Feedback Thoughts

In "Why rejection hurts so much — and what to do about it," Guy Winch does a phenomenal job on explaining ways that can help prevent people from hurting their psychology. I have personally seen how detrimental rejection can be, and I know that I never what to go through what some of my friends have had to go through. The causes varied, but when you think of the end result, all of them were the same. Sometimes the confidence a person has in themselves is lost and they are afraid to try something new in the future. I hope that we all understand the difference between hurting someone emotionally and providing someone constructive feedback. Growing up I have had numerous teachers who would take two or three class periods to make sure we knew and understood that there was a difference between constructive feedback and feedback that does nothing, but hurt a person. Winch makes a great point on the fact that even though we may face a rejection whether it be minor or major, we should not go and do something to make that feeling worse, but human nature says otherwise. Rejection from people can hurt, but we I have found that if I think of the better things I have in life that rejection seems minute in comparison. Growing up cliques existed everywhere, which let me tell you was the most annoying thing ever, but instead of feeling like I was being left out, I choose to look at the friends I already had. Like, Winch had said we should focus on what we have and think about those who we make happy, and that is exactly what my 8 year old self had learned of from her parents. I have to say though had that not have been the case I know that I would never have been as close to my group of elementary school friends. 

In "A fixed mindset could be holding you back — here's how to change it," by Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Ann Arnold. In this article, the authors talk about how the words of contant praise are actually causing children to develop a fixed mindset. These children who develop the fixed mindset aren't as open to feedback and believe that their amount of intelligence and abilities will not be able to change. Comparatively, people with the growth mindset will understand that knowledge and abilities can be improved upon and will be able to bounce back from a possible negative feedback. They then talk about the individuals who have a growth mindset advance and adapt to changes in their worklife better than those with a fixed mindset. The example about the doctors is what stood out the most to me, because it is true, that we are not perfect. We will make mistakes, but what matters is that we learn from those mistakes. The article was short, but conveyed some very powerful messages. When I think of fixed mindset and growth mindset, I think in terms of people who will lead the way to new discoveries and opportunities compared to the followers. With the pace that the world is moving at being able to adapt and learn from mistakes is crucial to move forward otherwise you will be left behind. You may have read this article and might even think that there isn't a big correlation between a fixed mindset and being held back, but there is. Why do we hesitate to make career moves sometimes or change degree tracks? Sometimes it is because we are so wired to one thing that we do not want to expose ourselves to the possibility of failure by making such a transition. 

I look forward to getting many comments. Happy Saturday y'all!

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