Getting right to it this week. 

Our mindset around stress may be more important than the stress itself. 

There’s a mental game 101 concept that talks about a challenge mindset vs a threat mindset. This is always in play for a high performing athlete, coach and leader. Here’s the thing we’ve got to lean into this week,

Our perception is often reality. 

Your perception of the stress you’re facing will greatly affect your internal reality, ability to cope with stress, and your ability to meet the challenge. 

There’s a fascinating study we’re going to dive into this week and two major takeaways you can implement right away. 

Looking at a Tough Hill to Climb?

Researchers studied how people perceive the steepness and difficulty of hills and found many factors that influence our perception of the same hill. From our own assessment of our physical fitness, to the amount of sleep we got the night before, to our mood in the moment, there are all kinds of ways our brain interprets the degree of difficulty in the obstacles in front of us.

Through many different studies using this method, there are two dominant trends that can impact your pursuit of high performance today and two I want to bring to your attention for immediate action.

What Are You Carrying?

In one study, researchers found that people overestimated the degree of difficulty of the hill in front of them based on whether or not they were carrying a heavy load on their backs. This meant that their perception of the path was influenced by the weight they were carrying. The heavier the weight, the more they made the hill seem steeper, more difficult, and harder to climb. The hill didn’t change from participant to participant, what they were carrying did.

While you may want to assess if your backpack or briefcase is too heavy these days, what I really want to bring to your attention is the cost of carrying around baggage that you need to lay down. Mental, emotional and spiritual baggage. 

• Past hurts or criticisms or slights

• Past failure or embarrassment

• Things not going your way

• Results / slumps / losing streaks

• Worry over things you can’t control

• Unwillingness to change 

• Inability to take the feedback of life for what it is

The more I spend time with athletes, coaches, and leaders, the more it seems so many people are lugging around mental, emotional and spiritual baggage and it’s greatly impacting present day perceptions of real challenges. 

Everything seems uphill when you are carrying a heavy load. 

What might you need to lay down and let go of this week? 

Who Are You With?

In another study, researchers found that people underestimated the hill difficulty based on one dominant variable. Whether or not they had a friend standing by their side. This means they literally found the hill to be less threatening if they weren’t going at it alone. 

They call this “psychosocial resources” which is a fancy way of saying,

“Who you riding with?”

Are you all alone? Or do you have someone by your side to face the challenge along with you? 

Challenges can become threats really quick if we perceive ourselves to be alone. If we are truly alone and our capacity reaches its limit, then no one else is there to cover for us, encourage us, and support us. 

I spend a lot of time working with athletic teams. If you are on a team, every hill is an opportunity to test the connectedness of the group. What a shame it would be to simply be wearing the same jerseys and warm-ups but feel all alone to face personal and collective challenges. 

Don’t go at it alone. Lean into your trusted confidants. If you don’t have one and feel all alone - just click here.

Now What? 

I’m convinced your perception of the challenges you face this week will be altered in your favor if you do two things: 

1. Lay some things down that may be bullying you mentally, emotionally, or spiritually - take decisive action and release some things that have been past due of you moving on from. 

2. Lean into your social support. Pick up the phone and call someone. Don’t do life alone. 

You can literally make hills look less steep by doing these two things. 

Imagine what it could do to the metaphorical hills you’re facing this week in your pursuit of being at your best when it matters most.

I’m in your corner. 

Stay The Course,