The term growth mindset was first coined by Dr Carol Dweck over 30 years ago after interest aroused in students’ attitude towards failure. Today, the term is used to describe people’s underlying beliefs about learning and intelligence.
Attempting to bring awareness and foster the growth mindset, Revive – a budding online coaching venture, is moving to schools and companies in Guyana.
Revive’s Co-Founder, Life Coach and Business Consultant, Kamladevi Sharma has developed the organisation’s signature ‘Momentum Trainings’ for students and others. The training aims at helping persons recover from setbacks, reconnect with goals and achieve those goals with more clarity, motivation, ease, and direction.
“Right now, we are not mentally and emotionally equipped to deal with failure in a positive way. We keep losing a sense of our self to our environment because this is how we were trained as babies – to live by the expectations of the environment. Because of this, we have grown to feel mentally pressured from society to live up to everyone’s expectations without clarity of the expectations we have for ourselves. So, it is important for students to know how to recover from setbacks, be more responsible for their learning, and make decisions that are aligned with the visions they have for themselves, rather than losing focus of their goals and trying to fit in with the latest trends,” she says.
Sharma adds that the lack of basic employability skills in the workplace, like emotional intelligence, time management, effective communication, solving problems, critical thinking and being a good team player, largely exists in Guyana because the awareness, willingness and need to learn to be a better self-manager is not present. She believes that the lack of self-management is mainly due to the fact that we are quite often not given the environment to pursue self-improvement.
The trust and space to think beyond what we were taught is hardly present in the home and working environment which is a limiting way to living.
There comes a time in a person’s life that they need to face the good, bad and ugly about themselves and choose to partner with themselves for self-improvement. So that they can be fully present and aware in the moment when making decisions, rather than living on autopilot at all times as well as being reactive and victimised by negative emotions such as anger, sadness and fear which reflect their fixed mindset,” Sharma said.
The Life Coach explains that Momentum Trainings are aimed at aligning students’ and employees’ beliefs to a growth mindset so that these expected skills can help them to succeed in their roles and at their goals.
In her Trainings over the last week, students and employees of West Demerara Secondary, L’Aventure Secondary and Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary along with other organisations were able to benefit from momentum training exercises. These exercises saw those in attendance being taught about coping and success strategies for exams and, bringing balance to their personal and professional lives for improved mental health.
The initiative will last until March 1, 2020 as part of Revive’s social responsibility to ensuring sustainable development of the people.
This comes at a time when the country is undergoing major economic changes which Sharma believes that the majority of people need to be better prepared for. In addition to being prepared for challenges, the training also positions its participants to capitalise on the influx of opportunities that are surfacing.
According to her, students need to ask themselves what they can learn from persons or situations especially when they are experiencing conflicting beliefs in their social interactions. They need to understand, respect, continuously improve and truly live by the vision and values they hold for themselves. She thinks they need to do all of that before they partner with others.
She added that if students are taught how to be emotionally intelligent in schools, for example, and they learn coping strategies such as mindfulness, then we will have students with better mental health and, ultimately higher quality of persons in the world. If done correctly, there will be more accountability and integrity among the people, and adults will be able to manage their emotions better so that children feel empowered to tap into their true potential.
Improved mental health has to start somewhere and the best place is the training of positive self-talk in one person. One person will mirror another person, train their children, students and employees and so, it gains momentum and creates that change we really need in Guyana.
She states that changes for the greater good will manifest if the leaders of change get clear on who they’ve grown to be, where they came from and the direction they would like to go. They need to understand and accept their foundation and, decide on the kind of future they will create for themselves and their offspring.
She advocates that self-development is a process that an individual has full control over if they know themselves intimately and choose to accept life as what it is and was for them.
Sharma states that her work is largely based on empowering people to choose their beliefs. Choose the beliefs that make them feel good and serve their highest good, and learn to disassociate with those beliefs that are no longer beneficial for them. In particular, those beliefs that are formed from thinking the same negative thoughts over and over again, gaining momentum.
For these reasons, the Trainings are done to encompass students, teachers and persons in the commercial sector as a holistic approach to get the message across at all levels as well as improve the mental, physical and emotional well-being of the people.
Any school or company interested in capitalising on Sharma’s expertise and remarkable training sessions can make contact with her at [email protected]. The venture’s website is https://revive.coach.
Free coaching on various issues people face is being done on social media as well. She is encouraging persons to join her on the mission to foster a growth mindset among the people in Guyana for them to get clear, get aligned and get results for the life they desire to live.
