Thursday, September 28, 2017

Growth Mindset


Growth Mindset allows you to Live Abundantly. . .

"In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it."
 — Carol Dweck, Stanford University

Too many people have the fixed mindset that they are the way they are because that's just who they are . . . they believe they are stuck because they are not made to be any other way.
Getting healthier . . . so many people believe their body makeup or their health issues will not allow them to make changes and have success. They've tried in the past and failed. They believe that failure determined their future success. They are living in a fixed mindset that they will fail again and they are not capable of the healthy lifestyle.
Athletics/Music/Art . . . so many believe you are born with or without a certain talent and never work towards their passion or goal. So many have been fed lies because of the arena of beliefs they have walked through. So many just never try to push and work towards their dreams because they feel they do not fit the mold.
. . . I had an elementary PE teacher that was my neighbor, but she was also an artist. I would visit her often and learn how to draw and paint. Over and over I would ask her if this was correct. Did I do it right? She would tell me that I am the artist and if I saw it that way then it was correct. She continued to show me techniques, and I grew to be artistic and creative. She developed a growth mindset in me, and I believed I was an artist and I could create beauty. Eventually I did create artistic pieces and continued to grow in my creativity. Am I creative in everyone's eyes? . . . I seriously doubt it, but I didn't give up because my growth mindset was developed. That day I developed a mindset that there is a way to achieve anything you want to achieve. . . Some would call me a "dreamer". I believe that we can achieve anything we want as long as it is in God's will for our life. It may not, and probably won't, be easy and it most likely it will cause some pain along the way . . . but growth towards our passion will happen and bring us closer to success.
Academics . . . Many say or believe that they just don't have the intelligence to accomplish those kind of grades or that type of career. Many have low expectations of themselves because of past failures so they have a fixed mindset of what they can and cannot achieve academically. Many students just don't do an assignment because they feel they can not do it on their own or that they will fail anyway so why try. Many teachers and professors that do not foster student growth mindset have a fixed mindset of what a student can and cannot achieve due to the student's past success and failures. . . this hurts my heart! Students may fail but they need to be encouraged to try again and taught how to accomplish the expectations - this is where help and tutoring may come into play - some have to work harder than others but growth mindset must be established so the student doesn't quit because of failure. . . students and teachers both require a growth mindset for a successful learning environment.
To live abundantly and live out our passion, we need to think with a growth mindset instead of fixed mindset . . . Growth mindset encourages us to believe we can grow towards whatever we want to accomplish. When we set our mindset on growth, we see failure as an opportunity to grow, not the determinate that we cannot do something. Failures are learning opportunities to become a better version of ourselves. Failure allows us to examine our inner strength to push harder. It allows for us to ask ourselves "why". Why am I going to continue when I just failed or it was too hard? Why am I going to quit when I could possibly take what I just learned and grow and build on that knowledge to succeed next time?
Too many times we quit because we have fixed expectations or perceptions in our mind that we are not capable or worthy of the passion or goal we are reaching to achieve.
Crush that fixed mindset and begin to believe that you can grow into the life of abundance that you want. Why not you?
Passion with a growth mindset paired with perseverance will allow you to achieve anything that you want to achieve. You might have to work just a little harder than the next person, but it doesn't mean you are not destined for greatness.
One step at a time. . . Break through one wall and move up to the next step. Then the next and the next. Eventually with each step you will be at the top with a growth at each step. If you climb back down each step, it will now be easier to climb back up because you learned the success of each step (you didn't take the easy way up without learning and growing), and now you have an opportunity to help someone else breakthrough each wall and make it to the top with you.
There is no elevator to success in a growth mindset. A fixed mindset looks for ways to take the easy route or "find an elevator" so they do not have to experience hardships. But we do find tools along the way to kickstart the journey, but it doesn't mean we skipped the hard work. They learn study skills, they find weight loss or exercise programs that lead them towards success, or they find certain artistic tools that help them paint better. We are all made differently and find what works and helps us grow. Hardships are a part of growth and long lasting success. . . and giving you the capability to help others develop a growth mindset and success.
When school work is hard, do you cheat or get someone else to do your work? If so, you took an elevator. If you go through the struggles and learn with each assignment, then the next assignment will be easier.
To live abundantly, a GROWTH MINDSET is necessary. . . God has a purpose of greatness placed before each one of us: as seen in Ephesians 2:10, "You are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do".

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