There are ideas or phrases that get a bit tangled for my liking. They become buzzwords that pervade everything and lose their meaning and therefore potency. Growth mindset has started to venture into that tangled territory for me. I don’t think this is the result of malice. I believe it’s the power of laziness; in our thinking and in our practice. Growth mindset is an active mental framework to support and encourage us as we learn; to keep us going when we hit challenges and things get hard. It says, with enough time, I will get there. But we all know that patiently waiting by the side of the road, hoping for a magical granting of the desired skill is not the kind of time we’re talking about. Rather, we are talking about steady effort towards a goal, allowing the time and space needed to acquire it and any other supporting elements to make it strong. A growth mindset positively reinforces the process of overcoming failure. It is about learning, which requires action. And without action or process, there is no growth.
In 2006, Carol Dweck published Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.[1] The foundation of her research was when she witnessed children grapple with difficult problems. To her surprise, one of the children delighted in the increasing difficulties of the problems set out for them. Dweck found this baffling because in her mind the relationship to failure was one of coping – either you coped or you didn’t – not what she witnessed with this child, who “knew that human qualities, such as intellectual skills, could be cultivated.”[2] This contrasted with her own belief that intelligence was fixed. What she discovered over the course of her research is that perseverance and resilience were fueled by a growth mindset; the belief that with enough effort you can change yourself.
Taking steps towards changing yourself can be difficult. For one thing, you have to get out of your comfort zone and intercede to break habits, some of which might be lifelong. More importantly, changing yourself is an act of vulnerability. It requires you to step away from concerns about what others think, stopping with perfectionism, intervening in any numbing behaviours or thoughts of powerlessness. Moreover, to embrace vulnerability you have to embrace gratitude and joy, release the need for certainty, and stop comparing yourself to others.[3] As Theodore Roosevelt shared “there is no effort without error and shortcoming.”[4] Roosevelt’s words also remind us that the goal is not success, but rather daring, taking up the challenge to and expending great energy in the pursuit of a worthy cause. It is about courage. The courage to change yourself is not about what you know, but rather about who you are. And in the case of growth mindset, you want to ask yourself reflective questions: What did I learn from this? What can I do differently next time? Is this my best? How could I improve? You also want to provide yourself with some encouragement: This may take some time! I will learn from this! I’m not there yet, but will more effort, I will be! And you have to be brave enough to believe these things and answer yourself honestly while you continue to press on.
One of my favourite encouragements to dancers that I really relish when speaking to adults is that everyone sucks at the start of something new. No matter what your level of expertise, when faced with a new challenge or new knowledge you are at the beginning and have the skills of a beginner in that context. It takes a great deal of humility and vulnerability to embrace the beginning. I also love reminding people of how they would treat a five-year old just starting out. Any and every accomplishment is considered a great victory because that is the process of being a beginner. Those children are cheered and celebrated. That is the kind of enthusiasm we need to find for ourselves at the beginning. So, I challenge you reader, give yourself permission to be a beginner. Let go of your need to figure it all out before you start. For one, it’s impossible, and two, if you wait to figure it out you will never start, and learning requires that you start: slowly and cautiously, or with wild abandon, whichever one suits you best, but start. Trusting that with enough persistence you will improve and you will change.
And if dancing is an area that you’ve always wanted to try, come dance with us! At Kaleidoscope Irish Dance & Movement Studio we support, encourage, and celebrate dancers at every aspect of their beginnings. We will be starting a 4-week Samhain session for the month of November.