Growth Mindset & Sticking the Landing

As I kayaked this morning, two birds caught my eye. They LOOKED like eagles, but instead of soaring effortlessly in the clouds, these birds 1) mostly flapped their wings; 2) flew close to the treetops; and 3) fumbled landings. They moved more like ducks, but their size and the presence of an adult eagle tipped me off; these were fledgling Bald Eagles learning to fly.

Watching the eagles interact, I saw the young ones trying, learning, adjusting, trying again. The adult bird watched and coached the learners. The parent signaled the fledglings to follow, using a gull-like call, then flew side-by-side with the younger birds demonstrating how to fly effortlessly by catching air and gliding.

In education circles, we toss around the term Growth Mindset in teaching philosophy statements and when designing curriculum. It’s a term first coined by Carol Dweck, a psychologist and researcher. The basics of her work, which began in the 1970s and became popular in the early 2000s, involved participants completing moderately challenging, but simple tasks (like putting together a puzzle). They were either praised for being intelligent (Nice work, you’re so smart!) or for persisting at the task (Great job, you stuck with it even when things got tricky!). The short story of the findings from multiple studies is that outcomes were better, like how long it took to put together a puzzle or participants’ success in task learning, when individuals were praised for effort and persistence vs. their fixed, innate intelligence. Fast forward 20 years and growth mindset has influenced a paradigm shift affecting educational practices from childhood to graduate school including the structures of classes, assignments, and grading practices.

Watching the eagle adults coach today, I mentally imagined the adult generating a growth mindset narrative. It’s a beautiful thing.

“Ok little eagle, you’ve reached the time of life to practice flying. It’s not going to work for you to stay in the nest and wait for food. You’ve got skills to gain. Every eagle reaches this milestone. It’s a learning process and today you start. Let’s get flying!”

Once you reach a certain stage of life, it is less likely that you have a committed external coach to consistently send growth mindset messages. It is more likely that you rely on your internal voice to drive personal growth. Unfortunately, that internal voice often defaults to a critical, inner judge questioning our innate potential.

I’m getting better at recognizing my inner voice and how it impacts me. When I hear my inner voice as a compassionate coach, I feel challenged, yet supported to try, fail, learn, and try again. When I hear my inner voice shift into endless critic mode, I feel inadequate, disillusioned, and ready to give up.

What are we to do about the inner critic? Here’s some advice from researchers on Self Compassion (Kristin Neff)

1. Identify your inner critic. Some people visualize their critic, name it, and add a personality. Mine is a stern figure who sits disapprovingly on the sidelines, saying hmmm, and shaking her head.

2. Understand it. Usually, our critic wants to keep us from failing and getting hurt. But safety as a primary priority can be paralyzing and limiting.

3. Strap your critic into the back seat. Assure your critic that all will be fine. The complete you can handle driving the car.

4. Prepare growth mindset statements to counter your inner critic. Here are some possibilities:

   • This is uncomfortable, but I can learn new skills.

   • I’m not sure how it will go, but it’s worth trying.

   • Look at all I’ve learned from past experiences.

   • That didn’t go great. What did I learn?

Your inner critic’s voice can dominate but those messages of fear, perfection, or caution can be paralyzing. Imagine if every fledgling eagle stopped flying at their first failure. Persistence pays off. Keep developing the growth mindset proclaimed by your inner compassionate coach. Eventually, you too will stick the landing!