After viewing Carol Dweck's video about children in school and changing their mindset it brought a lot of thoughts to my mind. The video spoke about a study that was done between a fixed mindset group of kids and a growth mindset group of kids. It showed over the course of two years that the kids in the growth mindset group excelled more. The reason she said they did was because they were thinking more positively. The kids with the fixed mindset did not take risks and therefore did not succeed like they could have. The growth mindset group, on the other hand, excelled because they learned new ideas and material just to learn. This study goes to show how much better someone is internally when they believe in themselves and focus on growth and not perfection.
Looking at the growth mindset in my own life I tend to fall short. The biggest problems for me is I consistently think I am not good at something or I like my comfort zone quite a bit. At a young age I was bullied for my weight and made fun of for ridiculous reasons, like not being "popular." I think because of that it put an idea in my head that I should not try to excel at anything because I already get a lot of attention and I do not want it. Overtime as I grew older I began to see myself slightly different. About two and half years ago I boarded a plane to China and did a study abroad. That was one of the first times in my life I have ever done anything "ballsy", per say. I decided one day that I could not sit around and wait for opportunities to happen so I created one. After I spent about 6/7 weeks in China I returned home and had a different view of the world. That moment I realized that I needed to be more positive about myself and how I feel. I think my strengths would be I learn well from my mistakes and I am always eager to learn more. I consistently makes mistakes because I am human. Instead of putting myself down I usually get up quickly, brush myself off, and move on to better things.
The biggest Idea I will take from the growth mindset for this class is being more diligent. Even if I have a lot of assignments going on and I am overwhelmed, I will make it a point to devote time to the class. I can challenge myself more in this class and step out of my comfort zone when it comes to my writing style. I also believe in myself in order to create a more fluid and imaginative story. The second half of the semester will allow me to showcase more of my abilities as a writer and strengthen me as well.
Determination
References:
Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset
Annie, I enjoyed reading your growth mindset post. It was so refreshing getting to read your honest and true thoughts and feelings. I often times stay inside my comfort zone as well because I am scared to step too far outside of it. It is scary but also sometimes so refreshing to do something that you never thought you would do! All it takes is one little step outside your comfort zone to challenge yourself and to grow!
ReplyDeleteI would like to start off by saying you are very “ballsy” to study abroad and that too in China! Talk about getting out of your comfort zone! I can agree with you on a lot of things in this post like constantly thinking I’m not good at something. I think this video really puts things into perspective when it comes to changing how you look at challenges, and not just assuming the worst.
ReplyDelete