Adopt a Growth Mindset

Every experience you have and how you perceive that experience affects your mindset. For example, the first time I tried coding in undergrad, I was discouraged and thought I could never get good at it. Coding was difficult, but that wasn’t what threw me off, as I’m always ready to take on difficult challenges. What got to me was seeing others in my class excel at it right away (because they were naturally good or they had previous experience). I didn’t give myself a chance to get better. The thought that I was behind, that others were already excelling at it, dropped my confidence. I realized later that wanting to be good at coding is easy, anyone can want to be good at anything. I had no solid reason for trying, so I convinced myself to not bother. I gave up too easily. 

Thinking back on my life, I found many instances like this, which made me develop a mindset of “there are certain things I can’t do”. This is called a “fixed mindset”. That mindset crushed my hopes of wanting to improve my skills in many areas, and of achieving certain goals, often before I even started trying. My personal reason usually was that I didn’t like feeling inferior, behind or not as good as I thought I was. The other reason was simply not believing it was possible, which was what made me afraid to try. My list included: scuba diving, philosophy, chess, Tekken, travelling on my own, speaking in public, meeting new people, asking someone out, becoming a millionaire, starting my own company, among others. Some I can say I’ve overcome, while some I am still working on. What is your list? 

Think about the opposite of the above. What in your life did you excel at, despite not being naturally good at it, or fearing it? Why did you do it and how did you muster up energy to keep at it until you excelled? - Your mom threatening to beat you with her slipper doesn't count ??.

For me, that example was soccer. In high school, I was definitely not the most skillful player, I was average at best. Growing up, I was obsessed with soccer, but rarely did I get picked to play for the school team. Yet somehow, I was team captain the last three years of high school. I played every lunch break, I attended every extra P.E. practice session, I played at home, etc. I loved to play. The reason I succeeded was that I wanted to. I had a great desire for it and I wanted to be the best. I had purpose. Look back at your stories and see if that resonates. Purpose allows us to channel all available energy we have to a single objective. In physics, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it transfers from one medium to another. In you, your energy is also finite, but it’s being consumed by multiple priorities. What if you channeled it all meaningfully to achieve your goals? Imagine what you can do.

Having a fixed mindset blocks you from sending energy to an activity, killing any chance of you improving your skills or attaining your goals. A fixed mindset convinces you that you can’t get good at something (it’s too hard), that trying will make you feel bad or affect your self-esteem negatively. It leads you to believe that it’s not worth your time, that it’s impossible to achieve or progress on your skills. In these cases, you have convinced yourself that you can’t make it happen (like my coding example).

It’s important to be aware that your mindset, your perception of the situation, is what’s blocking you . . . not your actual ability to succeed. 

Here is a definition of growth mindset from Carol Dweck, Professor at Stanford University: “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work - brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.”

If I believe Prof. Dweck, I can direct energy to improve myself. Someone with a growth mindset believes they can do anything they put their mind to, by adopting the idea that they can learn anything when they dedicate enough time (and energy) to it. They believe they can change, intentionally, to become the person they want to be. You are constantly evolving, growing, changing, whether you are doing it intentionally or not. If you believe that you can become the person you want to be, you will. If you don’t believe you can grow into the person you want to be (whatever your desire may be), I want you to think about where else you are channeling your energy. Remember, your energy isn't going anywhere. If your energy isn’t being intentionally directed, it’s likely lackadaisically being directed to activities that are meaningless to you (like reading your junk mail frequently, checking Instagram excessively) or worse, it’s being directed negatively to make you feel bad about yourself (e.g., thinking “I'll never get the job I want, I wish it could just happen for me already” . . . it’s easy to wish that, but thinking that way too frequently is a misuse of your energy). There is a wealth of free information on Fixed vs. Growth mindsets online, do yourself a favor and read up on it. Keep educating yourself on this topic until you adopt a growth mindset. 

The first step in changing your mindset is to be aware that you CAN, and then to gather information on what a better mindset looks like. To actually do it is a beast of a challenge. 

If you are ready to get started, you must start working on how you talk to yourself. Click here to learn more. 

My Challenge to You

1. Watch the first 3 mins of this video from Carol Dweck on Growth Mindset. The video highlights the consequence of depending so much on grades, and the effect that has on training us to have a Fixed Mindset.
2. Reflect and write down one skill you have been holding back from learning. Ideally it’s a skill related to your job search or career (e.g., becoming a better writer to boost your resume or LinkedIn post success, or improving your conversation skills to maximize the impact from your networking attempts). 
3. Find one person (a peer, friend or mentor) who you think excels at that skill and schedule a short chat to pick their brain on that topic. 

Let us know how you did by using #InternationalStudentHandbook #challenge28 #InternationalStudents.

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Good luck with your job hunt!