Change Your Mindset
So a few years ago, I came across this really awesome book:
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, PhD
In the book, Dweck talks about the mindsets that people have as they approach learning, work, relationships, and, well, life in general. The really interesting thing is that she divides people's mindsets into two categories: (1) fixed mindsets and (2) growth mindsets.
Dweck puts it this way:
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They're wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset, you'll see how.
- Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Here's a really awesome graphic by Nigel Holmes that illustrates the two:
In my head's simplified version, people with a “fixed mindset" are all of those people who told me (and, unfortunately, convinced me) that Japanese was “too hard" to learn. I wasted years of my life not pursuing this dream of mine, because I had not yet cultivated a growth mindset. In other words—I didn't trust in my ability to master this language.
Reading about Dweck's two types of mindsets, it was really easy for me to imagine people I know—loved ones in my life that fall into one of these two categories. Some of them have a fixed mindset. Some of them have a growth mindset. And in thinking about those people, I noticed that the ones I respect the most always seem to have a growth mindset.
I'd like to have a growth mindset, too. And I constantly try to remind myself that I can get better. I can learn from mistakes. My favorite thing about Dweck's book is that she presents these two mindsets like choices. If you want to have a growth mindset, then that option is available to you.
I think it goes without saying, but to learn Japanese, you're probably going to want to have a growth mindset. Talent might be something that people acquire naturally, but skill only comes from hard work. And, lucky for us, Japanese is a skill. So we can learn it, make it ours.
If anyone is interested in reading her book, here's a link: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, PhD.
Anyways, assuming you have that growth mindset, you know that it is theoretically possible for you to master Japanese if you really go for it. And the most effective way to go for it is… consistent persistence.