Our mindset is a huge part of how we work and how we learn. If we want to be successful we must learn how to adopt a growth mindset. Many of the greatest minds to walk this earth have adopted this strategy of learning (even long before this method was studied).

First of all, what is a mindset? Mindset is the way that people approach a challenge, project, experience, or even an activity. Though her studies Carol Dweck has discovered that the way you approach problems could be the single most important aspect in learning. She published her studies in a book, that explained the importance of mindset in great detail. Carol Dweck ran many different studies that showed how those with a growth mindset consistently scored better on learning ability tests. The first study Carol preformed is explained in this video:

Carol studied children in this experiment and proved her theory multiple times.  After that she tested adults and found the same results. It is important to know that the study didn’t end there, and Carol Dweck did further studies and discovered more about this topic. She learned that it isn’t just the way people talk it is the the way you think and what you believe. If you believe that failure shows you aren’t skilled enough and challenges are for  the weak minded, you may have fixed mindset. Through the gaining of knowledge like I did this term you may be able change your mindset.

We have worked very hard this term to learn about growth mindset,  the virtues that contribute to a growth mindset, and how to adopt a growth mindset. The first virtue I learned about is grit. Grit is like determination, and is huge part of training your brain to adapt to a different mindset. However, the most important lesson of all when adopting a growth mindset is understanding that failure is part of learning, and should be embraced. It is also important to know how to persevere through failures, because in the learning process you will fail more times than you will succeed. Feedback is also a big part of a growth mindset, you must learn to embrace it and use it to grow. Sometimes it is very easy to dismiss the feedback you receive or take it personally, but if you want to have a different mindset you can’t give in to your natural instincts to be stubborn and believe your ideas are best.

Nearing the end of this unit I created a long term goal that related to growth mindset. It was important for this goal to be specific. For my goal I decided that I needed to focus on allowing other people to share their ideas when I am in a group setting.

I needed to phrase my question in a specific way that would be unique to me. After plundering me goal for a day or two I finally came to the conclusion that that this goal would work for me. I needed to find a photo that showed my face. This picture and text displayed something that I will try to pursue through this whole year using my growth mindset.

We all have fixed mindsets when it comes to something, but must strive to change our mindsets and change the way we look at a problem. Through this strategy of learning I have improved my ability to learn and have changed my approach problems not just in school. For me sports are a big part of my life and I have adopted growth mindset in my sports allowing me to learn more than I did before.