A Growth Mindset for Progress in Health and Fitness

If you are a member of a CrossFit gym, you have already proven that you are hungry to improve. Mental game is everything! The way you frame obstacles in your mind can make or break your success.

Marcus Aurelius — 'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.'

Our goal is a GROWTH MINDSET. What exactly is a growth mindset?

A growth mindset is an approach to life in which an individual believes that their talents, intelligence, and abilities can be developed further. People with a growth mindset seek opportunities to learn, gain new skills, and enhance their existing skills. If you are an educator or a parent then you’ve probably heard this and teach this to your kids- but for some reason as we get older we forget that it applies to us as well.

As we get older we stop believing that we are capable of change and growth. We create a static self-image of ourselves that can be harmful when trying to make changes to our lifestyle. We say things like ‘I am not a morning person. I am not a great cook. I have never liked vegetables. I don’t like working out.’- These are things that do not have to be permanent- no matter how long you have said them to yourself.

When working with kids there is an exercise we do called ‘The Power of Yet’- it is simply thinking about something that you can’t do and adding the word yet to it. Here are a few examples…

• ‘I do not like vegetables… yet.’

• ‘I do not have good sleep habits… yet’

• ‘I do not like running.. yet’

Simply adding the word ‘yet’ to the end of that statement implies that you have not mastered those actions yet but you are working to achieve them.

So what is something that you haven’t achieved……. yet? :)

The beautiful thing about adopting a growth mindset in one area of your life, like the gym or nutrition, is you will begin to see it carryover to other aspects of your life and before you know it, you will be embracing adversity because you understand it is the key your growth!

Humans are incredible at adapting and overcoming!

Written by Whitney Zuspann