Be Good vs Get Better
Academics and Athletics, Assess and Address
We educators and coaches spend our careers assessing and addressing needs for improvement. We continually aim, act, and adjust in our attempts to prepare our students and athletes for optimal performance in the short and long term. We share the common goal of guiding and training and providing opportunities to practice and perform so our students and athletes can find successes. But what does success really look like? As educators and coaches, we need to consider how we view what success looks like in academics and athletics. Our mindsets have a tremendous effect on the way we assess and address academic and athletic needs and how we approach training our students and athletes.
Growth vs Fixed
Carol Dweck’s model of growth vs fixed mindsets has become well known. Simply speaking, this is the idea that the main focus of the learner is predominantly on the process (growth) or the outcome (fixed). Although everyone has a combination of both mindsets, this model is an excellent way to consider our values and approach in both academics and athletics. The growth mindset is clearly a healthier long-term approach. It is also important to understand that educators and coaches have growth or fixed approaches as well. Even though the research is overwhelming and most of us understand that process is what matters most, there are also externally driven expectations of a desired outcomes. Unfortunately, the external focus tends to be on better academic scores or more athletic wins because these outcome-based, performance results are so much easier to see and judge. And although setting and attaining these goals is temporarily satisfying, true success comes from focus on continual growth, progress, and improvement. This is what will stick with these students and athletes long after they leave the care of their teachers and coaches. Short term successful outcomes are great for our memories and stories, but true growth is what matters most for our success today and in the future.
Be Good vs Get Better
Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of Succeed: how we can reach our goals, gave an excellent talk on 99U. She is a well respected social psychologist who studies the science of motivation and communication and built upon the work of Carol Dweck’s research on mindsets. Dr. Halvorson said that we need to focus more on mastery goals than performance goals. People who focus mostly on performance goals tend desire “being good.” They tend to have an “all or nothing” approach and generally have a fixed mindset. Unfortunately, these people also tend to give up more quickly and get depressed more frequently. They also tend to be less happy even when successful. The reason is that these goals are extrinsic.
On the other hand, people with mastery goals tend to desire “getting better.” They tend enjoy challenges and focus on improvement. This is a growth mindset that builds willpower and resiliency. People with a “get better” mindset also tend to have greater satisfaction, enjoyment, interest, and attention long-term because their goals are more intrinsic.
What Humans Seek
Dr. Halvorson says that humans seek three things: relatedness, competency, and autonomy. Relatedness is the desire to connect. Competency is being effectiveness and having an effect on one’s environment. Autonomy is having the freedom to choose what your pursuing and how you pursue it. She says that healthy goals pursue these criteria. She also warns about things that undermine intrinsic goals such as rewards, punishments, deadlines, threats, and surveillance. As educators and coaches, we need to be very aware of this research as we seek to assess and address the needs of our students and athletes. We all want healthy, meaningful, long-term success, and it’s clear where we need to focus our attention and intention in ourselves and others in order to find that success.
Don’t be good.
Get better today.
And enjoy the day!
