It was June 2017 when Alex Honnold free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The New York Times described it as “one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, ever.”
Mr. Honnold became famous for succeeding. It is, without question, an incredible — singular — accomplishment. While you admire him for the feat, you can also criticize him for doing something so reckless. If he’d fallen to his death, the narrative would have become a cautionary tale to others who might consider the attempt.
Of course, Alex didn’t wake up one morning, strap on his La Sportivas, and go free solo El Capitan. He spent over a year preparing and training, climbing Freerider over and over again until he had literally memorized the sequence required to get to the top. He also spent considerable time learning to manage his fear.
I’m not a climber, but any good climber will tell you to plan ahead. You have to look for holds that align with your next move to both maintain flow and conserve precious energy.
Most people will never attempt what Mr. Honnold accomplished. Of course, we all have situations in life where the stakes can feel just as high. Diligence, repetition, and courage are required to face our own El Capitan.
The figurative free solo climbs we face often vary in intensity. Sometimes, the increase is gradual, like when we attend school and increase our knowledge of a particular subject over time. At other times, the intensity may appear all at once, like when dealing with a significant health struggle or the loss of a loved one.
J. Richard Clarke said something interesting: “We often perform below our ideals, but our aim must exceed our grasp if we would rise to a higher standard. . . success must be measured by effort and small improvements until we eventually reach our goals.”
Whether the climb is literal or figurative, when we’re preparing for something — or thrown into something — we bridge the gap from where we are to where we want to be by aiming higher than we think we can grasp and being willing to put in the effort.
When we fail at something, there’s a false idea that gets perpetuated that we’ve somehow wasted effort. Things that don’t require effort can sometimes be a waste of time, but even when our efforts are misguided, we often learn valuable lessons along the way. Failure is only really failure if we choose not to learn something from it.
It’s a bit macabre, but if Alex Honnold had failed in his climb, it likely would have meant the end of his life. Others, equal to that kind of physical challenge, may have studied where he went wrong in an effort to make a successful attempt themselves.
El Capitan is a good metaphor for the challenges we face in our own lives. Alex had to climb El Capitan a lot to figure out how to do it as safely as possible without ropes. We also put consistent effort into the things we want to achieve in life.
Sometimes, however, we find ourselves standing at the base of the cliff not really knowing what to do or where to go. We’ve always got the option of turning around, putting our back to the wall, and watching Netflix. Or, we can start climbing.
Maybe you’re in a spot in your life where you’re considering the next figurative climb. Are there challenges you’re avoiding because they seem too steep? I recently quit my day job and started two businesses. I wake up feeling pretty overwhelmed most days, but the first step is always easier than I think. The important thing is to aim high, but not so high that you miss the next critical hand hold or place to put your feet. When you find it, you begin to climb.
Had he fallen, Alex almost certainly would have died. Fortunately, falling in our daily pursuits won’t likely lead to sudden death. We’ll have an opportunity to dust ourselves off, recognize that we learned something, and try again.
Our aim always has to exceed our grasp. Most of us don’t expect perfection. If we’re open to it, we’ll realize that stretching for something just beyond reach is where we find our new potential. The climb, with its risks and rewards, is where we discover who we are and who we can become.
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