Growing a Brain

Growing A Brain

By Ariane C.

A book on the topic of my experience with a Growth Mindset

What have you realized about your own grit and effort?

I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I am certainly not the “grittiest” person out there. Although I do show determination to keep trying in some tasks (such as art, music, or reading), I feel that it isn’t the same as “grit”. I suppose it’s normal for children my age to not have a strong passion or goal; but I do feel as if I want that to change for myself.

Grit isn’t simply just infatuation or interest in a certain topic. It’s the willpower and perseverance to keep at it. In a sense, it’s similar to yet different to the concept of “don’t give up.” Many people “don’t give up” until they succeed. From what I understand, grit is the will to keep going until you succeed, and even afterwards.

Where do you show these skills best?

Even though I feel as if I currently don’t show many examples of grit, I still believe I have shown some examples in the past. I remember when I was eleven years old, I was absolutely terrible at drawing. I had kept comparing my artwork to the artwork of others and slowly became my worst critic. Eventually I had decided to stop being so hard on myself, and I had instead decided to make a goal of drawing every day. My drawings had slowly improved; and I’m now happy with them even if they still have room for improvement.

How could you use those skills more?

I feel that I could endeavour to use this skills more in everyday life by finding something I’m passionate about, and keep trying to improve or participate in that certain activity. For example, I am very passionate about reading. However, I tend to read multiple books at the same time. Instead of trying to balance 3-5 books at the same time, I could stick with one book or one series and focus on finishing that first.

I also love playing instruments. However, I currently am trying to improve at playing the clarinet for concert band, and the guitar simply because I enjoy playing it. Instead of balancing both instruments, I could try getting “gritty” about one, and pursuing the other at a later date.

This way, I could avoid the attitude of feeling bad about myself and stressed out. I tend to berate myself when I don’t play a note correctly, or if I fail to finish a book before my library loan is due. If I learn to focus on one passion at a time, and pursue it as much as I can, I could therefore boost my overall mood instead of feeling bad about myself.