Verissa Thomas
Dr.Miller
English Comp II
29 Jan 2017
Applying the Growth Mindset to my future
There are a variety of reasons why it can be hard to stick to good habits and develop new skills. In my years of living I have never heard of the “Growth Mindset” until an assignment in college. I did a little personal research outside of this assignment just to get a better understanding and found that there are two types of mindsets, one being a fixed mindset and the other Growth Mindset. It’s a little like nature verse nurture. I thought long and hard on how each mindset affect me, how I present myself, and how can I apply the best mindset to my future goals.The mind is a very powerful thing we have and having the ability to tell ourselves we are great at this but bad at that and having this mindset can be difficult for us reaching great opportunities and making room for new skills that we never knew that we had.
In my research I found thatIndividuals with a “Fixed Mindset” believe that they are either good or bad at something based on their inherent background. A fixed mindset may sound easy and simple to go with but it can be harmful. For example, if someone says “I’m not good in math” that individual will start to believe they are not good and become a custom to this belief without trying or practicing to become better. This Fixed Mindset will cause you to fail and fall short in the future. It will hinder you from the ability to learn and grow from your mistakes. In my experience I would always tell myself that “I’m not good in science and that it’s hard for me to lose weight. Because I had this mindset, I would start and never finish because I became a custom is believing that I am not good at this subject and losing weight was something that I couldn’t do. I never really tired; even after getting encouragement from family and friends. I always had in my mind that if the people that I’m surrounded by never accomplished these tasks, why should I. I never knew that thinking like this would hinder me from future goals.
I even procrastinated about finishing college. It was “I’m a mom and a wife, I can’t do it. I always wanted to go to college, finish with my degree, and have a corporate job but I kept telling myself that I never finish because I so many things on my plate from being a mom, a wife, and working full time. I just didn’t see school in my future. Looking back, it was clear to me that my fixed mindset was causing me to avoid serious goals of mine because I didn’t want to feel like a failure. As a result in this thinking I never tried to push myself to even try. This went for the same for me making a goal to lose weight. I would tell myself “I can’t lose weight” or“it’s too hard”. I would start the process but never finish to the end to see results. I started to accept how I looked, even when I knew that I didn’t like how I looked on the outside. But because I told myself that I couldn’t achieve this goal; I believed it and never went forward. I would ask myself “what can I do to achieve my goals?” “How can I change how I feel about myself and achieve my goals?” Then I came across the Growth Mindset.
Recently, I learned about the “Growth Mindset” and how it differs from a “Fixed Mindset”. It is said that someone with a Growth Mindset has the ability of willing to try even if they fail in the beginning. They see their failure/s and setbacks as a sign that they should continue until they have achieved their goal/s instead of a sign that they are not good at it and give-up. As a result, individuals who have this mindset are most likely to maximize their potential and self worth. They take criticism and learn from it and apply it to overcome challenges and hardships. A growth mind believes they are great at any and everything because their abilities are due to their actions. For example, if an individual know that they are not well equipped in math, they will not just give-up and not try; they will continue to try and try until they have gasp the concept of math and continue to practice because to them failure is just a temporary setback that will result in achievements.
After learning about the how the growth mindset can helpyou push towards your goals even if you fail at first, I plan to change my mindset from fixed to growth. I plan to earn my degree no matter the trails I have to go through to get. I have but my actions to the test and learned that I can be a working mom and wife and be in school at the same time. I do have times where I feel myself giving up because of the busy crazy that I have but I continue to work though it because I know at the end I’m going to achieve a goal that’s going to change my life and I will be able to cross it off my achievement “to do” list. I learned that if I continue to keep my confidence up by pushing myself in unfamiliar circumstances and to keep learning from mistakes; I will be better than before and resulting into mastering valuable skills that I never knew I could do because I have put in the work and effort. And I plan to use this method now and in the future.
Overall, I believe that we all start off with a fixed mindset until we, ourselves, change to growth mindset. You can have all the encouragement in world in your corner but if you don’t apply yourself, you will be stuck in a fixed mindset, making decisions that could harm your future; which was something I was applying to my life without knowing it.I realize that if you developed a growth mindset will not only get you to push yourself through rough challenges but in the end results you will reach your goals and up life your confidents to achieve anything you put your mind to and that’s what I plan on doing.