Helping our children develop a positive growth mindset

As cliché as they may be, inspirational quotes can go a long way in helping to change mind set when heard often enough. 

They are the little reminders which cheer you on to keep going, when everything else inside of yourself is trying to tear you down and make you stop.

Right now, the internet is flooded with a wave of information set to help children develop a positive growth mind set. And I can see the value in this.

How our children see their own capabilities can have a huge impact on what they actually go out and achieve. And so it is important to help them develop an inner self belief, which tells them that they can reach sucess, if they don't give up inshaAllah.

So many kids write themselves off as failures, because they don't understand something straight away, or they made mistakes, or something they are working on isn't perfect. 

They see the mountainous challenge in front of them, and don't believe they can ever climb over it.  

Its that little niggling inner voice of self sabotage that we want to silence inshaAllah. 

They need to know, sucess doesn't occur by random chance to some people. Rather, those who are successful in their game have worked hard, made mistakes, and kept going to get to the top.

Everything is from Allah, but we can't do nothing and expect everything to come to us.

Undoubtedly, everything is from Allah. However, that doesn't mean we just sit and accept whatever is destined for us will come to us whether or not we work for it. No. We have to work. 

When we look at the hadith which tells us that when we place our trust in Allah, He will provide for us as he provides for the birds going out in the morning hungry, and returning in the evening full; we see that the birds don't sit in their nests waiting for worms to drop from the sky. Rather they go out and work to find it. 

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"If you put your trust in Allah the way He deserves, He will provide for you as he provides for the birds. They leave in the morning with an empty stomach and return in the afternoon full."

[Tirmidhi]

The birds never give up after one or two failed catches. They keep searching. They keep trying. They keep going, until they succeed and are rewarded with a heavy stomach, alhamdulillah. 

We are living in a world where we expect instant gratification, instant results, instant sucess. Too many people in our society adopt an attitude of defeat if something doesn't come to them easily. We give up too soon.
We forget that persistence, elbow grease and patience will take us any place we want to go inshaAllah, together with having firm trust and reliance upon Allah.

Helping my children's positive attitude

In my house, we certainly need to work on our growth mindset.....especially when it comes to maths! Maths for us requires work - a whole lot of it!

I've seen a gentle shift in my girls attitude to tackling challenges when I have mentioned to them some kind of growth mind set quote when they seem to be hitting a brick wall.

 In the begining, they just thought it was a bit whacky....saying things like:

 "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right"
or
"If you never try you will never know"
 or
"No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you're still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying"
or
"Smart is something you become, not something you are".

 But the more they hear it, the more they think about it, the more they believe it.

I put together a little poster to stick up on the wall, full of some inspirational words to help encourage their positive mind set attitude inshaAllah (and mine too!).
Perhaps the next time they sit slumped over the table, books pushed aside and a blank stare, they might glance up and notice the words imprinted on the wall and remind themselves to put on their walking shoes because that mountain is theirs to climb and conquer inshaAllah....if they want it. 

Download a copy here:

Printable growth mindset quotes poster