It’s the new year and I hope you’ve had a chance to reflect on your 2024. These 3 questions might help you really solidify your thoughts on 2024 and your goals for 2025:
😊 What went well in 2024?
🙏 What are you grateful for about 2024?
💡 What could you work on for 2025?
In terms of climbing, one thing you might be feeling VERY ready to work on is your mental game in this sport. I talk to a lot of climbers about their biggest challenges, and some common themes I see are these.
Climbers’ Biggest Mental Challenges
- Putting a lot of pressure on yourself to be better than you are
- Fear of falling holding you back in your progress
- Fear of embarrassing yourself in front of people stunting your progress
- Getting frustrated by comparing yourself to other climbers
- Disliking your body because it doesn’t fit the mold of pro climbers
- Throwing tantrums (outwardly or inwardly) when things don’t go your way
- Focusing only on the sends and not really having fun anymore
- Feeling performance anxiety when projecting
- Being hypercompetitive with others
When I work with people on these things, the first order of business is to get all their thoughts and feelings out on the table so we can both see them clearly. Then we talk about where these thoughts and feelings come from (where in their past did they learn to think this way and talk to themselves this way?). There are always big insights there – parallels between their upbringing and how they “coach” themselves now, which then inform our action steps.
For instance, one of my clients felt embarrassed to try hard climbs because he didn’t want to be seen failing in front of others. This really held him back because he wouldn’t ever project things to get to the next level.
Turns out his dad was really hard on him growing up and only gave him attention and praise when he did perfectly well in school. Then he pursued a degree where he actually had to get perfect scores on his exams or it was an F. He took that perfectionism– and desire to belong–into his climbing, and when we made that connection, he was relieved to understand how unproductive that mindset is in a sport where you have to fail in order to progress.
That was the first step in his progress toward the following:
✅ Allowing himself to try harder things in front of people
✅ Allowing himself to lead climb, even if he might fall
✅ Sending new grades
✅ Having fun climbing again
✅ Growing closer to his climbing partner by talking with her about these things
✅ Not comparing himself to others and enjoying his own process
You see, he and every other client I work with have the same issue.
They want to progress, but they’re holding themselves back from progressing with their shame, fear, and frustration.
When the frustration comes, they just suppress it, quit for the day, or take it out on the people around them. Those tactics are not working, though. As a mindset coach for climbers, I will help you unravel your mental knots so you can be the climber you want to be.
You can have less fear, less embarrassment, less comparison, and less attachment to the outcomes. You can have more fun. More confidence. More sending.
I’ve been hard at work on a new website and a new offer just for climbers like you. I’m taking 6 new clients right now for a 3-month (6-session) engagement with me. You know you’re stronger than what you’re climbing – you’re just being held back by your brain. I will help you remove those mental barriers so you can tap into your potential.
The Upgrade: 3 Months of Mental Coaching for Climbers
This new offering consists of 6 hour-long sessions with me on zoom happening roughly every other week for 3 months.
Give me 90 days and you will:
- Decrease your fear in climbing and increase your confidence
- Accept where you’re at in your climbing so that comparisons don’t trigger you
- Be a better communicator to advocate for your needs and wants
- Make peace with your inner critic
- Be more accepting of your body
- Perform better in climbing with less attachment to the outcome
Signing up for 6 sessions in advance will give you the accountability you need to really confront these things head on in a timely manner. It’s also the most cost effective way to work wtih me.
The cost: $750 paid in full or $260 paid monthly, which is about $125 per session. My normal rate is $150 for a single session.
I will only be taking 6 clients as that’s what my schedule allows, so when those slots are gone, this offer will be closed until I have room in my schedule again.
I am a Certified Professional Coach accredited by the ICF and I am a climber of 27 years who has climbed up to 5.13c. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that my own mindset has drastically evolved over the last 4 years.
Through coaching, I went from regularly tossing wobblers to enjoying the hell out of climbing and feeling stronger and more confident than ever.
All this means that I’m uniquely qualified to coach you AND mentor you at the same time. I know you’re ready to tackle the mindset side of your climbing – let’s do this together.
If you’re curious about this but not quite ready to commit, we can do a 15-minute introductory call where we’ll figure out if we’re a good fit and do a little coaching.
I hope to see you on my calendar soon! Just email me at neely@trainingbeta.com with any questions you have.
Want to see my coaching in action?
I’ve done several podcast episodes that were full coaching sessions here so you can see what coaching is like:
- Mindset Coaching Session with a Climber about Fear of Lead Climbing
- Mindset Coaching Session with a Climber about Negative Body Image
- Mindset Coaching Session with a Climber about Performance Anxiety
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