February 10
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Anyone in education, leadership, or parenting has at least heard of the "growth mindset." Nothing new. It goes something this.
People with a growth mindset believe that learning new skills is always possible. If you have no idea how to ski and decide you want to start in your late '50's, the sky is the limit.
People with a fixed mindset believe that learning new skills is impossible. If you're lousy at cooking, those are just the cards fate dealt.
The aspect that is not addressed as much is how to create a growth mindset.
Growth and fixed mindsets are often described as if they themselves are inherited characteristics.
There is usually a strong implication that it sure would be nice to have a growth mindset. And if you're a fixed-mindset person (who incidentally probably wouldn't be reading up on mindsets to begin with), then you have some thinking to do.
I would like to propose the possibility that nobody is all one or the other. But, a mix. Like good and evil. Yin and yang.
Therefore, to create a growth mindset, one must practice thinking the things that growth-mindset people think.
When it comes to music, here are three ideas you can use for yourself or your kids to create a powerful growth mindset.
1. Remove the word talent from your vocabulary and celebrate building skills on a daily basis.
2. Think about the process more than the product. If a recital performance doesn't go great, but you grew on the road to get there, that's a major win.
3. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Your greatest competition should be you. How can you be 1% better tomorrow than you are today?
Remember, building your mindset like this is practicing in itself, so it may not go well every day. But, keep showing up and practicing anyway. Over time, you will be surprised how much joy it can bring.
Both in music and in life.
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For parents, students, and anyone else who believes that music can and should be a meaningful part of everyone's life.
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