What is Neuroplasticity?
Knowing about neuroplasticity is life changing! We used to believe that our brains were hard-wired at birth and therefore unchangeable. Luckly, we were wrong! Our brain is a big muscle that can be trained and can grow like any other muscles in our body. The more we train it, the stronger it gets. However, if we stop the training, the muscle will "shrink".
Just knowing about neuroplasticity will help me with this learning journey that I'm on. I know that every time I learn something new, my brain will light up and the neurons develop stronger connections if I practice those skills regularly. Retrieving the information and reviewing the material helps build thicker, stronger, more hard-wired connections in the brain.
If you would like to dig a little deeper into that topic, I'd recommend watching this TED talk by Barbara Oakley. She's a professor who did a lot of reasearch in this field and created the very popular course Learning How To Learn.
Ways to increase your Neuroplasticity
- Learning a new language (JavaScript :-) )
- Learning how to play an instrument
- Travelling and exploring new places
- Reading
- Getting plenty of rest
- Exercising regularly
Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset means that you believe your intelligence and talents can be developed over time. You believe that you have the ability to learn literally anything! You embrace challenges and don't see failure as a way to describe yourself but as a learning opportunity to grow from.
About two years ago I read Carol Dweck's fantastic book Mindset and it changed me. For as long as I can remember I went through life with a fixed mindset. I believed I was only good at certain things and therefore needed to stick to them. I never thought I had what it takes to learn something new. So I didn't even try. I was afraid of failing. And I was afraid of challenges. Because not being able to solve them meant I was not smart enough. I'm so grateful that I was given Carol Dweck's book. I would have never signed up for Dev Academy without it.
In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I'm going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here's a chance to grow.
Carol Dweck
I don't know how to do this...YET!
Ever since reading Mindset, this is what I keep reminding myself of whenever I fall back to my old mindset. I don't know...yet, I can't...yet. One simple word, but so powerful and it changes your whole perspective. I had to use it quite a bit while doing sprint 3. But it worked every time. Challenges are fun and they help me to grow. Things will get easier the more I practice.
Becoming is better than being.
Carol Dweck