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“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”Albert Einstein

A growth mindset is a way of thinking that could help expand your potential in daily activities. From what I understand, people with a growth mindset understand that they have room for improvement, acknowledge that, and then take the necessary steps in order to do so. Those with a fixed mindset that their skills, abilities and talents are ingrained from birth, and unchangeable. During the past month, our class has been discussing the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, and what we can do in order to think with the former.

I theorize that the reason why people may have a fixed mindset is because many find it hard to acknowledge and express their weaknesses. I also believe that people with a fixed mindset may think that way because it’s scary to put your all into something only to mess up or fail. It’s easier if you could just blame your failures on something you can’t change like the lack of a talent or a trait that is unchangeable. 

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Those who have a growth mindset understand that talent isn’t always an inborn trait. They know that if they work hard, learn from their mistakes, and keep trying, they will improve. It’s important to understand that making mistakes or even failing is part of what makes us human. It’s also important to know that learning from your mistakes is an important part of improving or working towards success.

Over the past month, our class has completed small “challenges” regarding the topic of a growth mindset. During this time, we have compiled our work into journals. You can find my journal attached here.

Although I don’t feel as if I always have a growth mindset, I do think that I have the necessary understanding and knowledge in order to maintain a growth mindset within my future tasks. Speaking of which, I have made a “growth mindset selfie” with a statement that explains my academic goal for the school year.

No matter how hard we may try, it’s inevitable we’ll make a mistake sooner or later. It’s important that instead of feeling ashamed or even embarrassed about it, that we take the time to reflect and learn from it instead. However, we don’t always have to make a mistake in order to learn. 

Failure opens up an opportunity of learning; every time we remain embarrassed or frustrated by our own mistakes, we lose an important opportunity. That is a failure in itself.