Brian Johnson (Heroic +1 #1825) narrates a short personal anecdote about playing hidden-picture games with his children. When his kids say “this is hard,” he consistently responds, “I love challenges,” channeling Carol Dweck’s growth mindset advice. He credits this practice with helping shape his children’s growth mindsets and recommends others celebrate challenges to enable growth.
Hi, this is Bryan. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last several plus ones, we had some fun chatting about the excessive celebration penalty the heroic gods blessed me with after I apparently got a little too excited about my protocol domination and aura scores. Aren't those heroic gods clever in finding ways to get us to go next level in practicing our philosophy? Now, one of the benefits of getting slowed down for a couple of days was the chance to spend some more time with the kids. I'm not sure how many hidden picture games Eleanor and I played, but it was a lot. Every once in a while, when we were stuck for a while on a particularly tricky hidden object, she'd say, this is a hard one. To which I would always say, yeah, it is. And I love challenges. I got goosebumps typing that and saying that as I think about just how many times I've done exactly that. Pretty much every single time Emerson or Eleanor has ever said this is hard while doing something. Whether that's doing Legos, trying to read, or finding a hidden puzzle. I'd have that as a cue trigger prompt to channel some Carol Dweck wisdom and celebrate the power of effort and overcoming challenges. Now this is Carol Dweck's number one recommendation to help kids develop a growth mindset. I repeat, check out the notes on my all time favorite parenting books mindset and self theories. They're linked in the plus one. It is obnoxious how many times I have executed the if my kids say something is hard then I channel Carol Dweck and say I love challenges algorithm. And it's astonishing how much it has helped shape the their growth mindsets. And that's today's plus one. The next time you and or your kids team colleagues face a challenge, remember the godmother of the growth mindset and celebrate it. We love challenges. Why? Because it's the only way we can grow. So let's go.
