The key to being successful at literally anything is consistency. Ask anybody who is a master at what they do: consistency is key. You have to show up on the good days, the bad days, and the ugly days. You have to show up when you’re hungover, tired, and unmotivated. You have to show up even when you don’t want to.
But wait, isn’t climbing supposed to be fun?
Yes. Of course it is. But if you’re here reading this, I’m guessing that you want to get better. And that being better sounds like fun to you. So be prepared for some type two fun along the way…
Not every moment is going to be fun
That’s just a fact. Becoming good at something takes dedication. Think about learning an instrument: it’s common to practice for 30 minutes every day. Now, the people who do that don’t necessarily want to play their instrument for 30 minutes every day. Some days they do, some days they don’t. Some days, all they want to do is hide under the covers and watch Netflix. That’s where the dedication comes in.
Dedication: how to
Dedication is all about looking at the bigger picture. You need to know what you are working towards and why so that when your emotions are telling you to skip out on a session, you can rationalize with yourself in line with your bigger picture. Here are some examples.
- I want to climb 5.12 because I want to improve at climbing, and 5.12 is a measurable goal to achieve this.
- I want to climb 5.11 trad because I want to open to the door to thousands of epic multipitch trad routes that are harder than 5.10.
- I want to boulder V5 just because I’ve always wanted to – I have some sort of connection to the grade and achieving it would be really cool.
So, when you really don’t want to climb, ask yourself how the outcome of what you choose to do will affect your bigger picture. You might be feeling lazy, and when you think about how skipping today’s session will only put you further away from your goal, you might just do it anyway. You might be feeling tweaky, and skipping a session might just be the best thing you could do for your climbing.
Let’s look at the excuses
By and large, when I am honest with myself about my reasons for not wanting to climb, they aren’t actually reasons not to climb. They look something like this:
- “I’m so tired, and I’m going to suck.”
- “I’m really stressed, and the thought of leading today feels overwhelming.”
- “I have so much work to do – I don’t have time.”
I can counter #1 by checking my ego. Sometimes I suck. That’s okay. It’s certainly not a reason not to climb, because climbing more will make me a better climber. Skipping a session and protecting my ego will not.
I can counter #2 by changing the aim of my session. If I was planning on working things on lead, I could climb easier things and have a volume-focused day, or I could toprope, or I could boulder. That way, I can still get my climbing in and progress toward my goal.
I can counter #3 by giving myself a finite session time – say, one hour. I can remind myself that taking breaks is the most helpful thing I can do for my productivity. If I’m honest, I know that my output will not be less because I climb for one hour: the lost time will be made up for with increased productivity.
Sometimes, you probably shouldn’t climb
This is the exception, not the rule. If you can’t rationalize why you should climb, you probably shouldn’t. Here are some reasons not to climb:
Risk of injury
Illness
Weather
Personal suffering – and I mean actual suffering, not laziness. We all need a mental health day sometimes. This is also okay.
Every day is training
If you climb and it sucks, embrace it. Sucking today is going to make you suck less tomorrow. If you show up consistently, you will continue to improve. You don’t have to enjoy every minute of every session – but you should probably do it anyway.
Photo credit: Ryman Wiemann
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