You may be going through school complaining about math or english class saying things like, “I’m just not good at it,” or “I’ll never get better at this.” If you find yourself thinking these things you may have a fixed mindset. 

     People who possess a fixed mindset may believe that people are born with talent or intelligence and if you aren’t naturally gifted at something, even with practice, you never will be.

     On the other hand, having a growth mindset means you believe that working hard to develop more intelligence or talent is possible. This mindset helps people become more successful since they try to make progress toward becoming better.

     According to Mindsetworks.com, recent neuroscience research shows that what we once thought of as unchangeable traits are changeable with persistence, training, and learning from your mistakes and we can increase neural growth by the choices we make.

    Developing a growth mindset is vital to expanding your interests, discovering new passions, and growing as a person. You may be wondering if you have a fixed or growth mindset and although it seems people are one or the other the truth is that there’s a spectrum of mindsets. 

     Another common misconception about growth mindsets is that having a growth mindset is just having a positive outlook on life. Although it seems like it, this notion is not true. Obtaining and maintaining a growth mindset means you have to put in time and effort, as well as be able to embrace failure as part of the learning process to grow from it.    

   As biglifejournal.com states, “…concepts like neuroplasticity, which explains that the neural pathways in the brain are constantly changing in response to our experiences–the more you practice, the stronger the brain becomes, and the more automatic the process.”

     To start improving your mindset try to understand where you fall in the spectrum with a growth mindset quiz. Set goals for yourself then start taking steps to improve. For example, you can really make a difference if you change the way you talk about your own skills. 

     Changing sentences from, “I don’t know,” to “I’d like to learn,” and “I’m not good at this,” to “ I may not be great at this right now but practice can help me become better,” is a great way to start improving your mindset. After a difficult task try asking yourself what you could do differently to improve for next time. Having the desire to learn and put in effort to improve yourself and your life can help you become more successful in school and life in general.