If you’ve been around Camp Fire at all, you’ve probably heard the term Positive Youth Development (PYD). Good ol’ context clues can tell you that this movement is about helping young people grow up happy, healthy and engaged, but here’s the deeper dive:

It wasn’t until the 20th century that adolescence was recognized as a developmental stage. As the century progressed, and cultural markers between childhood and adulthood stretched apart, efforts to help young people focused on prevention.

By the mid-century, social scientists and youth organizations were working to keep kids away from addiction, violence and early pregnancy. It was all about fixing problems and blocking the negatives.

Then later in the 20th century, researchers started to shift focus. They began to see patterns in the lives of healthy kids that showed how important positive inputs were. Efforts began to switch from prevention to preparation models that provided young people with proactive tools to build better lives.

By the 21st century, there was a pretty big body of scholarly and practical evidence supporting that flip. For example, The Search Institute found there were 40 common “building blocks” behind thriving kids. They detailed these forty assets after surveying 90,000 young people in 2010. These included external assets (like a caring school climate, participating in service activities and having positive friends) and internal assets (being motivated to learn, having a sense of purpose and decision-making skills).   

Although an emphasis on the positive has been a part of Camp Fire since its beginning 1910, PYD research helped us start formalizing our approach. A few years ago, we worked with the Thrive Foundation for Youth to put the newest PYD methods to work in our programs. The result is our successful, research-based Thrive{ology} framework.

Thrive{ology} gives kids and teens the tools they need to find their sparks, practice a growth mindset, manage their goals and reflect on their experiences. Positive Youth Development undergirds our youth-led, passion-driven programs.

We love knowing that PYD science and practice backs up what Camp Fire has always known: Give young people the opportunity to find their sparks, lift their voices and discover who they are…and they’ll change the world.

Sources:

40 Developmental Assets. Search Institutes Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors. 2011. https://www.search-institute.org/downloadable/Ann-Arbor-Handout-2.pdf

US DHHS Family and Youth Services Bureau National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (2007). Putting Positive Youth Development into Practice [Electronic Version]. https://ncfy.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/PosYthDevel.pdf

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It’s nearing the end of January! How are your 2018 resolutions tracking? Some research shows just 58 percent of resolutions survive the first month, and only 9 percent of people over all report achieving a New Year’s resolution.

Some of that failure probably has to do with not choosing the right goal in the first place. And less-than-great strategies can be the downfall of other goal attempts. But if we had to guess, we’d bet most lost goals die for lack of shifting gears.

This is the third goal management skill we teach Camp Fire kids and teens. When things start to get tough, when strategies aren’t working, when goals are failing, we encourage them to make smart changes. Thanks to cultivating a growth mindset, we know failure is an opportunity to learn. Camp Fire helps youth discern whether to keep pushing for the same goal with different strategies or to choose a new goal while maintaining their passion.

Want to learn how to shift gears, too?

Here’s how:

• Substitute Strategies. Go back to your original goal strategies brainstorm. Are there some ideas you haven’t tried yet? Are any adjustments you can make to your current strategies that might make them more effective?

• Seek Different Help. Are there experts you haven’t asked yet? Friends or family who might have an unusual point of view? New books, podcasts or articles you haven’t researched? Sometimes all we need is a new perspective to hit on a new strategy.
• Adapting Others’ Strategies. Do you know someone who’s accomplished a similar goal? Or someone who shares some of your personality traits or circumstances who has had success reaching theirs? There’s no shame in borrowing game plans to see if they could work for you, too.
• Change Goals. Sometimes our original goals just aren’t realistic. (Or aren’t realistic yet.) Sometimes life intervenes in ways beyond our control. It’s a sign of maturity to be able to recognize loss, accept and learn from it, and move to a new goal. That new goal can be a needed intermediate step to your original goal, which now becomes a longer-term ambition. Or it can be something entirely new. Remember, it just needs to be meaningful, realistic, stretching and draftable.

Have you needed to shift goals in pursuit of your goal? Tell us about it in the comments!

The post Shifting Goal Gears: Stay Flexible, Stay On-Track appeared first on Camp Fire.

Goal management is one the four pillars of Thrive{ology} (our proven path to youth success) along with Sparks, a Growth Mindset and Reflection (which we’ll go deep on next month).

We teach kids and teens to take their current dreams seriously. What do they want to do? Who do they want to be? How are they going to get there? It can feel overwhelming and near impossible…just like setting goals as a full-grown adult.

