A growth mindset is grounded in the idea that our abilities aren’t fixed. We can learn, adapt and grow through effort and experience. Experimentation is part of that process: try something, pay attention to what happens, learn from it and adjust.

But that doesn’t mean everything we try works. And it certainly doesn’t mean we have to pretend we’re happy when something doesn’t go the way we’d hoped.

Recently, I pursued an opportunity and it didn’t work out. I was disappointed, and I gave myself some space to feel that way and headed out for a walk with my dog.

While I was walking, a fellow coach asked me a question that shifted my thinking: What was it about the opportunity that appealed to you in the first place?

So when I got home, I started writing those things down.

I realized that much of what excited me wasn’t tied to one particular opportunity. I was energized by the chance to build something, develop new capabilities, draw on different parts of my experience and skills, and apply them to work I deeply care about: advancing women’s health and performance.

Not getting the outcome I’d hoped for didn’t take those things away. Instead, the experience helped me better understand what energizes me, what I want more of and what I might intentionally pursue next.

And that got me thinking about growth mindset a little differently. Sometimes reflection isn’t only about figuring out what went wrong. It can also help us understand what worked, what mattered, and what we want to do with what we’ve learned.

A Change in Season Is a Good Time to Reflect

That experience reminded me how useful it can be to reflect before immediately focusing on what comes next. And the transition from summer into fall creates a natural opportunity to do just that.

For some women, fall means another race or event on the calendar. For others, a competitive season may be wrapping up and an off-season is approaching. And for many, changing work, school and family schedules simply mean life looks different than it did a few months ago.

It can be tempting to immediately focus on a new goal, a new training plan, a new schedule or routine or something you think you need to “get back to.”

But what if you got curious first?

Maybe something worked particularly well this summer and you want more of it. Maybe your training went according to plan, but fueling or recovery didn’t. Maybe something you tried simply didn’t work. Or maybe life took a turn and your original plans stopped making sense.

None of that needs to become a verdict on how well you did. It’s information you can learn from.

Looking back can help you notice what supported you, what got in the way, what mattered and what you learned along the way. Then you can decide what deserves your attention next.

That’s what getting curious can help with. It’s not about finding a positive spin for every outcome. It’s about staying curious enough to learn from what happened and being willing to adjust based on what you learn.

You don’t need to reinvent everything because the season is changing. Sometimes figuring out what’s next starts with understanding where you’ve been.

To help you do that, I’ve updated a resource I originally created at the end of last year.

Reflect. Refocus. Move Forward. is a free, downloadable worksheet to help you reflect on what’s been supporting your health and performance, identify what matters now, and choose an action to experiment with next.

And if your reflection helps you identify something you’d like to work on, but you’re not quite sure how to turn that insight into action, that’s where coaching with Nutrify can help. Together, we can explore what matters to you, identify an approach that fits your goals and your life, and use what you learn along the way to adjust as needed.