The Growth Mindset

Jessica Ottewell. Web Source: flickr 

If I'm being perfectly honest, I felt a little attacked (in a good way) by the idea of the growth mindset. I'm a very type-A person: I always want to get an A in every class, I always try to push myself to get that A, and the thought of failure is paralyzing. I spend so much time wrapped up in how well I want to do that it becomes hard to realize the progress I'm making along the way. I haven't exactly shied away from hard classes or difficult subjects, and I would like to say that I am willing to dedicate time to understanding the things that don't come naturally, but learning to grow from difficulties is one of the things I would say I am most focused on in personal growth, and have also grown the most in along the way in college.

What really hits home for me in learning to adapt this growth mindset is my struggles during my freshman year. I'm a math major, which means taking some pretty difficult classes on mathematical theory, and the first one is called "Discrete Math." The first time we took a quiz in the class, I did not do well. I had studied long and hard, but still made mistakes, and that was difficult to process. I was used to seeing a positive correlation between the time I spent studying and the grades I received. I remain very grateful to my mother for the fact that when I called her, she pushed the growth mindset on me, reminding me that this was an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and develop an even better understanding of the material. This is an attitude that I actively wrestle with: trying to not to see mistakes as failures or as a reflection of both the effort I put in and my self-worth. 

This semester, I would like to even more actively embrace the growth mindset in my life. Beyond my academics, I want to view "failings" in my personal life as opportunities to grow. If I accidentally hurt someone I care about by my actions or words (an inevitability as a human being), what are ways I can not only make it up to them, but adjust my behaviors and attitudes in the future? 

All that being said, I do think there are some valid criticisms of the growth model and, like most things, it needs to be applied carefully and thoughtfully. I particularly liked Dave Paunesku's approach to it. The growth mindset is a tool for better learning, and so it can be used badly, such as to blame students for their own "not yet's." If we want to truly build an environment that puts a positive spin on "failure," we should not be teaching people to internalize their shortcomings. 

Overall, I would like to adapt this tool more in my life, but I hope that I am always able to use it in a way that encourages me to keep trying, rather than blaming myself for my "failures."