So, at Camp Fire, we teach the GPS Method for goal management:

1. Goal Setting: We start by helping kids choose the right goals for them.
2. Pursuit of Strategies: Then we talk about making a unique progress plan.
3. Shifting Gears: And then we get realistic about how to make changes if their initial strategies don’t work.

The GPS method helps youth—and adults!—break down big goals into smaller steps, learn from setbacks, stay flexible enough to make changes when necessary, and align individual goals for the good of the community.

When kids and teens learn how to make this kind of thoughtful, holistic, consistent progress toward their goals, they take those skills into the rest of their life. In fact, being able to use GPS skills as a kid predicts thriving far into adulthood. Which makes sense, right? Learning how to think logically, harness emotion and make goal-driven decisions are skills that translate to all parts of life.

Enough set-up. Let’s get practical!

Today, we’ll start with Goal Setting. We’ll talk about Pursuit of Strategies and Shifting Gears later in the month.

How can we set the right goals for 2018?

We teach Camp Fire kids and teens to set goals that are:

• Meaningful: We’re more likely to stick with goals that match our values and play a part in the stories we tell about our lives. Goals should have a because behind them!
• Realistic: If we set our sights too high, we’re bound to get frustrated or burnt out. Goals should be possible, given our current skill sets and existing time commitments.
• Stretching: But if we don’t look out far enough, we’re also bound to get bored. And it’s the tough stuff that teaches us the most! Goals should be challenging enough to propel us forward.
• Draftable: Just like cyclists ride in packs, we can create goals that work well alongside each other. Compatible goals equals achievable goals.

As you’re making your 2018 resolutions list, ask yourself—and the kids in your life—a few good-goal questions:

• Does this goal engage my emotions? Does it make me excited? Giddy? Even a little scared? Choose a goal that makes you feel.
  
• Does this goal help me plan for the future? How does it fit into the life you picture for yourself? Choose a goal that moves you forward.
  
• How does this goal fit in with my other goals? Are your goals in sync? Choose a goal that complements the other things you’re working on.

Let us know what goals you’re setting for 2018. How did you set them? Comment below!

The post How to Set Smart Goals—Whether You’re a Kid or a Kid-at-Heart appeared first on Camp Fire.

We get a lot of comparisons to other pro-kid nonprofits, and we applaud the hard work our peer organizations do. But today, we want to tell you why Camp Fire is different, and what makes us an innovative leader in youth development:

1. Camp Fire is about what kids and teens can do right NOW. Lots of youth organizations help prep kids for positive futures. While that is important, and we do it to, Camp Fire focuses on who kids or teens can be today. (It’s even the last line of our Camp Fire Promise: “…it begins now.”) We think there’s no time like the present to discover your spark and the be the best person you can be today.

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2. Camp Fire embeds Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in everything we do. We call this Thrive{ology}, a research-based toolkit to help kids achieve their full potential. We don’t want kids to just stay in school and develop their talents. We want their whole lives to thrive, including their social skills, physical health, environmental awareness, sense of purpose and more.

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3. Camp Fire has been doing this a long time. 107 years, to be exact! That makes us one of the oldest youth development nonprofits on the block.

4. Camp Fire has been championing girl power since 1910. Camp Fire was the very first youth development organization for girls. Even 10 years before American women could vote, Camp Fire was encouraging girls to believe in themselves. We still do today. But that’s just one piece…

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5. Camp Fire has been co-ed since 1975, but welcomes ALL youth. Our co-ed cred goes back decades and today we welcome all youth. Today, 58 percent of Camp Fire kids identify as female, 42 percent identify as male, and .1 percent identify as transgender.

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6. Camp Fire is committed to inclusion and diversity. We were the first multiracial, multicultural, and non-sectarian organization for girls in the country. Diversity and inclusion makes us #CampFireStrong! We formalized our welcome of all sexual orientations in our Inclusion Policy back in 1993. And we continue to make sure every single kid/teen knows they belong at Camp Fire – no restrictions, no limits.

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7. Camp Fire teaches we all are leaders. Most youth development organizations emphasize prepping kids for their future or future leadership positions. That’s great! But Camp Fire also wants to encourage young people who want to lead in different ways, outside of position-based opportunities. Camp Fire helps kids discover how they lead right now (because they are, whether they realize it or not), using their own unique strengths.

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8. Camp Fire isn’t just camp! We do have excellent outdoor camp programs all around the country. And we have a wide variety of powerful school-year programs, teen service opportunities, day camps, and other unique programs. There’s something for everybody at our nationwide 1,100 program sites.

