Growth Mindset aka It All Makes Sense Now

This first thing that came to mind while I was watching these various videos on Carol Dweck's concept of the Growth Mindset is that I seem to have a fixed mindset. When the subject material gets confusing or hard, rather than seeing it as a positive challenge, I get discouraged. I have never really felt the need to be introspective on this behavior, but now that I am more informed, I feel as if I have let myself down a little.

Conflict in the Mind by Jonhain

As I mentioned before, I used to be a civil engineering major, but I changed my major when I realized that physics was too hard. I like to believe I tried my best and that physics and I were just not meant to be, but maybe that isn't the case. It is totally possible that my first realization that physics was hard set me back because I had a fixed mindset. Instead of wanting to learn more, I just wanted physics to get easier. That was never going to happen, so I convinced myself I couldn't do it and chose to do something else instead.

Of course, now, I wouldn't ever change my major back to civil engineering. I am very much so in love with psychology. Rather, I think psychology has even lead me to a more growth-oriented mindset. When things seem confusing now, I am more willing to learn more about whatever is challenging me. I think a lot of this has to do with how I feel about the subject. Because I love psychology, I am more willing to face challenges within it. Deep down, I always sort of hated my civil engineering major, so I didn't even want to clear things up for myself. On the other hand, maybe I only love psychology so much because I find it easy to follow most of the time, which feels rewarding.

In the end, there isn't anything I can do about how I thought of things in the past. From here onward, I'd like to think I'd value the process more than the result. I believe it would be beneficial for my own learning if I did have a more positive outlook on a challenge. I even expect this class to challenge me from time to time, so I am looking forward to approaching those difficult moments with a more positive outlook that will result in growth.