What actually a Mindset is?
A Mindset is a collection of thoughts and beliefs. It helps us add up to the world around us and understand ourselves too. Our mindset influences how we think, how we behave, and how we act in various situations of life. According to Prof. Dweck, who has done immense research work in this field, there are fundamentally two types of mindsets- fixed mindset and growth mindset.
A growth mindset is where we believe that we have the potential to grow, that our intelligence and abilities can be improved with the right strategies and over time. A willingness to counter challenges and embrace them, a passion and zeal for learning, and looking at failure as a foundation of growth are all characteristics associated with a growth mindset. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They also believe that talent alone helps a man succeed—without effort. And that’s far from the truth!
Why mindset is important?
Our mindset helps us face challenges that come up in life. Quite clearly, having a growth mindset helps us be better prepared in times of difficulty. For those of us who are not there yet, it does seem like it would have been awesome if someone helped us out much earlier! While we can consciously attempt to get better and get there, there’s a lot we can do for our children right away. For this, let’s first understand how a mindset is formed.
According to Dweck, the way we praise has a huge manner on what mindset a child grows up with. In a study of adolescents conducted by Prof. Dweck and her colleagues, they found a difference in the reactions of students who were praised for their ability versus those who were praised for their efforts. Interestingly, the ability-praise pushed students to a fixed mindset. They didn’t want to pick up anything challenging that would allow them to learn and grow, for the fear of failing or exposing their lack of ability to deal with it. On the other hand, about 90% of the effort-praise students wanted to participate in challenges to learn something new.
As adults, we can ensure that children develop a growth mindset through our communication with them, for instance, by praising their efforts and not inherent traits or talents. We should focus on the process and not the result or outcome. When mistakes are seen as opportunities to improve oneself and not as a failure, children will not be afraid of taking up challenges. They should learn to relish them. Constructive criticism is important. Merely appreciating the effort at something that was not successful is not enough for your child to succeed the next time. Analyzing what went wrong and providing feedback to reflect upon will help your child grow.
By doing this we help our children understand that their efforts, hard work, and determination can lead to improvement, learning, and growth. In fact, that hunger for learning and craving for hard work should become second nature for them. Often, the growth mindset translates to academic excellence as well.
