
WELCOME TO THE MOUNTAIN MIND
The 21-Day Challenge
Created to meet the needs of busy CEOs and entrepreneurs at Vistage USA and TEC Canada, the 21-Day challenge serves as an introduction to
1) how the mind works under stress.
2)practices that can keep the mind relaxed, creative, and intelligent, no matter what the circumstances.
In short, the 21-Day Challenge is about improving
self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and grit.
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Introducing
The 21-Day Challenge Journal
If you don't set the tone of your day, who will?
A gift to each challenge member, this spiral-bound journal commits participants to their goals and records their progress.
The twice-daily journal prompts introduce journaling, a practice many highly successful entrepreneurs, scientists, and other creatives have kept over the centuries to keep their ideas focused and organized.


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Browse Sample Pages
During times of stress, leaders are asked to show up with a level of emotional
intelligence greater than ever required in the past. Everyone wants them to
be problem solvers, to think creatively and with compassion and equanimity,
and to be the beacon that will guide their companies through difficulties.
Yet leaders are not immune to the stressors we all face.
Many of our leaders find themselves increasingly stressed, even burned out.
The 21-day challenge was created in order to improve emotional intelligence
in short order.
The challenge's first component is understanding how the mind, aka the
operating system of our lives, works. The health of our minds is the most
significant determinant of our intelligence, effectiveness, and happiness;
yet we know little about how it works.
Filling in this knowledge gap greatly improves self-awareness and
personal power.
Secondly, it delivers short practices that when brought into daily life shift the mind from a place of anxiety and fear to one that is focused, creative, and even joyful. These scientifically validated practices take less than 10 minutes a day.
The Power of Peer accountability
The challenge capitalizes on the desire for accountability within the group. Members share their daily progress with their accountability partners. This not only ensures their success with the program but builds their friendship and sense of connection to the group.
Value to Members
Members report that a few days into the challenge their focus improves, they make better decisions and they feel less stressed. They also report an improved team spirit within the group and a deeper sense of connection to their peers.
The Stressed Mind Follows a Predictable Pattern
Faced with an uncertain future, we generate multiple worse-case scenarios and then attempt to troubleshoot each outcome.
We end up thinking like lizards: with tunnel-vision focus on our thoughts, exaggerating danger levels, seeing others as threats, and searching for quick fixes. We get hooked into stressful thought patterns.
This response may be helpful when facing a hungry predator but is ill-suited to our modern-day challenges.
To move beyond this stress-induced dilemma, we need to shift our neurochemistry to take us out of the spiral of negative thinking.
The practices of the 21-day challenge boost our neurochemistry. Each exercise causes a “hit” of beneficial hormones that shift our mindset from self-absorption to generosity, scarcity to abundance, and from fear to love. This mindset shift allows us to be the best version of ourselves and to delight in the journey of life.
After a short introduction to how the mind generates thoughts, 4-5 practices are introduced, including meditation, breathing exercises, and gratitude practices. Members then commit to practicing one of these days using another member of the group as an accountability partner.
TESTIMONIALS
Insightful, and engaging. A breeze of fresh air! Highly appreciated by all of the members!
MARTIN DENARI, HOUSTON
Very relevant to tools needed for daily effectiveness; great speaker.
I very much enjoyed the information and presentation style.
LAUREN DOUGLAS, GAINESVILLE
Excellent engaging speaker - good balance of the neuroscience and engaging the group doing the "practices" to reduce stress.
The monkey mind and the mountain mind resonated well.
All my members have made a commitment to the 21-Day Challenge.
It was clear to see the impact these practices can have on a personal and professional level!
SHARON STEIN, MINNEAPOLIS
Great presentation, and engaged the group totally.
This was an amazing presentation. Very thought-provoking. Personally, the topic and content were spot on and really helped me with my personal development.
BILL HAMMONDS, SAN FRANCISCO