Free soloing is a form of rock climbing in which those who ascend the mountain do so without the use of ropes and harnesses. They simply scale the mountain using their hands and feet. It goes without saying this is an extraordinarily dangerous form of adventure.
For free soloists, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park is the ultimate achievement. On June 3, 2017, Alex Honnold scaled this 3,000 feet of vertical granite. In my opinion, it is the greatest athletic accomplishment in human history.
For average people like myself, this would also appear to require a level of craziness! But Honnold recently gave the TED Talk shown below on how he reached a level of comfort and was able to manage and overcome his fear of falling.
7 Steps Honnold Took To Manage And Overcame His Fear
After listening to Honnold’s speech, we learn 7 steps Alex Honnold took to manage and overcome his fear of free solo climbing El Capitan:
Start By Getting Small Victories Under Your Built
To overcome fear, you must work your up to your goal with a series of smaller victories. Honnold starting climbing at 10 years old. For the next 20 years, he built up a level of comfort by working up to bigger and more challenging mountains like the Half Dome in Yosemite.
Don’t Rely On Luck Or Chance
Too many leaders with any level of experience can sometimes just “wing it.” They take shortcuts. But not Honnold. After climbing Half Dome, he wrote in his journal “Do better” because he knew he did not properly prepare. Honnold said, “I didn’t want to be a lucky climber. I wanted to be a great climber.” He added, “I knew I shouldn’t make a habit of relying on luck.”
Do The Physical Hard Work
Hard work works. There were “thousands of distinct hand and foot movements” needed to ascend El Capitan. Honnold had climbed El Cap approximately 50 times with a rope prior to his fee soloing effort.
Honnold also got his body right by doing a nightly stretching exercise for a full year before free soloing the mountain.
Do The Mental Hard Work
For seven consecutive years Honnold thought about climbing El Capitan. As a result, Honnold memorized the safe and repeatable sequences needed to scale the mountain. Everything had become automatic. Honnold said, “I knew every handhold and foothold on the entire route, and I knew exactly what to do.”
Conquer The Mundane
To climb El Capitan, Honnold did a number of challenging things both mentally and physically. But there were also practical things which needed to be done beforehand. For instance, he and a climbing partner used a backpack to remove loose rocks from the route up the mountain. This would make the climb safer.
Final Preparation Removes All Doubt
Honnold said, “Doubt is a precursor to fear.” It took two years to finish all of his preparations.
Climbing with a rope requires physical effort but free soloing plays with the mind. To overcome this, Honnold practiced visualization. Visualization is simply imagining the entire experience of soloing the wall.
Honnold considered every possibility while safely on the ground. As a result, Honnold said, “I had no doubts. I passed right through. Even the difficult and strenuous sections passed by with ease. I was perfectly executing my routine.”
Achieve Mastery
On that June morning, Honnold free soloed up El Capitan in 3 hours 56 minutes. It was an astonishing achievement.
Honnold did not want to be a lucky climber. He pursued greatness. In fact, he wanted more than greatness. He said, “I wanted to test myself against El Cap. It represented true mastery.”
And true mastery he achieved.
Conclusion
How do you overcome fear? Start small and get a series of wins under your belt. Don’t rely on luck or chance. Put in the hard work physically and mentally. Do the mundane work. Prepare properly to remove all doubt and then achieve mastery. Then fear will be overcome and you can start climbing your own proverbial mountain.
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