Today i went climbing (the bouldering type) and I noticed something.
There was an air of fearlessness. Incredibly muscular, tough, experimental climbers venturing up a vertical wall, an inclined wall, heck even an-almost horizontal wall. No fear of falling, no fear of getting hurt or any concern of “what if I can’t do it”. It was all about experimentation. There seemed to be a universal curiosity in the room – a thirst to see how far they could go, how much they could stretch themselves and to be slightly better than they were last time.
Don’t get me wrong, there was definitely a range of expertise, from bare beginners (like me) to people with years of experience that seemed to do the impossible. Regardless, it felt like there was no judgement. A culture of learning. A concrete growth mindset prevailed through every incomplete route up the wall. None of the “urgh I guess I can’t do it”.
Today I realized the true difference between a fixed and growth mindset (a theoretical concept I internalized for years). It’s not about whether you can or cannot do it – it’s about what you can work up to do. Progress over perfection, as they say, and true progress only comes from showing up, every time.
I feel it’s so easy to stop trying something because you don’t know how to do it or it’s your first time and you’re not killing it. But what if you approached the same experience with curiosity? Instead of beating yourself up for not being “naturally amazing”, you ask yourself “How could I do it differently?” or “What if I did it that way?”. In the process, you might yourself being slightly more creative than before. You might even end up learning something about yourself.
So try it out – fight the human response to feel bad for failing – and embrace the curiosity to try again and show up differently.
Best,
– Her.