Growth Mindset: Week 15

Growth Mindset

For this growth mindset post I chose to find some growth mindset cats on pinterest that I really could relate to. The first meme that I enjoyed was the "Study hard, and then take a break" meme. Being a chemical engineering major here at the university I often find myself studying for hours on end and only recently have I found a better system. I found that the way of studying that works best for me is to take a ten minute break every hour so that I do not get overwhelmed.

(Study, Study, Study. Credit to Laura Gibbs)

The second meme that really spoke to me was the "There are many paths to success." Going into college I thought that I was for sure going to graduate in four years, and when I found out that I needed to take five years I was devastated. The idea of my plan being thrown off by an entire year was very scary and I felt like I was a failure in some ways. After some time I realized that taking an extra year really helped me to mature and taking less hours decreased my stress level significantly. This meme reminded me that there really are multiple paths to success and my plan was not the only plan that could lead to success.

(Path to Success, credit to Laura Gibbs)

Growth Mindset: Week 14

Growth Mindset

After reviewing what the growth mindset was last week, I was inspired to dig a little deeper into the concept of growth mindset. Specifically, this week I am exploring how I am using the growth mindset in other aspects of my life outside of school. 

Where I apply Growth Mindset Outside of School

So when I am not studying for exams or completing assignments, I really enjoy trying to express myself in creative and artistic ways. This can include playing piano drums or guitar, or even drawing sometimes. When it comes to doing the best job of applying the growth mindset it would have to be when I am learning something new on piano. Since I genuinely enjoy playing piano it is easy to relax and allow myself to take time and focus on what I am learning rather than get frustrated every time I mess up. Even when I am learning a difficult piece I can usually find a way to embrace the process and be excited for the outcome even though it is time consuming and difficult. I hope that in the future I can apply this amount of patience with myself when I am trying to learn a new concept for class rather than get frustrated when I don't understand it immediately.

(Growth vs Fixed, credit to Jessica Ottewell)

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Growth Mindset: Week 13

Growth Mindset

With finals week fast approaching, this week seemed like a great time to revisit the growth mindset concepts and hopefully find some motivation and advice to carry me through to the end of the semester. Since it had been a while since I have explored the growth mindset I decided to read an article by Saga Briggs titled 25 Simple Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset. In the article I was reminded that the growth mindset is just believing in the idea that I can grow, rather than my intelligence and personality being fixed. 

Out of the 25 ways to develop the mindset I chose a few that really spoke to me. First was the concept of replacing the word failing with learning. Throughout my college experience I have had a few times where I became extremely discouraged from failing an assignment and in retrospect if I had thought of the experience as having more to learn rather than failing I may have been able to handle the situation without getting so upset. Second, was the concept of  paying more attention to the growth rather than the speed. I always try to learn things quickly and have many times crammed before an exam without actually learning the concepts. I feel like it is important to give yourself time to grow rather than rushing a process and ultimately becoming discouraged with the learning process. 

(Grow, photo from flickr)

Growth Mindset

Not yet:

Anyone who has ever failed a class, or anything for that matter, knows just how devastating it can be. It seems like no matter how much effort you have put in or how much progress you have made that one word erases it all. Because I have failed a class, my favorite concept from the video was the idea that instead of receiving a failing grade, one school employed the term "not yet." to signify the student still had more to learn. If any of my grade-school teachers had used this concept, I feel as though I would have developed a growth mindset much sooner. Throughout my time here at the University, I have unknowingly developed a growth mindset after realizing that in order to truly understand and do well with a class one must struggle through it. For me personally, if I do not struggle with a new topic at first I wonder if I really understand it.  That being said I was initially very impressed with the Growth Mindset and the concept of rewarding effort and progress rather than intelligence.  Being an engineering major here at the University I am constantly challenging myself to master difficult course work, and even though I have had no previous knowledge of the growth mindset I feel as though it is already something I employ, at least at a basic level. 

(Growth Mindset, credit to John Golden, Math Hombre Blog