Do you have a Growth Mindset?

I doubt I would have been an Olympic athlete if it weren't for a growth mindset ... not that I knew that it had a name.

The growth mindset is a theory largely based on the concept of neuroplasticity - the acknowledgement of the brain's ability to change over the life course. A growth mindset is the having the belief that if you work hard, you can change your abilities: your talent, your intelligence, your character - things that are often thought of as fixed.

"I can't run fast, I was just born that way."

"I'm just not the type of person to forgive."

"My dad could never understand maths, so I guess I'm that way too."

How often do we hear (and make) these fixed mindset statements? And they're just not true! There is growing evidence that malleable things like self-discipline effort, passion and perseverance can trump IQ in outcomes such as academic performance. And a growth mindset can help to buffer the detrimental effects of low SES on academic performance. .

Find out your mindset here.

When I was at school, I wasn't considered good at sport - I was in the lowest ranked netball team and I never won a game of tennis. I was comparatively okay at rowing, but not tall like all rowers seemed to be. When I started in elite rowing, the state sports institute cut me from their squad for not being good enough. But I persisted and went on to win world championships and row at the Olympics. A growth mindset helped me.

If I'd had a fixed mindset, I might not have even tried out for the sports institute in the first place. It would have been so easy to think "well, I'm not good at sport, why would they have me in the elite rowing program?" But I believed my sporting ability was not set in stone; with the right training and with hard work, I would be better. That's the growth mindset.

So how can we foster the growth mindset? There is no simple answer, but there are a few strategies that make sense to me.

1. LEARN ABOUT THE GROWTH MINDSET

And talk about it.

I didn't use the term, but I remember talking about the growth mindset to my then 7 year-old niece. We were watching the incredible young dancer in a Sia music video and she was in awe. "That dancer is amazing," I told her. "But she wasn't just able to dance like that, she wasn't born being able to do that, she had to work really hard and practice her dancing a lot to be able to do that." I thought it was really important that my niece knew that.

2. FOCUS ON THE PROCESS RATHER THAN THE OUTCOME

This strategy is straight from sports coaching 101. Focus on the procedure, specifically the effort made, rather than the result reached. This is important when we analyse our own actions and particularly important when we praise our kids. In the same way, emphasise growth and learning over speed. By praising someone's effort rather than the initial outcome, we can help reinforce the growth mindset.

3. RE-FRAME DIFFICULTIES AS 'CHALLENGES'

And re-frame them as temporary. This may take time. The first step is noticing your thoughts around setbacks and then begin to challenge them.

4. USE THE WORD 'YET" OFTEN

There is a big difference between "I can't do this" and "I can't do this yet." Carol Dweck explains;

5. BREAK DOWN BIG PROJECTS

Thinking about how many training hours were needed to make the Olympic team would be pretty overwhelming. Instead we focused on the weekly training program and the individual sessions outlined within it.

6. EMBRACE SETBACKS

Every setback helps you learn, so embrace them.

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References

Claro, S., Paunesku, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(31), 8664-8668.

Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Self-discipline Outdoes IQ in Predicting Academic Performance of Adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12), 939-944.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.

Dweck, C. S. (2007). The secret to raising smart kids. Scientific American Mind, 18(6), 36-43.

Dweck, C. (2008). Mindsets and math/science achievement: New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Institute for Advanced Study, Commission on Mathematics and Science Education.

#growthmindset