Mindset, Validation and Finding My Way

I'm reading Mindset by Carol Dweck. Vern Gambetta referred to it recently and so far it is pretty good. The writing is a bit simple and repetitious at times, but there are some great real life examples of how a growth mindset differs from the fixed mindset.

Sometimes I fall into the "fixed" mindset, thinking I'm a complete failure because I don't have an MD, JD or PhD behind my name, a book of my own, or a spot speaking on the NSCA docket yet. And while I do my own thing business-wise, I don't have a fancy facility or slew of coaches or athletes following me on a regular basis. I'm not bringing in six figures. Aren't all Chicago/Wash U grads supposed to be doing that?

Silly? Yes. It's not an all or nothing gig, life. Letters and degrees don't necessarily mean one contributes to society in a positive way. And I'm certainly not the only one still paying off student loans--and that just sucks. Somebody please tell Congress to jack the interest rates back down to a reasonable level!

Occasionally I get a really neat note from someone via this blog or YouTube. The notes come from Australia, the UK, Argentina--all over--and they usually thank me for some tidbit of info that has helped them with an athlete or simply thank me for putting up some inspirational or informational video. These notes help remind me that I am contributing and slowly but surely, finding my way in this world.

P.S. Got a really cool note last night from a certain weightlifter thanking me for sending him/her video. This person is now easily making close to PR marks in training, consistently, and believes my work has been imperative to him/her better understanding the lifts and thus making the necessary changes to improve his/her technique. This athlete has a shot at making the 2008 Olympic team and it would just make me so happy to see this person achieve that goal. We'll see what happens in 3 weeks at the Nationals. It should be a great competition and people will be scrapping for every kilo to improve their rankings for the Pan Am and 2007 World Championship teams.

Comments

Moby Dick said…
Sounds like a good book. Keep on helping others, good karma will come back to you!
7:57 AM
Anonymous said…
Long time no talk—

This isn't really a question about your recent post, but something you and I have talked about before. Quick question for you about why our guys might be dying in the 2nd half. We don’t do the best job tracking how much they drink and we both know it is really hard to hydrate here during the day since barely any of the drinking fountains work (and they only have 4 min between classes) but I was hoping for a good resource to figure out how much fluid they should be going through in a game or practice. I have all the info for my tri stuff, but I would guess they would not need as much since the efforts aren’t as sustained. I’ve looked around the web, but not had a ton of luck. Any ideas?

Keep the blog going, by the way. I enjoy taking a peak from time to time.

kfoy
12:56 PM
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