Growth Mindset

Since I did the growth mindset orientation last semester in the Indian Epics class, this time around I decided to instead write about two new videos that I found on the Growth Mindset Playlist.  The first video I am writing about is called "Which mental 'deficits' are really hidden strengths?" The title of the video was really intriguing to me when I was first skimming through the playlist.  I enjoyed what Heather Heying had to say pretty much from the start--she points out the diversity of humans.  I liked how she did this in terms of our brains all having different connections, strengths and weaknesses.  It made me think about how important our brains really are for our outward physical reactions/interactions.  The word she uses to discuss all of this is neurodiversity.  I quite like that word! It's a new one, but it has a nice ring to it.  She then begins to discuss different cases of being the "non-dominant phenotype."  Some of these cases include things such as being autistic, color-blind, or even simply left handed.  She points out some fascinating and unique abilities that are associated with some of these conditions! Heyer points out that dyslexia has a trade-off (oftentimes) with speaking prowess.  I enjoyed getting to learn about these "deficits" from a new perspective.  While I have known that people with autism will sometimes have incredible abilities, I had no idea that other "deficits" had similar trade-offs.  Things are not always as they first appear! 

The second video I'm writing about is called Deliberate Practice: Achieve Mastery at Anything.  This video definitely stuck out to me because, just in the past week and a half, I have started playing the guitar.  I played for a bit when I was a kid, but I never really got into it.  Since I first picked it up, I have been playing hours daily.  I keep trying to learn things that I'm probably not ready for yet--I'm just so eager! Last week I almost exclusively thought about practicing guitar and learning new songs while I was at work.  I have been wondering whether I can really improve to play some of the songs I'd like to play, so this video sounded especially interesting :) The idea of continued experimentation made me smile, because I do that at my job! The concept of putting this video into steps made it really helpful.  The step of reflection after practicing makes so much sense, I can't believe I never thought of it.  The "start slow" step seemed like it was directed right at me :D The tip to track small levels of improvement seems like a great idea to keep motivation and positivity at an all time high! I liked the statistics to back up the idea that repetition makes perfect.  I agree that a routine would be greatly beneficial for me--I think that would be helpful for most aspects of my life.  I'm glad that this video laid out some simple and easy to practice tips.  I think this could help me for learning guitar, but also in other aspects of my life as well.  

A guitar--the instrument I one day hope to master.

Source: The Commons