Week 8 Growth Mindset

Even though I know about growth/fixed minset and have made the decision to follow the growth mindset, I still have problems with thinking I am predisposed to not being able to do certain things.  I don’t really face it during school, at least not yet, but I do face it during my job.  I am a sales associate and one of our jobs is to essentially fill a customer’s room with clothes that I think they will like.  This includes pants, shirts, foundations, and jewelry.  We’re supposed to do this regardless of what the customer came in looking for and I find it incredibly difficult to do.  I know I’ve said that I’m not that kind of person before, but I am trying very hard to learn to be.  Unfortunately, I do have a bit of a mental block when it comes to learning it, so it’s taking some serious time and effort.

Growth mindset is one of those things that you need to constantly keep at the forefront of your mind, which is extremely difficult. I managed to do it once before when I was swimming, but it took a lot of mental effort and a ton of practice.  I know I can do it, but I need to set my mind to it. I’m trying to use this class to figure out what I want to do with my life and where I want it to go.  It’s allowing me to explore some of my artistic talents, like writing, which I left behind a long time ago.  It’s not something that I necessarily want to turn into a career, but it may be something that I keep going to help me relax and get out some creative juices. 

Motivational Poster. Source: Wikipedia

Week 8 Reflections

I have been making sensible choices for my readings so far, I think.  Since I don’t live on or near campus, reading the hardcopies of the books in the Bizzell library isn’t exactly a practical decision.  I have enjoyed all of the readings, although they do start to ramble on at some point.  With the Ramayana it was the dragged out ending and the Mahabharata had the seriously dragged out war description.  I think my favorite was the first half of the reading about Krishna and his life.

My reading notes are not exactly like they are supposed to be, mostly because I start writing my story as I’m reading.  I get a good idea and I want to act on it immediately.  Taking little notes doesn’t work for me because I forget the guts of my idea and just remember a brief overview.  However, my style works for me because it helped me remember which sections I wanted to return to for my storybook writings.

I have been proud of my stories so far and have really enjoyed writing them.  It lets me get some creativity out during the week, which I really appreciate.  Even though it is an assigned ‘art’ project, it still forces me to get the creative juices flowing. It gives my brain a bit of a break during the week.  I love writing my stories, and I really love writing my storybook. I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester and to discovering some more stories to read and turn around into a new creation. 

Highland Coo. Personal Photo, March 2016

This image may not seem like it relates to the writing process, but it's the background on my computer desktop, so obviously it does.  I write on my computer. He's on my computer.  It's related!!!