Growth Mindset for Kids
Nurture Growth Mindset
Genes are capable of expansion given the required input from an individual. This fact produces binary mindsets within societies’ cultures: the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. These two variations of mindsets determine how an individual leads their life within society and amongst themself. When an individual takes on a fixed mindset, they believe their potential is limited to the talent they already have at hand; therefore, their intelligence is limited. However, with a growth mindset, individuals believe that a person’s true potential is unknown. For this reason, a growth mindset allows for greater potential in countless aspects of life by promoting fulfillment, resilience, and inspiration throughout a lifetime.
The development of a growth mindset allows for considerably more life satisfaction than that of a fixed mindset. Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at the University of Stanford, examines the responses of individuals to a proposed story of misfortunes in order to assess the differences between the two distinct mindsets. Individuals who regarded a fixed mindset within their thinking revealed pessimistic thoughts concerning the proposed scenario, however, individuals with a growth mindset remained more optimistic and positive over the negatively pictured scene. Someone who takes on a growth mindset has the ability to counteract negativity with positivity; they are able to appreciate things in all forms, even the more fatalistic encounters. Because these individuals are able to appreciate the smaller and seemingly more insignificant aspects of life, they are able to create higher levels of satisfaction within their lives due to their ability to view life in a positive manner.
A growth mindset establishes resilience by encouraging challenges and change. Dweck poses an observation amongst a group of children attempting to complete multiple puzzles with varying difficulty levels. At first, the puzzles were very easily accomplished by the children, however, as time progressed and additional puzzles were placed in front of them, they became more difficult and required more thought. In the observation, the children who took on a growth mindset made positive light out of the challenge; they were able to take the setback and view it as a learning experience. However, children with a fixed mindset became frustrated and angry when they were unable to solve the more difficult puzzles; some of the children even gave up on the more difficult puzzles. The children with the growth mindset were able to embrace the challenge, while the children with the fixed mindset gave up at the placement of a challenge. Something that became prominent in this experiment was that human qualities can be cultivated by effort. If an individual has the determination and drives to better themselves through the acquisition of knowledge, they will continue to further foster efficiency and mastery throughout their lives.
One more beneficial factor of hosting a growth mindset is the inspiration that arises from both success and failure. When a challenge occurs in the face of an individual who houses a growth mindset, they are able to see it as something wonderful, and they are able to embrace it and see improvement through hard work and ample effort. Individuals with a growth mindset recognize that anyone has the ability to better themselves through commitment and resilience, and they are inspired by the successes within themselves and those around them. Each time an individual faces challenges they are able to conquer, there is a small amount of pleasure gained from overcoming the difficulty. Overcoming a challenge presented to someone with a growth mindset has the ability to emit dopamine quantities that suggest it is rewarding a pleasurable.
The thought that phrenology, craniology, and genes may possibly determine knowledge is discredited by the binary factors of growth and fixed mindsets. An individual's outlook on life is a greater determining factor of how much knowledge they are able to acquire. The limitations are endless for those with a growth mindset, however, those with a fixed mindset remain very limited in the continuation of their learning and growth. It is important for individuals who wish to lead a successful life to maintain a growth mindset in order to continually move forward toward their goals. Without this mentality, they may become stuck in a rut or a hole in their path. As long as an individual puts in the required effort to be better, and to learn more, they will continue to grow in ways they never knew were possible.