21A- Reading Reflection No.2
I chose to read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
1. What was the general theme or argument in the book?
Overall, this book went on to show and explain how someone's mindset can ultimately go on to become the main driving force in their life. In other words, Carol Dweck focuses on the distinction between the two main mindsets that people are born with: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Dweck explains how a fixed mindset is a primarily negative view that people are born with where they grow up thinking that they are only good at certain things and there is truly no point in exploiting other skills with which they were not born good at. People with a fixed mindset are quite unlikely to grow because they strongly believe that if they are not good at something, they can't learn to be good at it. They are narrow-minded and stick to doing things that they know they can do well. On the opposite end lies a growth mindset, which is much more flexible in terms of taking on endeavors and learning new things. People with a growth mindset are broad-minded individuals who are hungry for knowledge. They believe that skills can be learned and developed through practice and repetition, and they are the ones who believe that anything is possible if you continue to work for it.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
As this class runs its course, we become more aware of the importance of persistence and dedication to all of your endeavors. In order to create that persistence and apply it to any real-world situation, I believe that being able to change your mindset is extremely important. This book stresses how big of an impact someone's mindset can have not only on their daily lives, but ultimately on the course of their lives in the long run. Being able to open your mind to new experiences and learn as much as you can is important. It shows that you are capable of continuing to move up the spectrum that knowledge provides, thus giving you the ability to complete daily tasks. With a positive mindset, much like the growth mindset that Carol Dweck talks about, it is much easier to give all of the assignments in this class my 100% effort and time. I approach the assignments with a positive attitude because I know that they will help enrich my knowledge on entrepreneurship, which was a branch of business I was very unfamiliar with prior to this class.
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
Based on my book, I would make an assignment that was based around mindsets. First, I would ask students to choose whether they believed that they were personally of a fixed mindset or of a growth mindset. After they had chosen, I would have them answer a few questions supporting why they decided to choose that certain mindset. I would ask them; Why they chose that mindset, list a few examples of times you put that mindset to use, and what they could do to change from one mindset to another. Afterward, I would have them interview three people and ask them the same questions. I would do this in order for students to see how much everyone's mindsets vary, even though they may not know it. It would also be interesting because while conducting the interviews, students can really analyze what setting each interviewee grew up in that sort of pushed them more towards one mindset over another. For example, someone with more supportive parents who always encouraged their kids to be the best they can be would most likely be inclined to a growth mindset.
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
Throughout the course of the book, Carol Dweck sort of drills in on the fact that people grow up with either a fixed mindset OR a growth mindset, not both. What was surprising to me was realizing that with certain aspects of my life, I definitely would classify my mindset as fixed while at other points my mindset would be growth. I was expecting someone to be very set on one mindset, but as I applied this principle to my own life to see which mindset I related to the most, I realized that it is all subjective to the situation I was in at that certain point. For example, when I was choosing my major, I automatically threw out any sort of pre-med major because I know that I was and have always been horrible at science. This instance would definitely be me having a fixed mindset because I was set on the fact that I can't be good at science classes as much as I try, and that type of major is usually very heavily science-based. On the other hand, I also saw instances where I had a very growth-oriented mindset. I used to be very bad at using Excel, and I told myself that no matter what it took, I would learn how to become very good at using the program. About a year later, I used Excel all summer in my internship, took an information systems class that was completely oriented around Excel, and finally became Excel certified. This comes to show that it truly depends on the situation and that you can't ever settle for one mindset. I believe that if you were to settle on one, make sure it is a growth mindset because as humans, we should always strive to be better than we were yesterday. Mindsets are not static. They are constantly changing as we face new situations.
