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Day 1 – I Can Change My Mindset!

Have you ever wondered why some children avoid taking guesses and crumble at the first sign of a struggle? Do you know kids who have a history of quitting sports and activities, or giving up on school work when they don’t know the answer right away? Years of opting out of things because they are hard can lead to children believing, “I’m not good at that.” At the Wise Family, we hear lots of kids tell us that they aren’t good at math, or baseball, or even that they aren’t good at making friends.

Learning the difference between this kind of “mindset”, which is called FIXED, and the alternative GROWTH mindset can help you change the destructive pattern of self-doubt and fear of failure.

Mindset is a simple idea pioneered by research psychologist, Carol Dweck. She asserts that some people believe their intelligence and abilities are unchangeable. This is called a FIXED mindset. Kids that believe this might say, “If I struggle at this, it must mean I am dumb.” Or, “I’m not good at this. I give up.” Others have different ideas about their intelligence and abilities. Some people believe that it is possible to grow your intelligence through effort. This is called a GROWTH mindset. Kids with this mindset might say, “Math was really confusing at first, but I studied really hard all year and it is a lot easier now.”

Dr. Dweck’s advice to parents is, “If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves of praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.”

We at the Wise Family want your kids to have a lifelong way to build and repair their confidence, and for you to see the kind of resilience and energy that comes from a growth mindset!

We are sharing parts of a 5-day Growth Mindset challenge with you and your family to move towards this GROWTH mindset for yourselves! Each week we will be sending out another part of the challenge – to get the full challenge, visit our friends at BIGLIFEJOURNAL.COM.

And don’t forget tag us with your family challenge photos on Instagram @wisefamilies or comment on our Facebook page Wise Families! We would love to hear how your kiddos think about their own mindset.