Adopting the Creator Mindset

            In his book, On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, Dr. Skip Downing defines two mindsets which he calls Creators and Victims. Downing defines a Creator as a person who constantly makes the right choices that create the results they wish to experience or achieve. As for a Victim, Downing refers to a Victim as someone who believes that what happens to them is outside of their control. People are not born defined as either a Creator or a Victim; they chose whether to be a Creator or a Victim when a situation stands in their way. In order to achieve getting things done in life, people need to develop a creator mindset rather than continuing with his or her victim mindset.

            In Professor David Mirman’s blog article about the difference between a Victim and a Creator, he gives the audience a short story of two students who needed a textbook for their class, but were unable to retrieve it. The two students were stuck in the same position, but it was how they handled the situation that made them different. The first student chose to blame the bookstore for not having enough of the college textbooks. The second student chose to contact the nearest college to obtain the textbook. When she couldn’t find any there she continued to call other colleges, until she found the textbook and had it shipped to her overnight. The first student chose to be the Victim who blames her problems on other things, while the second student was the Creator because she did not give up on finding the textbook. With this in mind, Professor Mirman ended his blog by saying, as college students, we should, “Consider making a resolution to stop using Victim language, and to think like a Creator instead. Resolve to ask ‘What can I do to make this better?’ instead of ‘Whose fault is this?’

            In Dr. Skip Downing’s book, On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, he writes, “Personal responsibility is the foundation for creating success. Personal response-ability is the ability to respond wisely at each fork in the road, your choices moving you ever closer to your desired outcomes and experiences.” From personal experience, I failed to follow this mindset. Starting my senior year, math has been a nightmare for me. In the first semester, I decided to take Trigonometry. I passed Algebra 2 with a solid B, so I figured that Trig could not be that much worse. I could not have been anymore wrong. I gave up on the class within the second week of the semester because it was too hard. I always blamed the teacher for not teaching right and complained that the homework was too much work. I passed the class with a D+ by the time second semester came. Because of trig, my GPA dropped dramatically. At that point is where I opened my eyes. I could not move on to Pre-Calculus, so instead of stopping there, I retook Trig. I finished my high school career with an A in Trigonometry. The only reason why I accomplished getting that A was because I chose to become a Creator rather than continuing to be a Victim. I reminded myself each day of my goal and pushed to achieve it by doing my homework, staying after school, and actually studying. Nothing was more rewarding than having my teacher have a smile on her face from seeing how much I have improved.

            From a personal point of view, I see my mother as a Creator. When the economy went down, back in 2008, my mother lost her business due to bankruptcy. Trying to keep the place afloat, she used whatever money she had to keep it running till the economy had the chance to recover. With this, she lost the house as well. Instead of becoming her own oppressor, she knew what she needed to do. Within a month of losing her business, my mother sold the house, packed us up, and relocated to Virginia. When arriving, she started looking for a job instantly and within a month of living in Virginia, she was back on her feet. What my mother did, in my eyes, was remarkable. She lost her business, her job, her house, her car, everything. Instead of sitting back waiting to see if the world would drop something good in front of her, she took control of her situation and focused on her goal which was getting back on her feet. What my mother did was what Downing emphasizes in his book: “When you accept personal responsibility, you believe that you create everything in your life” (Downing).

            In order to become a Creator rather than a Victim as I begin my college career, I need to start off by setting my goal of passing the class. College is only meant for those to succeed if they work hard for their achievements, therefore, I will stop procrastinating and begin by actually sitting down and taking time on my homework. Once an assignment is provided to me, I take it home and start working on it. Once I start something, I don’t put it back down till I finish it. If I end up coming across an assignment that I do not understand I email one of my classmates in order for me to not fall behind on the class assignments. By setting these goals now, I know that I will be able to be successful in this class and finish assignments on time and without a hassle.

           

           

                                                    Works Cited

Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for success in College and in Life. 7th ed. New York: Wadsworth. 2014. 13 June, 2016. Print.

Mirman, David. “Do You Think Like a Victim or a Creator?” You are the Prime Mover. 2 Jan, 2012. 13 June, 2016. < http://youaretheprimemover.com/>