In this article I delve into the key mindset of winners: confidence. I look at whether confidence is in our nature or if something else drives this state of mind.
Hiking Solo: Confidence on the Presidential Traverse
Since hiking solo on the Presidential Traverse this past June, I’ve been contemplating the nature of confidence. It took me nineteen hours and two days and I endured a small concussion and took a wrong turn that could have ended poorly.
I approached the opportunity to hike solo on a mountain with notoriously bad weather with such fervor. My appetite for a challenge can be insatiable at times.
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the location of the Presidential Traverse, stories abound of hikers getting stranded, or even losing their life. Given I faced some adverse situations in the mountains this past June, I have to ask myself if it was confidence or stupidity behind my hike.
Hiking Training Plan: Training is Key!
With a robust hiking training plan, for the Presidential Traverse or any other mountain, I would say that my epic adventure in the White Mountains was a display of confidence. I had some unfortunate experiences – hitting my head on a boulder and going the wrong way, but these can happen in the mountains and I have to be prepared.
My love of mountains has driven me to take courses and learn how to travel safely. I am also smart with my training, making sure I have the right mix of strength and endurance. And I’ve spent years understanding how to fuel my performances with the right foods and hydration.
Here are what I think are some of the key components of confidence:
LEARNING AND PRACTICE
The Mindset of Winners: Practice, Practice, Practice!
Is the mindset of winners to practice often? And how often should you practice to gain confidence?
One theory by Malcolm Gladwell is that it takes ten thousand hours of efficient practice to become an expert at something. In his book, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” he presents this theory. While it is controversial, his main argument is that we don’t have to be born with a natural talent to succeed. It comes down to skilled practice. Ten thousand hours of skilled practice on average.
“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good”
Malcolm Gladwell
As a side note, Gladwell also details another key that is integral to becoming successful (or for the purposes of this article, confident). This key is opportunity. While opportunity is more applicable to the path to success, consider this example of building confidence in the mountains:
Jimmy begins hiking with his dad when he is eight years old. They are lucky that they live in a mountainous town and have access to great hikes every weekend. From eight to twelve Jimmy and his dad do two to four-hour hikes several times a month. In his early teens, they begin to do more four or five-hour hikes. In Jimmy's teens, he begins to venture out with his friends and take on more challenging summits. They scramble up rocks and run down the mountains. After university Jimmy decides to spend a gap year traveling. He explores different terrain in different countries. By the time Jimmy returns home to his mountainous town, he's more confident and yearns for bigger expeditions. With a friend who has also kept up hiking, they set out on a multi-day trek with several peaks. By now, Jimmy is quite confident of his skills in the mountains and sets his sites on a big expedition. He's decided to climb Aconcagua in Argentina at nearly 7,000 m (21,000 feet).
While I’m very jealous of Jimmy, this is a fictitious example of how someone builds confidence in the mountains. You put in practice over time. Having the opportunity to hike often, and experience different terrain would lend itself to taking on bigger and more challenging mountain ascents.
The Mindset of Winners: Does “Fake it Till You Make it” Apply?
In my opinion, the mindset of winners does not believe in “faking it until you make it.” Here’s the problem with this philosophy:
- Does the person enjoy what they’re pursuing?
- Does the person have the skills to do the task?
- Is the person doing the task actively learning to improve upon the task?
In the mountains or any time we face Mother Nature in our adventures, there is little room for error. We absolutely must have the skill and practice to overcome potentially dangerous situations. We are never a match for Mother Nature. I saw this while working for a mountain guiding company and, these stories come up over and over again in the mountains:
- The weather turns all of a sudden without warning and a descent becomes dangerous
- Someone is not prepared with their clothing during a hike when a storm hits
- A hiker becomes lost in the mountains and decides the best route is to leave the trail
- A rock dislodges from above, without warning and takes a hiker out, leaving them stranded
Flow in Sports: The Connection with Enjoyment
My articles on the concept of flow in sports appeared in iRUN magazine in 2022. “Flow” is a state of mind where time appears to stand still and activities seem effortless. The researcher who coined the term, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi states that flow can occur when the skills required for a task are balanced with the challenge of the activity.
Have you ever been mindlessly hiking up a steep mountain, enjoying the challenge of moving swiftly and efficiently over boulders?
Or descending a rock path and picking your lines so that you move seemingly with ease down the mountain?
Flow doesn’t have to be a complex experience. It can be as simple as feeling proud of your accomplishments after completing a task you deemed challenging.
I think that “enjoyment” of the task at hand is integral to achieving flow. And a challenge regarded as daunting will never be enjoyable. Skills can be learned to make it enjoyable, but flow will never be achieved if a task is perceived as beyond one’s skill level.
Read more in my article about enjoyment and flow
Obstacles in Achieving Goals: Derailing Our Confidence
Recognizing that there will always be obstacles in achieving goals is the key to maintaining our confidence.
The path to achieving a goal, for me the most recent being completing the Presidential Traverse is not linear. I planned to do the nearly 23 km hike across seven peaks in one day. I hit my head on a boulder after slipping just after the second hour of my hike. My agility and speed were fine for the first peak, which I was just about to summit after I hit my head. The next four peaks were slow and I was slipping and sliding all over the place (probably having balance issues from hitting my head).
It was upsetting. Only the year before I was doing speed ascents up Mt. Washington and a month later, Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks.
Don’t let your ego get in the way of your success.
Tony Horton
It’s true, my ego was bruised. I was not the superstar I was the year before. I’ve never fallen in the mountains and I’ve spent a lifetime hiking, rock climbing, white water paddling, repelling, running 100 milers and, more!
I had a major obstacle in my way and it could have prevented me from completing my goal. But I did not let it. I knew that the mountains are more powerful than me, or anyone, and that I had to continue and accept the slow time. I went to the White Mountains to finish the Presidential Traverse. I did not go to do the Presidential Traverse in record time for a fifty-five-year-old.
The Mindset of Winners: Mental Preparation
On the second day of the Presidential Traverse I faced even more, bigger obstacles to achieving my goals, but this time I was more prepared mentally. I took a wrong turn near the end and ended up heading back into the eye of the storm on the mountains.
I did finish the Traverse. In one respect, I had no choice but to come down the mountain eventually. But here’s what’s important about confidence:
I did not let my harrowing experiences in the mountains derail my confidence.
While it took me several days to process everything that happened, I am ready to head back out on my next mountain adventure! Here’s what is key:
I have a lifetime of practice and learned skills in mountain travel.
I have confidence in my ability to travel in the mountains. I am also aware that there will ALWAYS be obstacles to overcome on this or any adventure. I am prepared mentally to face adversity on adventures. And equally as important:
I am beyond passionate about mountain travel.
Read more on Obstacles in Achieving Goals
The Mindset of Winners: Summary of Confidence
Confidence is a key mindset of winners and here is how it can be achieved and maintained:
- Learn everything you can about an activity – take courses, workshops, read
- Practice as much as you can
- Prepare yourself mentally to face obstacles in achieving your goals
- Make sure you truly enjoy the activity you are investing so much time into