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Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

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Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#81

Post by burntoutfire »

lowiqengineer wrote: post #22
trabant00 wrote: post #8

I want to make a case against having a "growth mindset". And against fighting procrastination. And any other self improvement stuff. - all these things happen at a much lower level than conscious thought. We have approaches to achieving based on genetics, early upbringing, life experiences, etc. No amount of wanting things to be different will make it so. - there are no recipes. There is just doing stuff, some will s…

What do I do if I'm not successful then? I've dealt with suicidal ideation before, but everyone then just told me that it was a problem of mindset. If I'm not capable of becoming successful then...what's the point?

To turn your argument on its head - why being successful would make a life worth living? "Being successful" is only a small factor our overall living experience. Plenty of successful people kill themselves, plenty of unsucessful people have great lives.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#82

Post by sprusemoose »

I look at it as an equation between your conscious and unconscious

quite often things that require change end up equaling 0, where your motivation to do it = the resistance to stay the same, stay safe, stay comfortable.

so you need to add something to the equation that's external and outside of your control, that tips the odds.

we have all these big brain solutions to jimmy our unconscious into doing things we want, but we often don't realize our unconscious has the same ability to jimmy our conscious mind to create balance

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#83

Post by zck »

phunehehe0 wrote: post #72
malcolmocean wrote: post #65

I've found some shifts in my language have helped with this. Here's some examples from a blog post I wrote on this awhile ago: Instead of "Some people are born to be singers—I’m not one of them." ▶ try "I didn’t start with any singing talent—I’ve had to learn it all." Instead of "I suck at math." ▶ try "Math has been challenging for me." Instead of "I’ll never be an artist." ▶ try "I feel really dissatisfied with all…

Not exactly the same thing, but this reminds me of a style of speaking/writing that avoids using "to be" verbs. I don't remember the name and can't seem to find it on Wikipedia right now, but it's similar to what this article describes [1]. The crux of it is, you avoid framing things as more absolute and permanent than they really are. For example, you are not inherently bad at math, you are just bad at it in your cu…

> Not exactly the same thing, but this reminds me of a style of speaking/writing that avoids using "to be" verbs. I don't remember the name and can't seem to find it on Wikipedia right now, but it's similar to what this article describes

This is E Prime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#84

Post by xtagon »

irchans wrote: post #51
0x008 wrote: post #6

Well there is no real secret to learning stuff. Other than a few very extraordinary disciplines, anything can be learned if you put in the time and keep at it regularly. Of course, this statement is only valid if you apply the proper learning techniques, but also these can be learned. It is hard to give you general advice since everybody is at a different mindset and has different learning techniques. What helped me…

Maybe there are a few secrets to learning stuff. Has anybody taken the "Learning how to Learn" coursera course? https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn?ranMID=...

I've taken the course, and highly recommend it to everyone! I wish I had taken it years sooner, as most of the techniques can be applied to any learning endeavor.

The instructors do touch on having a "growth mindset", as well as teaching practical skills that are easy and effective both for retaining what you learn and for fighting procrastination.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#85

Post by timwaagh »

I guess when you can wrangle an opportunity, act and don't let it slip. some people never get opportunity. But more often people let their morals, their conscience, the law, social expectations, their image, fear et cetera get in the way. We're all vulnerable to it to some extent and that's okay. But you should at least realize you are paying a price when you let a thing like that hold you back.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#86

Post by james_s_tayler »

malcolmocean wrote: post #65

I've found some shifts in my language have helped with this. Here's some examples from a blog post I wrote on this awhile ago: Instead of "Some people are born to be singers—I’m not one of them." ▶ try "I didn’t start with any singing talent—I’ve had to learn it all." Instead of "I suck at math." ▶ try "Math has been challenging for me." Instead of "I’ll never be an artist." ▶ try "I feel really dissatisfied with all…

Welcome to the art of reframing.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#87

Post by agentwiggles »

m12k wrote: post #49
bougiefever wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old saying that whatever is worth doing is worth doing badly. So true. When I was in Germany, they have a saying that you start with "something to hate". Already knowing that what you're about to do is going to be crap makes it easy to get going. Then you set about fixing your crappy beginning. It gets you unstuck.

That reminds me of a saying I heard when starting to learn the game Go: "Lose your first 50 games quickly"

I've heard a similar saying regarding songwriting, "your first 50 songs will suck, so get them out of the way quickly"

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#88

Post by abhayhegde »

I did not read all the comments and hence do not know if this has been already mentioned. I have found "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin, as an excellent guide to two approaches of thinking: fixed mindset and growth mindset.

The author was a national chess champion at the age of nine and later earns the title of world champion of Tai Chi, a martial art. He gives a critical analysis, especially in chapter three on how he was able to shift to growth mindset. Although most of it is very specific to him and written in chess lingo, I think the common theme is graspable and there are good ideas lying all around. Style on chessboard is direct expression of personality and this book may help you.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#89

Post by juhatl »

lowiqengineer wrote: post #22
trabant00 wrote: post #8

I want to make a case against having a "growth mindset". And against fighting procrastination. And any other self improvement stuff. - all these things happen at a much lower level than conscious thought. We have approaches to achieving based on genetics, early upbringing, life experiences, etc. No amount of wanting things to be different will make it so. - there are no recipes. There is just doing stuff, some will s…

What do I do if I'm not successful then? I've dealt with suicidal ideation before, but everyone then just told me that it was a problem of mindset. If I'm not capable of becoming successful then...what's the point?

To reiterate what others here already said, success really isn't anything "universally great" to aim for. There's probably no real way to do that either, since there isn't even any universal definition of what success really means. This is especially true when everyone comes up with their own unique set of requirements for considering themselves successful. It is also way too easy to fall for the trap of moving the goalpost once you're there.

And if you felt like you hadn't reached your own definition of success, then what of it? Would that really, honestly change your life in any measurable way, or is the feeling of "not being enough" all in your head? If it is, then that also means your head holds the means to get rid of such a feeling.

I really want to recommend the book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. It was one of the greatest assets for me overcoming my own depression, and I hope it can help you battle your suicidal thoughts all the same.

Re: Ask HN: How to develop a growth mindset?

#90

Post by coffeeling »

"It's really important to just take what life has given you, and do your best with it. I'm not going to say that anyone can do anything, those are just empty words, but I will say that your limits are way further out than you think they are. And if you push yourself you'll be really pleased with the results."

- speedrunner halfcoordinated, SGDQ 2016

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