Growth Mindset In Times of covid-19
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These are strange times to live in. Some describe it as history in the making, others as the biggest calamity that has befallen humanity in the last 100 years. Some see this as nature’s reset button, other’s see it as the wrath of the God’s raining down on a careless and avaricious humankind. Some see it as a gift, others a curse. The paradoxes abound, and people’s perspectives take on different hues depending on their personal contexts.
What makes different individuals look at the same situation from so many different lenses? While one person uses this time in contemplative meditation and self-improvement, another chooses to go beyond himself/ herself and reach out to those adversely impacted by the situation, while a third fights against the strictures imposed and exhausts himself from the stress of resisting the situation. Each one is attempting to survive the situation in a way best known to them. In a crisis we draw upon those behaviours we know best, because they bring comfort and familiarity within, to offset the churn all around.
Carol Dweck, an American psychologist did seminal work in the area of mindsets and how they motivate action or inaction. She spoke of the Growth mindset and the Fixed mindset. The growth mindset is one of resilience, it sees challenges as opportunities to learn and grow because the underlying belief is that one's intelligence and abilities have the potential to stretch and expand. The fixed mindset however, sees one’s abilities as static, which brings with it a sense of helplessness when the situation is seemingly beyond one’s capacity to handle. It causes a downward spiral into stress and negativity. The good news is one can develop a growth mindset.
The question is how do we access our innate resourcefulness even in these times of strife. Here are a few simple ideas to help you move from a state of stress and negativity, to state of resilience and positivity:
▪ Switch Off The Cacophony: Given the barrage of negative information that is assaulting our senses these days, it’s natural for us to see the future as bleak and colourless. We have a choice to mute those naysayers and prophets of doom. Decide a fixed time when you will watch the new updates and stick to it. Don’t keep looking for the latest updates on the hour. I allow myself to watch the 9 pm news and nothing else, however tempted I may be to check the latest numbers.
▪ Attitude of Gratitude: A roof over one’s head, three square meals, even if they aren’t exactly what we’d like to have eaten, a healthy family, a happy home…there is much to be grateful for when one looks for it. Consciously listing one’s blessings takes to you effortlessly to a space of positivity. You can make it a point to ask your children what they’ve been grateful for today. That helps to refocus their energy and attention on the positives, instead of chafing at the restraints placed on them by the situation.
▪ Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices help you to centre yourself and calm down. Be it meditation, chanting, praying or even something as simple as deep breathing, all contribute to building a sense of greater tranquillity within oneself. For one friend its Buddhist chanting, while for another, it’s just spending time with her baby and losing herself completely in the experience and for a third its sipping a cup of coffee while watching the sun set.
▪ Introspection: This is a great opportunity for each of us to look within and take a good hard look at ourselves. It could act as a pause for one, while it could energise and accelerate another. Either ways, you have the time to take a breather and re-evaluate your life.
▪ Reconnect: In our endeavour to race ahead, we’ve often left meaningful relationships behind in our wake. Now is the time to rekindle old friendships, reacquaint ourselves with near and dear ones, sometimes even those we live with or meet every day. Away from the regular stressors of life, here’s an opportunity to reconnect at a deeper and more meaningful level, with your spouse, children and all those who matter. My children and I have begun to spend long hours star gazing on the terrace, and in those moments, clothed in darkness, their deepest secrets spill out.
▪ Explore New Learning: This is a great time to embark on an exploration of all that interests you, but you couldn’t find the time for. Whether it’s a hobby you let go off or a new skill you wish to learn…go for it! The internet is full of free courses, webinars and learning material that can be accessed at the click of a button.
▪ Go Beyond Yourself: There are many people, who currently have little control over their circumstances due to poverty, loss of jobs and livelihoods. Reach out in whatever way you can, whether it’s offering provisions to your house help, making donations to NGOs who are working tirelessly to provide food and shelter or actually being part of task forces working in the field. Do what suits you and your pocket, but extend yourself, because in extending oneself to others, one grows from within.
This time of lockdown is a gift, to reenergize ourselves and renew our spirits even as nature renews herself. We can choose to reinvent ourselves and come out of this rejuvenated, or emerge battered and bruised, beaten down by circumstances. The choice is entirely ours to make. The beauty is that one can make this choice every single morning and change the trajectory of our being.