Growth Mindset

Hello, Dear Ones,
 
Most of us have heard the saying “mindset matters,” but I never truly understood what that meant until I learned about growth and fixed mindsets. It felt like a missing piece and helped me understand myself more deeply. 

I learned that our brains are capable of growth! (Hooray, we should celebrate!)

I  spent a large part of my life (yes, my adult life too!) telling myself the story that I was born with all the talent, gifts, and abilities that I was ever going to have. Then in September 2020, my husband introduced me to Mike Boyd’s YouTube channel of videos of him learning new things. I was intrigued by these videos and found they made me emotional and hopeful. 

I can learn new things?! What a wonderful gift. The world is still my oyster. I started exploring this a bit in small ways and challenging myself to try new things. 

A few months later, I was assigned to present about growth mindset in my graduate program.

*Cue descent into a rabbit hole of awesome. 

Growth mindset was developed in the late 1980s by Carol Dweck. Dweck states that there is a mindset spectrum with a fixed mindset on one side and a growth mindset on the other, and we are actively living on that spectrum somewhere. She outlines that a fixed mindset is a belief that we are born with all the talent, ability, athleticism, creativity, intelligence, etc., that we will ever have. Growth mindset understands that those things are malleable. 

Neuroplasticity is how our brain forms new pathways when we learn new things. 

I love to hike, so I will use a hiking analogy to help illustrate this idea. 

Once upon a time, there were no hiking trails. Someone had to walk the wild path and set the trail to beautiful places. It may have taken them a few times, and they may have fumbled through it the next time. But eventually, that trail became a well-traveled and worn path for that person to travel again and again.

That is how we learn, by trying something new, trial and correction until we figure it out – and repeatedly doing that with new things. You are never too old to stop learning. 

When we’re trying and learning new things, we will make mistakes. Part of the growth mindset process is learning from our mistakes and perceived failures. 

It is hard to put yourself out there to fail, but it‘s necessary to live life with wondrous experiences, which is what I believe most of us want. 

Expect that you are going to make mistakes; celebrate them. Rename them as learning opportunities, growth moments, or some other entertaining name you come up with, like “awesome oopsies!” 

How can you creatively reframe it in your mind? 

I always return to this moment in the movie Meet the Robinsons, where the main character tries to fix an invention, but the thing goes haywire, and peanut butter and jelly go everywhere. The character starts to beat himself up and go to that “ugh, I’m so stupid” place, but everyone around him cheers and celebrates his failure. One of the other characters says, “From failing you learn, from success not so much.” That gives me goosebumps every time. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve avoided things I thought I’d fail at because being vulnerable is scary.  Admitting you don’t know or aren’t good at something can feel awful, but it doesn’t have to. We can create a new path in our brain that makes not knowing an exciting adventure. 

 Approach life with curiosity and excitement, and you’ll succeed because you’ll be willing to try. Learning will be a lifelong journey; you will have some short paths that are easier to form, and some will be ridiculously hard. Take as long as you need on the paths that challenge you, but don’t give up. Keep moving forward because those challenging trails have the best views when you reach the top. 

What’s something you would try if you knew you couldn’t fail? How can you take one small step towards that now?

Thank you for being here with me and allowing me to join your journey to becoming your best self. I’m here for you, and I see you.

With love and kindness,

Jessica

Check this out!

If you want to find out more about where you are on the Mindset Spectrum, check out this self-assessment:

https://blog.mindsetworks.com/what-s-my-mindset
 

P.S. 

The fun thing I am doing to take care of myself is deep cleaning and re-organizing! We got new siding recently, and while fixing up the outside of our home has felt so loving and warm, I have decided to also spend some time caring for the inside as well. 

My favorite part so far has been the reorganization of my bookshelf in my office. Getting rid of things I no longer need and moving things around felt so good, and I have enjoyed the energetic shift from taking care of my things. 

P.P.S.

I’m trying something new! If you’ve been enjoying my newsletters and feel inspired to express some gratitude, you can buy me a coffee here!