Why A Growth Mindset Can Be Negative: Extended Version

In order to establish a clear definition, let's go back to Carol Dweck's original research.

Growth mindset: “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.” ( Dweck, 2015)

Even though growth mindset has been strongly rooted into the American education system, it has not had much impact. Referring to the original article that inspired today's newsletter. There is even the possibility that educators have taken the research beyond what it was intended for - as a result, I believe it is very difficult to teach young children and even adults a growth mindset. Educators can explain concepts to students but installing them in humans is another matter. That's the first negative point - it's hard to teach and install. I would like to ask those who are in favour of the growth mindset concept to give me some room here - I will explain later the science of the other factors of its negative aspects.

Moving on to the definition itself above if you look at the resilience section – where it states a growth mindset creates a love of learning and resilience – now where I have for the last three years researched the relationship between the relationship with mental health and emotional intelligence plus having gone through a bad childhood – I can assure the growth mindset will only work in the short term. What I mean here is that developing resilience does not just come ?from having a growth mindset attitude – as we move forward in life we cannot always know what is round the corner. Further, more often than not the growth mindset sets you up on a high pedestal where when you hit a wall – meaning say for instance, loosing a loved one – you will crash down – and the growth process just comes to stand still.

As a result, the second negative behaviour and emotional occurrence created from a growth mindset is that it only serves as a short-term guidance system, leading to the third negative as well.

Here are some more insights on the notion of resilience - its time method occurrence that becomes stronger only through reflection - the human brain cannot be made to withstand any danger. In Special Forces Training, for example, one of the fundamental flaws is that we cannot set up the brain so much as to prevent PTSD - especially during the escape phase and getting captured, where mock interrogation scenarios, like dress positions, are incorporated into the training.

In many ways, soldiers are the most vulnerable to the growth mindset because there is little room for failure on many infantry courses - and combined with the speed at which soldiers need to catch up with other recruits in training, one struggling soldier can quickly disengage from the growth mindset system.

?Whether or not a person believes in a growth mindset, they can develop their mental capacity over time. In addition to a growth mindset, I recommend learning through reflection. I experienced a very dark time in my life when I was 12 years old, when I was sexually abused and then developed epilepsy. Instead of using the growth mindset strategy, I sought professional help and took time out.

As a result, I am stronger in resilience skills as part of my emotional intelligence framework. Since the situation was beyond my control, I can get more calm in my thoughts, and now I can compose my inner emotions without using goal setting, which is heavily associated with the growth mindset approach. Therefore, one can appreciate more the natural lifetime learning process instead of picking up a champion effort of running a race - which again in sports science, growth mindset is probably overused. Instead of all being athletes, we should be sensible humans who understand that life is not all roses and if we set too many goals - which is great on many levels - there is a danger that when we hit a wall, we will fall much harder because we are wearing the growth mindset mask.

Nobody is superman, and all of us have weaknesses - everyone breaks at some point - and reason four of the growth mindset is that it does not lend itself to protecting people from the trauma they may encounter in life.

Growth mindset has become a stimulation, and stimulation is a short-term fix. It cannot handle all situations. Therefore, a growth mindset only lasts as long as you're in the tunnel because as soon as something bad happens like for instance losing someone, your attitude and emotional strength will change. This will break the growth mindset cycle and protection.

I would like to conclude on a positive note, by noting that growth mindset research is part of the emotional intelligence family - and it can pay huge dividends to one's emotional journey in life. Just be aware of what dangers it cannot prepare you for, such as illness or losing a loved one. As a result, I begin to reflect upon the life system that I often celebrate and have briefly discussed here. It is said that life is about making mistakes and learning from them. Having a positive outlook and building resilience doesn't require you to train seven days a week. Additionally, let life's occurrences, including good and bad days, design your framework for growth - including reflective practices and cool downs after trauma.?

Over time, build you rather than letting growth mindset strategies override your natural learning ability.

?PART II – Extended Version

Although the growth mindset is part of the emotional intelligence family, it does not supersede it. The EQ skill of self-awareness - the ability to manage your thoughts, feelings, and behavior during and after they occur - proceeds exceptional strength to any leader who embraces it.?In my opinion, self-awareness itself, when practiced and understood well, far outweighs a growth mindset (Fahey,2022).

Using a growth mindset track does not have a red-light warning of danger, so if there were a major issue on the track, the growth mindset strategy would fail. I would say it sets you up for failure - yes -, but there are many factors to consider when making such a statement. As a starting point, it depends on your current level of emotional intelligence - do you think you manage and understand your emotions well enough? Since we are still learning what life is and means to us, I would guess the answer is no. Sometimes skills, behaviors, memories, and all the rest are floated upon our worrying faces in an instant, and the brain isn't wired to respond perfectly every time so that we never experience a bad day again. As memories and joint anxieties collide, we cannot change the force of life.

Through more self-evaluations, we can change how we approach different situations in life. We need to create an open set of thoughts about self-compassion - why I am feeling this way. It can be as simple as sitting down with our thoughts of the day and championing a clearer perspective on your inner emotions through self-evaluation. The fact that we can wrestle and manage our unconscious thoughts by pausing before we decide in life makes it even better. It is those thoughts that are stored in memories that are more often than not dangerous trigger points. It is not as though you will be able to predict your future - you will move sensually into a moderate level of self-awareness.?

In contrast, growth mindset creates a sense of strength and resilience that you believe you are building over time. It's a false fallacy of hope where trigger points disrupt your learning process. Imagine you want to go back to school and learn a new skill. It's great to invest in your self-education, but if you have bought a ticket on the Growth Mindset strategy, you might be misguided into having too much hope you'll reach your goal. Life's surprises of things we don't see cause the train to derail, as illustrated earlier.

I also found an interesting analysis when moving away from the growth mindset that I feel is too negative - that if we simply fly the plane of life and deal with situations as they arise, reflective learning and practicing our EQ works to strengthen our leadership skills more so than if we were to take the growth mindset flight. At this point in the essay, you may think I'm slamming the Growth Mindset - but that's not what I'm trying to convey. Providing a clearer simpler way of navigating life and avoiding putting your goals on the roller coaster of growth equals a mindset of doing whatever you want, whenever you want. Instead of setting endless goals, learn to step back from situations.