One of my lifetime goals is to cultivate an unbreakable and everlasting growth mindset. This is on display in swimming pools. Especially with senior citizens. Watching an elderly person dive off the 10-meter platform into the pool (or just to try swimming for the first time) demonstrates a growth mindset by taking risks and learning new things. Here are three growth mindset tips from old people at swimming pools.
Take calculated risks
It’s with great admiration (and some nerves) that I watch these two 70-ish-year-old men fling themselves off the 10-meter platform head-first into the dive tank at Hillcrest pool. I’m not the only one who is impressed by their risk-taking, as many teenagers, inspired by their elders’ efforts, walk to the edge of the platform, but then turn back down the stairs because it isn’t ‘the right time.’ Lifehack’s Mandie Holgate argues that being good at calculated risks makes us better at handling failure, which cultivates a growth mindset:
No exceptional rise to success didn’t have set backs, no great inventions didn’t have failures (with many of those becoming inventions in their own right) knowing that mistakes are an opportunity to learn and good for the end results can ensure you take action even when the fear is raising its ugly head.
If there’s a possibility that you might fail while flipping off a diving board, just make sure that your body can handle a belly-flop!
Daily physical activity
Mental longevity – especially the ability to cultivate a growth mindset – is achieved in part by persistent physical activity. I bump into (or my kids do) a lot of first-time swimmers who are well into their 80s and clearly pushing their physical limits a little bit by walking against the current in the lazy river, treading water or kicking for a few meters with a pool noodle. “In order to let go of what we know and expect,” says Huffpost’s Cecilia Dintino. “We have to let ourselves imagine a way of being, a new role, or an untapped possibility in order to help it manifest.” When we open ourselves up to what might be then we’re more likely to grow in that direction, whatever age we are.
Embrace other perspectives
Having a fixed mindset probably means that you aren’t open to many new ideas or ways of doing things. While this might be the case for some of my elderly pool pals, most of them are clearly getting some inspiration, energy and ideas about pool rules from younger generations. I know this because of the delight I observe on their faces as they watch kids take their first solo-strokes. I also know there’s an interest to learn new things because I’ve taught a few older ladies how to make flotation devices by weaving together multiple pool noodles. My colleague, Colin Cuthbert, has explored ways that we can learn a lot from babies and their natural state of cognitive and physical growth.