A common story
Many years ago, when I was a student in elementary school, I remember one of my teachers strongly believed in the importance of talent in every human beings’ achievement! When I sketched an outstanding drawing or solved a difficult math problem, she repeated the phrase of “how gifted you are!”. Therefore, I used to see human abilities and intelligence as fixed entities that each of us are born with. In fact, now that I look back, I think if anyone asked my opinion about the important debate of “nature or nurture”, I chose nature!
I should confess that I used to have a fixed mindset that kept me away from challenging myself and looking for new doors and trying new opportunities. I was thinking if someone is good at math then he or she shouldn’t bother trying literacy, poetry, sport, or other things. I clearly recall, when I was recognized as a top student in mathematics, my teacher suggested that I attend the provincial contest because of my great performance in math class, however, I refused, since I was fearful of losing and becoming a failure. I was fearful of not being competent enough at the provincial level and I didn’t give it a try. At that time, I was thinking that failure defines people and it is really difficult to grow out of failure. Certainly this is not the fact and there are millions of examples of successful people who reveal their attitude for change as the key to their success.
Growth vs. fixed mindset
It took me some time to change my mindset and the first spark of change happened when I had to learn a completely new software for my research. I had to choose between learning the new software and doing my analysis or relying on the old erroneous way of data analysis. This time I chose the challenging way and there were a lot of ups and downs, trial and error in the way. However, each time that I faced an error, I learned to tell myself it is not the time yet!. The “not yet” phrase helped me to keep moving forward and I truly enjoyed the process of learning and being challenged. Eventually, I mastered the software, but it seemed that I am more thirsty for learning and being challenged. That was the moment when I realized the value of a growth mindset and how it is crucial to equip ourselves with it. I learned to see human beings’ entities as dynamic and changeable as other parts of the universe. I learned a great lesson that it is possible to change our mindset and cultivate the growth mindset in ourselves which we need so much to get the most out of our life journey.
What is your mindset?
What about you? Have you ever thought about your own mindset? Here is a simple tip that tests your mindset. When there is an opportunity for change, what is your response? Are you afraid of trying new things and making a change? Or do you welcome change and enjoy the learning process? Are you thinking of intelligence and abilities as something fixed? Or do you think, you can substantially change your intelligence and who you are?
To learn more about growth mindset, I recommend you to read “Mindset, the new psychology of success” by Carol Dweck.