When is it okay to have a fixed mindset?

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In March 2014, I chose to give up food for Lent. Anything that I could chew and digest I did not consume from Monday to Saturday every week. (On Sunday, I would eat something light with a community of people as an opportunity to connect and refuel for the coming week.)

I’m not Catholic, but I value self-discipline and I’m interested in what my body and mind can accomplish when focused on a goal. (I might add that there’s a fine line between being focused and being crazy, and I flirted with that line almost every day. Actually, I’m sure people who know me best think that I flirt with that line with every goal I strive to achieve.)

When I set the goal, I was determined to go without eating for the entire period of Lent (March 5-April 17). It should be noted that merely ten days later, I chose to use Sunday as a time to lightly eat - to “break bread”, if you will - with friends and family in order to add an element of community to my journey (and to not end up in the hospital).
There are times when the mind should be set on accomplishing something. Some tasks, endeavors, and goals can only be accomplished by being locked into a mindset. In essence, your mind has to be fixed on the prize in order to accomplish it.
There are people who need a fixed mindset in order to achieve fitness goals, writing goals, parenting goals, and the list goes on and on; however in the middle of everything that requires a fixed mindset, reflection needs to be a constant observer.

A fixed mindset is okay if a growth mindset is walking nearby ready to act at a moment’s notice.

We set goals in order to get better. We set goals in order to grow so we cannot be so fixed in our focus that we refuse to change in the middle of the journey. Not every journey or goal or task needs to be changed, but we must be willing to reflect and change if necessary.
My goal in 2014, was successful not because I didn’t eat food for forty days. It wasn’t successful because I chose to run every day in order to take my mind off food. (See, I told you I flirted with the line.) It was successful because I was focused - my mindset was fixed - yet willing to adapt my plans for the sake of the goal. (Let me add, that it was also successful - and more fulfilling - because I chose to include a community of people into the process.
Dream big. Think big. Set enormous goals with personal and corporate growth in mind, and then fix your mindset on achieving every one of those goals. But always being willing to reflect and change throughout the process, if reflection and change is necessary.

[I would love to hear some of your goals - present or past - and the stories that surround them. Use the comment section below or click here to tell your story.]

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