Having a Growth Mindset in Dance

Being a dancer, I find Carol Dweck's growth mindset theory very interesting.  Dance is a very competitive world where it is too easy to compare yourself to others.  But it's also a world where I see a lot of the growth mindset in dancers in that they look forward to new challenges because it means they're about grow and learn new things.  I'm someone who can be super critical of myself at times and I often get frustrated if I don't meet certain goals that I set for myself, especially when it seems like the things I'm trying to do come a lot easier to the dancers around me.  But other times I love new challenges because I enjoy learning new skills and I like knowing that there's still a lot of room for me to grow and improve.  I've found that it's more likely that I'll accomplish something when I'm excited to work on it because I feel more confident, rather than when I stress myself over "getting it right" because I feel like I need to.  Much like how Dweck said that effort and difficulty made some kids "feel dumb" or "feel like giving up," having to fight to obtain some skills and tricks that are harder for me has sometimes made me feel like I wasn't as talented and like I should just give up on it.  But I think that if I can apply more of a growth mindset to these more difficult tasks, working on them will be much more enjoyable and it will feel like more of an accomplishment when I achieve them.

GRIT Poster by Sarah Carter; August 2015. Source: MathEqualsLove