Self-belief is important.
Conventional wisdom tells us success begins by trusting ourselves.
But trust is not an ask. Trust is earned.
𝗦𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?
This is the story of rock climber Alex Honnold who took self-trust to an unprecedented level.
In 2017, Alex became the first man to climb the 3,000 feet EL Capitan (EL Cap) vertical wall in California Yosemite National Park.
A remarkable feat he accomplished using only his bare hands.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝟯,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱?
It didn’t happen instinctively.
Alex took 7 years to believe he could scale El Cap.
Another 2 years to trust his abilities to complete the task.
Here are 5 lessons from Alex’s story on how we can learn to trust ourselves.
𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁𝘀.
‘(𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧) 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳’.
Familiarity builds trust. Alex rehearsed his climb sequences over 2 years to make each movement feel secure, repeatable, and ingrained in him.
𝟮. 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
‘𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦’.
Our mind can’t do things that it can’t see. Visualization allows Alex to see success in his mind and builds self-confidence in his abilities.
𝟯. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹.
know your weaknesses and respect the challenges they bring. Alex practiced daily stretching for a year to improve ONE particular movement.
𝟰. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀.
‘𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵’.
Alex was completely focused on his tasks at that moment. He learned from his previous climbs but did not ruminate on past mistakes.
𝟱. 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 ‘𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳𝘀’
‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺?
Practice instills confidence. Alex silenced his negative self-talk by climbing El Cap 50 times with ropes to study his route and surroundings.
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Building trust takes time and effort. 🌟
We can build self-confidence with a clear plan and consistent practice.
When we learn to trust ourselves, others will learn to trust us. 🌟
That is when we can achieve more than we imagined.
PS: What’s your recent success? Share in comments 🙌