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9. Camp Fire wants adults to thrive, too. We practice what we preach to our kids. On all levels of our organization, from volunteers to full-time staff, we work on finding our sparks, having a growth mindset, setting goals, and taking time to reflect. We talk about all those thriving tools with our wider community, too! Whether it’s committing to better conflict resolution or applying a growth mindset to how we talk to kids, we’re always learning. Join the discussion on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn and keep on growing along with us!

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10. Camp Fire gets holistic results. Remember all the way back at the top of the list when we were talking about how Camp Fire helps whole youth thrive now? That’s what we measure when we track the difference our programs make. We call these “indicators of thriving.” They include things like life skills, social skills, conflict resolution, confidence, empathy, inclusiveness and purpose development. We’ll get into all the geeky numbers in December, but for now, we’ll just say those indicators are going UP!

There we have it: 10 ways Camp Fire stands out from other youth development organizations. We hope this list helps you explain to friends why you choose to be #CampFireStrong! (And maybe convince them to be #CampFireStrong, too!) Let us know in the comments below what else you might add.

Remember to put #GivingTuesday on your calendar: November 28. How will you give back this season?

The post 10 Reasons Camp Fire Stands Out From the Crowd appeared first on Camp Fire.

1. We’re innovative leaders in youth development—that’s our SPARK. We love helping kids be the best they can be, right now. So we make sure we’re on the cutting edge of positive youth development research. When we learn new and better ways to serve kids, we adapt and change. Case in point: Our Thrive{ology} program framework was created in partnership with the Thrive Foundation for Youth, five years ago, on the pillars of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) – well before it was on the mainstream radar. Thrive{ology} gives kids tools to discover their spark, gain self-confidence, and learn life skills to succeed. It’s a part of everything we do, and it works.

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2. We’ve got a fascinating history. We’re 107 years young! In 1910, Luther and Charlotte Gulick founded Camp Fire Girls in part to give girls outdoor experiences that were at that time only offered to boys. Their original mission to “guide young people on their journey to self-discovery” is still at the heart of today’s Camp Fire. From our beginning, we have been a leader in diversity and inclusion. Jump to #7 to see how!

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3. We’re always evolving—because we’ve got a GROWTH MINDSET! Just like we make sure our programs are always based in the newest youth development research, we’re constantly changing to meet the needs of today’s kids. Some of our big moves? Camp Fire went co-ed in 1975, launched the leadership effort Teens in Action in 1988, and kicked off Absolutely Incredible Kid Day in 1997.

4. We’ve got some amazing stories. You’d hope so, right, with 107 years and thousands of alumni? From an eye-opening cruise to the Caribbean, to having a spark called out to discovering a life-changing book…Camp Fire is the turning point in the lives of so many of our (former and current) kids.

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5. Speaking of alumni, we’ve got the best ever. Really. From Shirley Temple to senators, Camp Fire alumni are diverse and dynamic world changers who stay in touch through social media and local councils. If you’re a Camp Fire alum, we want to hear from you!

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6. We set big GOALS & meet them. This year, we saw 19.5% growth in the number of kids we serve (we’re 153,891 strong!) and are about to launch our new, tested conflict resolution program nationwide in early 2018. What will we do together next year? Can’t wait to find out!

7. We welcome everyone. Multi-racial, multicultural, and non-sectarian from the very beginning, Camp Fire includes every kid or teen, from any kind of family, from any walk of life. We have an official Inclusion Policy (that called out sexual orientation way back in 1993, btw) and are outspoken about our long-time commitment to diversity. Yes we became co-ed in the 70’s, but today we’re proudly gender-inclusive.

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8. We REFLECT, learn, and change. Yep, we’re hitting this theme pretty hard, but we really believe change makes us stronger! Just like we teach Camp Fire kids, we take a lot of time to think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. We weigh everything we do against our Camp Fire Promise: “Young people want to shape the world. Camp Fire provides the opportunity to find their spark, lift their voice, and discover who they are. In Camp Fire, it begins now.”

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9. We create real change in kids’ lives. We don’t just measure tangible results; we pay attention to the intangible-but-significant stuff:. Like 94% of kids say they feel “happy, heard and supported” in Camp Fire. That makes us feel pretty good, too.

