Growth Mindset

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or a growth mindset before watching these videos. I find this theory interesting. People always say, as Dweck did, in her TED Talk that parents have created a generation of students/workers who can't get through the day without praise, or that we've ruined the next generation by giving out participation trophies at every turn. This has always been strange to me because I was never given those things. Perhaps this really is true, and my parents just didn't raise me that way, but I remember plenty of failure as a child, and in the long run, it has made me a hard and determined worker. 

Cycle of Growth
Source: Christopher Mance, Flickr

By nature, I am a perfectionist. I like things to be clean and in their place. I've always done well in the aspects of school that I enjoyed, and when it came to things I didn't enjoy, I didn't try very hard so I could accept that as the reason for doing so poorly, not that I just had a hard time with them. I've struggled since I was young with a very fixed mindset. I have an all-or-nothing personality that time and again has either pushed me to greatness or left me to fail. One or the other, but never a happy middle, and never room for growth. 

Once I came to OU, I centered my classes and majors around things I am interested in, and naturally good at, and I didn't struggle in my classes because I was within my comfort zone. But, my sophomore year, circumstances led me to working a full time job while maintaining a full time school load. This was enough to knock me off my self-appointed pedestal and shake my confidence. With less time and energy to devote to school, my grades began to slip, and because I had no growth mindset, I couldn't see that I was still progressing, just at a slower rate than before. I've since figured out my work/life balance, and have come to terms with the possibility of shortcomings. Before, the fact that I'm using the grace period to turn in this assignment would have destroyed me, but now, I can accept that I did not meet my goals yesterday, and can work to do better next time. 

I enjoyed the part of the infographic video that spoke about Einstein. No, we won't all be Einstein, but even he had to learn before he became Einstein. My mom always tells me that when another school year was about to start, she would ask me if I was excited. Each time, I would say no because I didn't know the things fourth, fifth, or sixth graders knew. Each time, she would have to explain to me that I couldn't know those things until I was in the fourth, fifth, or sixth grade. I was so focused on the imminent failure that I didn't even want to try. As I've gotten older, I've gotten better about this. To be completely honest, I can't say I've fully overcome this, but if I think of this using a growth mindset, I can see that there is still work to be done, and that is how I can get better.