The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training For Climbers

Truth—a Snapshot
    So far in this chapter we’ve examined the preparation side of the “gate.” We discussed how the sport of climbing has decision points that are particularly poignant, and how comfort and safety are paradoxical terms. We discussed how to find a foundation for choice-making in a very unpredictable world. We discussed the two possible outcomes and the need to become familiar with falling. We analyzed intention and the kind of commitment needed when facing a risk. Now we’ll turn to the dynamics of the crucial moment and the beginning of powerful action.
    You often hear of the fight-or-flight response to moments of danger or risk. This is not part of the Rock Warrior’s Way. If you assess a risk and choose not to take it, you do not flee. You disengage, consciously and in control, without panic. If you choose to take the risk, you do not fight. You engage and embrace. I sometimes hear climbers say, “Fear energizes me to climb. It motivates me and helps me climb.” These statements betray a shallow power base. They show, first of all, that the climber lacked motivation. The climber overcomes his low motivation by creating fear. He falls into a destination-oriented mindset to escape the fear, fighting toward the end of the climb. Lethargy, fear, and a struggle to “get it over with” are not aligned with the true warrior goal: learning. Physiologically, the fight-or-flight response is accompanied by surges of adrenaline, which lead to the use of excessive force and quick consumption of energy. These are not characteristics of efficient climbing.
    If you’re using fear to motivate and energize you, you’re showing a symptom of a more significant problem which is probably affecting your entire ability to enjoy climbing and improve: being out of touch with your love of climbing. Instead of jarring yourself with fear, tap into your love. On the Diamond, I found that the remote wall put me in touch with deep motivation, enabling me to overcome my aversion to discomfort and the unknown. Finding your true motivators can help you overcome obstacles between you and your inner desire to learn and explore.
    You’re almost ready. Now, form your unbending intention. The action word for the Choices process is Commit . Create a clear distinction between the time of weighing your options and the decisive moment of choice, between preparation and action. The transition must be abrupt and definitive. Create a moment of truth, a sharp breaking point. Every fiber in your being must know that you aren’t preparing anymore; you are going into action.
    Until now your conscious mind has been involved in extensive internal dialogue, assessing, exploring, and gaining focus. You have accumulated all the intellectual knowledge possible about the unknown realm you want to experience. You accept the two outcomes, making it or falling. Don’t go before you are ready, but when you go—go! Now you set out in quest of experiential knowledge.
    As you make the break, the conscious mind will shut down all its chatter. Subconscious and intuitive processes take over. Once you begin moving, the conscious mind becomes a silent and observant passenger carried along on the wings of power.

Chapter 6
    Listening
    When you commit to action you are in a place of opportunity and exhilaration. The calculations are over. You are fully living the moment and fully giving of yourself. The difficult climbing facing you is not an obstacle or an emergency, but rather an intense learning event. Your goal is to participate openly in the challenge and not become distracted by a desire to control the creative chaos of the situation. Our natural aversion to discomfort will tend to call up “comfort thoughts” from the conscious mind. These thoughts lure our attention away from the challenge to an imagined comfort zone at the end of the effort or into wishing and other escape behavior. It’s important to dispell these thoughts and stay in a receptive state, blending new information with what you already know.
    When you’re in action the body takes over from the conscious mind as the key actor. You’re acting out the risk, not thinking about it. Like a dancer, you stop thinking and simply move. When you pause, or a sense of discomfort overtakes your involvement in movement, the conscious mind will attempt to reassert itself. Your goal is to minimize this interference. Since your goal is to not think—even about not thinking —you’ll quiet