The “process”
Photo: by Alex Messenger - me at Stanage early 2021
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about ‘the process’. Earlier this year I did a survey on instagram and 76% of people said that timescales pile on pressure when it comes to goal setting. And I get it, when we’ve been working towards a goal for a long time, when we get close especially in longer terms climbing projects - something shifts, something changes. Yes it can definitely get stressful. Yet there is plenty of research out there to say that setting defined goals is very effective. Strava did a survey saying that 92% of people are more likely to remain active 10 months after a new year’s resolution by setting a goal if it is a race/event based challenge with a fixed timescale. Why does this process not cross over so easily to climbing? Are there more variables in climbing compared to running or cycling? Or is it that we’re willing to crumple into a heap after the London marathon and never do it again? Whereas we don’t ever want to stop climbing?!
If we really understood the process, would we set different timescales? We spend 99% of our time and effort in the process. Without it we get nowhere. And yet as human beings we get easily sidetracked by the outcome or shall we say ‘the top’. And when we do this, we run into trouble. Pressure looms, negative thought spirals start “will I do it?”, “when will I do it”, “why can’t I do it”?
Sometimes we can manage ourselves better in the moment. But other times we have taken our eye away from the process. The bigger process - where there is still more to learn. People say things like “it’s about the journey, not the destination”. Yes these phrases can get annoying – and I feel a certain level of discomfort within me when I hear this. But it is about the journey and at times I have not found this easy.
And I know I’m not alone. “No one said it was going to be easy”. That’s another of those phrases - but it’s true!
Me on Better Eat Your Wheaties V8, Hueco, USA. Photo Alex Messenger
Human beings like purpose and certainty - we like outcomes. To be comfortable with the process goes against our physiology. The limbic system within our brain (also known as the mammalian brain - most highly developed and specialised in mammals) evolved to keep us safe and to get an instant result i.e. get food or run from danger. It is responsible for the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. This kicks in for action: fight or flight. Right now! The newest part of our brain, the neocortex, whilst responsible for creativity and planning, still has to work with the limbic system. Depending on our conditioning and life experiences this struggle between these parts of the brain is ever present and requires conscious work from us. To save money or to not over indulge at the odd party because of what may happen many years in the future is not the natural state for human beings.
So of course following and being in the process is difficult for us.
And it is all completely individual.
But we’re climbers, and to get the best out of ourselves, to reach our goals and be content we need a process. But what is it? I find it simplest to thing about it in two ways: it’s both an action based, what do you do week to week plan and it’s also a mindset. And crucially for the process to work we need both things in place.
So what does this mean for climbing? First of all we have to accept we are playing a long game here. A game to be enjoyed, but where we accept it has ups and downs, requiring endless perseverence and patience. That is the mindset. We can support each other to make this mindset easier - where we are free to make mistakes and we enjoy the successes together. And we’re happy to accept we’re all on lifetime’s learning journey.
I feel lucky in how I started climbing at Leeds University. As a beginner I landed with the most pysched and motivated group of climbers I could ever know. There was no big climbing wall (Leeds Wall wasn’t built until my final year at University). We didn’t know any top climbers – in fact we didn’t know many other climbers outside of the university club at all. There was no internet. Climbing magazines were irrelevant to my climbing so I didn’t read them. Effectively I didn’t compare because there was nothing to compare to. We were in our own bubble and the process was simple. Basically just go climbing every weekend.
Alex, Sam Julian, Virginia, Rich, Nick, Mat, John approx 1993-6 Almscliffe, Yorkshire
By today’s standards our progress may be considered slow. There were no coaches, no training knowledge, no books on ‘how to get better’. I wonder, looking back how I would have reacted to this wealth of knowledge available now (I suspect I would have found it overwhelming). But what we were doing was developing all the components of our climbing in tandem. There was a strong lean towards trad climbing and mountaineering. We were developing our technique, physicality, tactics and mindset all in tandem. And we had the luxury of an endless pool of climbers.
Many of the climbers in that club from that time got really very good at climbing; some of them led the way the way in British alpinism, some of them became mountain guides and others of us joined in with all that adventure but chose pure rock climbing in the end.
You’ll always hear me talk about the importance of developing all the elements of technique, physical, tactics and psychological. That means incorporating all these into any ‘plan’, whatever kind of climbing you do. If you ignore any element something will catch you out at some point - even if this is in the form of a niggling thought that won’t go away. I sometimes feel like the the lure of training plans misleads people as the answer – because while training is important, it is, in the scheme of what makes a good climber, a smaller component than people think. It is just one part of the process.
As your climbing develops though, so does the process. What worked before many not work again and sometimes we’re hit like a sledgehammer by a block to the process. This may come in the form of an injury, a life situation (er hello a global pandemic), or a route or a grade that seems to elude us. When we start to meet our physical limits we are confronted more than anything with our mindset and our relationship with the process. Is it my finger strength? Or endurance? Or power endurance? Our minds usually swing straight to the physical. And quite possibly the answers lie there. But they can also lie in our tactics and our mindset. And the only thing left is to ask “what more do I have to learn here”? Ultimately the process is trial and error. There is no other way.
James Clear - author of Atomic Habits - I strongly recommend this book!
Finally we have to add in life to this process. And that brings us right up to the here and now. The curveball of the last year and ongoing has hit everyone. I haven’t quite wanted to admit that a fall on the ice in January and the same again down the stairs in March significantly wrenched my shoulder. It’s left me really questioning and me soul searching. “What next!”. And then we’re just left with what is - and we pick up from there…
I feel very rusty on the rock at the moment –of course I do – I have literally done nothing at all for 3 months!! But I can tell that my shoulder is enjoying being moved and strengthened again Everyone’s process has been disrupted though. Perhaps you have managed to keep your body in physical shape this last few months – if so amazing!! But it will take time for the mind and technique to catch up again – that is just how it is. I think this next few weeks and months are an amazing opportunity to work with your process: to make sticking to the process – addressing all the different components of your climbing - the outcome. Enjoy it!
Listen to my podcast interview for UKClimbing
My journey from beginner through to improver and beyond: how I worked through balancing “performance” with expecations and enjoying the process.
