Friday, December 5, 2014

Mindset on Life


            Throughout my life I have always been put in a growth mindset environment. I always believed I could learn anything I want as long as I put my effort into it. Then around high school I started my transition towards a fixed minds-set. I believe that a fixed mind se of knowing that your extremely smart and intelligent is better than a growth mind set, because not only do you suddenly feel more confident in class but you are also motivated to work harder to not only prove that you are smart you others, but also to yourself. It may sound kind of arrogant but what is really hiding behind that arrogance is a surge of motivation that cannot be achieved in the growth mindset.
            Throughout middle school I received good grades but compared to what my friends got and what my parents expected out of me, it was average at best. Once high school started the constant thought of mediocrity and always-2nd place made me feel unmotivated to even try in class. One day in my history class I received a C+ on a test, and after class I met with my friend who had the class earlier and we discussed how we did on the test. He explained how easy the test was and how he received an A easily, I sat there wondering to myself why couldn’t I do as well as him? So out of nowhere I told him I only missed two problems, a white lie of course, and after I told him about my near perfect test, he was surprised. I had never beaten him on a test before and now out of nowhere I had suddenly pulled an A right out of my ass. He said it was great and next test he will try to beat me. Later that day my parents asked the same thing and I once again lied to them about of history test score and they seemed happy but also eager for me to bring in more A’s. So from there on out I never worked harder in my life, I wasn’t sure if it was just a façade or what, but when the next test rolled along I received a legit A on my test, and the test after that, and soon the test right after that. And this wasn’t just happening in one class, I was so determined to be smarter than the other kids I decided to work harder in order to keep image up of being a sheer genius. All this started because of my fixed mindset of, I am smart, and I am better than my fellow peers. So no, I wouldn’t say fixed mindset is necessarily a bad way of thinking about life but instead a easy way to motivate yourself to work hard in order to keep up your super smart image. Compared to a growth mind-set, which I feel, is extremely hard to adapt and not only that but near impossible in my opinion to keep up. In a weird way it is easier to trick yourself in to thinking you’re smart no matter how awful that sounds that can actually be the way to get yourself motivated. How are you going to think that you’re smart if you don’t have anything to back it up?

Throughout my life I have always been put in a growth mindset environment. I always believed I could learn anything I want as long as I put my effort into it. Then around high school I started my transition towards a fixed minds-set. I believe that a fixed mind se of knowing that your extremely smart and intelligent is better than a growth mind set, because not only do you suddenly feel more confident in class but you are also motivated to work harder to not only prove that you are smart you others, but also to yourself. It may sound kind of arrogant but what is really hiding behind that arrogance is a surge of motivation that cannot be achieved in the growth mindset.

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