The mindset of a champion | Carson Byblow | TEDxYouth@AASSofia

Carson Byblow is a fifth-grade student who goes to the Anglo American School of Sofia in Bulgaria. He was born in Belgrade, Serbia, but is from Canada. A funny thing is he has never lived in Canada, but has visited many times. Carson loves to play football, basketball, and to hang out with his friends and family. He speaks a little Bulgarian and is fluent in English. He wrote his talk about growth and fixed mindsets because he has struggled with these for his long life of 10 years.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Michael Jordan said,
"I've missed more than 9,000 shots,

lost almost 300 games,

and 26 times, I've been trusted
to make the game-winning shot

and missed.

I fail over and over and over again.

And that is why I succeed."

Michael Jordan is one of the most famous
basketball players in the world

though he wasn't always a star.

He didn't make his high school
basketball team

because he was too short
and wasn't good enough.

He could've quit,

but, instead, he had the mindset
to continue and get better.

He was out practicing each day
before most people were even out of bed.

And because of this, he not only made
the team the following year,

but he went on to become
the greatest player of all time

and a true champion.

The question that comes to our minds is:

can we all learn to have
the mindset of a champion?

A "mindset" is a word
describing how we think.

There are two types of mindsets:

one, a growth mindset,

and two, a fixed mindset.

A growth mindset is when somebody
believes they can learn to be good

and they can learn to be better.

They are not afraid of challenges.

They continue when things get hard.

They know that they
have put effort in to learn,

and they learn from criticism.

They are also inspired
by people who do well.

Michael Jordan has this trait

though another person with a growth
mindset is the Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

He was cut from the Canadian
Football League early on in his career.

He could've quit,

but instead he worked very hard,
faced many challenges,

and is now a super,
super famous movie star -

one of my favorites.

(Laughter)

Did you know that coaches
and professional scouts

look for athletes
who don't just have skill.

They want someone who wants to learn,

who's coachable,

and will give a 100% effort in practices.

They want someone with a growth mindset.

What they don't want is someone
who thinks they are already good enough,

they don't need to learn,
and are not coachable.

These people have a fixed mindset.

A fixed mindset
is the opposite of a growth.

These people either think
they're born good or born not so good.

They cannot learn.

They're afraid of challenges.

They give up and get defensive easily.

They feel criticized when given feedback,

and they're threatened
by people who do well.

Which mindset do you think I have?

Well, let me tell you a story.

Reading has always been hard for me,
and even now I still find it challenging.

From kindergarten to fourth grade,

I was always a bit
below grade level in reading.

So each night, I read aloud
to my parents to try to get better.

This was always the worst part of my day.

(Laughter)

Whenever I was reading,
I would, of course, make mistakes:

misread words, say words
that were not there,

miss words that were there,
and miss punctuation -

normal.

But whenever my mom or dad
tried to correct me, I'd get upset.

I told them that they were wrong
and sometimes even had a meltdown.

This happened for my friends and teachers

and with other subjects
and activities too.

I thought that I should know
how to do everything already,

and if I didn't, I would get upset.

I thought that what my teachers
were teaching should come to me easy.

Well, guess what?

Some of the things I was learning
or reading were not easy.

I would get upset.

Negative thoughts came into my mind,
"You suck. You can't do anything.

This should be soooo easy."

Suddenly, I felt tears coming down my face
in front of my friends and teachers too.

In my head, I was saying,
"No, no, no, no, no, please no."

I could no longer control my emotions.

This is where the real problem begins.

You see, I lose control of my emotions,
I stop listening, and I stop thinking.

I become difficult to those around me.

And when I finally
get through it, I am very tired.

This is not healthy,
and it's not the person I want to be.

I want to know why I'm feeling this way
and why my emotions were so strong.

Well, this year in fifth grade

is the first year I was able
to answer these questions.

I learned what a growth
and fixed mindset are.

I'm learning how to change
my fixed mindset into a growth mindset

and have a mindset of a champion.

I believe we can have
both of these mindsets:

a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

I believe this because I have both.

I have a growth mindset
with things like soccer, basketball,

change, and learning new languages.

I also believe we can change
our fixed mindset into a growth mindset

and have a mindset of a champion.

Well, maybe not a champion
like Michael Jordan,

but a champion in our own way.

We may just need a little help to do this.

My dad and I read this book
called "Mindsets," written by Carol Dweck.

Carol Dweck is a professor
and professional psychologist

who researched and came up with the idea
of a growth and fixed mindset.

Her book told me that I was not
the only one who has a fixed mindset

from time to time.

However, the best advice I ever got
was from my teacher and school counselor.

Their advice was one little
three-letter word.

This word was "yet."

They told me to always put the word "yet"
at the end of my sentence.

"I can't do it."

"I can't do it ... yet."

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand ... yet."

The word "yet" makes me feel
I just need to put a little more effort in

before I understand it.

I still struggle with the fixed
mindset from time to time.

However, I now know
why I get frustrated and upset.

For any of you out there who may have
a fixed mindset from time to time,

please know that I'm proof
that you can beat it.

Writing this talk,
I struggled the whole time.

But every day, I've gotten
a little better than the day before.

This is why I can say I'm winning -

because I'm here
in front of you now today.

Thank you.

(Cheers) (Applause)