Scenario: Two athletes arrive at the gym and rush over to view the workout of the day. Athlete 1 notices that the metcon includes large sets of double-unders. They recently began working on the movement and can string together about 5 unbroken reps. They think to themselves “I can’t do that many DU’s, this is going to take me FOREVER!”. Athlete 2 has also just started stringing together double-under reps and can do roughly the same amount as Athlete 1. Athlete 2 immediately thinks “That’s a challenging amount of reps, but this is a great opportunity to work on the movement!”.
The key difference between both of these athletes is their mindset! Athlete 1 is demonstrating what is called a “Fixed Mindset”. Rather than viewing the metcon as an opportunity to practice and gain greater proficiency, they feel threatened and are resistant to the challenge. Athlete 2, however, is willing to take action and recognizes the situation as a chance to 
gain confidence. They want to be challenged and recognize that they are in control of their success. This is called the “Growth Mindset”.
When confronted with a problem or unfavorable scenario, both in and out of the gym, try to tackle it head on and with a “growth mindset”! Entering a situation with immature or “fixed” thoughts, such as “I’m not good at this…” or “why do I have to do this, it’s too hard…”, will leave you feeling helpless and will likely yield a negative outcome. Remember that YOU are in control of how you behave and approach an activity. Recognize your personal power and take charge!