What to Read When Reading is All You Can Do Because You're Sick or Injured and Have To Stay On the Couch (The WORST)

This was my car when I moved this summer.
The problem is real people.

I'm probably one of the biggest book nerds you'll meet. I mean come on, in my free time from skiing I work at a bookstore in Ketchum (Iconoclast, absolutely fantastic place).  I have shelves and shelves and SHELVES of books in my house, I'm known to bring 5-6 with me on any given ski trip, I love recommending books to people, I devour multiple books at once, I update my GoodReads profile more than my Facebook profile, I book hunt in every town we travel to, and also if anyone wants to start a traveling ski book club I'd be totally in.

So basically when I'm injured and out of the ski game, its pretty easy to say I do a lot of reading. This whole intercostal-rib-strain thing (slight bump in the road, lolz) has really let me take some time and gain some perspective, but not without a few incredible books to help along the way. And I feel like it's only fair if I share them with you, in good old-fashion book nerdy way. Then we can have book club about them, duh.

Numero Uno! Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Some of you might recognize Carol's name through her work with the U.S. Ski Teams in sports psychology. We studied this book in college and I always go back to it mid-season as a refresher. Dweck has developed the theory of the two mindsets: a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.   In the growth mindset, if we firmly believe that our hard work can create results, we have a better chance of fighting through setbacks, improving, and reaching our goals, no matter whether we have "innate" talent or not. When we get bogged down in the fixed mindset (the idea that what we're born with is what we have forever), we are less motivated to try and more likely to ignore useful feedback given to us by coaches and teammates. The growth mindset fosters a love of learning and the acknowledgement that the road might always not be easy, but hard work pays off. This book is a great read with excellent studies and examples, applying the mindsets to all aspects of life.

Numero Dos! The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph by Ryan Holiday

This book was recommended to me by fellow skier Annie Hart (Thanks Annie!) and I loved it. Holiday does an awesome job at finding characters that demonstrate the philosophical principles of stoicism, Marcus Aurelius's theory of enduring. Holiday lays out three steps to turning an obstacle around to overcome itself: perception, action, and will. What makes an obstacle "an obstacle" is our negative perception of it. When we act to control what we can control, we treat the obstacle as an opportunity to improve. We use our will to persevere in hard times, and this turns our adversity into an advantage. This book is great for whenever you feel stuck in a rut and aren't sure how to turn things around. The examples he uses range from Ulysses Grant to Amelia Earhart, and help to apply the theory to sport as well as business and life in general. 

Numero Tres! Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better by Pema Chodron

This was originally a commencement speech given by Pema but has been turned into an great little book and interview. A quick read, this book teaches us that when we fail, if we spend time absorbing and accepting and experiencing the feelings we associate with failing, the next time we make a mistake or something goes wrong, we won't feel quite as estranged and it will be easier to move on, accept, and learn from it. Pema stresses that our failures should not be treated as extensions of ourselves, rather as mistakes that happen along the way. This book is particularly great for skiers because we tend to take our failures very personally. After putting in hundreds of hours each year, it's hard not to let disappoint slam you into the ground. By being curious about our gut feelings that come with failure, we learn to externalize the mistakes and keep pushing.

Well, that's all for now folks. Go read these three books and let me know what you think. As for a health update, my ribs are still sore. Turns out I did quite a number to them. But I've been spinning on the bike (which allows for even more reading, pros and cons, people) and am going to try to ski tomorrow and see how it goes. The rest of the season is up in the air right now, which can be the worst feeling ever, but I think what happened has allowed me to figure a lot of things out. Hopefully I'll be able to get back out there sooner rather than later. 

Ski fast, work hard, stay positive, and absorb those feelings.