The Enormocast

One of the most impactful sentences I’ve ever heard was on a podcast with a professional rock climber I looked up to. The host (@enormocast) asked him if he gets scared of heights while climbing. I expected to hear something like, “occasionally on a really exposed snd difficult route.” Instead he said, “yes, literally every time I tie into the rope, even on an easy lap in the gym.” This was mind-blowing to me at the time. I was a pretty mediocre intermediate climber, and I felt like my fear of heights was paralyzing and holding me back. I assumed elite climbers had conquered fear. There was something liberating about hearing this climber say he was scared. It made me feel empowered to manage fear, rather than feel like a little bitch for experiencing it in the first place. Since then, I’ve noticed this in many disciplines. I’ve talked to world champion Jiu Jitsu athletes who say they are scared every time they step onto the competition mats. I know poker pros who have a terrifying table presence but admit they’re intimidated by opponents when they sit down at a high stakes game. The bad news is that for most of us, this fear or anxiety is never going to go away. But the good news is that you can stop trying to make it disappear. There’s relief in knowing that. Instead you can try to manage and direct it. Coming to this realization was huge for me. I stopped spending my energy trying to crush those feelings and started working on trying to turn negatives into positives (or at least less negative ha). The two things that have worked the best for me are: 1. Trying to redirect anxiety into excitement 2. Practicing gratitude Repeating the mantra “excited and grateful” is my go-to whether it’s public speaking, competing in a Jiu Jitsu tournament, or just getting into a social anxiety inducing setting. It’s hard for me to say those 3 words without feeling a little smile and pump of energy. Anyways this concept might seem super obvious to some people, but hearing that rock climber say he was scared really flipped my mindset on fear and anxiety. At this point I can’t even remember who the climber was. Crazy how an off-hand comment like that (I’m sure the climber didn’t think anything of it) can be something so impactful that I keep coming back to a decade later.