In the past couple of weeks and months, right around the time I hit 53, I’ve realized I need to make a couple of changes in my growth mindset.
In case you haven’t heard of it, a growth mindset is the firm belief that learning, effort, and persistence will create improvements in all areas of life.
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”
Carol Dweck
I still want to make progress. I still have goals. When and how I achieve those, however, could probably use a gentler timeline.
I’ve always thought of what I want to achieve in terms of a calendar year. For my physical goals, I’ve adopted the habit of being very strict with my diet for the first 100 days of the year. And I did that with success again this year.
After that first 100 days of losing weight (and most likely some muscle), I start to bulk up by lifting heavier weights and eating more. I do that until mid-autumn. And at the end of the year, I give myself a break to enjoy the holidays.
Being honest, though, that “break” I take is less a choice and more a necessity to recover from injuries and exhaustion. By the end of 2023, I had tennis elbow, a mysterious bicep strain, and near constant inflammation throughout my elbow joint.
These maladies improved a bit throughout my winter break from resistance training, but I wouldn’t call myself 100% healed, and I actually had more healing after I slowly started to do lighter resistance training.
About a month ago, I resumed heavier resistance training. My appetite skyrocketed, and I started consuming up to 3500 calories per day while never quite feeling satiated.
Then it hit me, what if I just progressed more slowly and tried to hit some goals for my gains by next summer. Or even 2 summer from now.
Immediately, I felt a weight had lifted from me, and not just that extra 10 pounds of iron I’d try to do to exhaustion during my sets. It *felt* right to go about it more slowly.
If I don’t get exhausted, I can maintain my efforts throughout the year. If I don’t get injured, I can just slowly get stronger and more fit. If I’m not hungry all the time, it’s just a nicer experience throughout each day.
And, of course, I need to track it and want to see how the charts “respond” to this change. So here’s the “blip”, right at the very end, in my usual upswing in weight.
I feel like I caught myself right before it was too late.
In 2022, (after recovering from a self-inflicted sickness/allergy), I went from 183 all the way back up to 200.
In 2023, I went from 187 to 197.
So far, in 2024, I went from 186 only to 187, and it’s falling again. I’m expecting to get below 197 even with some gains in lean mass.
When I take a step back, it does feel strange that I won’t be trying to maximize all the physical gains before I’m 54 or 55. That does officially sound old.
But I’m seeing a ton of people who have already made it to 55 and beyond in great shape. I’ll strive consistently and slowly instead of going all out with the greatest velocity.
Really, it’s all about how I feel, and I feel great overall. I’d just like to continue feeling great, avoid injuries and illness, and maintain and improve upon what I’ve already accomplished. That’s how I’ve redefined my own growth mindset.