Lessons from Mindset that ought to be included in School Curriculum
Redefining notions of success
Growing up, there was a picture that I thought I needed to live up to. It was of a perfect child who tops the class (effortlessly), plays a sport or draws or sings (which she should be excellent at), crack the most competitive exams without breaking a sweat & repeat all the above, again. This picture still haunts me, for I believed there was nothing wrong with it and beat myself up when I didn’t measure up to those standards.
Then I read Mindset by Carol Dweck which shattered that picture, brought me back to my senses, and gave me a new perspective to look at the world - growth mindset.
This brings me to the first lesson that we should learn.
It’s the mindset that matters.
The description of the perfect child, who is naturally talented at learning is actually something conjured up by what Carol Dweck calls the fixed mindset. In a fixed mindset, you constantly seek validation. Whatever happens to you should be proof of your natural abilities and also that you’re superior to others. What happens if this person fails? Well, if a person continues to be in the fixed mindset, they will take failure as a judgment pronounced upon them that will not change. This is one of the primary reasons people give up on difficult things like mathematics, physics, or any sport.
On the other hand, there are people who take it as an opportunity to find out where they’re going wrong and learn from it i.e. they’re seeing it as an opportunity to grow. The best part, you can change your mindset. Simply knowing that you can be caught up in the fixed mindset can help you come out of it.
We can be taught to develop a growth mindset.
Teaching yourself to have a growth mindset is simple — the next time you are stuck with a difficult task, picture yourself making new connections and learning, seek constructive criticism, revisit experiences that you thought defined you(rejection or failing at something), and examine what really went wrong. In short, be more observant of your thoughts and try to examine them impartially.
Accomplishment is not instant
Did you know that Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb alone but had an army of scientists working for him? Or that there was a team behind Darwin’s The Origin of Species? And also that both of these took years of research?
When we think about this, it explains why we are more result-oriented than process-oriented. We don’t see that the process involves incremental steps, frequent failures, and getting back to work and being at it. We think the effort is for those without talent. This mindset sets in early in schoolchildren when they transition to high school where the lessons get challenging. Those with a fixed mindset are quick to label themselves or the subjects or their teachers. On the other hand, those with a growth mindset seek out help, struggle, and then overcome these difficulties.
Appreciate effort not the ability
Do you remember how people reacted to your test scores? If they were good, they’d mostly say ‘Wow you must be really smart!’ and if they weren’t they’d say ‘Looks like math is not your thing’. In both cases, there’s no room for effort. In a study conducted by Prof. Dweck, middle school children were divided into two groups and tested. For half of the people who scored well, their ability was praised and for the other half, the effort was appreciated.
90% of the students praised for effort wanted to take up challenging new tasks for them to learn as opposed to the ability students who refused to take up the challenging tasks. The opposite of this — negatively labeling students is also detrimental to their learning as they’d think they deserve it.
In summary, the next time you want to compliment someone find a growth-minded way to do it.
Redefining success
What does success mean to you? Is it accomplishment in something or is it performing to the best of our abilities?
By now you’d know that people with a growth mindset would find success in performing to the best of their abilities. And what’s more, the champions — Tiger Woods, the exceptional golf player, and Michael Jordan, the basketball champion also think in the same way. They embraced failure, learned from it, and became even better than they were.
“I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and I missed” Michael Jordan
The concept of growth mindset is potentially life-changing for many people, it was for me. It’s liberating to think we can break free from the labels that we gave ourselves or that society gave us and work towards becoming better versions of ourselves. I hope you do too.
