3 lessons to help you shift your mindset when you feel stuck
Photo credit - Matthew Tran
How can we use our fears to drive us in the direction of our dreams?
Often, when we have a big goal, there are challenges or obstacles along the way. We don't see these challenges when we start the journey, they appear along the way to help us grow and learn more about ourselves.
Tony Robbins quotes, "Life doesn't happen to you, it happens for you." It may not feel like it in the moment, as you're processing what is happening and doing your best to make sense of it. It also takes continual practice to shift your mindset to remember that life is happening for you. It's also work-in-progress and takes practice. When you're going through layers and layers of things, it's also helpful to work through the layers and remember that with each layer, there is more information to uncover and unpack.
As I started talking to someone about my story of Everest, I remembered the lessons in life and in our careers to move forward when our mind feels 'stuck.'
Here are 3 lessons to help you shift your mindset when you feel stuck.
Focus on your own journey at your own pace. When I took the journey to Everest, we were initially a team of 3 who agreed to do the training together to get the experience that we needed to go to Base Camp. Then later on, there was someone who wanted to join and promised that he would do all the training and preparation to catch up and join us. With altitude sickness, it affects everyone differently and you find out how it affects you once you're in the situation - ie. at Everest. The last person to join us was actually the person who wasn't that challenged by the altitude sickness. I was challenged by altitude sickness, something that was outside of my control. It makes me remember the saying "It is what it is." Even though we did all the training and prepared adequately, I remember wondering how there were those in my team who ran up the mountain with gear whilst the majority of us walked at the pace of ants due to altitude challenges. Looking back, I have to remember that everyone's journey is different. Perhaps there were others that were also challenged and were not able to communicate or express what they were truly going through. You don't really know what's going on inside for others, all you know is what you're experiencing. I remember the resilience, perseverance and strength that it took to keep going in spite of challenges. I also remember that my pace was different than that of my team's and that was ok, we adjusted as a group and were able to keep moving forward.
Remember how you showed up. This theme has been appearing lately and I thought it was important to reflect on it. How I showed up in spite of challenges on the mountain was so key. I could have given up and decided to go back down the mountain and I kept going to the best of my ability (though at a pace that was slower than what I expected of myself). Even before we arrived, I was thorough with the prep work and did my best to work with the team to organize weekly workout schedules, plan and go on practice runs, and enlist the help of experts and people who had similar experiences to share. I dedicated the time and energy that was needed to focus on our goals when I decided that I was going to go. I was committed to achieving my goal; a key element to remind myself of how I was committed to myself and my goals. I wanted to give back to someone who mentioned that he is going to Machu Picchu soon, so I shared my top tips with him to help him be successful with his own personal goals.
Keep focused on the goal and also remember to be adaptable. Things happen along the way and that was certainly the case in our journey. When unexpected things happen along the way, ie. not having an oxygen tank when we needed one, we asked for help and our request was received. I shifted our journey slightly to take more time to acclimatize and my end goal shifted. Initially, it was something that I wasn't sure about and looking back, it was the journey that was the most important, not the initial goal of going to Everest Base Camp.
Remember, as fears come up, you are stronger than you think. I'm reminded of this quote that a friend used to remind me of when I was living in England:
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh Library
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Thanks as always, for taking the time to read my articles.
