The Growth Mindset Trap: When “Try Harder” Isn’t Enough

By Dylan Villalobos, Director of TheCoachingMindsetOrg

The phrase “growth mindset” has become a fixture in classrooms, coaching courses, and sports psychology discussions. Coined by Carol Dweck (2006), the concept encourages individuals to believe that ability and intelligence can be developed through effort, feedback, and persistence. Yet in many learning and sporting environments, this powerful framework has been diluted to a simple slogan: “Try harder.”

The result is what many educators now call the growth mindset trap — the tendency to misinterpret effort as the only ingredient for success, while overlooking the need for deliberate practice, effective feedback, and structural support.

1. Misunderstanding Effort

At its core, the growth mindset is not about working harder; it’s about working smarter through adaptive strategies, reflection, and persistence in the face of challenge (Dweck, 2017). In many coaching contexts, however, effort becomes the sole metric of progress. Athletes and students are praised for “trying” rather than for the quality of their learning behaviours.

Research by Burnette et al. (2013) shows that effort alone, without effective goal-setting and self-regulation, can actually lead to frustration and burnout. In other words, telling learners to “keep trying” without equipping them with strategies for improvement risks reinforcing failure rather than fostering growth.

Application:

Shift feedback from “you worked hard” to “you adapted your strategy effectively.” This reframes effort as purposeful rather than repetitive, encouraging learners to view setbacks as data for improvement, not evidence of limitation.

2. The Role of Feedback and Reflection

A true growth mindset environment relies on feedback that informs learning, not simply rewards persistence. Hattie and Timperley (2007) argue that effective feedback must answer three questions: Where am I going? How am I going? What next? In sport and education, this means helping individuals identify specific performance gaps and develop the skills to bridge them.

Similarly, Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (1984) highlights reflection as a critical phase in transforming experience into understanding. Without structured reflection, learners can repeat ineffective habits under the guise of “effort.” Coaches who integrate reflection cycles—questioning what worked, what didn’t, and why—help athletes internalise learning rather than chase approval.

Application:

Use guided reflection prompts:

• What did you change today based on feedback?

• What evidence shows that your approach improved?

3. Systems Over Slogans

The growth mindset is not just a belief—it’s a system. Dweck (2019) later clarified that environments must enable growth by aligning feedback, goals, and culture. When schools or clubs celebrate “hard work” without addressing poor instruction, limited resources, or ineffective structures, the message becomes hollow.

As coaches and educators, we must create ecosystems that support challenge and reflection. This means designing curricula, training sessions, and feedback systems that promote autonomy, competence, and relatedness—principles grounded in Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (2000). Learners thrive not because they are told to “try harder,” but because the environment empowers them to engage meaningfully with their learning process.

Application:

Audit your environment. Ask:

• Do my learners feel safe to fail and try again?

• Are goals clear and measurable?

• Is reflection built into my sessions?

4. Beyond the Buzzword

The most effective coaches and educators treat the growth mindset not as a motivational tool, but as a learning philosophy. It is a lens through which we interpret challenge, effort, and success. When we reduce it to “try harder,” we risk shifting accountability from systems to individuals—implying that those who fail simply didn’t work enough.

True growth requires more than effort; it requires feedback, strategy, and time. As Dweck (2017) herself notes, “A growth mindset is about embodying a learning process—not a label or a catchphrase.”

Final Thought

A growth mindset does not mean blind perseverance. It means strategic, reflective effort within environments that nurture learning rather than judge it. For coaches and educators, the challenge is to model this mindset ourselves—embracing feedback, adjusting approaches, and recognising that “trying harder” is only the beginning of meaningful development.

Where in your own coaching or teaching practice might you be encouraging effort over reflection—and how can you shift towards enabling genuine growth?

References

• Burnette, J. L., O’Boyle, E. H., VanEpps, E. M., Pollack, J. M., & Finkel, E. J. (2013). Mind-Sets Matter: A Meta-Analytic Review of Implicit Theories and Self-Regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 655–701.

• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House.

• Dweck, C. S. (2017). The Journey to a Growth Mindset. Educational Leadership, 74(7), 24–29.

• Dweck, C. S. (2019). Clarifying Misconceptions About Growth Mindset—And Setting the Record Straight. Mindset Scholars Network.

• Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112.

• Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.