"DO IT NOW: Instead of procrastinating, we need to use the present time! It's hard to not push things off, but in the end, now is better than later! Doris Lessing: Whatever you're meant to do, DO IT NOW. The conditions are always impossible."
I especially love the last sentence of this quote. I always tell myself that I'm too tired, too busy, too whatever--but in reality, there's always something. The conditions will always feel overwhelming, making you feel like you can excuse a necessary task and procrastinate on it. I hope I can apply this thought process to hobbies, such as reading and writing. Since there is technically no due date on those hobbies, I tend to put them off because I have more important things to do. Reminding myself of this quote would be really helpful in those situations.
How procrastination tends to go.
Quote 2:
"WHAT I AIM AT: When thinking about this, I remembered a key chain that I had in high school; it was a novelty gift from a theme park. It had my family name and crest, and the motto was "He hits what he aims at." I always liked that. To me, it said, "you will accomplish your goals when you work toward them."
I've never heard this one before and I really love it! I could use this approach to obtain better focus in school. I find myself straying and getting distracted/discouraged a lot when studying, but if I could just remind myself that I am aiming for a degree and I have been working hard for it, I can get back on track.
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Image information: Procrastination from Nikhil Baliga on flickr
This growth mindset meme has part of one of my favorite quotes in it: "You’re not bad at it, you just haven’t learned it yet." I love the idea of yet. It reminds me that things take time to learn, but you'll get it eventually. It's a great reminder for when situations get tough and you feel like it's not worth the effort. It's also just great to start any process with this mindset because it removes the idea that you have to do something right the first time around.
I love this one because it gives a new meaning for the word "genius." Too often people worry about not being smart enough but truly the most important part of intelligence is the desire to know more. Genius shouldn't just be about being able to memorize information. It should instead be thought of as a trait that entails exploration and curiosity.
"DON'T CRUSH THE DREAMS: Children's creativity is probably put down daily by people who don't understand them. It's easy to think that disciplining a child is going to benefit in the long run, but it's easy to miss what ideas and dreams you may be crushing." I love this quote because it is something I have recently started thinking about. There were so many dreams I had as a child that were crushed, causing me to become lost and confused. Everything I loved was discouraged because it "wouldn't make enough money." Well, now I've spent years trying to decide what to because I let go of so many of the things I loved. I lost my creativity for a long time and did not understand how to handle life without it. I am beginning to gain back what I lost by ignoring people who discourage me, but sometimes I wonder how far I could have been by now if I would have refused to listen to those who put me down.
"Rain doesn't always have to weigh us down; sometimes it can wash off our burdens."
I love this quote, too. Recently I had the worst week of my life, where everything was going wrong. At the end of the week, though, I looked back and realized that a lot of of the things I lost and the situations I got myself into were actually beneficial for me. I ended up getting rid of so many burdens, and this quote helps me to see how bad situations are not always unlucky. This quote will be a good reminder that I should never use bad days as an excuse to stunt growth. Instead I should try to reframe the events and see that they might help me someday.
While I had not heard of the phrase "growth mindset" before, I have heard of similar ideas such as "grit" (perseverance and pushing through challenge). This way of thinking is a wonderful idea that many people need to hear. Academia can be extremely discouraging when a person receives a low grade, and it can make anyone feel inadequate. I have definitely been affected by this, as I have always been praised for the results I get rather than for the amount of work I put into my process. Carol Dweck does an incredible job of describing how important this is. She mentions that we need to reward kids for the process--improvement, strategies, perseverance--rather than intelligence or talent. This is vital in ensuring that children develop to have a good understanding of their worth and abilities. We want them to know that they are valued for so much more than what they can produce. Building a character of perseverance and curiosity can create a generation of people who are inspired to help improve the world. Right now, I feel like we have a world of people who are discouraged and doubtful of their abilities.
Something I have thought about recently (and something I have seen others my age discuss) is that many of us were labeled as "gifted" when we were children. We were told we were grades ahead of our peers and we were given more challenging work. We were praised for being gifted. Eventually, though, everyone else caught up to us and maybe we even got behind. We started feeling unintelligent and we realized we were just average. This was very difficult for us to accept because we thought our intelligence made us unique. Without that, what are we? Many of us now have problems with procrastination, motivation, and ambition. I believe we grew up with a fixed mindset because we were heavily praised for getting answers right and not having difficulty with assignments. If we would have instead been praised for our process we might not feel the way we do today.
In this video, Tiffany Ferg does a wonderful job of explaining being "previously gifted" (which is also the name of her podcast).
It is so incredible what a mindset can do, even for those who are given fewer opportunities in life. Dweck mentioned that children on a Native American Reservation put the growth mindset to use. When they did this, they went from the lowest performing students in their area to the top. The power of the mind and confidence in one's own ability can completely transform lives. With the growth mindset, effort becomes something intriguing and exciting.
This idea of the growth mindset is very inspiring for me. I have a tendency to fall into the trap of thinking I am not enough if I get a low grade. If I receive a failing grade, I feel as if I should just quit because I'm obviously not cut out for the work. But if I instead read "not yet," I know I would feel like there is still potential in me. I would feel more driven and excited to work towards yet. There are so many subjects in school that I have given up on because of poor grades. I just assume that I am worse at those subjects than others, and I stopped trying a long time ago to be better at them. If someone would have just told me "you're not there yet, but you'll get there if you keep trying", I would be stronger in every school subject. Instead, my past experiences and grades have discouraged me and have served as a reminder that my talents do not lie in certain areas. This has hurt my confidence greatly. This meme does a wonderful job of reminding us that that is not the path to follow. The past is the past, and we should only use it to be better next time.
Then again, I do have the criticism of the growth mindset that it is not always effective. Some things my life I have worked extremely hard for but have still not been able to achieve (for example, I have worked hard enough in certain college courses to get an A but instead I got a B or C). This makes it difficult to want to work hard in other areas of life, but overall I would say that sometimes you just won't get what you worked so hard for because it was not meant to be. That does not mean you shouldn't try in other areas of your life.
Woo! That was a lot. It seems I have a lot to say on the topic. I'll leave it there for today.
