient. – Feel the positive emotions of success, experience the feeling of confidence, and feel the growth as you achieve your goal. |
Run the visualisation for 10 minutes, and when it’s over, and they open their eyes, ask them to take 2 minutes to reflect on the experience. They do not need to say anything verbally.
Now ask them to write down any thoughts at all that they wish to.
It can then be worth having a group discussion to talk about the experience.
It might be that some people found the exercise extremely useful, while others might have struggled to get into the right frame of mind and got little from the exercise.
Explain, though, that those who struggled to do this visualisation in the classroom should also try it again at home in a quiet space (provide them with a copy of the handout of the script or send it to them digitally).
End the activity by explaining that visualisation is a technique that is worth using often to visually imagine positive and successful outcomes for anything they are working to achieve.
Indeed, it is used by many sportspeople for this very purpose, i.e., to imagine seeing oneself finish first in a race or standing on a podium with a gold medal.
It does not, of course, guarantee success, but visually imagining something normalises the event and psychologically makes it feel much more achievable.
9. Reflective Questions
Overview: This is a useful exercise to reinforce the need for self-awareness in order to push for future personal growth.
Time Needed: 25 minutes.
Number of Participants: No limit.
How to Run the Activity: You will need 8 to 10 Reflective Questions that you will ask participants to answer, so you will need to prepare these. I have listed 3 questions below, though, to get you started:
- How much have you grown mentally in the last 12 months?
- In what areas do you seek to grow in the next year?
- Do you respond to criticism in a constructive or negative way?
To start the activity, give the participants the handout of reflective questions and give them 15 minutes to write down their answers to each.
I suggest spending 10 minutes on a group discussion to discuss each question one at a time.
10. Growth Mindset Book Club
Overview: The book club or group concept is popular in many types of training, and it certainly has a place in Growth Mindset training.
There are numerous outstanding books on developing a growth mindset, both directly on the topic and also by means of autobiographies from high achievers in business, sport, and numerous other fields.
This can also be fun for you as a teacher or business trainer, in that you get to read new, inspiring, and interesting books.
Time Needed: This can be a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetup. It can work extremely well bi-weekly as a workplace club (giving participants enough time to read the latest book).
To keep the motivation of all involved, try to give everyone a chance to choose a book. You might want to ask them for 3 to 5 options, and then you choose the book that you feel fits best with the idea of a growth mindset.
A great book to get started with is “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear.
11. Progress Celebrations
Overview: This is a handy growth mindset exercise for recognising achievements that relate to their growth, and this is important in that remembering and celebrating growth-related achievements helps in the overall mindset needed.
Time Needed: 30 minutes (but maybe hold this monthly).
Number of Participants: 4 or more.
How to Run the Activity: This exercise works best for employees, as this is something you will do monthly. In advance of the session, ask those involved to email you any achievements and milestones they have achieved since the last session. Some participants might be shy, so ask that everyone send a minimum of 2 achievements.
It can be worth reminding them that it does not matter if an achievement is small or large, as they all help to contribute to the way forward. You might also want to emphasise that any situation where you showed resilience or learned a valuable lesson from failure counts towards growth.
During the session itself, ask each participant one at a time to read out/explain their recent achievements and any milestones.
As the training facilitator, it can be worth writing keywords on a whiteboard to make a tag cloud of the keywords related to the achievements and milestones.
After everyone has explained their achievements, have a 5 to 10-minute class discussion about the words on the whiteboard tag cloud.
You might also want to give participants another 5 to 10 minutes to set new goals for the coming month.
12. Learning Buddy System
Overview: In terms of growth mindset examples for activities, the ‘Learning Buddy System’ is more of an ongoing exercise that helps make a participant accountable because they have another person following their mindset journey. In essence, this is about pairs of participants supporting each other.
Time Needed: Regular 15 to 30-minute check-ins.
Number of Participants: In pairs.
How to Run the Activity: As the manager, teacher, or training coordinator, you need to take the time to match up participants into pairs, making sure that you try to align the pairs as best as possible.
The best way to match pairs might be by preparing a fairly simple survey to find out their general goals, skills, and direction.
This exercise will often be run in parallel to other Growth Mindset activities, so the weekly, monthly, and longer-term goals will be planned out and then used in this Buddy System exercise.
Alongside the buddy system, you can use the other 11 activities to teach a growth mindset from this page.
Do make the communication style clear to participants, i.e., it should be agreed and documented before the buddy system gets started, how participants may contact each other, i.e., via email, in-person, or by messenger,r etc. How frequently they should communicate should also be documented.
Growth Mindset Team Building Activities
If you are looking to use the growth mindset activities for team building workshops, most of the activities from the list of 12 we have given will be more than suitable.
These 3 activities in particular can be used for growth mindset team building activities@
- Positive Feedback Circle (Activity No.1)
- Growth Mindset Book Club (Activity No.10)
- Progress Celebrations (Activity No.11)
Final Thoughts
If you have enjoyed using these Growth Mindset activities, you might find the training materials also worth taking a look at:
