My Thoughts on Growth Mindset

Learning more about the "growth mindset" was an educating and informational experience. I previously learned about the concept of growth mindset vs fixed mindset briefly in my Cognitive Psychology and Social Psychology classes in the past, but I didn't know that this idea was formulated by Carol Dweck. For the growth mindset, I feel like I am generally open to learning and improving because no one is perfect and capable of improvement. Although some people are considered more "naturally smart" than others, each person has his or her own individual strengths and weaknesses. As a result, everyone could benefit from adopting a growth mindset to help ourselves grow and become a better person. For example, someone could improve their emotional intelligence by practicing mindfulness or just learn a new skill. In my experience, a growth mindset is important because it helped me believe that I had the ability to change and improve, despite whatever challenges I had. For example, I took Calculus AB my senior year and I struggled a lot. It took me a long time to understand the concepts and I would stay after school to get Calculus help from my teacher almost every day. Although I put in a lot of work, I didn't pass the AP Calculus test at the end of the year. I felt discouraged and stupid. However, when I took Calculus I my freshman year of college, the concepts finally clicked and I was finally able to do the math. Seeing Calculus finally "click" for me was a huge relief for me because it showed me that all of my hard work in that class finally paid off. I'm happy to say that I got an A in Calculus I and it was a big accomplishment for me! As a result, I think it's important to teach kids that they always have the ability to change and grow because it's easy to grow complacent in the face of challenges. But don't they always say that the best things don't always come easy?

The Growth Mindset is a Challenge!