how the growth mindset changed my schooling experience

For those of you who stay updated with my blog, you know I read the book Mindset over Christmas break and have been raving about it ever since. I guess it's just not very often that you read a book that truly has an affect on you and changes the way you think and act. I'm not going to pretend this was an overnight transformation, but I will say that this book has stayed with me far longer than most books do. And in the moments where I'm feeling glum, I always return back to the principles that are so beautifully explained in Mindset. Perhaps the only principles that I use more often than the mindset principles are those I've learned from the gospel and have been trying to implement my whole life.

In a post where I vaguely mentioned that having a growth mindset helped in my schooling this semester, a friend asked me to explain more in depth what I meant by that. So here's what was different for me:

1. I started out the semester with an enthusiasm for learning I hadn't had since my first semester of my freshman year. The growth mindset puts the focus on learning and growing, and I was really excited to approach my classes with that outlook, and just try to learn all I possibly could.

2. I pushed myself harder to do everything, especially the first few weeks. In my first semester here at BYU, I did the readings for maybe a week (if that), and then gave up, and ever since then I've done very few readings for my classes. But with the new approach to the semester I realized I had to try my very best in all aspects of the class, and I had to try reading again. And it worked! ...For a few weeks. As soon as midterms and papers started piling up, I will admit the reading was shoved to the side. And honestly, I think that's okay. Because I was still learning, and yes I wasn't perfect my first time. But I was better than I had been before, and that's what matters.

3. I studied to learn, not to pass a test. This is the biggest one for me, hands down. While there was, of course, a fair amount of cramming before tests, I honestly tried to study just to learn and retain information, and not to check it off a list. I used to be someone who would study to retain the information until after I passed a test, then forget it all and never think about it again. I think it's safe to say this is how a vast majority of people approach schooling, to be honest. But what a difference it made when I was reading and paying attention in class just to learn! I fell back in love with learning. A lot of this difference was made because I was in classes I truly enjoyed, and this was much harder to apply to those I wasn't as naturally drawn to. So obviously I still have things to work on. I had the same love of learning when I studied AP US History in high school, and can still to this day spout of way more random history facts than the average person. And now, after this semester, I can spout of a great deal of Human Development, Living Prophets, and Marriage Prep facts. So ask away my friends!

4. I remained more positive throughout the whole semester. By applying the growth mindset to my life, I was able to be confident and happy independent of hard things happening. My attitude was so much more consistent and stable than it had been in years (maybe I was just finally growing out of some teen hormones or something?) because it didn't fluctuate according to every circumstance in my life. My happiness was something independent of anything else, and that was refreshing. Obviously from my last post I've been sort of off in this regard as of late, and have had a harder time maintaining a positive attitude. Maybe it's time I read Mindset again.

And that's that. Those are the fundamental differences, and I feel like I covered the rest in my elaboration. Any more questions though, ask away! I obviously really enjoy talking about this. Or talking at all. I obviously really enjoy talking.

hashtag it's five in the morning.

Easter was really such a lovely day. And in general this weekend was such a lovely weekend.

But it was also a weekend that reminds me why I put the PRO in procrastinator, because here I am at 5 am on Monday morning finishing a paper I began 6 hours ago. And you know what? Up to this point this semester I've been pretty good about not procrastinating on this large a scale. Of course there's been some fairly typical procrastination going on, but nothing to this extent. The worst part of it all isn't the lack of sleep I'm getting, but the knowledge this paper isn't going to do very well. It kills me, really, because so far my grades in Human Development have been the proudest ones of my college experience to date. And knowing that this paper can't possibly get an A like the other two is really hard. I know I deserve it, completely and totally deserve it, and I guess this is just a little slap in the face that I can't grow lazy and still have a growth mindset. No, I gotta keep pushing myself to do my very best. The grade doesn't really matter, actually, it's just that one thing - my very best. My effort matters and this weekend it's been a pretty pathetic effort.

You guys probably don't care about all this, I know. Really I'm just trying to decide if 1 hour of sleep is worth getting or if I should keep trying to edit (doubt it, my brains are about to explode), or if I should just watch some episodes of That's So Raven or something, you know? So I decided to write a blog post while I thought it all through.

Don't worry, Mom, I'm not going to do that last one.

sushi and stuff

You know when you're so frustrated your body kinda starts shaking? Yeah, experiencing that right now.

I mean, it's fine, really it is. This is the moment where I get concerned texts from my sister and/or mother asking me what caused me to write such a passionate post on my blog. Never fear, family members and others, it's all okay. Bit of an overreaction, really.

But seriously?? Seriously.

Not really angry so to speak, but frustrated that things keep adding to my utter confusion.

In other news, going to get sushi tonight with some friends, so that'll be awesome. You best believe it's half off Tuesday and Thursday nights at Demae. And no, this isn't a sponsored post because, hi, 41 followers. But if Demae did want to sponsor me, all I'm saying is I wouldn't object to a year's supply of free sushi.

