Growth Mindset

I had never before been exposed to Carol Dweck or her contributions to the Growth Mindset, but I can see how it can be beneficial in fostering a more positive attitude towards oneself and even more positive results. I am a very driven person who has always pushed myself to do the most. The TED Talk she gave really hit home with me because I was and still am the kid who was always concerned about getting good grades and making sure my report card showed all A's. Her idea of "not yet" was almost freeing in a sense because if I didn't get something right the first time I would get frustrated and feel like I had failed, but she said in reality you learn more going through the process. If you were perfect and always got things right the first time, there would be no learning or growing involved. She also discusses how she wants to shift away from defining things that are automatically easy as being good things. Dweck said that we should make ourselves feel comfortable when we are challenged because that is when we are experiencing the process and that is when we will experience the most growth. When I started at OU, I definitely had more of a fixed mindset. I think as I have matured and the classes have become much harder, I have allowed myself more grace and given myself space to learn and room to make some mistakes. I became very ill my sophomore year of college and part of it I think was due to the fact that I was pushing myself so hard in every area of my life. I did not allow time for myself to grow and I did not think it was acceptable to ever fail in anything I attempted. Now as a senior I still have a strong work ethic, but I have learned more boundaries and that I have to take time to care for myself and that is okay. I know I will need to apply a sort of Growth Mindset when I begin PT school. I will be thrown into a new pool of people who are all very intelligent and have the same goals as me, which I can see either as a wonderful opportunity for me to improve my skills or I can let fear dictate and see it only as competition.

(cheezburger)