10. YOU. With you on our team, we’re stronger together and stronger than ever. Thank you for being part of the Camp Fire family! Join in our #CampFireStrong conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Coming up: Camp Fire will be part of the #GivingTuesday movement on 11/28. Never heard about it? It’s a social-media-fueled campaign to support charities at the start of the holiday season. Put it on your calendar and get thinking about how you’ll give back this #GivingTuesday!

*This week we’re hosting our bi-annual National Leadership Conference and Youth Leadership Experience, and the theme is #CampFireStrong. Camp Fire leaders and youth from across the country are coming together to talk about and take action around the future of Camp Fire. This inspired our theme for the month, #CampFireStrong. Join us!

The post 10 Reasons We’re #CampFireStrong appeared first on Camp Fire.

Conflict isn’t fun. Hard conversations can feel like a gut-punch, so most of us do everything we can to avoid them. But in the end, avoidance isn’t good for us, or our relationships.

The good news? There are healthy ways to handle conflict and hard conversations. Anyone can learn them. None of us will become experts overnight, but we can start now to learn how to have better conversations…and better conflict resolution. (Remember that growth mindset!)

Like we teach our Camp Fire youth, not every hard conversation will turn out perfectly with everyone will happy in the end. But if we strive to approach discussing problems in the best possible way, there is a high percentage the interaction will go well, and everyone will benefit!

Here’s what we can do to set ourselves up for hard conversation success:

1. First of all, be genuine when you approach someone. Let them know that things are about to get real! You might even ask up front, “Can we talk for a little bit? I have something really important I need to share with you.” When you sit down to talk, you could say, “This is hard for me to bring up, and I’m not sure exactly how it will come out but I want to ask for your patience and grace as I try to explain how I’ve been feeling…”

2. Go into the conversation with positive intentions. Resolve to listen, hear the other side, say what you need to say and reach a good ending.

3. As you continue the conversation, keep that end goal in mind. You want to resolve this conflict in a healthy way! That means it matters how you get there and how you express yourself.

Always try to be:

• Kind, even if you’re upset
• Thoughtful and intentional in your word choices… words are powerful!
• Calm while using a matter-of-fact tone of voice
• Respectful
• Focused on how YOU feel, not accusatory. Don’t say “You do X, or you never do Y…” Say “I feel like X, and it seems like Y to me…”
• Genuine and true to you!

Getting things off your chest in a healthy way is a truly beautiful thing, especially as honor yourself and how you feel. Go into hard conversations seeking the best for the person you’re talking with, and for yourself. Try to stay humble. No one has all the answers or knows it all, and all of us makes mistakes.

See our new infographic on 11 Tips for Better Conflict Resolution for even more ideas. And don’t worry, this takes practice and diligence! And with your practice comes wisdom, maturity, and more successful hard conversations.

You can do it! Good luck.

The post How to Have a Hard Conversation appeared first on Camp Fire.

Can you feel it? In the past several years, our culture seems to have hit new highs…or lows…when it comes to division, hostility, and opposition.

While we see constant conflict take its toll globally, we also know how interpersonal problems can do serious damage in our kids’ and teens’ lives. From bullying to academic trouble to depression, conflict on a micro-scale quickly causes big problems.

That’s why Camp Fire has been working on a comprehensive Conflict Resolution curriculum, launching nationwide in early 2018. It began in partnership with the University of Kansas School of Social Work in 2011. Working with 11 underserved schools in the Kansas City district, Camp Fire Heartland collaborated with educators, counselors, kids, and parents to develop super-useable conflict resolution tools. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The curriculum helps kids build their peacemaking skills on individual, interpersonal and community levels. The program is tailored for three age groups (K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade and 4th-6th grade). The curriculum is split into a series of 45 to 60-minute modules (on topics like communication styles, negotiation and respect) that work in both camp and classroom settings.

Kayla Neal, Assistant Program Manager at Camp Fire Heartland, taught all three age categories Conflict Resolution at day camp this summer and is now teaching the program in the Kansas City school district.

“The program gives them a clear outlet to talk about their feelings,” Kayla says. “It helps them ask, ‘What is making me feel that emotion?’ It gives them a way to think differently and think collectively as a group.”

Kayla says most kids can tell you if they are mad, happy or sad. But learning to differentiate between more complex emotions—frustration, anxiety, disappointment—can help them manage and communicate their feelings better.

“Being able to identify the emotion—it starts there,” Kayla says. “Then they can figure out what’s really going on.”

