Mindset: Learning and Life

English 101

25 March 2013

What kind of Mindset do you have?

There is a variety of things that play a role in an individual’s success in life. Such as motivation, curiosity, practice, determination, ability to learn, Etc. It is important to have some sort of motivation in life to become successful. In some of the articles we’ve discussed we’ve seen how people have different ways of teaching themselves something they are eager to learn or simply have interest in knowing more about it. Not everyone has the same method of learning in life. You will be surprise to learn the different ways you can teach yourself something and how it will impact your life in the future. No one accomplishes great things in life without years of passionate practice and work.

There are two different kinds of Mindsets. Fixed mindset/growth mindsets are two extremely different things. A Fixed mindset is a person that believes that there smartness is a given and they can do nothing to better themselves. In the other hand a growth mindsets is the total opposite of a fixed mindset. They see their qualities as things that can be developed through there dedication and efforts. On the Marcus’s Guitar Zero article we see how this individual fought to learn how to play the guitar. He was determined to learn no matter what. In that article we also learn about the 10,000 hour rule. It affirms that in order for you to become an expert in any domain you need to put a lot of work 10,000 hours of practice is one of them. That’s exactly what he did he gave up everything around him and concentrated himself to music everyday just dedication and practice. He never gave up; he had the motivation to keep going no matter how much he had accomplished.

Believe it or not your emotions and your feelings play a big role in life. For example on the Malcolm X handout we see how Malcolm informs us that he was street smart but not book smart. He didn’t know how to read, write or talk properly. Observing and listening to another person speak and take charge of all conversations he had with other people made Malcolm envy that other person because he wanted to be able to do the same. He felt lost, he felt like he needed to do something to better himself and he knew that the only way he was going to better his skills was to start coaching himself on how to read, write and talk properly. That’s exactly what he did. He was willing to put all his dedication and effort to achieve what he wanted. It took him a lot of time, excessive reading but he was able to make it happen and at the end after all of his hard work, he accomplished what he wanted. He was able to read, write and hold up a professional conversation with other people. Now that he has the ability to do all that he will have a lot of opportunities in life to succeed. This is another example of someone with a growth mindset he was open minded and he was willing to learn.

In the article Sophie’s world we see how Sophie’s curiosity brings her to want to learn about philosophy. She never knew how interested she could be in something she had no idea about. Even though the letters she was receiving were from an anonymous person that she had no idea who it was, it awaken something inside of her that made her curios and anxious to know more about what this anonymous person had to say about philosophy. Learning about philosophy is going to play a big role in Sophie’s future. Maybe now that she learned more about it, this will guide her or help her choose her career in the future. Things such as this are the ones that help you decide what you want to become In the future and what plans you have for yourself. Either Sophie will go a different path that is not Philosophy or she will continue to learn more about it and make a career out of it.

I myself have also gone thru practicing and gaining experiences for stuff that I am passionate to learn. I have perpetually forever like numbers ever since I was a little girl. I enjoy doing math; I wanted to be an accountant ever since I was about 10 Years old. Every time I would try to apply to an accounting job they will always ask for experience. I consider myself as having a growth mindset; I believe that in order to succeed in life and become someone better and be a better person I had to discipline myself to get a better job. That’s exactly what I did, not only did I take accounting courses in school I also told my manager at my current job that I wanted to learn accounting. I told him that I wasn’t asking for any type of raise all I wanted was for them to have their accountant teach me and give me some entry level work that I can help with so that I can gain experience. Not only was I trying to discipline myself at work but also when I was not attending school or working I was always reading accounting books so that I can learn the terminology. In less than one year I couldn’t believe everything I had learned it was amazing my determination and my motivation had taken me far. Not only that, but since my boss saw how motivated and how much I enjoyed doing accounting work he promoted me to become part of their staff accounting team. That bumped up my confident so much more and I was even more eager to learn. That’s why I believe that if someone sets there mind into something they want and give it all you can you will be able to achieve it. I talk from personal experience.

There is no such thing as too much practice, the more practice one gets the better they become in something. It is important for someone to better themselves in order to succeed in life. Learning different things or being interested to learn different things in life can always benefit you in the future. The more you know the more opportunities you have. You have to give yourself the opportunities even if you think that you won’t be able to learn give it a try. If the person trying to learn is motivated, has some curiosity in learning, has the ability to learn new things and is interested in learning, that person will always succeed in life. It’s never good to give up, if you are having a hard time learning you can always try different methods to practice. Not everyone learns the same way other people do. It’s a matter of wanting it, if you want it you can make it happen.

Works Cited
Gaarder, Jostein. "Sophies World." Eng101laccdssi. N.p., 2008. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.
Grey, Marcus. "Guitar Zero." Eng101laccdssi. N.p., 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

X, Malcolm. "Learning How to Read." Eng101laccdssi. N.p., 2008. Web. 04 March. 2013.