“Success it’s all about mindset”

Imagine the scene: You’re in class and your teacher presents you with a new concept. It’s quite complex and a lot to wrap your head around. Many of your classmates manage to grasp it almost immediately, and set-to on the tasks in front of them.

How would you react?

“I can’t do it.”

“It’s too hard.”

“I’m not smart enough.”

“Those kids are smarter than me. They were just born with it.”

Have you given up already? Perhaps that’s what you’ve always been taught – some people are just born more intelligent than others. Some kids are great at Maths, or just ‘get’ Science. Maybe you’ve even been told in the past that you’re simply not good at a particular subject, and that’s okay because we all have weaknesses.

It’s time to change your thinking…

Did you know that every time you learn something new, the synapses in your brain actually make new connections? And did you know that as your brain makes these connections and those synapses are firing away, your intelligence is increasing? Great news, right? But the question is: how can we make sure that we actually succeed in learning these new concepts that many of us so easily give up on?

The answer lies in Growth Mindset.

Research shows that brains and talent alone do NOT equate to success and achievement. It’s actually effort that makes or breaks you as a successful person. Growth Mindset reinforces this idea and should change your thinking.

Now, your parents, teachers, tutors and/or lecturers play a key role in this. If you feel they’re not practicing Growth Mindset, tell them you’d like them to try it out on you.

So, what does it involve?

Growth Mindset is all about positive praise and encouragement of effort. That’s right, even if you get something wrong the first 10 times you try it, you should still be praised for your effort. With that encouragement and support, you’re more likely to keep going, keep trying, and in the end, you WILL master whatever it is you’re trying to learn.

I can’t do it …. YET!

You weren’t born knowing how to add 2 + 2. Somebody had to teach you. Your teachers weren’t born knowing Algebra, or how to analyse a text, or how to explain the water cycle. At some point, they might have said, “I can’t do it,” but they kept going, kept trying, and now they’re teaching it to you! It was because of their effort that they were able to learn. And that learning fired up their brains, got their synapses building connections, and increased their intellectual abilities. If there had been nobody there to praise their efforts and keep them going with encouragement, they would have given up and would never have been able to grasp those things they are now teaching to you!

So, next time your teacher sets you off on a task that makes your mind boggle, take a deep breath, remind yourself that everything worth knowing requires effort, trust the process of learning, and remind yourself of some key phrases:-

If you’d like to find out more about Growth Mindset,

visit www.mindsetonline.com