Learning, now Sharing2 Because I Care

Yesterday, a concept was introduced that I found interesting to share was “…it’s better for children to believe that hard work matters than to believe that they are smart.” Each group believes in either a growth or fixed mindset. I’m sharing from the book I read entitled, 5 Principles for a Successful Life that quotes another book, Mindset, authored by Dr. Carol Dweck who shares her research on this concept.

Dr. Dweck states that those with a “growth mindset” “held hard work in high regard, believing that the more you labored at something, the better you would become at it. They understood that even geniuses have to work hard for their great accomplishments.” It also showed that “their belief that they had an impact on the outcome through the application of their effort led them to work harder or create a new approach.”

Now those with a “fixed mindset” on the other hand, “were concerned about looking smart with little regard for learning…had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard at something was a sign of low ability. They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well.”

Further, if you’ve been told repeatedly and programmed to believe that you or perhaps your child or sibling is smart, stupid, or so intelligent or unintelligent, then technically, putting forth effort wouldn’t really matter. This could mean that our consistent “praise to our children for being ‘smart’ has been undermining their potential performance.” They would never want to lose their “smart” status, so they would never want to fail and therefore they may not want to try again after signs of failure or potential failure. Similarly, if one is “labeled unintelligent,…they will believe they cannot learn.”

It is, therefore, suggested that “instead of being labeled ‘smart’ or ‘unintelligent’, “we should tell our kids especially, “that brains grow and develop and that their ability to learn is linked to hard work and effort.”

Life lesson: We can control our efforts and hard work while we can’t generally control the label we’ve been given (dumb or smart, etc.). We can learn to evaluate and/or reevaluate a situation if we fail or after failure and then determine whether more work and effort would make a difference or if taking a different approach might lead to desired results. “…through effort and hard work, brains can grow and people can change.” The question to ask in every event is “What can I learn from this experience?”

No matter our age, profession, or how smart we think we are, there is always something more to learn.

If you have questions or want to know anything specific, or you wish to make a comment, or you simply wish to connect with me, email me at RCHelping people@yahoo.com. Read and follow my daily blog. I’ll be sharing some great, positive, and motivating quotes and thoughts. I’ll continue to share the many things I learn so that you and I can grow together. I am here to serve.

Have a peaceful, positive, and productive day!

Rochelle