The Endurance Mindset

As the start of the 2013-2014 school year approaches, I am once again reminded how critical it is for us to encourage and foster a mindset of endurance within ourselves and students. The process of learning, shaping behavior and healthy social/emotional development is an arduous progression. In the book, Mindset, (A book I highly recommend reading) Dweck refers to this as the “growth mindset.” She explains this outlook is necessary for an athlete to push through their personal walls, endure losses as a means to grow and improve, and continuously remind oneself of the passion she/he has for an activity. I would argue having an enduring mindset is not the norm because it takes more effort and goes against our human nature. If this were not the case, I believe more of us would approach conflict with more hope, failures as opportunities and setbacks with positivity.

 As with any new school year, content may start out as easy review, relationships might begin in a honeymoon phase and our students’ willingness to take risks and set ambitious goals may perhaps happen quickly. Once more intense educational rigor kicks in, relational norms are challenged and/or overextended schedules take a toll on students, we are going to need to practice using a mindset of endurance. As the adults, this may look like simply listening to- without trying to rescue or solve- a story in which your student recounts an encounter of a difficult interaction with someone whose normally interactions are done with ease. Endurance for us might look like setting up a routine and schedule for studying and reading for 30 minutes every night to help ensure our student meets their goals within a framework of many obligations (games, friends, clubs, etc…). Endurance for the adults will look different because we will have to withstand the instinct to want to sweep in and save the day when our student fails, experiences heartbreak, get her/his first grade of a C, D or maybe even F. However, if we can face those experiences with the endurance mindset, we will model a more productive and constructive way of thinking for our students.

If we can start asking the questions, “What can you learn about yourself from the conflict you are having with your best friend, What can you do to help study differently for the next test, What other resources will help you successfully reach your goal?” we will begin to see our students take ownership in a more prolific way.

I am truly excited about this school year. I have a couple BIG personal goals I have set out for myself- I’ll share only one at this time: I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon again: 3:35 time- scary. I have lofty goals for my 16 year old and for the entire 7^th grade student body at PCMS. Perhaps it is because I am a marathoner that I have so much energy around the Endurance Mindset, nevertheless, I plan to add a page to my blog titled Endurance Mindset. I will post in this page on a monthly basis because it will be the backdrop for how I approach this next year with my own personal and professional goals. It will broadly speak to what I see in our students, my family and myself. I will link it to the main blog, but since it will also be on a separate page, it will run more chronologically than my main blog page.

Other books/articles I recommend:

The Five Dysfunctions of a TEAM by, Patrick Lencioni (reread this book earlier this week).

Scarcity vs. Abundance: Which way do you lead? (Article written by, Archpoint Consulting 2013).

Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups. Harvard Business Review (Article/PDF written by, Vanessa Urch Druskat and Steven B. Wolff).