Stories are powerful, especially the ones that we tell ourselves. It is easy to forget that we are the narrators of our own lives. We control the way our protagonist reacts to witnessing a heist or when to begin rolling the credits on a significant life chapter. The idea of our personal relationship to positive change and growth is powerfully crystallized in renowned Stanford psychologist Carol S. Dweck’s concept of the two mindsets: Fixed Mindsets vs. Growth Mindsets.

If the only thing that is constant is change, how we react to change when it rears its scary head is paramount. A fixed mindset suggests that our abilities are stagnant and fixed, if we failed at something yesterday, we will undoubtedly fail again tomorrow. But if we approach challenges as opportunities to grow, we are more likely to flourish.

Embracing Growth with Solo Travel

As travelers on this wild planet of ours, you may already be embracing a growth mindset. Traveling is an awesome way to actively practice the interconnected relationship between growth and change. If you feel like today you are deeply ingrained in a fixed mindset, and it happens to all of us, immersing yourself in new surroundings is a tried and tested way to begin changing up your inner monologue.

Comfort zones demand to be shaken and uncertainties await on the open road. As a solo traveler, opportunities for enacting a growth mindset are around every corner and the journey of life becomes as literal as ever. The more unknowns that lay ahead, the more opportunities there are to grow and practice resilience– the hallmark of a growth mindset. You may even surprise yourself! It’s amazing how living in a new time zone can change your personal narration from “I don’t eat stuff like that” to “I will eat that quail egg!” Just like you deserve a stellar story that everyone can see, you also deserve to be telling yourself a stellar one too. An honorable narrator can make all the difference. Taking a solo journey with like-minded peers is a great place to start your new monologue.