Why You Learn More if You’re Willing to Fail: A Rock Climbing Story
Hundreds of stories could contend for a good story on why failure is essential to success and how even the top climbers have learned to embrace failure to reach the top of the podium. But not all of us strive to climb in World Cups or send 5.15+ or V10. Yet, does that mean our failures are insignificant, or our stories aren’t worthy enough? Some may answer yes, but I disagree. I hope everyone realizes their stories are worthy of being told. I hope they come to believe their climbing journey, regardless of the end goal, is essential and that learning to fail offers everyone some of the best lessons in climbing and, more importantly, life.
My home climbing gym has a lead wall feature called the prow. It’s bedridden with angle changes, creating slab sections and near horizontal overhangs. As a sport climbing lover, I still find it simultaneously exhilarating and nerve-racking with each attempt to send a prow climb. It’s like a roll of dice. Will I be able to master my nerves? Will I be able to rest and recover? Will I remember the most energy-efficient beta?
Last year, the setters at my home gym put up a black 5.12- in the prow. Some people called it soft (the route’s name was “Denis Says it’s 5.10”), but I loved the crimpy and technical opening sequence and the fight through the pump to the anchor. But I fell on it my first few attempts. Finally, I sent it during the last weeks of its life (before the setters reset the wall), linking all the moves and clipping the anchors without any falls or ‘takes.’ If I ended the story here, you’d never know if it took me two weeks, months, sessions, or days to piece it together. I could leave you all thinking I conquered my 5.12- project relatively quickly. But that wouldn’t help anyone. In truth, the climb was up for seven months, and it took me six months of failing before I sent it.
What happened during those six months of failing that enabled me to succeed? Why did I keep returning to climb after time and time again of nothing “clicking?” I knew I loved the movement on the climb and the holds. It was a fun route. Each time I led in the gym, I gave it one or two tries, sometimes making progress, occasionally forgetting all my beta, and falling in sections I had cruised through last time. In all the unsuccessful or “failed” attempts, I held onto the belief and intuition that I could do the climb. After sessions, I would remind myself that it wasn’t a matter of if but of when. In this regard, embracing failure teaches patience and builds mental fortitude. It is challenging to keep believing in yourself, your training, and your abilities when things don’t go well or work out in your favor. Conversely, it’s easy to do everything you wish on your first try: cruise through checkpoints and goals without adversity. Yet, you learn very little when you don’t have to push through the self-doubt, self-evaluate, and problem-solve your way to success.
Take my gym project story. If I had sent the 5.12- first go, I wouldn’t have realized that my clipping abilities with my left hand were sub-par, that my finger strength wasn’t as great as I thought, or that I could climb through a pump and make forward progress even when my mind threatened me with thoughts of self-doubt. I believe an essential part of embracing failure is realizing what you can’t do or what is limiting you and adding the word ‘yet’ to the end of the statement. Just because I couldn’t clip with my left hand efficiently, feel secure grabbing small crimps, or fight through the negative mental dialogue didn’t mean I could never do those things. I just couldn’t do them yet.
So, every time I failed to send the 5.12- I would leave the gym brainstorming ways to strengthen my weaknesses in my training. I need stronger fingers. Okay, I’ll incorporate pulls on a fingerboard. I need to learn to manage my mindset when pumped. Okay, I’ll add circuits and endurance sessions into my training, forcing myself to sit with being uncomfortable and grow. I need to learn to clip more efficiently. When I lead, I will consciously assess my clipping stance before making each clip. Remember, it took me six months to send that one climb. To overcome what was holding me back and causing unsuccessful attempts, it took patience and mental resilience to show up to the gym session after session for training and trying again.
During the months-long journey, I also tried to immerse myself in all the other aspects of rock climbing. I surrounded myself with a loving and welcoming community. I sought out different projects, climbed outside, and entered local competitions. Taking a step back after a perceived “failure” and looking at the bigger picture is vital in remembering that your failures don’t define you. It’s what you do in the face of failure that does. We all signed up to be climbers, fully knowing that we’ll fall on our butts more times than not. So, if you’re not failing sometimes, you’re missing out on 90% of the fun.
My story of enduring months of failure to achieve a moment of success is not unique. I am one of thousands of rock climbers who climb because we love it and set goals because they make us happy. However, I have realized I can become a better rock climber if I embrace failure. It is an opportunity to self-reflect on my weaknesses and work on them until they become my strengths. I know that failing has taught me patience, which I’ve carried into other areas of my life, and that the more I allow myself permission to fail, the less uncomfortable it feels. What I have uncovered is not unique either; every rock climber and human can learn to smile in the face of failure and grow into a better version of their climber and personal selves. Next time you fear the fall, I challenge you to smile in the face of it and ride the wave of lessons it is waiting to teach you. Cheer to failing, learning, and growing - you’ve got this (with love and encouragement from one average climber to another.)
If you enjoyed this piece and found it helpful, or if you have a story to share, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
