Push Back

Sitting in an SBI (read more about Standards Based Instruction here) with our district’s high school math department a few weeks ago, one of the teachers shared an incredibly insightful barrier she encounters with her student. A student explained to her on day 1 that he wasn’t any good at math, his parents weren’t good at math either, it just ran in his family. She responded with, “Wow, I didn’t realize math skills were hereditary!” To which we all agree, even this student that math skill is not in fact genetic, it is learned. But we all have similar narratives: “I could never…”, “I’m not good at…”, “I'm not ready…”, “That kind of opportunity is for someone else…”, all voices in some subtle story we tell ourselves that quietly limits us. These stories sound rational, and even protective, but they’re sneaky, and if we’re not careful they often become the thing that’s keeping us exactly where we are.

I’m no expert, but a background in adventure and being mediocre at a lot of things has given me some perspective. Because of an internal proclivity to “dabble,” I’ve got a lot of “hobbies,” none of which I can claim any actual expertise. What I have learned however, is that nobody is born a 100 mile winner, or WSL surfer, no one is born “good at math,” or physics, or even public speaking. Sure, plenty of folks are born with genetic predispositions that make it easier for them to run faster than most, or are born into families where exploring concepts in physical sciences are ubiquitous, but rarely are those “naturally gifted” people the ones who are ultimately and holistically successful. Successful people, the people we look at and say, “I wish I was could be more like them,” are quietly putting in the work, and pushing back against the voices that tell them, “this kind of opportunity is for someone else.”

It doesn’t just happen though, it is a quiet and intentional practice of doing the next thing. But you can’t do the next thing, if you don’t know what the first thing is. First, you have to get curious, and identify what it is that is holding you back. What’s the thing that whispers “no” when you start moving toward something that matters?

Storm Castle- Custer Gallatin National Forest

As with most things in life, I use distance running as a metaphor for figuring this stuff out. Can I run faster than a 4 hour marathon (impressive I know)? I’m not actually sure, but it’s a question I’ve had for a nearly 8 years. So what’s holding me back? Speed work and lots of time at marathon pace. I hate speedwork, with track workouts that make you feel like barfing, and intervals long enough that it feels like holding your finger to a hot stove and leaving it there. It’s fear of what will happen if I leave my finger on the stove too long.

And now we can push back! We push back with evidence; small consistent choices that prove the story wrong. Every time we challenge our inner resistance- by showing up even though, by having that conversation, or by hitting the track- we take back a little ground. And overtime that builds momentum (p=mv if you’re interested). What’s holding us back isn’t the obstacle itself, any engineer will tell you that with enough leverage an obstacle can be moved. No, what’s holding us back is the belief that the obstacle has more power than we do.

This year I am focused on reframing that fear into curiosity. What will happen? I don’t know, maybe I get burned, but maybe I run fast!