[Music] do you have a growth mindset how do you think of intelligence do you think you're born with a certain level of intelligence that you can't change much or do you think it's something you can work on to develop and grow many students think that their level of intelligence is fixed that they can't do much to change it this can lead them to feeling that they just just aren't smart enough to succeed especially when courses get more challenging but what if you knew that no matter who you are through effort and effective strategies you can develop your level of intelligence according to Stanford University psychologist Carol dwek how we think about our brains actually affects how well we learn D says that people generally think with one of two different mindsets a fixed mindset or a growth mindset people with a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence is fixed at Birth and they can't do much to change it people with a growth mindset believe that their talents abilities and intelligence can be developed in different ways and you may feel like you have a fixed mindset in some ways and a growth mindset in others for example you may think with a fixed mindset that you're just not a math person but you may adopt a growth mindset with writing music sports or another discipline in fact scientists who study the brain have found that the brain is like a muscle it changes and grows in response to what we do the harder we work using helpful strategies and the more challenges we Face the stronger and smarter the brain becomes this is because the brain is made up of cells called neurons which are connected to each other as we learn the number of connections between our neurons also grows as we continue to exercise our brains the connections between our neurons grow as well these new and stronger connections help to make us smarter scientists called this concept neuroplasticity research shows that students who adopt a growth mindset who believe that their brains can grow and develop through effort and challenges actually do better in school for these students the goal is not to prove what they already know but rather to learn and grow students with a growth mindset view challenges and mistakes not as proof that they aren't smart enough but as opportunities to become smarter the good news is that you can develop a growth mindset set you've taken the first step by learning about some of the science that shows you you can grow your brain the next step is to consider your mindset if you have some areas in which you think you aren't smart challenge yourself to learn and grow why should you bother because if you learn to develop your mindset you'll persist longer with problems you'll take on harder challenges and stretch your mental muscle more you won't be as affected by setbacks and in the end you'll learn more and the effects of changing your mindset can stick with you for years since you're training your brain to think in a new way