Positive Self Talk For Mountaineers

In this podcast, we explore a simple (but incredibly powerful) mindset strategy to help a mountaineer in their training and while on the mountain.

Mindset Strategy For Mountaineers 

​Chapters:
0:14 
Introduction to Mindset
2:00 
The Impact of Self-Talk
4:04 
Strategies for Positive Self-Talk
6:52 
Crafting Personal Affirmations
8:43 
Reminder Systems for Affirmations
9:20 
Conclusion and Call to Action

Episode Transcript:

[0:00] All right. Hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So today we are talking about mindset and a very specific mindset strategy you can use as a mountaineer to

[0:10] help you with your training and your actual mountaineering. Now, specifically what we are talking about is a positive self-talk, which if you haven't heard about it before, this is one of the most simple things on the mindset side of things, you can apply, which doesn't take much effort, but it can have some pretty good results. Now, what self-talk is, is essentially the internal narrative we have about ourselves and what we're actually talking about and thinking about internally about ourselves. And it can actually have a really big impact on how you perform with your training and mountaineering. Because many of us, especially if we are dealing with a bit of low energy, if we're doing something tough, whether it's training or whether we're out on the trail, on the mountain, whatever it may be, many of us fall into the trap of negative self-talk. We are always our own worst critics. We are always our own worst enemies when it comes down to this. And many of us fall into these things internally in our head. We'll get into a tough situation and be like, oh, I'm just not fit enough for this. Or, you know what? I'm just tired today. Or I'm just too slow or I'm just not strong enough to carry this pack or I'm too old to be doing this or anything like that.

[1:27] Now, for some, this will really only happen when we start to get a bit fatigued and we get a bit tired or when things are getting tough, we hit a particularly tough section of a trail or we're three quarters away through a hard session or something like that. For others, this can be an almost constant narrative that we have in our heads and it goes from just being situational to almost regular. And it's really, really, really common. And while being negative to ourselves can just be bad enough, like we don't want to be negative to ourselves, we should be our own champion, our own ally, whatever it may be.

[2:01] Beyond that, it does get a little bit worse because this negative self-talk can directly affect our physical performance. That may sound a little bit woo-woo-wah-wah, but I'll tell you what, it can directly affect our physical performance. Now, if you're a little bit skeptical about that statement, here's a simple test. And I get a lot of my clients, hikers, mountaineers to do this. I've talked about it online quite a bit. it's a really really simple thing you can do which can be very very very uh almost alarming when it comes down to this it's just like how much it can impact you what i want you to do, and go go out and find nice long set of stairs a nice long hill something steep something relatively challenging what i want you to do is go climb up that hill or that stairs or whatever may be you can just walk up it you can run on it up it whatever may be and as you're going up in your head, you just want to repeat to yourself the phrase, I am a heavy, slow slug. As you're going up, just keep on saying it. I'm a heavy, slow slug. I'm a heavy, slow slug. I'm a heavy, slow slug. And just keep on saying that as you go through. Get to the top.

[3:14] You will notice that that's not much fun. You will notice your legs feel a bit heavy. You will notice it just was half. Once you've done that one time, go to the bottom. Have a little bit of rest if you need. Climb up again. This time in your head, repeat the phrase, I am strong, I am fit, I am light. I am strong, I am fit, I am light. Keep on saying that. You will notice it is night and day around the difference of those climbs, of how you feel, how easy it goes, maybe how quick you go, or whatever it may be. It is such a dramatic difference.

[3:56] It just shows how powerful this self-talk can be, both on the negative side of things, how it can pull us back, and also on the positive side of things, how it can actually boost us.

[4:05] The same thing can be applied in so many situations in your training and also in your mountaineering. Ultimately, you want to minimize this negative self-talk as much as you can, and you want to maximize positive self-talk as much as you can. Now, a few ways you can look at this and go around it. Number one, if you do have a tendency to be negative, this turns into a habit. We do it, it's bad enough. We do it a little bit more, it gets worse. We do it more and more and more, and all of a sudden, it's just our natural state of mind. And it can turn into a habit, which can be really, really, really hard to break. So you do have to put a bit of intention around this. Essentially, a good way of going about this is pay attention to your internal narrative. Check in every once in a while what you're actually thinking. And whenever you catch yourself going negative, take a second, acknowledge it, and then reframe it in a positive way. In your head, you can say this out loud, but some people might look at you funny, but you can say it in the head, in a positive way.

