Growth Mindset: Carol Zweck on Perfectionism

In Carol Zweck's video on perfectionism, she describes two different types of perfectionism and compares these mindsets to her concept of a fixed vs. growth mindset. The first type of perfectionism she describes is focused on success and accomplishment of goals. This type of perfectionist worries about losing respect and standing if he or she does not meet very high expectations. This mindset is obviously harmful. The other type of perfectionism is about constantly striving for excellence and improvement. This type of perfectionist may feel that perfectionism is actually a positive trait, because it pushes him or her toward overcoming challenges and becoming a better person. Zweck then points out that these types of perfectionism (if the latter can be called perfectionism) correspond to a fixed and growth mindsets, respectively. Just like the former type of perfectionist, someone with a fixed mindset is afraid of looking dumb or making mistakes, and feels as if any failure can compromise his or her worth, because it reveals some inherent shortcoming. A person with a growth mindset believes he or she can improve, and thus can set high goals without fear of failure along the way. Failure is a step toward reaching those high goals, rather than an indicator that the person is incapable of accomplishing them. 

I'd like to share a few of my favorite quotations from this video and then elaborate on them. Carol Zweck does a great job of summing up her message and making it very clear what fixed and growth mindsets are all about. After watching a couple short videos about growth mindset earlier in the semester, I felt I knew enough to implement it in my life. The advantage to watching a longer video like this one is that Zweck also does a great job of elaborating and providing examples of fixed mindset beliefs that I recognize in myself. She also explains how growth mindset can help us in so many different situations and can make us healthier and happier in many areas of our lives. I found these quotations so helpful because they either expose dangerous effects of a fixed mindset or encourage me and guide me to develop a growth mindset for myself.

The first quote that stuck out to me was "I was so perfect that I had to start shrinking my world to maintain it." Zweck shares that she was a star student growing up but refused to participate in larger spelling bees and other competitions, because she didn't want to risk losing her status of perfection. This quote really hits home for me because I want a larger world, not a shrinking one, and because I see in myself the tendency to do this. I try to push myself to do difficult and potentially embarrassing things, but I often come close to backing out because I'm afraid of embarrassing myself or being exposed for my shortcomings. For example, I am taking piano lessons at OU this semester and I had to play at a small recital this past Friday. I went through with it and am glad I did it, but I was so nervous that I would embarrass myself that, right before I played, I wished I had never said yes to playing in the recital. Afterwards, though my performance wasn't perfect, I was glad I did it. Why would I turn down an opportunity to share what I've been working on, get more comfortable with performing, and hear my peers' pieces? But in the moment, when fear of failure and embarrassment faced me, I felt willing to shrink my world. This also applies to the academic world. Many of my friends who are pre-med do not want to take difficult Honors classes because they don't want to risk their GPA - a measure of academic perfection. 

I'll mention the other two quotes together, since I think they point toward the same idea. The first is "Everything in life requires huge amounts of effort over long periods of time." The other is "Why shouldn't we revere struggle? It means we've worked hard toward something we value." Here, Zweck discusses the rejection of effort by people with a fixed mindset. To them, since they believe that their natural intelligence and abilities cannot be improved upon, effort reveals weakness and dumbness. Zweck argues that everything worth having requires effort somewhere down the line. No one can get the things they want and have a meaningful life without exerting some effort, and she points out how harmful it is for people to view such necessary effort as shameful rather than something to be celebrated. I really appreciate Zweck's reminder that effort is good and something we should be proud of. I want to embrace the effort that I put into school and other areas of my life. It's true that I feel much prouder of myself when I do well in a class that was very difficult than when I do well in a class that was a breeze. Overcoming challenge with effort not only feels good in the end, but allows me to grow in a way that easy tasks can't. I will keep these quotes in my phone, because they remind me to strive for a challenge and be proud of the effort I exert. I should feel disappointed (though not self-abusively so) when I go through a day without putting effort in.

Hard work leads to positive results.

A great reminder to revere struggle and effort!

Source: Growth Mindset Resources.

Growth Mindset: First Impressions

I am new to Carol Zweck and her studies about the growth mindset and fixed mindset, but I wish I had been exposed to her earlier! The videos I watched about her findings greatly impressed me and have already started to change the way I think about school. I'm so happy that her videos were assigned to us in this first week of classes, because I think I can use her ideas to guide me through the semester and keep me level-headed and ready for a challenge.

What spoke to me most was the differences in the way people with a growth mindset and people with a fixed mindset respond to challenges. I saw some of myself and my own behavior in Zweck's description of students with a fixed mindset: while I do enjoy being challenged, I think what I enjoy most is being good at the challenge. I like to do things right, and I can become quite frustrated when I can't do something correctly right away. Running away from the challenge and doing something easier is definitely a temptation for me, because just as Zweck says, I don't want to embarrass myself. I think my frustration when I'm not immediately good at something, as well as my fear of failure and embarrassment, stem from a fixed mindset. It is so freeing to think that my intelligence and capabilities are not fixed and that I'll be capable in the future of doing things I'm not capable of doing now. Put that way, it seems like a simple and obvious idea, but I think many of us don't carry that attitude with us in our day-to-day lives. Failure becomes less permanent, and therefore less scary, when I say to myself, "Just because I'm not good at this now doesn't mean I never will be!" This mindset is invaluable for the beginning of the semester, when in many classes I'm faced with all the tests and projects and labs I "need" to ace all at once. Zweck's ideas have helped me to slow down this week when I get overwhelmed and to remind myself that I'm in these classes to learn and not to be perfect.

Zweck's short video "Make Challenge the New Comfort Zone" is also helpful for the beginning of the semester, because it is a call to crave challenge rather than ease. I like that she says we should feel cheated when we do an easy task, because challenge is what stretches us and makes us better. It's easy for me to fall into the mindset of just getting through each class as easily as possible and being happy when something is easy. This video is a great reminder that challenge is good for us and we should want and even create challenge. Craving challenge is a completely different way of approaching school than usual, and it really does change my attitude towards my more difficult classes.

For example, the class I'm most worried about this semester is Quantitative Analysis, which is a chemistry class that requires analyzing unknown samples and determining the amount of certain chemicals in those samples. The lab is done independently (no lab partner) and we're graded on our accuracy rather than just completing the lab. This is very different from anything I've done before, and when I first heard all the requirements for the class, I started to get nervous about working on my own and having to be so accurate. When I tried to apply the growth mindset to my attitude about the class, I realized that if I want to do research (or any detail-oriented job, really), it will be important for me to be able to work independently and accurately, whether the work is in a lab or a hospital or an office building. This class has the opportunity to be a wonderful learning experience for me, and while I'm not expecting to enjoy every second of it or to never get anxious about it, I appreciate that I have a chance to practice working in a lab and to get better at many different skills. What a different attitude! Thank you, Carol Zweck! And thanks to Laura for introducing the growth mindset to me.

I like this quote (and the cute cat!) because I have trouble with 

not trying things out of fear of embarrassing myself or failing. 

This is a great reminder for me!

(Image made by Laura Gibbs at Growth Mindset Resources.

Original image from cheezburger.)