“The only thing you can control is your own effort.”
–Theodora van den Beld
This video is the 1st in a series about fostering academic success from The Raising Happiness Homestudy. Watch the rest of the videos here.
Three Ways to Create a Growth Mindset
(1) Use growth-mindset praise. First, identify where you are most fixed-mindset in praising your children. Is it during athletics? When they bring home grades? For me, it was when my kids brought home art projects. Identify a specific situation: this will be your action trigger.
Second, decide what you will say the next time you praise your kids. The key is to focus on the process rather than the end-result.
(2) Ask process questions. Who taught you how to do that? Did you use a different strategy this time? With younger kids, just asking them very simple things (Who did you sit by when you did that? What type of material did you use?) can be enough to provoke a process-oriented conversation.
(3) Identify where your KIDS are most fixed-mindset. Do your kids have fixed-mindset ideas about one area of themselves? Help them identify where the fixed-mindset is hamstringing them, and help them outline a practice strategy. Think of my belief that I couldn’t carry a tune, and how that almost prevented me from auditioning for the high school musical.
Related Video: How to Praise Children
Join the Discussion
- Where are you most fixed-mindset? What sort of change have you scripted?
- Where have you been successful at fostering a growth-mindset?
Your reflections and suggestions (comment below this posting) will inspire others to make similar changes, so don’t hesitate to “brag” about your successes. By the same token, if you are struggling, tell us about it! Others will certainly have suggestions for you.
If you would like to download the audio version of this video to listen to in your car or on the go, click the link below. DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO VERSION HERE.
This post is taken from “The Raising Happiness Homestudy,” an online course I created as a companion to my book Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents. I’m sharing “classes” from this online course here, on my blog. Want to see previous posts? Just click this Raising Happiness Homestudy tag. Enjoy!