Fear and “I Can’t Do It” Mentality

My name is Rebecca. I am from California. I am 19 & have been climbing for pretty much my whole life (my dad is a climber) but it wasn’t until about four years ago that I really began climbing for myself. Now the only thing I care about is climbing. There is nothing else in the world that makes me feel like climbing does. I just feel so much PASSION when I am on the rock. About a year and a half ago my mindset towards climbing changed- instead of just following my dad & friends up routes, I wanted to be the leader. I tend to be very cautious and timid when it comes to leading and being a brave, bold climber. I can follow 5.9 comfortably but when it comes to leading… I freak myself out on 5.7. I know that every route is different… but it seems like my mind is holding me back from being the climber that I want to be. I just can’t let go of the mantras “I am not good enough” and “I can’t do it.” I know that I am holding myself back and I don’t know how to BREAK THROUGH my mental barriers. I cannot control my fear when I am on lead… I know that is something that can be helped with more practice… but my issues seem to be more deep rooted than that. I feel like I am capable of so much more and I am holding myself back. How can I get rid of this “I can’t do it” mentality?

Thank you so much,

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca,

Climbing can be like a magnifying glass for the deep feelings you have inside about yourself, though it’s not always so clear when figuring out what to do about them. In a way it’s normal to feel afraid when you are leading, because you know that you can take a fall and it’s possible to get hurt when you fall. But freezing up and being unable to function means your fear is going beyond the normal concern of falling, and it means you have a lack of confidence in yourself. I believe that your subconscious is incredibly powerful, and I also believe it operates on a pretty basic level. If you are even thinking that you’re not good enough and you can’t do it, your subconscious is taking strong measures to make sure you don’t go any further, to a point where you might get hurt. This is part of its job, and it only knows what you tell it, kind of like a computer. So you need to figure out how to do some reprogramming.

From what you wrote, it seems like you believe that you can do things, but you also believe you can’t. The easiest way to change your own mind is to start telling yourself something different. When you are looking up at the rock, getting ready to move above your pro, make yourself breathe and smile and say out loud, “I can do this.” When I was free soloing on the Diamond, I consciously thought to myself all the way up, “be relaxed, have good feelings” and those were the only words in my brain for the whole climb.

I also have a funny trick I’ve used for years every once in a while on hard routes. I have certain friends whose climbing I really admire, often because they are extremely good at something I don’t think I’m as good at–powerful crimps, long reaches, scary/soft rock, etc. When I get to a crux that I think would really suit one of them (and not so much me…), I think to myself, “pretend you’re Paige/Lisa/Chris/Steve (or whoever it is)!” And that actually becomes my beta for that hard move or section 🙂 So far, this always works!

The point is, all of this has one thing in common: you are literally verbally or silently putting positive thoughts and images into your brain, telling your subconscious that you know you can do it and there’s nothing to be worried about. Now your subconscious has no reason to take emergency measures and reel you back away from the situation, and it can just relax and let you do your thing.

So choose a way to give yourself a pep talk or a visual image of yourself succeeding and climbing up next time you are leading: and don’t ever think or say again that you’re not good enough or you can’t do it. Turn that into, “I am good enough, and I can do it.” If you need help, pretend you’re your dad or another one of your awesome friends to get yourself through the hard section (you don’t have to tell them you’re channeling them, they’ll still help).

Let me know if it works!

Steph