Mindset Changes Everything

[Music]

[Music]

were you ever just doing something

like playing basketball

and you just can’t get the ball in

do you

in easy terms

get pretty frustrated

did you felt like destroying everything

in your sight

and rage quit

or approach positively

and persist

with a determined mind

having a brain like that

does sound pretty practical

in a lot of ways so what is it

and how do we get one

that’s what i’m here to talk about today

about how i developed a mind like that

which helped me face my fears

finally escape from the negative loop of

self-doubt

and prove to myself

that anything

really is possible

i know from my own experience

that with positivity

optimism

effort

time determination

and a genuine interest in learning

anyone

and especially kids

can develop a healthy positive and

productive mindset

one that can change your life entirely

and the best way to explain how

is to share with you my story

then you can see for yourself

that even when things get tough

a positive mindset

will keep you going

for the first three years of my life i’d

had a living

no different from any other people my

age

our family was sufficient in resources

and we were happy

not long after i turned three something

in my path twisted

my family was immigrating to canada

after some packing

i was on the plane

before i knew it

i went to preschool

and elementary school

here in richmond

when i turned grade 2

something changed again

my chinese

started stammering

and that’s when my mom took me back to

china to study chinese from grade one

the new school

was pretty cool

we would always read traditional chinese

poems and articles out loud in class

do tiny projects together

and share our ideas

whenever someone shared a really good

thought or did a really good job

the whole class will shout out slogans

like you’re great and we’ll learn from

you

the entire place

also had a much more competitive beat

no one wants to watch

as they’re being tossed behind

as others shoot hundreds of miles away

under such a spiritual atmosphere

i thrived

i was very fortunate to get excellent

grades

good reading and writing and great

calculation skills

now looking back

i believe that the school used these

easy methods

to improve our overall learning

encouragement

competition

tasks and homework

all these kind of elements

they made us use an optimistic mindset

to learn with passion and emotions

and that’s what i can learn in an

exciting and efficient way

i have to admit that

they worked pretty well on me

just as i was doing well and adapting

my english started diminishing

i lost my ease with the language

and i no longer did very well in my

tests

so our family decided to go back to

canada and i can catch up once again

my english and social skills

were terrible

i had struggled through the course of

grade 3 and 4.

