It’s not.
Sometimes these posts are inspired by something a student has said to me, and other times when I simply need to get some information across. Today’s was inspired by something completely different: a post shared on Facebook by a friend.
The post was a version of this image, created by @sylviaduckworth, and reproduced in an unedited form below.
The image contains ten statements – which, honestly, I hear a lot whilst teaching – and 10 much better, more positive ways of thinking.
Why does positivity matter?
As I posted about some time ago, it’s really important in studying, as with everything else in life, to try and keep going. But if you have a fixed mindset – that is, think that you can’t improve and that things will continue as they are, keeping going can be a very difficult challenge. However, with a positive outlook on yourself and your capacity to learn, anything is possible.
Remember though, that a growth mindset isn’t the same as uncontrollable optimism. This is exemplified by point 2 in Duckworth’s image above. Yes, you may be getting everything right in this particular topic so far (well done!) but that just means that you’re one stepping stone close to your goal: you still have a lot to do, so use that positive energy to keep going.
Don’t give up
If you’re struggling to do something, ask someone. Maybe ask more than one person – a teacher, a tutor, a friend, your mum… don’t feel bad because you’re needing to ask for help – sometimes everyone has to have things explained to them more than once before they can truly understand them!