Stanford researcher Carol Dweck pioneered the idea of Growth Mindset versus Fixed Mindset. To understand these concepts we have to examine the way we have been trained to think about abilities. A lot of us are taught that one is born fixed: smart, capable or kind, and that people don’t really change a lot. This is a thought pattern we have to examine and reverse.
Growth Mindset is an embodied belief in our human ability to adapt, learn, and GROW.
With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis we have all been very adaptable making MASSIVE changes. When we look at the ways we have all adopted such incredible, rapid changes in our day-to-day behaviors it shows our capacity to grow rather than stay in a fixed mindset. Who would have thought that within a day of being given the face mask directive we would all adapt and see everyone wearing masks?
Challenge versus Obstacle
The changes we have all brought about in the last 6 weeks are all classic examples of Growth Mindset. Our ability to learn, grow and adapt are all a part of Growth Mindset.
As neuroscientists, we like to explain the role of neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to change. The brain is an amazing organ and continues to grow and refine itself depending on what we do, especially with challenges, struggles and failures. Research suggests that believing in the human capacity to change is linked to less depression, better health, and greater achievement. When we practice a Growth Mindset, obstacles are experienced as surmountable. This mindset helps us realize that we are not helpless, and enables us to see events as challenges instead of threats.
When we look at others from a Growth Mindset perspective, we have the capacity to better navigate social challenges. For example, when teens receive explanations about bullies from a Growth Mindset perspective, they are more likely to have compassion for the bullying person and work on repairs. Teens who receive Growth Mindset explanations are less likely to see the other person as fixed, or incapable of change, putting that person in a metaphorical box they can never get out of, and preserving the problem.
We have all been forced to spend tons of extra time with our family members in the last few weeks. Now is the time to examine what you are noticing in your family members and yourself.
Fear or Growth
Studies have shown that having a Growth Mindset counteracts the fight/flight response of our nervous systems. This can help create a more compassionate and empathetic household. The degree to which our brains have gotten hijacked by fear in the COVID-19 crisis is truly an opportunity for us to learn about our triggers and practice growth rather than becoming fixed in fear.
We suggest you ask yourself the following questions:
Am I feeling urges to hoard, spread negative emotions, overread news or complain?
Am I losing my temper easily?
If you answer yes, these reactions may be due to fear.
Try asking:
Am I beginning to recognise all the ways in which we are all trying to do our best?
Am I evaluating information before I forward it and spread it?
Am I able to identify a bigger range of emotions versus just fear, panic and anger?
Have I begun to stop consuming things that hurt me like news, too much food, or too much alcohol?
Am I starting to have some acceptance of how there are quite a few things I will not be able to control?
If you answer yes, you may be learning something new.
When we come into Growth we begin to act in the following ways:
Think of others and how to help them.
Make our talents available to those who need them.
Try to live in the present and less focus on the future.
Empathize with yourself and others. Realize- this is hard!
Increase appreciation for others and spread hope.
In a Growth Mindset we look for ways to adapt to new changes and practice quiet, patience, creativity and calm.
Growth Mindset and Perfectionism
How we teach our children will affect their mindset towards challenge. Thomas Curran, a social psychologist who researches young people and perfectionism in the UK, US and Canada presents these ideas extremely well in his TED talk. We really need to be able to teach our children to not be afraid to fail.
Encountering setbacks is a very natural part of the process of learning, and the more we can emphasize the importance of learning from failure, the less perfectionistic our children will tend to be. High rates of social perfectionism are correlated with extreme levels of depression and anxiety. When children are working on projects, we must not focus on the end result as much as we focus on the process.
One of the most significant lessons we can learn from the process of responding to Coronavirus is that we all have an amazing capacity for growth and change!
