A fixed mindset is one of staying comfortable in a bubble. Sticking with the routines. Never venturing too far away from normalcy, the traditional way of thinking that has shaped you. A growth mindset, is one of tearing down the box, seeking new opportunities to broaden your horizons, having an open-mind and free spirit. But is there different levels of a growth mindset? Can you be a free spirit but still be caged in by doubt and lack of ingenuity? What is necessary in order to truly embrace a growth mindset? Thinking about changing and actually innovating and reflecting, and growing consistently are two different stages in a complex web of adventure, set backs, and leaps forward. In order to encapsulate a call to action, a mission, to not take a stance but a running pace we need to cultivate, substantiate, and annihilate certain aspects of our psyche and schema.
Annihilation can be a messy process. To completely destroy or obliterate part of our thinking can be scary. But it may be necessary. We must be willing to let things go in order to add new content. Layering our knowledge is common place, but when we are unsuccessful and stuck we may need to throw out our prior understanding completely. We need to accept our misjudgment and seek opportunities to transform and enhance our schema. A lack of reformulation can cause idleness and eventually ambivalence and stagnation. A quote by Ayn Rand sums it up, “Non-thinking is an act of annihilation, a wish to negate existence, an attempt to wipe out reality." By refusing to keep an open mind we back ourselves into a corner, unwilling to find an exit we feel cornered but safe and this false sense of security blinds us to self-reflection and growth. Annihilation wipes the slate clean. Requiring self-reflection and reorganization.
Once we have cleared the brush, tilled the soil and laid the foundation of new knowledge acquisition, we must fertilize and harvest our ideas and concepts. This process of developing a new schema needs nurturing and cultivation. Adding in a slow stream of data and knowledge can be one large discrepant event, causing frustration and doubt. This is when a mentor, teacher, peer interaction is critical. The layers of prior knowledge can be cleared but they never truly disappear, much like succession they are the foundation on which all new information is processed. Even the best gardeners will tell you, weeds may block the sun, soil may become fallow, and even drought will hinder growth, but with homesteading and horticulture a newly planted field can become a fertile forest.
How then do we take our newly cultivated mindset and substantiate it into our schema? The more we find connections the more actualization and validation we find, the more ratification. Providing opportunities to use this new information, establishes pathways between concepts. Relevance. The more we incorporate this new knowledge into our way of thinking. Corroboration through peer interaction, collaborative teams, self-reflection solidifies this into our knowledge base. Allowing us to access it when we need to. Annihilation clears the path, scorches the misinformation. Cultivation allows the first sprout of curiosity and interest to push up from the soil and seek light in which to grow. Finally, substantiation completes the process by allowing new knowledge to manifest itself in our minds becoming a part of our psyche. A new mindset does not happen overnight but it is rather a slow process of succession where lichens break down the hard surfaces into the soil, rainfall and nutrients create the first organism to sprout and this in turn will create the foundation by which all future thought will grow.
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