Growth and Fixed Mindset

##Growth Mindset

• Brain creates new neuronal pathways throughout one's process of learning (lifelong).
• Offers a new perspective on one's ability to acquire new tasks and information - we are all born to learn and therefore, we have the innate tools to learn anything and everything.
• Failures and Mistakes are a positive benchmarks, establishing areas of growth - accept struggles and challenges as a means to cultivate skill such as perseverance perseverance and tenacity.

##Fixed Mindset

• A very finite perspective of one's ability to grow cognitively
• We are born with a set of tools and innate abilities upon which new skill/information cannot be compounded.
• Praise in one's abilities leads to aversion toward struggling which leads to the avoidance of any type of challenge where one meets resistance.

##Outline

###I. Introduction

Essentially the brain is a massive super computer and allows me (and virtually everybody else) to perceive and interact with our surrounding environment in ways far exceeding any other species on Earth. With that, it should be noted that the brain needs to be appropriately programmed from birth. The neuronal pathways and shortcuts as well as the constant creation of new brain cells only occurs when the mind is actively stimulated such as one doing algebra or learning a violin concerto. But such tasks, like the aforementioned, can be tedious and down right hard. This concept of hard and challenging were not positive opportunities for growth, but grueling tasks which I avoided. However, in retrospect I understand that I, in a lot of ways, had a fixed mindset (and possibly still do). I am not a virtuoso violinist because I never put the time into it but this can only serve as a positive example of how I am striving to cultivate for myself a perspective and attitude that welcomes challenging, uncomfortable moments.

###II. (P.1) Violin experience and not putting in the necessary effort

i. not practicing when i was younger

ii. i lost interest bc i let other's negative opinions change how i looked at classical music

iii. the orchestra allowed me to hide and i didn't have to practice the pieces as much as when i was in the chamber group and was the only violinist.

###III. (P.2) School <--> Social Life

i. didn't think i could change my situation -- friends, bad influences, not being true to myself

ii. didn't put in as much work as i should have because school always came easy to me

iii. Senior Thesis and forging the path toward cultivating a growth mindset

###IV. (P.3) Family

i. difficulty in learning to understand my family bc we I am growing into my own person. Fixed mindset stalls emotional maturity and inhibits cultivation of positive familial relationships.

ii. holding on to the past and what we were conditioned to be...learning to understand how fixed mindsets are instilled at a young age and can be a defense mechanism

iii. now trying to communicate more effectively in order to get to know the person my sister is growing into, the idiosyncrasies of my parents...

###V. Conclusion

The hard times have really taught me valuable life lessons. I attempt to embody an attitude that I can do anything I set my mind to regardless of my own self-doubt or the animosity of others.