Adopting a Growth Mindset…even when it terrifies you.
Have you ever hit a plateau and weren’t sure how to get unstuck? If this doesn’t happen to you regularly you are not expanding your skill set. Having a personal and professional goal that challenges you keeps you moving forward in ascension mode. In honor of “Focus February”, I am challenging myself with a personal and professional goal. I am committing to launching a Brain Breakthrough Course in March (stay tuned!) AND to achieving a new level of difficulty in skiing.
Whoosh, is it terrifying! My amygdala is sending all sorts of danger signals, but I am pushing through survival mode and calling in my thinking brain. Getting out of your comfort zone requires some massive mindset and motivation work, effective methods, and usually a great coach to get it done.
Adopting a Growth Mindset
“In 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.” Carol Dweck
Most high-achievers believe they have a growth mindset, but actually don’t.
Having a growth mindset is not based on how well you have climbed the ladder of success or your income. If you find yourself driven to prove your status or intelligence over and over, you more than likely have a fixed mindset.
Having a growth mindset channels energy into developing your intelligence and talent, rather than documenting it. It requires taking risks and being willing to fail on a regular basis, with some serious reflection about the lessons learned. Hindsight is 20-20, only if you give it thought and readjust for success next time.
Why does that matter? Here are some of the benefits:
Taking risks will become more comfortable and you will strive for greater goals. You will get better at blasting through your plateaus.
Higher motivation
Enhanced brain development
Lower stress, anxiety, and depression
Better work relationships
Higher performance levels
Once you believe it’s possible and make the commitment to go for it, the obstacles that can create failure get real. If you put your mind to it, the solutions will follow. Let's use my personal goal to improve my alpine skiing level as an example.
Challenge #1: Lack of experience. I was “that kid from the west” that everyone assumed must be a great skier because I grew up in nordic nirvana. The truth? Skiing is expensive.
My parents were highly educated, but not wealthy. They were the granola-loving, camping type more than lovers of downhill. Mom was a teacher (no need to explain the lack of money there, right?) and Dad was a bootstrapping pilot which paid little to commuter pilots for most of my young life. Oh, and Hawaii, where we spent some of my adolescent years, is a bit skinny on snow.
So… I skied nordic. The few times I skied downhill with my adventure-seeking father, were not a raging success. My first downhill skiing lesson was at Purgatory near Durango, Colorado. Being the brilliant young idiot I was, I tired of zigzagging and straight-lined my way to the bottom with a dead stop into the ski lodge wall. Luckily, I did not end up in the real Purgatory, but for some reason, my parents did not take me too often after that. Perhaps the thought of the medical bill potential there was a bit daunting?
Solution: Sometimes you just need to grow up and take charge. There are circumstances you can’t control that may limit your experience, but that isn’t lifelong. Having to drop out of college for a semester to earn money, I decided to work in a place where I could also get some ski experience. So, I packed up and moved to Jackson Hole to work and try my hand at being a ski bum for a semester. I had great plans to join my Olympic-level cousins who grew up there and finally get some experience on the slopes, but there were problems with that idea.
Challenge #2 Lack of Resources. I was still poor as a church mouse and skiing was still expensive.
Solution: I got one of my three jobs at the ski resort for a free season ticket. With no money for lessons, I had to watch my much better friends and family for reference. Not the best strategy, but it worked, sort of. It was progress, not perfection.
Challenge #3 The difficulty level was insanely high. Skiing Jackson Hole as a beginner is a ridiculously stupid idea. Anyone who has been there knows it is extremely steep. You can kiss the hill above you in some places. I would get stranded on what felt like a cliff and shake in my boots trying to get the courage to point my tips into the abyss. It was terrifying.
Solution: Push through the fear and lean in. Give yourself grace and lots of room for making small improvements.
Challenge #4 No time. I was working insane hours to earn money to go back to college. I bootstrapped my education. I worked nights at the hospital as a certified nursing assistant and days at a custom outdoor-wear shop sewing with industrial machines that could cut your finger off in a split second if you weren’t paying attention. During the few moments I actually had off from my other two jobs, I was working at the mid-mountain lodge after riding the bus from town in subzero temps and was lucky to have time to ski down from work.
In hindsight, reaching my original goal was doomed. I was not putting myself in a position of success and somehow thought since I had always been able to pull off miracles working too many hours while taking 17 science credit hours at the same time, this would be a breeze. Luckily I did not kill myself in the process or end up in the hospital with broken bones ( like some of my coworkers) but I did begin the process of learning how to master my fear of steep, extremely icy and heavy powder slopes.
Solution: I got honest with myself about my priorities. I began to understand the limitations of 24 hours in a day. It would take years to fully retire my superhero cape, but it was a start. The bonus was that I also was slaying it in my professional goals. I made the money I needed to go back to school, and got incredibly valuable experience and mentorship in the hospital that changed the course of my career. It was the most valuable semester of my college years.
But did I give up on my personal goal of becoming an alpine skier? Nope. I learned to put myself in a better position for success, however. I was patient with the acceptance of the fact that my bandwidth was limited. I skied every chance I got, but took a much smarter approach.
Colorado skiing is different. There are plenty of slopes for beginners and the snow is generally very forgiving. Life shifts too, and adjustments had to be made for that. By the time I moved back to Colorado, I had two children to foster on the slopes. Any single parent who has struggled with schlepping kids and gear up I-70 in traffic every weekend will tell you this is not for the faint of heart. I was lucky to get in a few runs on my own between shuttling them to two different lesson groups. But, I didn’t give up.
Persistence creates progress, even if it takes years.
My “Core Four” girls were my snow angels. Friends from college, we all began a tradition of meeting once per year, with NO kids. They were far above my skill level. One of them is a professional adventurer who puts in 2-5 days per week on the slopes in Utah. She was my roommate in Jackson Hole and never looked back. She teleskis in the trees and is still living the ski bunny life. The other skied the Matterhorn in Zermatt, etc., since college. Then there was me…But, each year, I got to ski four days in a row. ALL day.
I watched, I learned, I worked at it. And believe it or not I actually improved. I am no longer afraid of steep slopes or little black diamonds and can ALMOST keep up with my girlfriend on teleskis. Whoop! But bumps? Even little bumps or trees? Yikes! Seriously, I could just stick with double blue groomers and save face.
But I have a growth mindset. I am a dedicated improvement junkie. I am comfortable with being the worst performer when I start something new. As a kid, I always got the trophy for most improved and the embarrassment of sucking didn’t matter as much. The result? I have become very good at many things and am often asked, is there anything you CAN’T do? My answer is yes. But, there is little I won’t try.
I will not allow myself to plateau. I am applying what I know about my shadow brain. The brain that whispers in the dark to just be safe and play small to survive. Not listening, lizard brain! I don’t know where I will end up this season, but the hardest part is done. I am not letting fear of hitting the next level keep me from taking risks. I am leaning into the abyss with a grin and pointing my tips down, even when my safe brain is screaming at me. It may take years, but I am pushing my limits just enough to keep me in the game.
What could possibly go wrong? If I am still in one piece, I will be back with how I plan to find and keep that motivation!
In the meantime, what goal terrifies you? I challenge you to find one!