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“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you are right.”

~Henry Ford

Have you ever noticed how the things you say to yourself affect your mood, energy level, and, ultimately, actions? 

Thoughts. Feelings. Action.

Eventually, as many great minds noted, we become what we think.

Sooooo…our thoughts matter! A lot! 

Therefore, if we want our children to grow into resilient, confident, self-directed adults with high self-esteem, we should always start with helping them manage their thoughts, beliefs and self-talk. In a nutshell, we should teach them a growth mindset.

We talked a lot about the growth mindset, its benefits, and how to foster it in your child.

Today, let’s have a look at one more powerful tool for teaching kids a growth mindset – mantras.

“Tools of the mind”

Firstly, do you know what the word mantra means?

Quick etymology lesson ☺ The Sanskrit word MANTRA is derived from the root man – “mind” (or “to think”) and tra – “tool”.

It literally means “a tool of the mind”. 

By repeating certain mantras over and over again (especially when we face challenges), we can replace our negative thoughts with more powerful positive ones. And ultimately, this helps to change our behaviour.

At our home, we LOVE mantras. 

When someone gets upset because he can’t jump as high as his older brother. When someone makes a mistake. When someone says, “I can’t do it”. When someone moans, “I don’t know how to do it” or “It’s too hard!”

So here is what we say (pretty much every day).

10 Growth Mindset Mantras

These are our favourite growth mindset mantras we live by: 

1. I can do it!

We love to say: “There is nothing you can’t do.” You just need to try. And we are here to help you.

2. I am a problem solver 

If there is a problem, there is also a solution. Always. You just need to figure this out. 

3. Practice makes progress

Want to get better? Practice, practice, practice (deliberately, though)

4. Everything is learnable

If you can’t do something…you can’t do it YET. But you can learn anything. Literally anything. The sky is the limit (or maybe not ☺).

5. Mistakes help me GROW

Get excited about failures and mistakes. They are great learning opportunities. And quick recap on “lessons learnt” is always a must.

6. I can achieve anything with effort and the right approach

If you want to get better at something – put effort and think about the best approach to improve. Remember, talent matters, but effort counts twice!

7. Obstacles Make Me Stronger (OMMS)

Same as we grow muscles and get stronger by lifting weights, we can exercise our mind by doing hard things and overcoming difficulties. Obstacles help us achieve mastery. 

8. No pressure, no diamonds 

We need pressure (challenges, failures and obstacles) to turn into a tough and shiny diamond. Check out our article for more inspiration.

9. I do my best and forget the rest

Always give 100% to something that matters. If you failed but gave yourself 100%, that’s ok. Just learn from your mistakes. 

10. Never ever give up

Grit is everything. There will be situations where it’s better not to flog a dead horse, but that’s a conversation for later.

Teach these mantras to your children to foster a growth mindset and help them develop grit. And live by them.

Here you can download the growth mindset mantras poster:

10 Powerful Growth Mindset Mantras for Kids

Let the things you say to your child become their inner voice ☺

Loads of love,

Irina and Dawid

P.S.: posters are illustrated by Alina Mityukova 🙂