The Differences in Mindsets and why Growth Mindset Will Help a Person Go further in Life

In school, it is critical to have perseverance, a positive outlook, dedication, and motivation because this ensures academic success. In academic and personal aspects, there are different types of challenges one is likely to encounter and a person’s mindset will determine how one deals with such situations. People with a growth mindset tend to believe that their intelligence is not fixed. Thus, they have a strong belief that the efforts they dedicate to a particular task determine the nature of results they are likely to get.

This attitude encourages them to embrace new challenges and they remain persistent even when they face setbacks. A fixed mindset is the belief that the knowledge one has is static, and a person cannot acquire new skills through learning. Moreover, people with fixed mindsets tend to take failure personally. Rather than persevere and learn from the challenge they tend to personalize the failure. As a result, they think they are failures or incapable of any form of success and some of them are encouraged to cheat. However, some of the positives to a fixed mindset are that they encourage a person not to take needless risks and make one more careful about different situations. While there are positives and negatives to both fixed and growth mindset, there are more benefits to having a growth mindset not just for educational purposes but for life as well.

Fixed Mindset

Having a fixed mindset is defined as the belief that intelligence, abilities, and talents are fixed traits and that one has no potential to grow or improve. In the fixed mindset people tend to avoid challenges and they feel dumb with failure or setbacks and don’t try to learn from mistakes. Instead, they tend to study less and consider cheating the next time a challenge arises. Some people with a fixed mindset believe that if one has to work hard that he or she isn’t good enough and it is seen as a threat to the person and their intelligence. Thus, such people ignore useful feedback and criticism because it affects their confidence and self-esteem negatively. Having a fixed mindset not only restricts a person from growing, but it also encourages them to judge and criticize others. Thus, such people are usually driven by fear in various activities they do due to their unwillingness to leave their safety nets even when things are not working out for them (Marinos, 2018). While having a fixed mindset allows a person to feel safe and protected it also makes them see the world as full of limitations and conflict which stops a person from progressing in society.

It is worth noting that a person with a fixed mindset is likely to make appropriate sacrifices that enable them to achieve better outcomes in various activities they do. Consequently, this hampers their ability to succeed in various activities they do at any given time. Some people with fixed mindsets might believe that talent is the only thing they need to fulfill their dreams and this is not always true (Marinos, 2018). Considerably, this notion discourages people from pushing themselves harder to deal with certain situations that are either crucial to their failure or success. Since many are unwilling to learn from their mistake, people with fixed mindsets tend to be driven by negative perceptions that deny them exposure to various possibilities that are crucial to their success. Considerably, the situation makes it harder for one to acknowledge his or her shortcomings and work towards improving them in any given society.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that talents, intelligence, and skills can be grown with hard work and determination. In the face of challenges people who have a growth mindset embrace it and, in most cases, enjoy it. When faced with setbacks, people with a growth mindset view the challenges as opportunities to learn and grow becoming better in what they do. In a growth mindset, hard work and determination are embraced compared to in a fixed mindset where they are regarded as insulting to one’s intelligence. In many instances, criticism is welcomed, and individuals with these mindsets are open to trying new strategies that yield better results in various activities they do (Coppola, 2018). Similarly, persistence, determination, open-mindedness, and resiliency are salient characteristics of the growth mindset that influence people’s attitudes. While trying something new may be uncomfortable and unfamiliar, people cannot let fear dictate their lives by being afraid of the new and unfamiliar. Therefore, a growth mindset is not only beneficial for the academic world but it is extremely crucial for life and relationships because of the positive impact that it has.

Even though embarking on new challenges may expose one to various risks, he or she needs to have a positive attitude to succeed. Consequently, personal drive helps one to understand his or her own abilities and what one needs to do to acquire new skills. In this regard, the growth mindset encourages an individual to build strong relationships with others that spur one to attain the levels of competence one desires (Coppola, 2018). Crucially, a growth mindset enables a person to think critically about a certain task and come up with an appropriate plan of action on how to perform it. As a result, the individuals set priorities that they seek to accomplish at a given period to ensure they become independent and more competent in what they do. Therefore, growth mindset helps in strengthening one’s capabilities in a particular activity that a person does.

Why Growth Mindset is better?

