How to have a positive mindset
Hear from other people on how they developed a growth mindset
Before you hear from Sadiya and Kimberley, it’s worthwhile mentioning that employers like to have people working for them who have a growth mindset and a positive attitude, as well as other key skills such as communication and staying positive (resilience).
Ask your child to read or listen to one of the stories below and then have a quick discussion on how the skills mentioned helped them succeed in the workplace. Can they find any examples of how the stories show a positive attitude as well? For example, Sadiya found a way to deal with a challenge successfully and Kimberley was able to find the help she needed to take her next step.
Remind them that people who have these skills and attitudes towards learning are more likely to succeed. This is because they are motivated to learn, make improvements based on feedback, adapt their skills, behaviours and attitudes and share their knowledge to help others.
Sadiya's skills:
- Digital - helped to launch an app
- Organisation - managed her workload for different teams and projects
- Problem solving - broke down a challenge into smaller parts
- Communication - explained her ideas to her managers
Kimberley's skills:
- Proactivity - found the support she needed
- Aiming high - set herself a goal and the smaller tasks needed to achieve it
- Problem solving - researched her options to find a solution
- Resilience - stayed positive even when she wasn't sure how to get an apprenticeship
For young people, learning to develop a positive attitude (also known as a growth mindset) can support them with their school work, help them adapt at college or university, approach job applications with confidence and deal with any rejections when applying for jobs.
Later on you can hear stories from other young people on how they have shown a growth mindset. This includes Kimberley who shares how staying positive helped her choose her next step after school.
We have included an activity which you can either complete with your child (you don’t need to be an expert, just follow the activities below), or they can complete independently using the worksheet.
Start by discussing with your child what a growth mindset actually is.
A growth mindset encourages you to learn from mistakes, rather than avoid making them in the first place. A person with a growth mindset shows determination and perseverance, even when facing a challenge. They also reflect on their feelings to learn ways to control their emotions in difficult situations.
It’s useful to get children thinking about a growth mindset in the context of something they will be able to relate to. For example, if your child likes music you could discuss how musicians must keep practising to improve their personal best, and the kind of mindset this requires.
Giving your child techniques on how to master being positive can help build confidence to face challenging situations. After all, it’s helpful to know that we can all learn from setbacks, and even turn them into positives.
How can your child transform their mindset?
Can they think of any examples where someone has displayed a growth mindset? You could encourage them further by giving an example yourself. Ask them how they could have a positive attitude in a scenario they are likely to be in, such as embracing a new challenge at school.
Examples of people who are still developing a growth mindset could be avoiding challenges, giving up at the first sign of difficulty, ignoring or avoiding criticism. Whereas people with a growth mindset tend to embrace new challenges, are resilient and view knockbacks as part of the journey and not as the end of it.
People with a fixed mindset think they can either do something or they can’t. The worksheet to download gives your child a chance to consider statements that demonstrate a fixed mindset, and change them into statements that show a growth mindset.
