Maintaining a Growth Mindset with Books!

Many years ago in grade school, I was required to read an academic article on Carole Dweck’s research. I was immediately a fan and went on to write several papers and follow her work. Years later when Angela Duckworth’s book Grit came out, I felt both a twinge of age (what’s old is new again) and enthusiasm for how Dweck’s seminal work from three decades ago was now being leveraged in education.

Dweck’s work came to be a defining influence in my education. It instilled my belief that life is a series of lessons and when we're open to it, there are infinite possibilities to learning and grow. Every professional opportunity has taught me something about myself, the world, and the human experience. Every human I take the time to get to know teaches me something and often makes me a better person.

TBH, I am acutely aware that our circumstances and times that I have a fixed mindset. I have to own that if I am going to overcome it.

I call myself a serial learner, which sounds like a brag, but sometimes is indeed a slippery slope. I've been known to sign up for too many online classes at once or purchase far more books than I can possibly read in a month.