Wonder and Rigor
Helping individuals meet specific goals and reach their full potential happens at a deeper level than simply reps and sets, progressions, and micro-stressors. We know that training elicits biological responses to break down, repair, and recover. I look at the brain as I do the heart. Though differing wildly in function, both are still organs. Our brains need a balance of hard work (rigor) and autonomy (wonder) to recover and regenerate. The rigor is easy; most athletes will generate enough rigor to adapt. As a coach, the difficulty is the autonomy.
The majority of athletes are stuck in the rigorous mindset of training super hard and very minimal recovery. How do we create this mindset of balancing training outside of spreadsheets and apps?
“By engaging in conversation with athletes about the necessity of the second half of the equation, the wondering mindset, is essential in balancing those with a mindset consistently stuck in the pursuit of rigor.”
For our brain to function optimally, we need to navigate and satisfy all aspects of the mind. Learning how to navigate the wondering mindset during a training block or week is not easy. It takes a lot of discipline on the part of the athlete. The athlete must adjust training to fit his lifestyle. Accomplishing a feat as such is what aids the athlete in becoming increasingly stronger, faster, and durable, rather than weak, slow, and injured. Leaving them at higher risk of disease and death. I seek to maximize the brain by bringing it to peak, lingering to the breaking point and scaling back to induce adaptation, much like I would the heart.
When an athlete adjusts training demands to fit their lifestyle, that individual gives the brain time to wonder, avoiding over-stressing the nervous system and the function of the brain. This is a special moment. The athlete accepts, finally, the need for a balance of rigor and wonder. The wonder mindset is similar to a regeneration physical training session or a deload week, giving us a step back to take two forward. Options are abundant; maybe, you go camping with friends, or read a book, or write creatively, or simply contemplating the things which fuel your fire. This multi-faceted approach will benefit our brain function and increase our capacity for mental stress ever after.
Now, this approach isn't new. This idea was taken from the business world. Author Natalie Nixon wrote about the concept of wonder and rigor in her book called “The Creativity Leap.” Giving fortune 500 companies and other businesses that applied the wonder and rigor mindset into their occupations improved the individuals' consistency in balancing personal and professional demands.
I was introduced to this concept by my friend Michael last year.
One evening, late into the zero hundred hours on September 11th, 2020, I had come out of a brutal deep meditation, one which I am still processing. It replays over and over like one of my favorite Netflix shows. But never does it ask me if I am tired of watching.
Sitting upright next to Michael, I turn to him with an unpleasant smirk.
I simply ask, "Why are people so fucking happy?”He laughs, turns to the group of people enjoying the potluck of food. The room was slightly dark with splashes of light from the kitchen oven. The smell of bone broth was coming from the kitchen that his wife Erin made for the group.
"They choose to be," he says with a slight grin.
At that moment, he continues on and flows the conversation into the idea of wonder and rigor. He runs over this concept that he found. He says to me, “the mind needs to wonder."
He proceeds, "We live in a world that is unbalanced by too much rigor or wonder, not enough of the two mixed together."
He points out two types of individuals, one that is driven by rigor and the other that is driven by wander.
He says, "Too much rigor and not enough wonder you are met with resistance. Too much wander and not enough rigor there is no resistance."
I needed to hear this. It was something that I needed to understand more. Michael mentioned he found a video by Natiale Nixon on this idea. I wrote it down in my notepad laying next to me. Saving it for later to take a deep dive into this concept.
The past year has been a balance of chaos with rigor and wonder in all areas of my life. I haven't pushed this idea to many athletes. I am still fine-tuning implementation by creating conversation around wonder and rigor. Personally, I am finding an improvement in consistency and adherence with training. The ability to tolerate and manage stress, mentally and physically, is higher consistently. I am learning that to balance, navigate, and satisfy the mind. One must be willing to come in with open eyes and an open heart; Accepting this is the first step to recognizing that living is an act of hope.
