And after seeing the results of Carol Dweck's studies, that makes me scared for my ability to be successful in life. One of the things that scares me most is that when I think about that, I feel like I can either be successful, or not be successful, which seems like a fixed mindset thought. I know for a fact that my whole life I have been praised for intelligence, and less so for hard work. My parents always encouraged me to work hard, but I received praise for good grades, not for hard work. I didn't learn how to work hard until college, and I learned that because I stopped making good grades and felt like I needed better grades to get my usual dose of praise, not because hard work was encouraged. Not only that, but the majority of my classes seem to enforce the "now" mindset: if you don't know the information now, on the day of the test, you will not be rewarded for ever learning it. In my classes, failure doesn't feel like an opportunity to grow, it just feels like the professor expected better. Learning about the growth mindset made me feel upset because I feel like I was forced into this mindset by my environment. I feel like I'm a successful student, but I definitely need to put a lot of thought into how to have a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. I already blame the environment I'm in for making me have a fixed mindset, which is one of the signs of having a fixed mindset: I am actually in a fixed mindset about my fixed mindset. I found this video very eye opening, and it frightens me that I have so much work to do to get back into a healthy mindset.
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(Growth Mindset - cambridgeschool website)
Hi Nate! I found Carol Dweck to be really inspiring to me! Sometimes, it kind of scared me too, with the way she said things. It could make someone lose confidence in themselves but with a growth mindset, we can use the obstacles we face to our advantage. Although failure does not feel like an opportunity to grow at the moment, in the big picture of life and as you look back, you will notice all of the failures, boosting you somehow.
ReplyDeleteHello Nate, one thing to remember is that the fact you felt emotion and a call to change after reading Carol Dweck shows that you do have the ability to be successful, due to being able to spot your own shortcomings in a situation and know what was wrong. Based on what you said, I think you have the right mindset to succeed, and just have been forced to slightly change it for now in order to get through University.
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