How many times I’ve told myself “I am just not good at this PERIOD” when actually I had to tell “I am just not good at this JUST YET”. I had no idea I was building a wall between myself and some skills simply thinking that I wasn’t able to master the skill.

Neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change as a result of experience, is something that gives you great freedom - freedom to change, freedom to learn. Often we don’t notice how we tell ourselves and our kids that we were born with certain abilities and it is not possible to change them. I don’t like the phrase “She/He/Them has a talent!” Especially when somebody tells it to a kid. This phrase is intended as a compliment but it actually something opposite. With this phrase, we tell our kids that their accomplishments are a result of something that has been given to them from the moment they were born, if kids hear their phrase addressed to another kid they hear that this kid has a talent, but they don’t so there is no way they can achieve the same result. The achievements are the result of efforts and that’s what we should praise - efforts, taking challenges, standing up with a smile on the face after falling down.

Life is nothing else than facing challenge after challenge and that is why it is so important to learn how to meet those challenges and how to have fun during this process. A growth mindset means we learn from our failures and don’t let them bring us down.