For the final Part of my three part series Learning, Motivation and Praise: How Do We
Learn Best? it is time to put our “Growth Mindset” and our newfound
resilience to practical use. So far, I have primarily focused on the external
aspects that can affect how we learn such as the impact of outside praise as
well as environmental challenges and obstacles, all the while only alluding to
the fact that we do have the personal power to construct our response to such
obstacles. The problem occurs, however, when we do not act with proper mindful
awareness, and subsequently default to operating without a real internal locus
of control. In the end, we want to be able to achieve and succeed in our academic
and life pursuits without the reliance of others providing meaningful
praise/actionable criticism, or simply dumb luck by avoiding the wrong set of
circumstances that overwhelm our capacity to cope. How do we do this? The
answer is rather simple and it comes from one of the greatest masters of
learning: Josh Waitzkin.
In the
second podcast conducted by Tim Ferris, which is becoming a rather compelling collection
of interviews combining alcohol, dinner conversation, and absurd yet cerebral
questions with some of the greatest minds on the face of the Earth, Josh
Waitzkin provided some of the deepest and most practical advice for productive
and successful living.
If I could
boil this amazing interview down into 2 poignant insights from Waitzkin, it
would be this. First, Cultivate Space in
Your Life. We are all consumed with how to be the most productive and
efficient human beings, combining work, academics, social and family life as
well as parenting into some semblance of organization that we can all too
easily forget about the essential reality that we need space, pause and
transition. Actively dedicate space and time in your life to not just “nothing”,
but to personal exploration. Waitzkin advises us to deconstruct and “subtract”
extraneous material in our lives in an effort not to become more efficient, but
to allow ourselves to function without constantly impeding our progress as
knowledge seeking human beings.
The
second practical point tells us how we can choose to spend time within this
cultivated space of self awareness: Nurture
Your Creativity. Whether you actually use this space to creatively think and
express your being through whatever art form, or allow this time for meditation
and restoration such that you can enhance your performance in other aspects of
your life, we all must take a proactive effort in treating our creative minds
as sacred, nourishing this flame of being with constant vigilance. I can attest
to the fact that we are often our own worst enemies when it comes to sabotaging
our ability to creatively think, and ultimately, live on a hamster wheel of
unmet expectations.
By
following these words of wisdom: “Cultivate Space in Your Life” and “Nurture
Your Creativity” one can practically make the most of a resilient “Growth
Mindset” The truth is, most of us suffer from not only a complete lack of
either resilience or a “Growth Mindset,” but an inability to successful
practice these principles without real life guidance. Upon entering medical
school, I certainly did not have a robust resilient spirit, and even my
positive attitude and “Growth Mindset” could not overcome the fact that I was by
no means seeking to cultivate space in my busy life, and eventually came to
subtract the very activities that actually allowed me to think creatively,
spontaneously, and free from the world of medicine. Life is a process of
continuous learning and adaptation, and without adversity we will never realize
our true potential for resiliency. I hope this series was informative as well
as entertaining. May we all aspire to live as resilient humans seeking
achievement, happiness, self-worth and a legacy worth leaving.
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