Feedback Thoughts

Feedback - Vecteezy

Hey! This week I will be writing about my thoughts on the topic of Feedback. I read two very interesting articles on this topic.

The first article was A Fixed Mindset Could Be Holding You Back. It talks about a fixed vs growth mindset. The articles states that people with a growth mindset likely bounce back from failure better than people with a fixed mindset. The article also suggests we replace the word “failure” with “learning” and I couldn’t agree more with this idea. Failure and mistakes are apart of everybody’s life whether you like it or not, so we might as well just embrace them and learn from them.

Professor Klein says "Our mistake was thinking that you build robust self-esteem by telling kids 'you're brilliant, you're so smart, everybody wins, nobody loses, everybody gets a trophy”. I also believe this is true. I know that telling kids these things might feel good, but sometimes we have to be more realistic and just tell them the harsh truth as this is how kids gain resilience and bounce back quicker.

The second article I read was Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt This title caught my attention as I, too, have self-doubt at times so I thought it would be interesting to see how I could fix it. 

The seven points were:

• Don’t compare yourself to others.
• Abandon perfectionism.
• Be vulnerable to a trusted community.
• Embrace a growth mindset.
• Set goals that are within your control.
• Treat your work like an experiment.
• Trust yourself.

From reading all of the points in detail, I found them all very informative and inspiring, but the one that stood out for me the most was “Don’t compare yourself to others”. This is an important topic as I feel like in this day and age, people love to compare. You should be the only person people compare you to. The article states that “You forget about what matters. You start seeing others as competition rather than community.” I also agree. You are your own competition, no one else. When you compare yourself to others then that only encourages self doubt. I believe that it’s best to just focus on my own work and stop comparing myself to others.

When I look back over the many years as a student I can honestly say I that I received a lot of productive feedback. Especially in Art class. My art teachers always tried to encourage me to get the best grade I was able to achieve. The best type of feedback in my opinion is constructive criticism. People can say my work is “sh**” if they want to, I won’t take offence, but if they don’t back it up with some advice on how to make my work better then I’m not the problem…its them.

Stephen R. Covey Quote - Quotefancy

I also love the teachers that are genuinely want the best for you and not in it just for the money. I believe a teacher’s job it to guide you towards the right path in life as well as teaching subjects. 

The worst feedback comes from my parents if I’m being totally honest. (I don’t know if it’s just because it’s part of the Asian culture to have strict parents or whatever, but I can say that the feedback I receive from my parents is laughable at times haha) They always say “You gotta do it better” but never say how. Although I receive “negative” feedback from my parents, this makes me elevate my game in a way. They influence me to try and make them satisfied. Even though they don’t give the best feedback, I still believe that they’re still proud of me. (Hopefully…😂)

An underrated topic, in my opinion is self criticism. I believe that self criticism also plays an important roll in shaping your confidence. However, Self criticism has it’s pro and cons. Pros: You know you can do better and that you haven’t reached your full potential. Cons: You are your worst enemy. You’re constantly in your thoughts and you can’t control them. It’s okay to be tough on yourself, it’s normal, but if you

judge yourself based on one mistake or flaw then you might want to think again. You should always try and learn from your mistakes instead of hiding from them. There is always room to grow.

A person that inspires me to have a healthy state of mind is the athlete Kobe Bryant. Kobe lived through his life with the “Mamba Mentality”. Kobe thrived for greatness. He wanted to reach his full potential. With this mindset, he was able to block out his haters. Negativity wasn’t able to faze Kobe because he was too busy trying to elevate his game. This is why he was such a legend, not only because of his Championships or MVPs but also for his mindset.

RIP Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

Kobe Bryant Quote - Pinterest

To conclude, the articles I read really helped me expand my perspective on the topic of feedback. Now that I have a better understanding on how to receive feedback, I hope I can also give feedback effectively. I think it’s a great idea that we’re giving each other feedback this year because then we would all benefit from each other. I believe that giving feedback helps you grow, not only as a student, but also as a person!