Today’s run: 4.79 miles, 47:48 minutes. Year total: 192.58. In East River Park, I saw a pair of jeans and a comforter stuffed into the lower limbs of a small tree. I guess it was someone’s PJs and bedding – in their “dresser.” Hope it’s there when he/she goes back tonight.
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New runners! Would-be runners!
If you’re flirting with a running program, but resisting because you believe you’re NOT a runner, or NOT someone who’s fit and healthy – like maybe a free wheelin’ writer, or a smoker, or a lazy sack o’ whatever – take a look at Professor Carolyn Dweck’s book Mindset. Same goes for those who are trying to lose weight, or develop their creative side, or…. almost anything that involves exploring new territory.
Mindset argues that the most successful people out there share a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that with hard work and persistence, they can “grow” – learn new skills, improve upon weaknesses, move into new areas of activity and intellect. “Fixies” meanwhile think they’re stuck with what they’ve got and may as well skip the work because they’re never going to get much better. And so they don’t. You may have heard this idea in Malcolm Gladwell’s recent OUTLIERS , which incorporated Dweck’s work.
Adopt a growth mindset and you’ll find it easier to “believe” that you too can be a runner. And if you believe you’re a runner, you’re more likely to act that way.
How to adopt a growth mindset? Slap yourself silly with positive self talk. Tell yourself, “I will improve,” “This will get easier – IF I do it,” “I can run as fast as anybody, with some work.”
Don’t stop at running – silence fixie mutterings to help move yourself in any direction you want to go. A fixed mindset is TERRIBLE for creative work.
