Our brains have the built-in potential to perform at levels far beyond what many of us consider. It can change and adapt through training and experience, but many people believe that our abilities, talents, and intelligence, are just fixed traits. What we don’t realize is that we are not chained to our traits forever. We are in complete control of our own mindsets and have the ability to grow as a person.
How can beliefs change your behavior? How can we make our brains believe that we are capable of doing more that we think we can? When does the brain gets more active when in school? As we answer these questions, you will understand why students with fixed mindsets do not achieve their potential and struggle to cope up in school and why students with growth mindset have the chance to enhance and develop their abilities, intelligence and their talents more than the students who believe that they have fixed mindsets.
In the article “Brainology” by Carol Dweck, the writer explains how mindsets affects students’ abilities. Dweck clarifies how fixed mindsets can make challenges threatening for students. “Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount and that’s that.” (Dweck 3). Students who feel that their intelligence is fixed tends to do bad in school due to lack of commitment to their school works, they don’t want to look “dumb” in front of their friends or classmates and that their ability may not be up to the task.
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In addition, Dweck also stated that “Students with different mindsets also had very different reactions to the setbacks. Those with growth mindsets reported that, after a setback in school, they would simply study more or study differently the next time. But those with fixed mindsets were more likely to say that they would feel dumb, study less the next time, and seriously consider cheating.” (9). This quote means that the student/s may automatically think that their effort was worthless because they failed and that they’re going to fail their class. Most importantly, they would not success in life and it’s hard to change your mindset.
In “The Power of Belief” by Eduardo Briceno, the speaker spoke about a young boy to a determined man who has completely learned a new skill. Josh Waitzkin is an american chess player and a devoted martial arts competitor. “He took on the challenge of mastering completely new and very different from chess.” (Briceno, 2012, 0:44). He realized that he can grow and succeed and he could apply that understanding to other domains. He devoted himself into martial arts although years of hard work, there are some failures and broken bones, he became a great martial artist and won 2 world championships.
“We are not chained to our current capabilities. Neuroscience shows that the brain is very meabble and we can change our own ability to think and to perform. In fact, many of the most accomplished people our era were thought of, by the experts, to have no future. But they, along with all great achievers from Mozart to Einstein built their abilities.” (Briceno, 2012, 3:43). When we realize that we can control our own mindset, we bring our game to new levels. Having a growth mindset helps you to step out of your comfort zone and pushes you to put more effort in what you do in life and it will help you grow as a person.
