I'm Just Not A Runner!

I've been doing a lot of reading and studying on how our thoughts can effect our overall lives.  I want to share a short takeaway I had from the book The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst.  I recently finished the book and have been looking back through some of the notes I took while reading it so I can remember some of the "highlights."

One of the things she talked about was the idea of having a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset.  Basically, a fixed mindset is one that decides you are the way you are.  No action that you take can change the outcome because you have certain skills and abilities that cannot change.  A growth mindset says you can positively change by working to improve.  This mindset focuses on using your circumstances and efforts to always be moving forward.  Even your "setbacks" and struggles can help you move forward by helping you learn and grow.  You are not stuck unless you choose to be stuck.

The fixed mindset is a dangerous one to hold onto.

This mindset can, and most likely will, hold you back from making progress in certain areas.  For example, I used to have a fixed mindset when it came to my fitness level.  I believed that I had certain abilities that would never improve, no matter how much work I put into it.

"I'm just not a runner."  "I don't have the endurance."  "My legs can't jump that high."

These are all things I have said out loud and used to say continuously in my mind.  As soon as I made that decision that I didn't have the endurance to run a mile, I never had the drive inside of me to push myself to that mile.  As a result, I would end up needing to walk for part of it every time I tried running a mile.  My inner dialogue was telling me I couldn't make it, so I would just give up and not make it.

Just a few years ago, I decided to challenge that mindset and see what I could actually accomplish.  It all started because I got married to a man that hiked mountains as a hobby.  I never in my wildest dreams would have seen myself someday hiking up actual mountains.  I mean, I'm a Nebraska girl!  Not exactly mountain territory.  I quickly realized that if I wanted to spend much time with him during the summer, I had to go hiking.

I spent an entire summer making it a short distance up the mountain, then spending hours waiting, sitting off to the side of the trail reading a book while he finished the hike up and back to me (or hiking back to the car alone).  While I absolutely love reading a good book on the side of a peaceful mountain, I decided I really wanted to see if I could make it.  I decided that if I worked hard, maybe I could actually improve enough to summit a mountain.  And guess what… I was right!  Once I decided that I could have that potential somewhere in me, I started pushing myself harder and by the next summer I was able to make it!  (Soon after this, I decided I wanted to "be a runner", so I spent an entire summer going for a run first thing in the morning.  The first day I ran an entire mile without stopping to walk was pretty amazing.  Then came the point where I could run 3 miles without stopping to walk!)

This change in my mindset has led to many different challenges I've given myself: run 3 miles, finish a workout program, do 10 pushups on my toes.  I hear some people talking about how they'd like to get back to the shape they were in during high school.  I say, no thanks!  There's no way I could've run 3 miles in high school!  I'm pretty happy with the new me that just keeps working to improve.

So, if you were to take one thing with you from this lesson, what would it be?

Your mind is a powerful thing!  Use it to better yourself, not limit yourself.