Since being exposed to the idea of the growth mindset theory last semester in the Myth-Folklore class, I've tried to keep it in mind for situations outside of class, too. Learning about it came at pretty much the perfect time in my life, when I was starting to realize what I wanted my life to look at but also that trying to make that happen was also kind of scary, and was going to call for a lot of small changes to add up to big, eventual change.
I think part of what makes that so unnerving is the idea of changing not just my habits or beliefs, but changing me myself. I've always been strong in the belief that it's important to be yourself and stick to that gun, and a lot of the times, it's easy to think that self-acceptance and self-improvement are two diametrically opposed things. But really doesn't have to be that way, and I'm working on making myself more of a people person—at least enough of one that I'll be better at connecting and networking and being able to get the kind of career I want—without feeling like a sellout. It's a slow, sometimes uncomfortable process, but it's worth doing, and I'm working on it.
That said, I'm still a raging perfectionist, and I haven't gotten much better at letting go of things and moving on if I haven't gotten them the way I want them yet. Even stuff I shouldn't really care about. While cleaning out my family's garage the other week, I found an old letter from my second-grade teacher to my mom, explaining that I was too much of a perfectionist and was in danger of falling behind in class. I've gotten to the point that I can make that work without falling behind, but everything else is about as fraught as it was back then. And even though being a perfectionist is kind of miserable on a personal level, I can't say I don't want the results. One thing at a time, I guess, but for now, I'm okay with it—as long as I keep working on the balancing act between that and functionality.
Image Credit: "Trust the Process" by BK. Source: Flickr.
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