[5:08] So, for example, if you're climbing up a hill or if you're doing a session and you're like, in your head, you're like, oh, I'm so tired. I'm so tired. I'm so tired. If you catch yourself saying that, acknowledge it. And then in your head, say, I love pushing my body like this.

[5:26] I'm tired, but I love it. I love pushing myself. And keep on saying that again and again and again and again. Or if you're like, hey, my legs are weak, turn that into my legs can handle this. Or if I just don't have the energy today, turns into this is going to really help my energy today. Whatever you've negatively said, turn it into something positive and just repeat that again and again and again in your head. Super, super, super simple, but very powerful. foot.

[5:59] Another thing you can do in a similar vein is essentially come up with a positive affirmation, something that's meaningful and powerful for you and have it handy and just use this thing, when you struggle in tough sections or if there's something negative going on. So positive affirmation is just a simple positive statement that you can say, something that's meaningful for you. So for example, me in certain situations, I've had one where I've said, my legs are strong. I'm strong. I've got this. Or in other contexts, I've had one which I've used like, you're powerful, you're relentless, you're unstoppable. And you can just repeat this internally. For me, all of those words personally mean quite a bit to me. It's not just a word, powerful, but it has layers of context for me. And I know if I'm getting a tough situation, if I'm starting to get negative,

[6:48] if I'm starting to get tired, if I just repeat that again and again and again, it gives me a boost. It breaks that negativity. It gives me that positive boost. So for you, coming up with one of these and something you can keep in your back pocket is really, really, really useful.

[7:06] Whatever you come up with, it may take a few iterations. It may change over time, but that's fine. The more personal you can make this, the more meaning you can attach to these words, the better. Write it down. And then don't just write it down, but say it. Say it when you need it. If you're in the middle of nowhere, say it out loud. Repeat it while you're hiking up a hill. Say those words. Or if not, if there's people around you, say it internally. Go again and again and again and again, rely on it, use it as an anchor to get you through. It sounds a bit silly, but I'll tell you what, it's so powerful. Now, final things that you can kind of just help with this type of stuff.

[7:44] Coming up with this, it's all well and good. More often not, especially if we're first applying this, it can be very, very easy to forget to use it. So having some type of reminder system can be really, really, really useful. Where it's just in your face a little bits and it reminds you, gives you a prompt to use it. So for example, I've had people in the past who, with the positive affirmations, they've kind of made notes to themselves. So they've written the note and put it in their pocket with their affirmation. So each time they put their hands in their pocket, they feel the note. They may not see it, but it reminds them to use it. Or I've had people on their trekking poles, like some of my hikers, they've literally sticky taped or taped a note to their trekking pole with it. So when they actually look at the handle. They're like, oh, cool. It's there. I've seen people who have used bracelets and they've gone custom bracelets made with either their affirmation or at least the initials of the affirmation.

[8:40] So it keeps the top of mind or whatever. There's a bunch of different ways you can go about this. But just think, is there some type of reminder system that will just give you that little bump to use it when you feel like you're using it? It may require a little bit of organization, but it can be quite handy.

[8:56] So with that being said, that's probably all I've got to say today. For some people, you may be listening to this and be like, ah, that is a little bit woo-woo-wah-wah, that's a bit out there. But I'll tell you what, of all the mindset stuff that I advocate for, that I've looked into, I really do think this is one of the most simple things a mountaineer can do, but it can just have a really, really immediate effect. It doesn't take much thought, it doesn't take much effort, but it can be very, very, very powerful.

[9:20] So if you ever feel like you're getting negative, if you feel like you hold yourself back mentally a little bit, maybe give this a go. Now, last thing I will sort of say on this, as I always do, is if you're a mountaineer, you're training for a big adventure, and you feel like you need a bit of extra help, and you're interested in what a personalized and specialized approach will look towards your preparations as you're training, I would love to chat with you. If you want to find out a little bit more about our online personal training for mountaineers, you can go to summitstrength.com.au slash mountaineer. And I'll leave a link for that in the show notes below. On there, you can check out what we do. And if it sounds like something you want to learn a bit more about, you can book a free call with that team on that page. We can have a bit of a chat. So you can go to summitstrength.com.au slash mountaineer. So with that being said, thank you for listening. I'm going to wrap things up there. Hope you have a lovely day and we'll talk to you very, very soon. Bye.

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