#9: Confidence and How To Get It

In this week’s workshop, we’re going to dive deep into understanding the barriers and challenges that often hold us back from pursuing adventure, fitness, and life goals. We’ll be tackling the most common obstacles we face and how to break through them.

Through a combination of personal experiences and mindset strategies, we’ll explore how embracing adventure, especially in the outdoors, can serve as a powerful tool in handling life’s stresses, building resilience, and achieving personal growth. Key Focus Areas: The Importance of Resilience: In life, we often encounter challenges that can make us feel stuck or overwhelmed, whether it’s work stress, personal relationships, or internal battles. We’ll talk about how facing difficult situations in the mountains or on an adventure can teach us valuable lessons in mental strength and resilience.

The key takeaway here is that the journey isn’t always smooth, and that’s okay. Life doesn’t always go as planned, but that doesn’t mean we should give up. Embracing the idea of pushing through these struggles can help us grow stronger, mentally and emotionally. Breaking Down Mental Barriers: A huge part of this workshop will be focused on breaking down the mental barriers that hold us back from taking the first step in starting something new—whether that’s a fitness goal, an adventure, or facing a challenge head-on.

We’ll dive into how we can shift our mindset to overcome feelings of doubt and fear, and how doing something even if it’s imperfect still counts as progress. We’ll discuss the concept of "imperfect action" and how doing something small, even if it’s not perfect, can make a huge difference over time.

You’ll walk away with tools to identify and break down these mental walls and take steps toward your goals without waiting for the "perfect" moment. Stephen Hawking’s Quote on Resilience: One of the powerful quotes we’ll reflect on this week comes from Stephen Hawking: “However difficult life may seem, there is always something that you can do and succeed at.” This quote resonates deeply with the idea of not giving up, even when faced with incredibly tough circumstances.

We’ll break down this quote and talk about how it aligns with the idea that resilience isn’t about avoiding struggles but learning how to move through them with strength and purpose. Facing the "Storms" of Life: Using a concept from Inky Johnson, we’ll also talk about how life can be divided into three phases: entering a storm, being in the storm, and coming out of the storm. This powerful analogy helps us understand that everyone faces difficult times. It’s inevitable.

But the key lies in how we handle those storms. The workshop will dive into actionable strategies for managing life’s storms—whether it’s a personal crisis, work pressure, or a challenging adventure. We’ll explore how managing emotional responses and practicing resilience can help us not only survive but thrive during these turbulent moments.

The Emotional Response: One of the most important lessons we’ll cover in this session is the concept of emotional regulation. You’ll learn that while you can’t control everything that happens to you, you can control how you react to it. This is a key skill for resilience. We’ll explore how to manage emotional reactions, especially when things don’t go as planned, and how to pivot with intention and purpose.

We’ll explore practical steps for not allowing negative emotions like frustration, fear, or anger to dictate your actions. We’ll work on understanding the power of emotional responses and how to train ourselves to react in a way that supports our goals and well-being. Creating Consistent Action: Sometimes, the hardest part of embarking on an adventure or fitness journey is staying consistent.

Whether it's getting out for that first run, signing up for a challenge, or sticking to a training plan, we often face moments of self-doubt that can stop us before we even start. We’ll break down how to create consistent action by setting realistic goals, using accountability, and understanding that it’s okay if things don’t always go according to plan. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s progress.

We’ll discuss how to make consistent action part of your routine, and how to build momentum over time. Self-Belief and Confidence: The workshop will also focus on self-belief. We’ll explore why many people struggle with self-doubt and how this lack of confidence often leads to inaction. One of the core takeaways will be that confidence comes from doing. We’ll work on strategies to build self-belief through small, incremental wins. By taking manageable steps toward a goal and seeing results, you can start to build a "stack of undeniable proof" that you can do it.

We’ll also discuss how important it is to silence the negative voice in your head that tells you you're not good enough or capable enough. The "Chimp Paradox": You’ll also hear about the "Chimp Paradox," a concept by Professor Steve Peters that explains how our brain is made up of three parts: the computer, the human, and the chimp. The chimp is the emotional part of our brain that can sabotage us with irrational fears, procrastination, or negative self-talk.

The human side of our brain is more rational, calm, and goal-oriented. In this session, we’ll focus on learning how to tame the chimp—how to understand when it’s taking over and how to bring the human side of your brain back into control. We’ll talk about how to use your rational mind to manage the chimp and take purposeful action. Practical Steps to Build Confidence and Mental Resilience: Throughout this workshop, we will share practical tools and steps to improve your mental resilience, such as: Mindfulness techniques to stay grounded during stressful times. How to set small, achievable goals to build confidence over time.

The importance of self-reflection and journaling to track progress. How to embrace challenges, knowing that each one is an opportunity to grow. Taking the First Step: The ultimate focus of this workshop is to help you take that first step—whether it’s in your fitness journey, your next adventure, or a new life goal. We will talk about how to overcome analysis paralysis, the fear of failure, and perfectionism that can stop you from starting in the first place. We’ll also discuss how to give yourself grace when things don’t go perfectly and how to stay committed to the bigger picture.

The message is simple: don’t wait for everything to be perfect. Start now, even if you’re unsure. The adventure lies in the journey, not the destination. Closing Thought: By the end of this session, you will have a better understanding of how to face life’s storms, how to overcome mental barriers, and how to build a resilient mindset that can support you on your adventures.

We’ll explore how small, consistent actions lead to bigger accomplishments and how to push past doubt and fear to discover your full potential. Remember, life isn’t about avoiding the storms. It’s about learning to navigate through them and keeping your eyes on the path ahead. This workshop will give you the tools to do just that.