The assumption is to achieve big goals in small steps. The growth mindset is that they can get better at these small steps. e.g. I bet I can improve at adding!

The assumption is to achieve big goals in small steps. The growth mindset is that they can get better at these small steps. e.g. I bet I can improve at adding! For children, you wouldn't expect them to break down their big overwhelming goals into small subtasks for themselves - you'd do that for them. You wouldn't even mention the big overwhelming goals, or indeed necessarily even have them. Same goes for adults - except we've got to break it down ourselves.