i was really frustrated

i couldn’t do things sufficiently when i

was bad to begin with

my parents

observantly notice my unhappiness

they increase the ratio of things i

could serve on youtube

both for my entertainment

and to learn

i also attended courses like magic

tricks and other interesting classes

both of them

wanted me to unstressfully learn

i improved quickly on language and

social skills

and i was optimistic about learning new

things

but when i turned grade 5

things changed a lot

the new class was all about elections

politics climate change

and other projects

once

we did a hard work report

i remember staring at the ground below

my desk

as the teacher called my name

i picked up my paper

as everyone stared at me with interest

as if it were a test

and i was about to fail

i walked her to the front of the room

adjusted myself

and started speaking but the teacher

told me to stop

he asked if it were the second time i

did that book

i replied yes

since i could see room for improvement

as i was dissatisfied with the first

version of work

he told me to go back to my desk

and meet him after class

i remember the murmur of laughter as i

walked back to my seat

embarrassment at that moment was almost

unbearable

but i refrained from running away

i was really depressed that year

i really smiled on a daily basis

finally

i told my parents about my unhappiness

to my surprise

after listening to my story

they explained that i was the youngest

in my class

since there are grade five and six

students

plus the fact that i’m born in december

which means that people in my grade are

mostly older than me

these curriculums

were clearly above my immature 10 year

old’s reach

after this realization

some people in my situation

might have just found an excuse to quit

but i didn’t give up

at first

i thought the reason why i didn’t do

well was because i wasn’t smart enough

but since that wasn’t the case

i gained a little more self-esteem

so

i started doing all sorts of things that

will help me improve

like watching election and debating

ted and tedx videos

reading canadian history books

going on field trips and more

to upgrade my empathy and responsibility

skills

our family even got us a dog and some

other pets

we had so much fun

and that helped me focus on learning new

things

i realized

that i had developed a growth mindset

a term my teachers would always use

it means the ability to learn skills

through effort

time

will

spirit and positivity

and it wasn’t just a growth mindset

there’s also a good mindset i got

unlike a growth mindset

or skills and abilities do not change

through effort and time

our mindset will then must be commonly

known as fixed

which is not good but don’t worry

because if you have the traits described

above

that’s okay

you only don’t have a growth mindset yet

anyone

can obtain a growth mindset just like i

did

my work

wasn’t fruitless

by the start of my sixth year at school

everything got better

i got better at socializing

i improved in work efficiency

and i made friends who supported me

i was doing well

becoming popular when i went back to

china again

my grandma used to perform a surgery in

beijing urgently

so there i was

doing it all over again

even when my mom

and one of my chinese classmates

said i was hopeless in catching up

i still found confidence within myself

and trust me

success is 50 based on confidence

50 actual skill

even i was surprised when i realized how

good i was catching up with the rest of

my class in china

i still get excellent grades like before

soon

i found myself joining the school’s

english drama club

and i realized that i could use my

english to help those who had troubles

with the language

i believe that growth mindset helped me

go through all of these times

that would have been otherwise tough

through experience

i’ve adapted to sudden change itself

which can only be easier and easier

as the number for me increases

with positivity

optimism

interest in learning

effort

time and determination

anyone can develop a good and growing

mindset just like i did

my grandma’s surgery

was successful

after eight months in china

i was on the plane again

what’s different though was that

nobody came with me i flew from beijing

to canada

all by myself

my mom

who was a little worried about me taking

care of myself

told the service people to take extra

good care of me

but instead of being taken care of

i helped took care of the other kids who

are like me on the same flight

they didn’t know much about english

so i hope they’re translating when we

arrived

my growth already proved to me

that i would be fine taking care of

myself

so now when there’s other people who

need help

i can help

with the gesture of ease

this journey

wasn’t easy

it was only easy after i paid enough

effort

time and passion

a good and growing mindset is the number

one companion that helped me through

it’s more important

than we might realize

first

how do we actually develop a growth

mindset

well

it begins with embracing the challenges

life throws at us

it’s her instinct to turn away from

things we don’t like

or that we think is too difficult

we convince ourselves we can’t do it

but that’s just negative thinking

instead

get out of your comfort zone

embrace the challenges

and see what you’re capable of

you’ll surprise yourself

and maybe others too

if you’re an elementary student like me

then typical challenges

might just come from homework

we tend to give up when we get to the

part we’re not good at

but tell you what

it slowly becomes a tendency

which then becomes a part of our own

identity

which is why habits are so hard to get

rid of

we don’t need to waste our time

trying to change bad habits

so let’s avoid them

before they even become one

it’s the same with overcoming challenges

small good habits

are much harder to form than bad ones

but they affect us

just as strongly

so next time when we see a challenge

instead of going away and doing

something else

we can try it out first

then determine whether we like it or

deeper perspective

second

find a way to be interested

genuinely interested in what you’re

doing and learning

if you don’t like something

and you’re getting bored

then take a break

and come back later

after all

there are many different ways to look at

something

so find the most interesting viewpoint

and carry on from there with an open

mind

find what you love

what you give passion for

if something you participate in is not

mandatory

and you don’t enjoy

then you are unlikely to find much use

for it in life

time is irreversible and precious

try to find a living that most leads to

happiness

if you don’t know what you love

then keep searching

it’s never too late

thirdly and finally

be positive

when our mind contains destructive

thoughts and beliefs

it’s hard to focus on the things we want

to get done

negative thoughts

like hating ourselves

hating others and hating the world

destroy all our mental strengths when we

need it

and that can never lead to development

of a growth mindset

so

we need to try to notice when the

negative thoughts arise

and then replace them with positive ones

that’s the way to begin the type of

growth mindset

that can turn your life around 180

degrees

and help you achieve things you never

dreamed of

like standing here on this stage today

and the best news of all

anyone can do it

time is irreversible and precious

try to find a living that most leads to

happiness

if you don’t know what you love

then keep searching

it’s never too late

so that is my story and advice

about a good and growing mindset

everyone can be happy and learn with

ease

thank you

[Music]

[Music]