Sam's Article 'Lessons Learned In Losing'

A growth mindset is when someone believes that success is by pure effort and dedication, and brain and talent aren’t given; they can be developed. Sam, a college athlete from the article “Lessons Learned in Losing” is an example of growth mindset as he has most of the traits of this mindset, such as, diligence, tenacity, confidence, understanding that failure is just another way of learning, and challenging oneself perpetually. For Instance, Sam was a clumsy kid until middle school, but by constant training, he was able to become a varsity player. He didn’t stop working and getting better, thinking he was born clumsy, and he can never change. Instead, he kept working hard toward his goal and changed himself, which is must for a growth mindset.
However, Sam didn’t stop there. He kept pushing his limit by always trying out new sports. He first started with playing football, then biking, then football, wrestling and now rugby. Also, he is not hesitant to face opponents who are much bigger, and stronger than he is.
The way he challenges himself and tries to go beyond his barriers is another reason why he has a growth mindset. Moreover, Sam knows how to deal with defeat. He told his dad, “I just set personal goals. I didn't color my view… You have to have something, or you’ll just keep losing.” In other words, his self-assignments helps him to tackle failure, because if he can accomplish his self-mission, then he is not entirely losing. This technique and trait of him are really powerful, and it is a quality of growth mindset. However, there was some time when he was confused, and lost, like the time when he wanted to quit wrestling. This event was an example of helpless mindset. When he joined wrestling, the other kids were better and more experienced than he was. So, he wanted to quit, but thanks to his coach he was able to get back on track, and even work really hard to become an exceptional wrestler. So even though he has once shown the sign of helpless mindset once, most of the time he behaves as someone with a growth mindset, since he is preserving, persistent, strong-minded, ready face challenge and
lose. Sam was influenced by different factors for engaging in sports and participating actively.
Sometimes he had an extrinsic motivation, and sometimes it was intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is when someone is inspired to do something for an external reward, or avoiding consequence, while intrinsic motivation is when someone is driven to do something for personal pleasure. Sam had both internal, and external reason for different actions. Sports played a huge role in Sam's life as “The most important thing for him was to be in the game. Sitting on the bench made him furious.” In other words, Sam enjoys playing sports. So, we can say it’s an intrinsic motivation because he plays sports for internal pleasure. Also, he has a strong desire for winning which illustrated in various parts of the story. For instance, he decided to play safe for the team’s sake, instead of taking a risk. Also, during a conversation with his dad, we can see that he loves winning when he said, “Just winning? Infinitely better.” So, we can say that he works hard to win, which is an of extrinsic motivation. His role in the family also can also be one of the reasons why wanted to do sports. His dad is just as clumsy as he used to be. So after observing his dad’s life, he probably didn’t want to go through the same thing. Because he want’s to avoid the same his dad’s fate, it can be called and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic, and intrinsic motivation are really connected, as they often intersect.
Intrinsic motivation can turn into extrinsic motivation, and vice versa. They can also exit on the same page. For example, Sam plays sports because he loves to win, and he also plays because he enjoys it, so it’s both motivations at the same time. In the end, Sam has had both extrinsic, and intrinsic motivation for sports.