What if you’re wrong? Rewriting the stories we tell ourselves.

What if you’re wrong?

Shannon’s December update

If you read my last email, you know about the goal I set for myself on February 6th: to hike and descend Grandeur Peak as many times as possible in 6 hours… at night. Each lap covers 6.4 miles and 2,500 vertical feet.

My goal is to do 3 laps. As I’ve been training, I came to the realization that the only way I can do that many laps is if I run some portion. And the natural thing to run is down. So I decided that I needed to start training it, but I’ve always had this little voice inside my head that says,

“You’re not a runner. You hate running, and you’ve had too many knee surgeries to run.”

And I’ve believed it. That story has defined me for decades. DECADES!

But this little goal of mine has started chipping away at that story. I’ve been hiking up to the top of smaller mountains and forcing myself to jog down. And guess what? That story crept back in: I hated it, and my knees hurt. The next day? Same story. And the next two weeks? Same thing—I hated it, and my knees hurt.

But one day, instead of jogging, I actually started picking up the pace. And the next day, my knees hurt a little less. A few days later, they hurt even less. Slowly, the pain faded—and so did my complete hatred for running.

Yesterday, I found myself excited to see how fast I could hike up and run down. And when I got home (pain-free), it hit me:

The stories we tell ourselves might have some truth to them. But it’s our choice whether we listen to them. We can choose to make excuses. We can say no, quit, or keep putting things off. OR we can challenge that story.

We can rewrite it. The story isn’t set in stone.

Last night, I sat down and wrote out all the things I believe to be true in my life. Some were silly, some were deep, some I’ve believed my whole life, and others just slowly became my reality. Once I got them on paper, I asked myself:

What if I’m wrong?

What if I’ve been wrong this whole time? What could my life look like? What could my happiness look like? What dreams could I make happen?

It felt like peeling off a layer of onion skin—raw and real. I realized just how much I’ve let my own stories define me and my life.

So next time you choose not to do something because of a story you’ve told yourself, come back to those questions.

The answer might surprise you.

I have just under 2 months of training left before my race, and you can bet I’m upping my running game. I’ll push myself to go faster and farther than ever before. Maybe, after all these years—and at the ripe old age of 44—I might just be a runner.

The new year is coming up quickly, and my calendar is filling up. If you’d like me to inspire your team in 2025 to outperform their potential, please get in touch. I’ve got keynote presentations, workshops, ski days, and team-building sessions ready for you and your team! Let’s get started and conquer new things together in 2025!

Happy holidays to you and your families. Get outside, have fun, and don’t stress about making everything perfect. Breathe, enjoy, and celebrate!