Tonight I balanced a 27-pound bicycle on my chin for 6 minutes 1.70 seconds.

But that’s the not answer to why my neck hurts. My neck hurts because we have a shortage of trained engineers, scientists, and technology leaders and more critically we have a dearth of students who believe they can succeed in technically challenging fields. I want to change that by espousing the power of a growth mindset.

Tonight the Discovery Center of Idaho had their “30 Years of Discovery Science with Style Gala” and I gave a short talk on my journey through the Idaho public education system and it leading me to MIT and how having a growth mindset has put me on the verge of breaking my 40th Guinness World Record.

I donated a local inspirational educational talk and juggling show for the live auction and it ended up being so popular I was asked if I’d do another. I was happy to oblige and they raised $6,000 (thank you donors!)

I told my favorite Discovery Center story which is how I took my senior prom date there and we had a blast. I then recaptured the Guinness World Record for Longest Duration Balancing a Bicycle on My Chin. The first time I broke it a year and a half ago I balanced the bike for 2 minutes 36 seconds. It was the most I could do. It has since been broken twice and stood at 4:15. If you had asked me if I could balance it over 6 minutes after breaking it last time, I would have said no. A growth mindset is a very powerful thing.

 

 

Fun fact: Yesterday I ran a mile in 5:58 (bat balanced on a finger) and today I went 3 seconds longer with a bicycle balance of 6:01.

A big thanks to the Discovery Center for having me out and all the help from Ashton, Alissa, Kent, Cody, Adam, Penny, Michael, and Ralph! Thanks also to Ken’s Bicycle Warehouse for providing the perfect bike that was heavy enough to meet the Guinness requirements but not a half pound more.