A growth mindset is better than a fixed mindset because neurons change with experience. In this regard, brain plasticity makes it easier for an individual’s neurons to change with experience especially due to their willingness to learn new ideas. Consequently, the inner motivation to thrive in various situations a person is placed in makes growth mentality better because it affects how an individual perceives various issues. Furthermore, a growth mindset encourages an individual to try out a different approach when he or she fails and this increases the likelihood of an individual becoming successful (Torres, 2016). Crucially, by being open to new challenges and approaches, one is likely to build vital relationships with other people that yield better outcomes. For this reason, a growth mindset allows a person to take action and become better at various activities they do in a particular environment.

People learn from setbacks and take actions that help them improve in the future. A salient issue that can be linked to the growth mindset is that it allows individuals to plan after learning from both positive and negative experiences. The ability to learn from experiences implies that growth mindsets push individuals to search for knowledge that ensures they do not repeat similar mistakes they made in the past. In essence, it offers an ideal way in which a learner can track his or her progress over time and analyze whether one has made any improvements (Torres, 2016). Time is a salient measure of a person’s growth curve and the efforts one has put in to realize one’s purpose in life. In this regard, a growth mentality allows an individual to build his self-esteem over a specific period of time and reinforces the belief one can do something. Therefore, these changes in attitude are vital

Are Parents or Teachers to blame for Mindset?

Some parents and teachers are to blame for different mindsets affecting children under their care. It is necessary for a parent to find ways of motivating a child to enable him or her to acquire the knowledge one needs in various fields to accomplish personal goals. In some cases, when children are praised a lot about being intelligent, they are likely to lose the motivation to work hard and accomplish different goals. Crucially, children must be made aware of the importance of putting efforts in various tasks that one performs to attain better outcomes in the long-term (Dweck, 2008). On the other hand, teachers need to find ways of improving the quality of the curriculum to ensure children are given the education they need to achieve their purpose. Therefore, the children will be more interested in learning and exploring various ideas that aid their development.

In some cases, parents reassure their children of how intelligent they are as a way to placate them when they are unwilling to perform their school-based activities. Such an approach may make children lose interest in more complex activities because they will believe that they are not smart enough. Consequently, the situation lowers their motivation and willingness to try out different activities that are beneficial to their cognitive development. In the same vein, it is necessary for parents to reinforce superior attitudes in their children by making them understand any success they get must be earned through hard work and determination. Empty praises that give children momentary hope do not address some of the weaknesses they face in different environments (Dweck, 2008). Therefore, the empty praises hamper the overall growth and development of children because they are unlikely to endure some of the difficulties that lead to success in the long-term.

Disadvantages of Both mindsets

There are different disadvantages of a growth mindset that affect how people act and relate with other people in a social setting. There is a misconception that effort is the only thing that one needs to actualize his or her goals in a particular environment. However, poor teaching practices may hamper one’s ability to grow and achieve positive outcomes from various activities. According to the incremental theory, some people believe that putting in the effort is likely to increase one’s ability in a particular issue (Karwowski, Royston & Reiter-Palmon, 2018). However, it fails to recognize the impacts of external factors in shaping one’s acquisition of knowledge and skills in a particular environment.

In the same vein, there are several disadvantages of a fixed mindset that need to be analyzed to determine how they affect a person’s attitude in a particular social setting. Some people may assume a person has a fixed mindset when he is affected by depression or anxiety. Such mental illnesses are likely to create difficulties in learning if they have not diagnosed appropriately (Karwowski, Royston & Reiter-Palmon, 2018). Lack of motivation might be misconstrued as a fixed mindset in a person hampering one’s willingness to put in more efforts to achieve better results out of an activity. Lastly, low self-esteem is a disadvantage that needs to be addressed by making individuals feel they are capable of performing a particular activity.

Conclusion

Both growth and fixed mindsets affect how people learn and perceive various activities in their respective social environments. It is vital for people to use their natural talents well and acquire new ideas that will help them accomplish other complex issues they are exposed to. In this regard, such an approach allows individuals to be ready to embrace various challenges so that they become successful in various actions they take in the long-term. A growth mindset exposes an individual to different possibilities that enable a person to utilize his or her individual talents more effectively. Further, the learning process stimulates interest and this shows the significance of a growth mindset in increasing an individual’s self-esteem and confidence. Considerably, transformations in attitude that occur as one acquires more knowledge encourage a person to set appropriate goals that help him or her deal with difficulties being faced. Therefore, a growth mindset keeps a learner motivated because he or she knows there can be no positive rewards without endurance, hard work and dedication on a specific task. On the contrary, when growth mindset in employed in the education system whereby, students are accorded praise for any effort they make. Research has shown that the praised students become less interested as the end gain is only praise (Kohn, 2015). As a result, the implementation of a growth mindset in education system should be considered with caution.

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