Scholars Learn to Cultivate a Growth Mindset
How you view things, from feedback to failure, from skills to setbacks, affects whether you are successful in life … or not. In June, in collaboration with the Heroic Imagination Project (HIP), CSULB BUILD Scholars attended a Growth Mindset Workshop where they learned how about how to cultivate a growth, rather than a fixed, mindset.
Having a growth mindset sets you up for success. People with this type of mindset believe they can always improve and view challenges as opportunities for growth. They realize that effort is required for mastery and that feedback helps them identify areas where they can improve. They also see setbacks as wake up calls to work harder – or smarter – next time.
Scholars learned that having a fixed mindset holds you back from achieving your potential. When you have a fixed mindset you view skills as something you’re either born with or without, not something that can be learned. Challenges become obstacles to avoid and effort is something you’re forced to do when you’re not good enough. Those with fixed mindsets get defensive in the face of feedback and are discouraged by setbacks.
In this interactive workshop, Scholars discussed the ideas they were learning and were provided tools to help them transform a fixed mindset into a growth mindset. For example, the simple word “yet” can open up possibilities: “I’m not good at math … yet.” They were encouraged to exercise the abilities they wanted to grow, rather than avoid them or be discouraged by skills they lacked at the moment. Also, they were shown that anxiety doesn’t have to hold you back; you can harness it to propel you forward.
