Do you believe this to be true?
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
What is it that causes some to thrive and others to fall behind? What is it that makes winners and losers?
It might be said without overstatement that we are overly obsessed with winning and losing in today’s world. It is rare to see anyone rejoice after losing a game, for example. Despite the opportunities to learn, losing is a very vulnerable, shameful experience for most people.
With a fixed mindset—that is, with the mindset that one’s brain stops growing, changing or adapting by a certain age—failure is almost too much to bear. The fixed mindset is perpetually anxious that its limited capacity will be revealed.
Neuroscientists have demonstrated that the brain does not stop learning, but rather is able to form new connections, blaze new pathways, and change over time. This discovery leads us to the conclusion that it is not just in youth that we can change our patterns of behavior, but throughout our entire life.
With a growth mindset, one might begin to look at oneself as a beginner. Always a beginner.
Someone who cultivates a growth mindset might be better equipped to accept, assess or address failure as a learning opportunity. When you believe you are always growing, failure is just a symptom of learning.
Here is another saying:
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.
Your mindset toward winning, losing and everything in between really does impact day-to-day life.
One might intellectually grasp the concept of growth mindset, but remain overly self-deprecating in the face of failure.
Remember it is always possible to change. You are not a finished product. It is through failure that one begins to develop true confidence, because it is through failure that we learn that we can always get back up and try again. Have compassion with yourself and know that you are more than your accomplishments. You are more than your body. You are even more than your mind. You are a whole soul. Carrying a growth mindset means abiding in compassion for oneself through mistakes.
It is in this mindset that we can begin to discover not only what is, but what could be.
—Jessica Lien, Prairiewoods development coordinator