Showing posts with label Growth Mindset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growth Mindset. Show all posts

Jan 18, 2018

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.