We love to see our participants trying new things or conquering something they doubted they could do because without fail, they see how determined, strong, and truly capable of anything they are when they set their minds to it. It is for these reasons we love what we do!
How often do we doubt our abilities and ourselves? It's not uncommon for people to struggle with self-doubt and if we are honest with ourselves, more people would admit that they continually struggle with this on a daily basis. Here at the Northern Lakes Impact Center, we often see our participants worrying about whether or not they will be able to climb the tower, make it up the ladder and through the high ropes course, or even just trying something new. We see these fears and self-doubting mindsets pour over into a negative self-talk pattern of "I am not good enough or I don't want to fail in front of my peers."
However, we believe that people are wildly more capable than they give themselves credit for and that experiential education can help us tap into that capability. Experiential education models often talk about how we have a safe zone and a stretch zone and that we will never grow in life if we always stay in our safe zones. We have to venture into the stretch zone through challenges that push us to new heights and to grow inter- and intra- personally. That's why here at the Northern Lakes Impact Center we are all about challenges and encouragement, pushing our participants to take just one step more than they think they can go. It is in this space that we see our participants overcome obstacles and show themselves that they are capable of more than they thought they were.