1. What was the general theme or argument in the book?
Overall, this book went on to show and explain how someone's mindset can ultimately go on to become the main driving force in their life. In other words, Carol Dweck focuses on the distinction between the two main mindsets that people are born with: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Dweck explains how a fixed mindset is a primarily negative view that people are born with where they grow up thinking that they are only good at certain things and there is truly no point in exploiting other skills with which they were not born good at. People with a fixed mindset are quite unlikely to grow because they strongly believe that if they are not good at something, they can't learn to be good at it. They are narrow-minded and stick to doing things that they know they can do well. On the opposite end lies a growth mindset, which is much more flexible in terms of taking on endeavors and learning new things. People with a growth mindset are broad-minded individuals who are hungry for knowledge. They believe that skills can be learned and developed through practice and repetition, and they are the ones who believe that anything is possible if you continue to work for it.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
As this class runs its course, we become more aware of the importance of persistence and dedication to all of your endeavors. In order to create that persistence and apply it to any real-world situation, I believe that being able to change your mindset is extremely important. This book stresses how big of an impact someone's mindset can have not only on their daily lives, but ultimately on the course of their lives in the long run. Being able to open your mind to new experiences and learn as much as you can is important. It shows that you are capable of continuing to move up the spectrum that knowledge provides, thus giving you the ability to complete daily tasks. With a positive mindset, much like the growth mindset that Carol Dweck talks about, it is much easier to give all of the assignments in this class my 100% effort and time. I approach the assignments with a positive attitude because I know that they will help enrich my knowledge on entrepreneurship, which was a branch of business I was very unfamiliar with prior to this class.
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
Based on my book, I would make an assignment that was based around mindsets. First, I would ask students to choose whether they believed that they were personally of a fixed mindset or of a growth mindset. After they had chosen, I would have them answer a few questions supporting why they decided to choose that certain mindset. I would ask them; Why they chose that mindset, list a few examples of times you put that mindset to use, and what they could do to change from one mindset to another. Afterward, I would have them interview three people and ask them the same questions. I would do this in order for students to see how much everyone's mindsets vary, even though they may not know it. It would also be interesting because while conducting the interviews, students can really analyze what setting each interviewee grew up in that sort of pushed them more towards one mindset over another. For example, someone with more supportive parents who always encouraged their kids to be the best they can be would most likely be inclined to a growth mindset.
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
Throughout the course of the book, Carol Dweck sort of drills in on the fact that people grow up with either a fixed mindset OR a growth mindset, not both. What was surprising to me was realizing that with certain aspects of my life, I definitely would classify my mindset as fixed while at other points my mindset would be growth. I was expecting someone to be very set on one mindset, but as I applied this principle to my own life to see which mindset I related to the most, I realized that it is all subjective to the situation I was in at that certain point. For example, when I was choosing my major, I automatically threw out any sort of pre-med major because I know that I was and have always been horrible at science. This instance would definitely be me having a fixed mindset because I was set on the fact that I can't be good at science classes as much as I try, and that type of major is usually very heavily science-based. On the other hand, I also saw instances where I had a very growth-oriented mindset. I used to be very bad at using Excel, and I told myself that no matter what it took, I would learn how to become very good at using the program. About a year later, I used Excel all summer in my internship, took an information systems class that was completely oriented around Excel, and finally became Excel certified. This comes to show that it truly depends on the situation and that you can't ever settle for one mindset. I believe that if you were to settle on one, make sure it is a growth mindset because as humans, we should always strive to be better than we were yesterday. Mindsets are not static. They are constantly changing as we face new situations.
Hi Rebeca,
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting and insightful. I'll probably end up reading it. I truly believe that the mindset and visualization is the foundation for solving any problem. In my leadership class, we covered a similar topic related to fixed and growth mindset and discussed how intrinsic traits could influence outcomes. I think the introduction of your proposed assignment would greatly benefit future students.
Hi Beca!
ReplyDeleteGood job on your post about Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. I've never read the book before, but it sounds interesting! The general theme of the book is a concept that applies to my perspective on everyday life. I'm not sure if I was raised to have a certain mindset, but I do feel like over time my mindset has changed a lot, which is probably an affect of maturing and independence. I think when I was younger, I had a closed mind-set because I was so focused on getting tasks done and playing by the rules. I have figured out that college is all about having an open-mindset so that I can grow into my own person!
Hi Rebeca,
ReplyDeleteI also believe that being able to change your mindset is very important! I believe that mindset is everything when it comes to accomplishing day to day tasks and long term goals. I also love your idea for the assignment you would create based on this reading! It would definitely be interesting to see how different everyones mindset is.