Growth Mindset

G.R.I.T. It means to show growth, resilience, initiative, and tenacity. People with grit have a growth mindset. They might be afraid of big obstacles but they face those obstacles head on. Grit is being used all around the world in schools, workplaces, and ever in communities. There are many people who don't realize just how important have grit and a growth mindset is. You can achieve many things in academics, personal life, and in your career by just having these two qualities. In this essay i will explain just how one can achieve in these three important areas.

It has been proven that students who have grit are more likely to succeed in academics. One of the studies that Angela Lee Duckworth had done was at West Point Military Academy. Getting into West Point depends on SAT scores, class rank, demonstrated leadership ability, and physical aptitude. it was shown that about 1 in 20 cadets drops during training before their first academic year. One question they had was; how well can grit predict who would stay? In order to get the answer to the question Duckworth had cadets take a short questionnaire in the first two or three days of the summer with other psychological tests West Point gives. It turns out that grit was the best predictor of which cadets would stay through the first difficult summer. It

was much better than the Whole Candidate Score, which at the time West Point thought it was their best predictor of scores. In the end, it all came down to which cadets had a growth mindset or a fixed mindset.
Having grit and a growth mindset in your personal life can help you achieve things you have never imagined for yourself.

If you have a fixed mindset in your personal life it means that you are pretty much stuck at this point in your life. Angela Lee explains how she was always shifting around every two to three years, until she realized that it wasn't what she wanted for her life. Angela Lee Duckworth states,¨ i'm very ambitious. I just want to be world-class at something. And this is not a recipe for it¨. When Angela was saying this statement she was thinking with a growth mindset. Not to mention a lot of grit. It's exactly what every person should be

thinking.
In order to achieve so much in your career you absolutely need to have a growth mindset and grit. An example that Angela Lee Duckworth says explains how a growth mindset and grit could contribute to your career. Duckworth explains,¨ When it is raining everybody wants a taxi, and taxi drivers pick up a lot of fares. So if you’re a taxi driver, the rational thing to do is to work more hours on a rainy day than on a sunny day because you’re always busy so you’re making more money per hour. But it turns out that on rainy days, taxi drivers work the fewest hours. They seem to have some figure in their head-’Ok, everyday i need to make $1,000’-and after they reach their goal they go home”. People who work with a fixed mindset set limits on themselves and thus they can not reach their full potential.
Having grit and a growth mindset are qualities that everyone should acquire throughout life. We need to start talking to students more and motivate them to have a growth mindset. Not only students, but also people in the work field. Angela Lee Duckworth tells us that if we have an obstacle in front of us, we can’t shut down. We have to tell ourselves that we can overcome this obstacle. All of Angela Lee’s studies tell us that we can indeed achieve many things in academics, personal life, and in your career.