Lessons from the Alex Honnold Taipei Skyscraper Climb
1. Alex is wired differently than most of us – the part of the brain that registers fear shows no activity in Alex. This allows him to operate in challenging situations with a calm and confidence that certainly aids in his success. Imagine what it would be like to operate without fear?!? How freeing! While we may never experience things like Alex – we can recognize our fear, tamp it down – and take the action that scares us anyway. And if we are honest, most of our fears are not as real as Alex’s.
2. Great success is often found in the grind. Repeated habits, day after day. A lot of the skyscraper climb was repeated motion after repeated motion. That does not take away from the outstanding achievement – it just reinforces the lesson – grind it out. Embrace the process. Master the process.
3. Alex is a leader in the free solo world. And people are watching. As leaders in any realm, whether business or otherwise – people are watching. They are taking cues from the leaders around them. What do they see when watching you?
4. While this achievement is remarkable – he accomplished it with an almost impossible balance of risk AND playing it safe. At no point did Alex take an unnecessary risk. The whole thing was a risk – but he did it as safely as possible. I’m still trying to get my arms around this one – because playing it safe is usually not the path to great success – but some calculated balance of risk and safety has to be understood. Where are you playing it too safe might be a good place to start.
5. We are more than capable of doing harder things. I take great inspiration from people who do amazing things – and it just proves that we are not as limited as we might believe.
