How to Develop a growth Mindset

So, you’ve studied all night for a really hard test but when you get your grade back, you’ve totally flunked! At this point, emotions are high, and a lot of thoughts are running through your brain. Some of them might sound like, Oh, I’m so stupid. I always mess up. I’m so bad at Spanish. Slow down! Bashing yourself will never help you improve! What you must do instead is cultivate a growth mindset. To do this, identify flaws in your thinking, not flaws in yourself. Take the thought: I’m bad at Spanish. First off, what does that mean? The word “bad” is not in any evaluative rubric, it’s emotive. What the word “bad” means is that you see room for improvement. But improvement where? Do you mix up your nouns? Forget how to conjugate verbs properly? There is an unmet need that can be addressed, a need for extra time studying, or extra one-on-one attention. Identify the specific area that needs improvement, and outline a tangible way to measure the improvement, such as “I’ll get a higher grade point average!” or

“Next test, I'll get a B+ and not a C!” Here’s what this looks like:

I’m bad at Spanish

Becomes...

I’m bad at conjugating Spanish verbs

Becomes...

I can improve how I conjugate Spanish verbs by practicing one-on-one with my tutor until I see a

letter grade improvement on my next test score.

So to recap, to cultivate a growth mindset, we are changing the way we think. To practice, try writing down a thought that pops up in your head, one that you can change in order to cultivate a growth mindset. Then deconstruct it and change the thought. Go ahead, try it!