There have been a remarkable amount of shifts in my climbing since I hit the 10-year-mark. In the past, I felt that I was entirely focused on the idea of ‘proving’ myself to my peers. This in itself is a stressful, and nearly unachievable thing – because this idea of proving yourself to others, is really proving your worth to yourself. If you are already in that position, chances are you will never be good enough for your own standards.
I’ve not often walked away from projects in my climbing career. Obsessed with the determination to finish hard routes and boulders, I would never give up. Many times this persistence rewarded me, but as I continued to grow in my climbing, a long term project also had the power to destroy me.
Learning to walk away from your projects might be the smartest thing you can do for your climbing.
This obsession of yearning for only the ‘reward’ out of climbing led to waves of low confidence and lulls in motivation. If the worth of a climb is simply in the end product, there are hours of time spent that may amount to feelings of worthlessness and time badly spent. Do you ever feel worthless after a tired session or a day with poor weather? You might question – well if I don’t keep going back, I will never send anything. But this is just a fallacy we tell ourselves. Leaning away from this reward-based mindset, won’t lead to failure, but rather to bigger and better things.
As soon as you learn to lean into the JOY of climbing, and not the reward, you will find yourself at the top of climbs you never imagined.
As soon as you try a climb full of CURIOSITY instead of fear that you might fail, you will discover your true potential.
Many of us get caught up in trying to achieve a certain grade or project. Those of you who know me, know that grades are important to me. I personally think that setting goals and working towards them is healthy, but we have to also remind ourselves that there is a balance. If we wrap up our joy into a single send, then we might find at the end of it all, we aren’t even happy to send. We have to remember that climbing is about seeking joy, companionship, the outdoors and having an athletic pursuit. Nowhere in that list do we find, how many sends we have.
Finding the balance between growth, goals and joy is the recipe for climbing success.
If we are still learning and growing while reaching towards our goals, then projecting might be the answer for us. But if we are slowly losing confidence and doubting ourselves, we may need to learn to walk away.
As with many things in life, walking away can seem scary and like the wrong decision. But what about all the time I have already invested, you may ask? This is a fear-based question. When we walk away from a project that might be destroying us, we open the door to new opportunities.
I have sent a hard climb in 3 goes and the same grade in 17 goes. I’m not saying just give up, I’m saying give yourself the option to walk away and make a conscious decision, remembering to prioritize JOY! Once you realize walking away might bring you the opportunity you’ve been searching for, you might find yourself achieving your goals faster than you imagined.
Want to explore this more? Book a free Coaching Consult with me.
alicehafer 