For example, Kayla says, if a youth can differentiate between being mad and being anxious, they can also identify the cause of that anxiety, and what they can do about it. “If I’m feeling a little anxiety about a test, then I can ask myself what I can do to help with that anxiety: study, get some rest.”

The program helps kids manage their feelings and also communicate their emotions to others more effectively. That emotional intelligence can help mitigate childhood conflicts, especially intense ones like bullying.

As part of Camp Fire’s Thrive{ology} approach, the conflict resolution curriculum has already had an impact. When we measure kids’ belief in their ability to talk to someone they were “mad at” before taking part in Camp Fire’s programming, they rate their confidence much lower than other life skills. But early studies show that kids are self-reporting big leaps in their conflict-resolution confidence after a spring and summer of Camp Fire fun.

According to Camp Fire National Headquarter’s Program Consultant Nikki Roe Cropp, out of all the ‘Thriving Indicators’ we measure in youth, the skills they learn in Conflict Resolution has shown the greatest growth. This research makes it all the more exciting to be able to launch our tested Conflict Resolution curricula to the other 55 Camp Fire councils in the New Year.

Conflict resolution skills are endangered and transformative. Thanks for your support as we equip more youth to be proactive and learn to handle conflict in a healthy way! It’s a beautiful thing, and everyone wins.

Find your local council and see if they will have this program available, or ask what other awesome programs they have going on!

The post Camp Fire Transforms Youth Into Powerful Peacemakers appeared first on Camp Fire.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. While there are many good ways we can address bullying with the kids and teens in our lives, this month we’re going to focus on just one strategy related to Camp Fire’s expertise that can make a difference in bullying prevention: Conflict Resolution.

Camp Fire youth are on the front lines of the fight against bullying every day. This is why we believe in giving kids and teens the tools to de-escalate, manage and prevent conflict conflict—with help and guidance from the adults in their lives, of course.

In fact, research shows that when kids step in to intervene, they can stop more than half of bullying situations on their own.

And youth who are bullied say that having their peers step in is more helpful than handling it on their own or enlisting adult assistance.

Bullying is a serious problem that absolutely requires adult attention and intervention. But we can add some kid power to that adult wisdom: We can teach teens and kids conflict resolution skills, such as how to identify and manage their emotions, differentiate between aggression and assertiveness, and brainstorm solutions.

Bullying situations are still way too common. Roughly 20% of high school students say they are bullied at school, and the majority of students never report the bullying. Those rates go up for students of color (24.7% for African American students), students who are heavier (around 60%) and students who identify as LGBT (74.1%).

Bullying effects are severe and long-lasting. Kids who are bullied have more trouble with:

• Sleep
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Adjusting at school

The bullies themselves have their own problems. Kids who bully others have more problems with:

• Academics
• Substance abuse
• Violent behavior

True to our spirit of innovation and expertise in youth development, Camp Fire began developing its own Conflict Resolution program in 2011. We’ve been piloting the program over the past six years in Kansas City to more than 9,000 students, and it was met with rave reviews from a diverse array of parents, teachers and students. We’re excited to launch the Conflict Resolution curricula nationwide in the New Year to our entire Camp Fire network (53 councils in 25 states and D.C.).

In our next post, we’ll take a closer look at what specifically our conflict resolution is teaching and how it’s helping kids and teens manage conflict in a healthy way, in all areas of their lives.

For more on this topic, see Camp Fire National Headquarter’s CEO & President Cathy Tisdale’s Op-Ed in the Kansas City Star: During National Bullying Prevention Month, we can all help bullied kids resolve conflicts.

The post Your Kids & Conflict Resolution: Why It Matters appeared first on Camp Fire.

Current research shows that our intelligence isn’t fixed – it can actually change!

How? One of the keys to success in both school and life is adopting a growth mindset.

Camp Fire believes it is important to help the kids and teens in our lives – and even ourselves! – believe that they have the ability to change and learn.

As we’re growing our positive brain muscles, it’s important to pay attention to how we encourage young people. A few simple shifts in the way we talk about both mistakes and successes can significantly alter kids’ mindsets.

Making the Most of Mistakes

It’s tempting to go into sympathy mode when a kid or teen in your life is recovering from a setback. But research reports that offering too much consolation can distract kids from the valuable lessons the mistake presents.

In fact, one study showed that when teachers had a comfort-oriented response to a low math score (“It’s ok. You’re better at other subjects,” for example), kids came away from that interaction with lower expectations for themselves and lower motivation to learn. They heard the implied message—you’re just not good at math, and that’s OK—loud and clear.

