Pursuing a growth mindset helps us to learn new skills.

It also equips us with an outlook that copes better with challenges and failure.

Maybe you shy away from stretching yourself. Perhaps you don’t like feeling uncomfortable.

Many people fear failure.

But what if you relabel your failures so they instead become steps to ultimately achieving your aims, objectives and goals.

Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has set out how, in a school environment, a child who cannot solve a problem they are set could react in one of two ways: Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet?

In working to get better at what you do. In striving to communicate better, lead better, sell better, motivate better you should do the same.

When your efforts fall short it is a “not yet” moment.

An opportunity to evaluate how you improve.

Put in place a plan so you succeed.

It is also a brilliant way to begin to build a process to achieving longer term ambitions.

Are you a good enough public speaker to deliver a TED Talk? Not yet.

Can you lead your company sales team to bring in the biggest clients? Not yet.

Are you ready to lead your team? Not yet.

Turn your goals into challenge questions. Then work out what you need to do so that the answer becomes a “yes” instead of not yet.