Earlier in our relationship, pre-children, my now husband took up running to get healthier and lose his extra college weight. I decided to join him on this fitness journey, and we committed to running marathons together. However, I swore up and down that I could never run on a treadmill - it would be too boring.
Fast forward to my second and final marathon, which was in San Francisco. Mind you, I trained in Chicago, where we live. There's a big difference between San Francisco and Chicago when it comes to marathon training. The difference is hills. When I showed up for that marathon, I was woefully underprepared. It was miserable, and I decided it wasn’t worth it to run. I would have been much better off had I gotten over my mental block about the treadmill.
After that marathon, I stopped running for years. Then, after having my children, I got serious about my health again and knew that running was an effective way to help me meet my goals. This time, I knew I hated running and had lots of excuses: it was too hot outside, I wouldn't have access to a shower, it was raining, I didn't have a way to carry my water, and the list kept going. A bunch of perceived barriers were getting in my way.
So, I asked myself - will it be harder to get over my thoughts about the treadmill or harder to get over the rest of the obstacles? Treadmill it was. My mindset was pretty fixed, unfortunately. I had to address the underlying parts of it. It was true: I got bored when I ran on the treadmill for more than five minutes. So, I fixed that. I started doing audio-only classes while I was on the treadmill. They were great because they told me when to change speeds, when to add inclines, and when I could take breaks. Even though the person wasn't right there with me, it was enough to shift my mindset about treadmills.
Now, my mindset has shifted so much that I prefer running on my treadmill to running outside. I even use long endurance runs of 60 or more minutes as an opportunity to watch movies with my oldest child. She lays on the floor while I run, and I'm forced to be at my true endurance pace because she asks about things she doesn’t understand or is sometimes appalled by in the movie.
Running on a treadmill is not the only thing that has required me to shift my mindset. I have had to rethink my career expectations, how I show up at home with my family, how I think about rest and vacation, and even the value of meditation.
Some of the mindset shifts I have made are:
I don't have time to get in exercise --> Prioritizing exercise means I will be well enough to do everything else
I don't have time to organize my email --> Learning how to manage my email means I can get through it faster
I have to do everything myself --> Delegating allows the entire team to accomplish so much more
Now, I can be intentional about thinking through why I have a certain mindset. It allows me to break it down into chunks so that I can determine if it is truly helping me or hurting me.
I encourage you to think about some of the fixed mindsets you may have.
Which ones are helpful?
More importantly, which ones are getting in your way?
If it's getting in your way, what can you do to shift this mindset?
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