As other social scientists put it, “It is possible that adults’ attempts to comfort children may hinder the learning process by influencing the extent to which children attend to and make sense of their mistakes. That is, adults may inadvertently distract children from learning from their errors.”

Instead of trying to make kids feel better immediately when they hit a roadblock, congratulate them on taking a risk. Then encourage them to pay more attention, not less, to the mistake, setback or obstacle.

“If they are upset because they cannot do something, then we do a lot of encouraging,” says Pamila Townson, Director of the Camp Fire Century Youth Learning Center (Camp Fire Gulf Wind).

Pamila suggests using phrases like:

• “Look how far you have come.”
• “I bet if you keep practicing you will be able to do even better the next time.”
• “Let me know if you need help—it is ok to ask for help!”

Pamila says they encourage kids to use their Spark to help them set goals, make plans and move forward.

Angela Dikes, VP of Professional Growth at Camp Fire First Texas, agrees. “I would emphasize the message that it’s time to try again. Let’s talk about what the next step might be.”

When encouraging kids to think about what’s next—new strategies, more training—Angela uses questions like:

• “Is seems like that didn’t go your way. What do you think happened?”
• “What do you think you would do differently next time?”
• “What do you need?”

Praising the process

Now that you’ve got your setback conversation game on lock, let’s look at how to celebrate a growth mindset in times of success.

Some of our go-to compliments (“You’re so smart!” “You’re so talented!”) are based in a more fixed mindset. Without meaning to, we’re commenting on what someone is instead of what they’ve done, practiced or learned. When we shift the way we praise to honor the effort, tenacity or courage someone has put into their success, we can build a growth mindset, instead.

Instead of praising who a quality, try to switch to complimenting a kid’s process.

“We work to encourage kids rather than just praising them,” Angela says. “We praise effort, strategies and progress, not intelligence or abilities.”

Pamila offers these growth-mindset encouragements:

• “I can tell you practiced a lot!”
• “I can see the effort you put into your work”
• “Thank you for trying hard.”

“Encourage them to set goals and give them tools to overcome challenges in everyday life,” Pamila says. “Stress the importance of practice, adjustments, effort, and commitment. With these all things are possible.”

For more great growth mindset advice, check out The Search Institute’s charts on “Cultivating Growth Mindsets” and “Praise Pointers for Parents and Teachers”.

The post How We Talk About Failure & Success with Our Kids appeared first on Camp Fire.

Do you believe people can change? Do you think we can grow? Do you consider things like intelligence, talents and skills prizes of a random genetic lottery or qualities anybody can develop with time and tenacity?

Camp Fire is built around the belief that we can boost our smarts, develop new skills (or lose them if we don’t practice) and learn new ways to, well, learn.

In the Camp Fire world, mistakes aren’t failures; they are an important part of how we grow.

This approach to life and learning is called a growth mindset, and it permeates Camp Fire’s culture.

In the words of Stanford’s Dr. Carol Dweck, “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

Love of learning? Check. Resilience? Yep. We’re all about that. Once kids and teens have found their sparks, a growth mindset arms them with the curiosity and grit to develop them.

How do you know if you have a growth mindset? As yourself a few simple questions (or take Dr. Dweck’s in-depth quiz, if you have more time).

If you nodded yup to 2 and 4, you’re working that growth mindset like a boss. If you answered yeah, probably to 1 and 3, you are likely operating out of a fixed mindset.

1. When you describe your own skills and talents, do you generally say they are things you were born with…
2. …or things you worked hard to develop?
3. When you run into a challenge, do you often blame the problem on a personal lack (“I’m just not creative”)…
4. …or get curious about what you could change to find a solution?

A fixed mindset is the opposite of a growth mindset. It assumes intelligence and talents are innate: you either have them or you don’t. If we don’t question that mindset, we’re left feeling anxious that we don’t have what it takes to overcome obstacles…and can’t do anything to change those deficiencies.

Fortunately, neuroscience shows us that our brains are malleable. Our brains grow when we use them—just like our muscles. We can teach ourselves to adopt a growth mindset, just like any other skill. We can change! That’s good news because having a growth mindset is scientifically linked to all kinds of great stuff, including higher parental school involvement, the ability to weather traumatic events, and lower rates of childhood depression and anxiety.

We’re going to spend September exploring growth mindsets here on the blog and across our social media accounts. Follow along and join in the #growthmindset conversation!

The post Growth Mindset: Your Key to Thriving appeared first on Camp Fire.