This image is showing a brain that represents a growth mindset. Growth mindsets can have a huge impact on your well-being. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.
In academics, sports, and work, you can start to feel burnt out, as if you are stuck in time not knowing how to improve or move forward. This can cause you to lose focus on what’s important. Those around you can try to get you back on track, but truthfully, it is about your mindset.
A growth mindset is something every person needs in order to find motivation. Finding motivation is important no matter the situation, for it can help better your performance in school, athletics and even work. How people perceive you is very different from how you perceive yourself. You could see yourself as failing and underperforming in life, but others may see you putting forth great effort and are happy with your performance. Growth mindsets can help you in so many things throughout your life. It’s of utmost importance to view the glass as half full instead of half empty.
Senior swimmer Natalie Benedict has been swimming since her freshman year. She has experience in the field of motivation. Exhaustion is just a mindset for human beings like Benedict. “Your body’s only at 40% of what it can do when you get tired, so I just push past,” Benedict said. To strive to perform better she thinks about the end goal. “Work first, then fun stuff after,” said Benedict. Pushing through the burn out is crucial to achieve greatness and to be successful and happy with your performance. “During practice, if everyone’s really tired or something, I think it’s just important to remember what you’re doing it for, goals, and remember that the pain’s only temporary, and you can push past it,” said Benedict. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Sophomore actor, football, and golf athlete, Kenton Koch wants to pursue acting in his future. Koch looks up to actor Adam Sandler and uses that as motivation to achieve his dream career. Koch sees the importance of self motivation and pride. “Believe in yourself,” said Koch. When it comes to balancing school and extracurriculars Koch has a good system in place. “I try to get homework done when I have free time during musical rehearsal,” said Koch. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Sophomore actress, vocalist, and athlete, Sydney Pflug, is most motivated by her acapella group. She finds empowerment through their success. “They’re committed to the craft and making music turn out good, and especially with our recent competition wins, it’s just been something that really keeps you driven to do better,” said Pflug. Pflug believes it’s all worth it in the end, so just keep up your performance and hard work. Some people may bring you down, but never let them stop you from reaching your full potential. “Don’t let people who don’t see the best in you stop you from doing the best, you’re capable of a lot more than you might expect.” said Pflug. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Senior swimmer Lincoln Chalmers is motivated by his teammates. When trying to perform better, Chalmers thinks about his future and what he can achieve. The balance between sports and school may be difficult, so a schedule for things may be helpful. “Obviously, I put school first, as you should always do, and just fit in as much as you can with sports,” said Chalmers. It’s best to look toward the light peeking through the shadows, and to not dwell on something that doesn’t work out the way you want it. “Everything you do is just for the end goal, and things might seem tough now, but they’ll get better in the future,” said Chalmers. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe. Senior baseball athlete Collin Gessner, is motivated by his dad. Gessner strives to perform better by preparation in the weight room and in practice every day. Screens often distract you from doing work, sometimes making you forget. “After practice, just get homework done before I get on social media and video games,” said Gessner. Sometimes when trying to improve your performance, you have to work after hours to reach your full potential. “Just keep working, even when nobody’s watching you.” said Gessner. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Senior baseball athlete Kyle Brehm, is motivated by Coach Davis, who has helped him develop a growth mindset. When being around a person for so long, they will start to change you. “I’ve been coached by him for 3 years and he’s really helped me just stay positive and trust in the process and get better as a person and a baseball player every day,” said Brehm. Brehm focuses on getting better every day and pays attention to the little details to perform better. Sometimes the balance of school work and after school activities can be very difficult, so it’s best to find a schedule for these things. “I like to prioritize school first because I’m a student athlete, and being a student comes first. So I would say prioritizing that and making sure I’m getting my schoolwork done before my athletics,” said Brehm. When trying to overcome challenges, don’t look at the future or past, look at the present. “Just trust the process, get better every day, try to focus on getting better. One day at a time,” said Brehm. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe. Senior swimmer and baseball athlete Jet Troyer, is motivated by his coaches Rob Damuth and Andy Bouwens. To become the athlete Troyer wants to be, he shows up, puts in the work, takes advantage of the opportunities given to him, and reminds himself that you are only an athlete for a limited amount of time in life. With only 24 hours within a day, managing homework and athletics can be overpowering. “Being disciplined and when I have free time, make sure I get my work done so I have free time later,” said Troyer. Believing in yourself and having faith in the journey ahead is a great take on future problems. “Trust the process, and show up and give it your all,” said Troyer. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Junior baseball athlete Colby Yacks, is motivated by his family, especially his older brother. Family is many peoples safe space, their foundation, it’s what most of us work for, to make them proud. “I want to be able to perform for my older brother since he didn’t get the opportunity to play in college,” said Yacks. To perform better, Yacks focuses on working really hard, a healthy sleep schedule, eating the right foods, getting recovery, and working out. Yacks gets most of his work done in class, so he usually doesn’t have much homework to do after practice. Finding the source, finding the center of your dream, grasping why you choose to do this is the best kind of motivation. “Understand who you are, who you want to be, and figure out why you want to do it. If you don’t have a why, then what’s the point of anything,” said Yacks. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Senior baseball athlete Carson Palmer, is motivated by a daily motivational podcast by Brian Kane, since it reflects on growth mindset and what you need in the mental angle of things. Making a habit of things, a pattern, steps to follow, makes growing easier. It creates a way of practice for a growth mindset. “I really work on routine, and the little things, like, a good warm up, and just everything in between, that’s not hitting, but maybe it’s before hitting, making sure you’re loose,” said Palmer. Dedication to something maybe hard at times, but keeping up the work ethic will get you the best outcomes. “I would say, keep working and follow your dreams,” said Palmer. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Senior soccer athlete Lilly Toole, is motivated by her parents. Toole strives to perform better by trying her best and working hard. Planning your day out ahead can usually help with finding times for different things. “I just always try to make time for my work,” said Toole. When facing a challenge, it is best to go hard instead of giving 50%. “Always give your all,” Toole said. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Junior soccer athlete Elianna Combs, is motivated by her family, especially her older sister. Combs works her best in practice, and always tries to encourage others to build everyone up. To try and limit your amount of homework by the end of the day, it’s better to finish it during class if you have the chance. “I try to make time for both, and I try to get as much schoolwork I can throughout the day. I organize my priorities,” said Combs. During hard times, you can’t be self critical, you have to keep pushing through the fog to find the light at the end of the tunnel. “Always work your best, don’t get down on yourself. Encouragement is important,” said Combs. Photo credit to Addison Schliewe.Sophomore soccer athlete Greta Tebrake, is motivated by her parents and coaches. To perform better, Tebrake works her hardest at practice and focuses on the little things. Concentrating during class can sometimes lead you to no homework. “I try to stay on task in class to get my work done, and then get anything done after school before practice,” said Tebrake. Taking it step by step can help you conquer large difficulties. “I would say just keep working and focus on little things at a time, not super big things,” said Tebrake. Photo credits to Addison Schliewe.
Growth mindset and looking for people motivate you is super important when wanting to succeed in something. Finding a person to motivate you is super important when procrastinating about an idea, sport, talking to a teacher about a grade, or just making it a great day. An American psychologist, Carol Dweck, once said, “Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.”
Addison Schliewe is a Freshman who is a first year staff writer. She has enjoyed writing since Elementary. She participates in basketball, enjoying the sport very much. In her free time, she listens to music, longboards, and loves to hang out with friends or family.
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