Step 1: Get Motivated

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at."
-Bruce Lee

I decided to begin my training articles with what I consider to be the most important part of any training plan: motivation. Without motivation there is no desire to improve and therefore finding motivation and keeping that motivation high is fundamental to improving in any discipline. In this article I will be referring to the discipline of climbing but the ideas behind it apply to whatever it is you personally desire to improve in (art, sports, uni-cycling, whatever). Here are a few things that I've found to be effective in maintaining motivation.


1. GET INSPIRED BY CLIMBING HISTORY

Royal Robbins, the man.

Climbing has a vibrant history full of colorful characters whose feats will endlessly inspire the motivated climber. Knowing who these characters are and what they did to push our sport forward provides benchmarks upon which later generations of climbers can measure themselves. These benchmarks are necessary to the healthy growth of the sport and the growth of ourselves as players in the sport.

Without reading stories of the rivalry between Royal Robins and Warren Harding, who in the 1960's revolutionized our sport by pioneering many of the Yosemite Valley big walls and epitomizing the debate on proper style and ethics in climbing, I might never have found the motivation to venture up some of those walls myself. Those climbs greatly shaped me as a climber and were all the more pertinent after having read the stories of those who pioneered them. These stories provide us with motivation to train and push our own personal limits, allowing us to do things we might not have thought possible. Know these characters and their stories and you will be able to tap into and feed off of that inspiration that drove them to do the great things they did. I don't feel like going too deep into climbing history but I'm sure if you do some searching on the interwebs you'll find plenty to work with.

If anything you should by this book: "The Stone Masters, California Rock Climbers in the Seventies" put together by John Long and Dean Fidelman. Easily the greatest motivational book of all time for the aspiring climber. Get it and get psyched, it's easily worth the price.

2. GET INSPIRED BY THOSE CLOSER TO HOME

Andy Patterson on the local SB classic
Dancing Outlaw

There are those around us who perhaps aren't the sponsored athletes showing up on youtube sending V15's all over the world but nonetheless provide equal or greater amounts of inspiration in their own communities. These people may be average joes who work full-time jobs during the day but somehow manage to maintain the motivation to train and climb at a high level despite the many obligations of everyday life. With the limited time they have to climb, they are the ones who are out there acting as caretakers and stewards of their local crags and training hard to push the local standards purely for the love of the sport. It's tough work with little reward but they do it anyway because they can't hold themselves back.

I can remember when I first saw Andy Patterson, one of the local legends in Santa Barbara rock climbing, out at Painted Cave, a small but quality bouldering area in Santa Barbara. Back then my projects were his warm ups. Over time I got to know him a bit better and found out he works full time as a blacksmith (not an easy gig), plays trumpet in a Jazz quartet and is one of the most enthusiastic and psyched people I have ever met. Whether it was running around trying to find some new hard sport climb to bolt, or some obscure off-width boulder problem to scrub, he was psyched to do it all. Hanging out with someone like Andy is bound to get you motivated to make the most of your situation, work hard to meet your goals and keep climbing fun and creative. Find these people in your community (because I'm sure they're out there) and get psyched with them.

3. GET INSPIRED BY YOUR FRIENDS

Yours truly trying to instill a bit of motivation
to my less powerful brethren. 

I don't know where I'd be as a climber right now if it wasn't for my good friends and long time climbing partners Nick Sullens and Jake Sahl. Jake summed it up pretty nicely in an email to me the other day saying that "life is much more boring without dumb, strong, and talented friends around" and I agree. Take advantage of having motivated friends because healthy competition (and maybe sometimes a little unhealthy competition) between you and your buds will help to push you further than you could ever go on your own. 

At the moment, however, we've all found ourselves quite a ways away from each other, what with Nick being in Hong Kong, Jake being in California and myself currently residing in Edmonton. Luckily for us with the newfangled technology we have access to in this day and age, you can still find motivation from your friends even if you're on the other side of the world. Discuss current training plans, send them stupid climbing videos or nutrition articles on facebook, have a little competition about who will be the first one to climb V10 or 5.13 or who can do the most one-arm pull-ups (it's me just in case you were wondering :) ) despite not being in the same country. Competition between you and your friends is essential to staying motivated and maintaining that desire to improve and will keep you chugging through your training knowing that they are out there doing the same thing.

4. GET INSPIRED BY THE MEDIA

Who could watch a video of Chris Sharma crushing some V15 boulder problem and not be inspired? 

As much as I hate to admit it, climbing videos provide a great source of inspiration. When you're feeling unmotivated these media sources can give you that little boost that you need to go through with your training. Maybe these videos will kill a few of your brain cells but if that's what it takes to get you to keep on with your training regimen then by all means watch them and get psyched to improve.


5. GET INSPIRED BY YOUR PERSONAL GOALS

This may be the most important point in maintaining motivation. However, if you are good about keeping up with the previous four points these goals should come on their own. Those at the Moon Climbing School sum up the importance of having these goals and the best ways to set these goals quite nicely in the article here: TRAINING AND GOAL SETTING. Know what you want to do and be realistic about your goals. If you never allow yourself the chance to succeed frustration is inevitable and motivation will be difficult to come by. Think hard about what you want to do as a climber and channel that into your short, medium and long term goals. If you keep that motivation high I guarantee you'll be surprised at what you can do.

CONCLUSION

If you are serious about improving your climbing (or whatever for that matter) do whatever it takes to stay motivated and see your goals through. There is nothing more rewarding than progress and proving to yourself that with a bit of work you can really do things you never would have thought possible. Frustration and plateaus are inevitable but if you do your homework then it will become clear that there are many who have gone before you and experienced the same frustrations you are bound to go through. Learn from those people and learn how they were able to stay motivated despite setbacks that are bound to pop up along the way. Happy climbing!

Barnes