School is awesome. I really enjoy studying subjects that interest me, and so far this growth mindset is helping my studying a lot. The best part? It's paying off, and I can see the effects of that. What I don't like about school is the deciding a major part. I wish I attended Hogwarts and I could get called into McGonagall's office and she could be all "So you want to work at the Ministry?" to which I'd respond, "Yeah, sure, because what else is there to do in the wizarding world?" and she'd say, "LOL you're right and it's a good thing you're not a muggle because they have an absurd amount of choices."

But alas. I still have to make that weighted decision and seriously WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GREAT THINGS OUT THERE. I mean, grateful for that. But maybe I wish I wasn't interested in so many of them, you know?

Whaterr.

Have a super day, will you?

mindset.

Over the break, amidst countless other good intentions that never came true, I read a book. And what a book it was. Thank you, Dad, for bribing me to read this, because it's changed so much of my outlook on life. 

There are countless success books out there that try to teach you how to life a more fulfilled life. And while many of them are extremely helpful, I'm sure, I would recommend this one. While we've all been given advice or found those inspiring quotes while wasting time on pinterest about being yourself and going for your dreams and enjoying the moment, this book is able to really dissect all those feelings and figure out why some people are more fulfilled than others. And the key? Your mindset.

There's two kinds of mindset, and while I know I'll probably be butchering my quick summaries, barely touching on the depth of each one, I'll tell you what they are anyway: The fixed mindset, and the growth mindset.

In the fixed mindset, talent is everything. Success is proven by scores, by getting to the top, by high praise. She's an artist? Oh, well she has this natural artistic eye, and let's be real, I'm just not like that. He's the star of the basketball team? Of course, I mean look at his body and the natural abilities he's been given.

In the growth mindset, everything is about learning. Effort and hard work, that's what determines success. She graduated valedictorian? She got there because of hard work, not because she's a "genius". My coach corrects my technique? It doesn't hurt me, because growing is what I enjoy.

I realized as I read this book that I've been living the fixed mindset in so many aspects of my life. Folk dance in particular stood out to me. Stories in the book seemed to jump out almost as if they had been recorded from my very own life. I remembered a conversation with a friend a few months earlier. He had the growth mindset, I had the fixed.

Me: I love doing folk dance, but I really just enjoy it for the fun of it.
Friend: Well, Anna, do you want to get on one of the higher teams? Actually, that's a dumb question, of course you do. You're enrolled in 3 dance classes this semester for it.
Me: Well, yeah, I guess. I'd like that, but I know it's probably not going to happen, and that's okay.
Friend: Well how will you ever know if you don't try? If you don't give your all every time you dance? Wouldn't it be awful to go your whole folk dance experience and not to have tried your very best?
Me: But that's just it. I'm not a natural dancer. What if I were to try my very best, but fail? Wouldn't that be worse?
Friend: But Anna, you wouldn't have failed. You would have learned and grown so much. Remember how you auditioned for Divine Comedy but didn't make it? Do you consider that a failure?
Me: No, I learned and grew so much through the experience.
Friend: Exactly.
Me: But it's dancing, and I've never been a dancer.

Crazy, huh? Maybe not to you, but if you read the book, you'll realize how much of a fixed mindset I had about the matter. And it isn't that I necessarily have that mindset about everything, because, as seen in the conversation, I was able to enjoy the growth of the DC experience. Yet I was probably able to have that attitude because I already have some natural talent in comedy and acting, and because I made it to callbacks. Had I not made it to callbacks, I would have considered myself a failure. "I wasn't funny" I would have said, "Obviously this isn't my thing." I needed that official validation of making it to callbacks to consider my audition a success.

And here's another thing the book points out that really struck me - when did the phrase "I failed" become "I'm a failure"? And how often do we hear people say that? Since when has failing at one thing defined our entire identity?

So this semester I'm going to make a huge effort to change to the growth mindset. I'm going to study hard because I want to learn, not because I want to get a good test score. And when I don't get a good test score, instead of blaming the test, or just accepting that I'll never do well in that subject because "It's completely a left-brained subject and I'm a completely right-brained person, no big deal", I'm going to think about how I could have done better. What study techniques obviously didn't work? What did?

I'm going to give it my all in folk dance, 100% of the time. Not because I have to make it to the top per se, but because that's how I'm going to progress. And it's all about the progression. Even looking back to beginning of freshman year when I first auditioned, I've grown so much. Guys, I can clog now. Two years ago I never would have attempted clogging, but instead laughed and brushed it off with "I'm not a dancer. I can dance, sure, but I'm not a dancer. My mom and Katrina? They're natural dancers." But who cares? Other people in the program have been dancing for years, and I didn't start dancing until a year and a half ago. Yet here I am, holding my own. And I've come so far. How rewarding.

Seriously, people. Please go read this book, change your mindset, and embark on this journey with me!