Notes on believing in yourself

In my climbing, as in my life, I’ve always strived not to delude myself in my abilities

If there’s one piece of advice I really kind of loathe, it’s this: just believe in yourself.

Anything is possible. You just have to set your sights on the goal. Make a vision board. See yourself doing the thing. Envision it in your head. Believe that it’s possible, and it will happen.

This kind of power of positive thinking stuff is—how shall I say—not for me.

And yet as rock climbing has exploded in popularity over the past 5-10 years, sometimes it seems a new generation of just believe-in-yourself thinkers has suddenly flooded the climbing gyms and shown up at the crags.