Watching Carol Dweck’s Ted Talk (Dweck’s TedTalk) on how using a grade of “not yet” verses fail helped students to be open to the possibility of later success was eye opening for me. She reported that students faced with a complex problem developed a mindset of loving the challenge or the process of finding the answer/solution to the problem, math scores were raised and students felt accomplishment instead of defeat.
Have you ever come across a response of No and stopped trying? There are time when people feel that they have failed and there is a tendency to give up and not take up the follow through needed to complete a task or advance towards successful completion. They believe the response of “No” is the end verses a time of review, reevaluating and revamping an approach. Statistics show that 20 percent of new companies fail in their first year, and only 50 percent survive through their fifth year. (article)
The whole idea of Not Yet appeals to me more than a No. I have found times when I wanted to do something and was faced with a “no” situation, questioning my God (or higher power) WHY? There has been a quiet Not yet in response. Either I was not ready to handle what I wanted or it was not good for me at the time. Changes were going to happen which I did not foresee that would make that want a can’t. Have you ever experienced this as well?
Now when I come across a “no” I ask, when? seeing the Not Yet for what it is, a time for learning, healing, preparing.
Have you come across a “Not yet” in your life? What was your validation of the wait in stored?
Gigi Santiago 