Week 5 Journal Entry: Reflecting On Mindsets And Personal Gr

Week 5 Journal Entry: Reflecting on Mindsets and Personal Growth

Think of something about yourself you’ve been wanting to change. What is it? Has a fixed mindset prevented you from doing this? Think about it from a growth mindset and explain how you would make this change.

What did your parents do that fostered a fixed or growth mindset in you? Do you praise your children’s intelligence, creativity, or other characteristics to make them feel talented or smart? Think of the last time you did this. How could you have given growth-oriented praise instead?

Do you use feeling bad as a reason for doing nothing? When you feel disappointed, frustrated, cheated, or depressed, do you use this as a reason to stop trying? What steps could you take to help growth mindset thinking overcome your fixed mindset? What could you say to yourself to change your internal talk so that it supports a growth mindset?

Think of a time you faced an important opportunity or challenge with a fixed mindset. What were your thoughts and worries about your abilities, other people’s judgments, and the possibility of failure? Describe them vividly.

Paper For Above instruction

Understanding and cultivating a growth mindset is fundamental for personal development and overcoming self-imposed limitations. A fixed mindset, characterized by the belief that abilities are static and unchangeable, often hampers efforts to grow and improve. Conversely, a growth mindset fosters resilience, learning, and persistence because it views challenges as opportunities to develop skills and intelligence. Reflecting on an aspect of myself I wish to change, I recognize that I need to improve my public speaking skills. For a long time, I have avoided speaking in front of groups, fearing judgment and failure. My fixed mindset has convinced me that I am naturally not good at speaking and that trying harder would be futile.

My parents played a significant role in shaping my mindset about effort and intelligence. They often praised my intelligence, telling me I was smart, which occasionally led me to believe that success was based solely on innate talent. While this praise boosted my confidence initially, it sometimes prevented me from taking risks or accepting failures as part of growth. In recent years, I have realized that praise focusing on effort, persistence, and strategy can foster a growth mindset. During a recent project, instead of praising my natural talent, I could have emphasized the effort I put into researching and practicing the presentation, which would have encouraged me to keep improving rather than fearing failure.

Feeling bad or disappointed can sometimes become a justification for giving up. When I feel overwhelmed or frustrated by setbacks, I tend to internalize these feelings and believe that I lack the ability to succeed, which leads to inaction. To overcome this, I recognize the need to reframe my internal dialogue from self-defeating thoughts like "I can't do this" to growth-oriented affirmations such as "This is a challenge I can learn from." Implementing strategies like mindfulness and positive self-talk can support the development of a growth mindset. For example, when facing difficulty in understanding a new concept, instead of feeling discouraged, I can tell myself, “This is an opportunity to learn and improve my understanding.”

An instance where I faced a challenge with a fixed mindset was during a group project in college. I doubted my ability to contribute effectively and feared judgment from peers. I worried that my ideas wouldn’t be good enough, and I feared failing the assignment. These thoughts made me hesitant to speak up, limiting my participation. Vividly, I remember sitting silent during discussions, feeling anxious about my perceived inadequacies. Looking back, my fears were rooted in a belief that my abilities were fixed, and failure would reflect poorly on me. Embracing a growth mindset, I now see such experiences as opportunities to develop skills and confidence. By reframing my thoughts about failure and judgment, I can approach challenges as chances to learn rather than as tests of my innate worth.

References

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