Developing a Growth Mindset
As athletes we are always overcoming obstacles. Whether it is an injury, a disappointing race performance, sickness, schedule conflicts, etc.... The biggest question to ask yourself is how you would respond to a set back and what sort of mindset you'd have in order to overcome it. Developing a growth mindset is crucial to being successful in ANYTHING that you do. So what does this entail, and how do you work at developing your growth mindset?
A growth mindset is basically viewing any obstacle whether big or small as an opportunity to grow and learn. This allows you to take advantage of a negative circumstance and transform it into something that will make you a better athlete/person. Let's use a knee injury as an example. Rather than dwelling on what you can't do and how much it is going to affect your season/goals, what if you used this opportunity to develop other aspects of your fitness? Such as using a rehabilitation routine to make your body more resilient and strong so that you can handle more training when you are healthy, thus being even faster in the long term?? Or now that you can't say-swim or bike, you are training less hours and have more time to cook and refine your nutrition, and losing those extra pounds you haven't been able to drop for years?? I could list many ways you would be able take advantage of this specific situation in order to come out a better athlete.
What can you do today to begin to develop a growth mindset? Step #1: Start today! It takes consistency and resilience to change your mindset, especially if you find yourself constantly feeling sorry for yourself and have a lot of negative self talk. You can grow in any aspect of your life if you focus on your mindset next time something challenging is presented to you. Start by focusing on the opportunities to grow rather than thinking you are fixed or set in your own ways; change your mindset and use the opportunity to develop as an athlete and person.
Let's all use the next month to really focus on developing our own growth mindset. Take note of how this positive frame of mind affects ALL other aspects of your life, and how you can continue to grow and learn no matter the circumstance!
