Pursuing Your "Mega Goal"

If you are like most climbers I know, you have a "mega goal" for this climbing season or the next. Maybe it's to send your first V6 (or even V12!), redpoint your first 5.10 (or 5.14?), climb a big wall, or maybe take an extended roadtrip across the country or overseas. No matter your goal, it takes a plan to make it reality. Goals rarely "just happen", you need to make them happen. Here's how:

Plan your work, and then work your plan. That is, develop a success strategy that will elevate you towards the goal, and then take daily action. Develop the personal attribute of being a compulsive planner--instead of drifting in the wind, strive to direct the wind! Don't let a day pass by without asking yourself, "what action can I take to advance towards my mega goal?"

Develop the personal attribute of being a compulsive planner--instead of drifting in the wind, strive to direct the wind!

If it's a complex goal, you will benefit by mentally projecting forward to the day you achieve the goal and then working backwards in your mind to determine the key steps to getting there. I call this exercise Feed Forward, because by visualizing the necessary steps (and sacrifices) for reaching the goal, you program a forward inertia into your subconscious mind. As a result, it will feel easier to take the daily actions and make the necessary sacrifices as your subconscious helps you work the plan!

Always boil the plan down to daily actions that you MUST take. Remember that each day provides the opportunity to take a step closer to the goal, whether it be training, climbing, resting, or getting the rest of your life in order for the realization of your mega goal.

Learn more goal-achievement and mental-training strategies with the 80-minute Mental Wings audio program. Mental Wings presents a highly unique and effective 7-step program for enhancing performance in any high-value area of your life. It details 35 powerful strategies and techniques you will want to put to work, beginning today!

Photo: EH on his route, Diamond Life (5.13a/b), New River Gorge, WV. Courtesy of StewartGreen.com