Carol Dweck
Carol Dweck is a philosopher who studies human motivation. In her studies, she explains why people succeed or fail as well as what is within the humans’ control to help them foster success. One of her theories, the two mindsets is incredibly powerful, especially due to the difference it makes. Over more than three decades, a study conducted by Dweck together with her colleagues portrayed their interest in the attitudes of students about failure. The study showed that while some students rebounded, others seemed devastated regardless of the setbacks’ size. Following the survey, Dweck coined the terms growth mindset and a fixed mindset in order to describe underlying beliefs humans have about intelligence and learning. Notably, students learn and understand the effort that makes them healthy when they believe they can get smarter. Therefore, they put in the effort and extra time, thus leading to higher achievement. Under this mindset, the traits are simply not a hand an individual is dealt with and has to live trying to convince themselves as well as others that they have a royal flush when they are secretly worried it is a big call. In this case, their challenges are just a starting point for their development. This mindset helps them believe that the qualities they possess are enough to cultivate anything through their efforts. On the other hand, students are more likely to give up or put less effort when they believe they cannot achieve an objective or reach their desired level. If a student believes that their qualities are unchangeable, then they possess a fixed mindset. In this case, these students want to prove their selves correct over and over again instead of learning from their mistakes. According to Dweck, how we view ourselves determines everything.
I allow a luxury of seniority so as to expand the invitation to one of the major setbacks I faced and had a transformative impact in life. It happened when I was a kid aged between 6 and 8 years old. It was literally a mortal blow. As a kid, like many other kids during our times, I grew up under severe and adverse economic circumstances that compromised my immune systems as well as exposed me to a number of bullies that had a severe impact on my academic performance. I remember I was quarantined for having double pneumonia as both my parents and teachers thought I was a threat to other kids. As a result, I was taken into a special hospital, and I had to deal with other students suffering from different contagious diseases. Having spent there for more than eight months, my life changed completely, and I do not remember one moment I felt so low. During that period, there was inadequate or no medication to treat me as well as other kids suffering from contagious diseases. Loneliness, sadness, and anger consumed me to the point of giving up in life. This affected my academic life, and I had a rough time overcoming poor performances and bullies. Ultimately, this affected my relationship with other people as I felt so insecure among them. Besides, I thought that society, in general, had betrayed me and believed that they should have done better.
Changing my beliefs can have a very powerful impact. The reason, I suffered academically led to a poor perception of other people. I felt a lot of hatred among different people that affected my trust towards them. By embracing the growth mindset, it would create an influential person for learning and embrace changes. According to Dweck, it would be better to get better over trying to prove how my greatness over and over. What is the point of hiding my deficiencies and weaknesses instead of overcoming them? Instead of looking for a partner or friends that will shore my self-esteem, I will find those that will challenge me. Instead of seeking true and tried methods, a growth mindset will stretch me to learning new experiences.
The hallmark of the growth mindset is the passion of individuals stretching oneself as well as sticking to it. This mindset will allow individuals to thrive and to keep up their spirits during challenging times in their lives. During this time of the pandemics such as the Covid-19, those with the growth mindset will continue thriving, unlike those with a fixed mindset. For instance, following the emergence and development of the pandemic, most people lost their jobs, businesses, property, and loved ones. With this regard, people with a fixed mind will easily quit and allow challenges to keep torturing them. On the other hand, those with a growth mindset will keep trying and inventing new ways to survive, they will never become tired from learning as this mindset advocates continuous learning and challenging our own weaknesses. In this case, they will understand that their challenges are just a starting point for their development. This mindset would therefore help them believe that the qualities they possess are enough to overcome anything through their efforts.