Growth Mindset: Project Perfection

I just watched the Carol Dweck's talk on being perfect. And she was able to verbalize a lot of things that I have been feeling lately. I totally have a Type-A personality, and operate at a maximum efficiency when everything goes as planned, projects are completed just to my liking, and I have a say in everything going on around me. On the other hand, my younger sister is more of a free-spirit and often comments on how I need to 'loosen up a little'. While I get what she means, and that happiness can't only be measured by the number of things you cross off on a daily to-do list, I never really thought of striving towards perfection as a negative. I viewed the factors outside of it to pose more of a problem than the perfectionism in me. In her video, Professor Dweck poses the question, "is perfectionism a vice or a virtue?" I had never considered this to be a viable question. I had never really noticed that it was actually my need to be perfect that initially keeps me from trying new things. I try as hard as I can to stay in this bubble, where I can control everything and maintain at a certain operating level. This Professor  Dweck is what society should fear most. This "fixed mindset" does not typically yield creativity or innovation. It takes failures to really accomplish something meaningful. I look forward to reading/listening to more of Professor Dweck's work and trying to change my mindset into this new way of perceiving perfectionism.

I really liked this quote!! The original can be found here.

Carol Dweck's video can be found here