Taking my own advice, for once.
- Dean Cool
- Nov 22, 2017
- 2 min read
Piggy backing on my last post, I felt the need to continue assessing my baseline for success, and not off of sending a route. If you read my last post, you’ll notice the flow chart always ends with the same recommendation.
”Analyze feelings you had on the climb. Note how your perceptions of the climb might have changed.”
Feeling compelled to take my own advice, I started measuring success based solely on mood levels. Taking sending off the table entirely, and using this new unit of measure, I was able to relinquish ego from the equation. It didn’t matter who was watching and more importantly I was no longer approaching climbing with any sense of self pressure.
On a trip to Indian Creek, UT for 10 days of crack climbing, I defined a more systematic plan for accessing my moods. I think what sparked this, is the fact that all of my climbing partners bailed on the first four days of the trip and for good reasons. One had respiratory issues and ended up in the hospital, one picked up some guiding work, and the last partner traded out days due to the potential of foul weather. Feeling extremely introverted at the time, I just didn’t want to hike up the cliff bands to make new friends. Plus, new partners were a little off putting due to the ground fall described in Posting #3.
So, I used this time to design the following "Climbing Mood Level Tracking Sheet." I need a better name for this thing, but that’s exactly what it is. With this form of tracking, I was able to grow my mindset and relieve the pressure if success didn’t come easy (it rarely does).
Below are a few screenshots from my first climbing mood level logs. Take a look through them and decide for yourself if this system might work for you. Filling out these sheets actually allowed me to take my fears of climbing full circle and form the ability to dismiss doubt in a more organized fashion.
