“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.” – Cicely Tyson
When we started Greater Culture over a year ago, one of the first things we did was establish the core values that would guide and influence how we operate and the community we strive to cultivate. Over the next four weeks we’re going to take a look at those values.
The first value we’re going to take a deeper look at is challenge. The quote for this week captures what we mean by challenge beautifully in that we want to strive to push ourselves so that we can discover things we didn’t know inside of us. We want to invite challenge into our lives, because it is the best way to move forward and progress.
Challenge is not comfortable. It’s not easy or the desired route. It means we will most likely experience stress and anxiety. Putting ourselves in a situation that provides an opportunity to learn and be greater, is the one that we want to take. This approach is not the common one.
When we show up for a workout that has a movement that we are not familiar are strong with, is a perfect opportunity to train a challenge mindset. When you have the chance to take the easy route in your work and relationships, but instead choose to go the route that allows you to be proud of who you are, that is the challenge mindset. When you have your back against a wall and are not sure how you’re going to find a way through, this is the challenge mindset.
We can typically view things in our lives through two lenses. Either a threat mindset or a challenge one. A threat mindset is characterized by scarcity, doubt, insecurity, and low self-efficacy. It means we don’t believe we have what it takes to handle the moment.
When we choose to view the world through a challenge lens, it allows us to be creative, see the possibilities, and try new things to learn and grow.
Over the last year, we have all experienced a variety of moments that called on us to see what we are made of. The gym is a small way that we can surround ourselves with others who want to do difficult things and learn how to apply those same mental skills in life outside of the gym.
This week, let’s find the moments that we can take on a challenge mindset and push ourselves to be greater.
