Mindset is a book by Carol Dweck. She has also done TED talks, been referenced in other’s talks and can be found with a search on YouTube and Google. The summary is a person often has either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Some people believe their talents and intelligence are just set at one level and that is it. Others believe they can expand, rewire their brain, learn to be / do better. How do you view something that is hard for you to do? Something you are NOT good at doing? Do you say, I am not as smart/talented as that person who CAN do it? Or do you say, I love a challenge, a chance to learn something new? Dweck talks of a school that gave a grade of “not yet” instead of “fail” when a class was not mastered. The “not yet” helped students understand that more work was required, rather than the more permanent sounding “fail”.
Sometimes we have fixed mindset on some areas of life and growth mindset on others. Listening to what you say to yourself will tell you where on the spectrum you are. In Unity we are often reminded that our growth is not a straight line. We know that some days we do better at principle number five, Living that Truth we know. Remembering that we CAN change and grow will help. It is so easy to fall into thoughts of “I can’t _” whether that is math, spelling, organizing, whatever. You may need different tools, you may be at a different level than someone else, especially if they have spent more time learning that skill than you have. Our thoughts create our lives. Why not practice that growth mindset? Have faith that Divine Mind will help you continue to learn and grow. See you in the next service and class!
