Corporate Consulting, High Performance Teams
Free Solo is a documentary film of Alex Honnold’s solo, free (no support ropes) climb of Yosemite’s 3000 foot El Capitan Wall. What he did was impossible. And in the fabric of his story are the elements of what it takes for any human being to accomplish what is impossible in their chosen field or area of concern. If we shake off the natural complacency that gradually overtakes us in life, and tell the truth, there are impossible things we dream of making happen that would light us up: A extraordinary goal. An inspiring achievement. A dream. A vision. An authentic passion. And in the course of living with all its “slings and arrows,” most of us at some point give up such a pursuit and resign ourselves to go about the business of normal living. Alex did not. He had El Capitan. What did it take to climb the Wall? To accomplish the impossible? Some of what it took:
Honesty—he was in the practice of rigorously telling the truth in his life. When on a vertical wall two thousand feet above the ground, hanging onto a tiny ridge or dent in the granite, he had to see and say what was real. No illusions, no guesses, no hopes, no speculations. This included beginning the ascent one day and knowing himself well enough to tell the truth: “Today is not the day to climb.”
Integrity—he had to do impeccable preparation. Integrity is defined as “no component parts missing”. Nothing overlooked or left out or not considered. His execution of the climb had to be equally impeccable. Every step, every reach, every grasp had to be considered. Part of his readiness was to have integrity with his own physical state: to be in perfect condition, which included have an injured foot-ankle restored.
Single focus—a passionate commitment to the feat at hand. All self-concerns, all ego, was dismissed the moment it showed itself. There was nothing but The Wall. He was fully present at each moment.
Unstoppable and “un-reasonable”—he dismissed any thoughts of “it can’t be done” or “this problem makes it undoable” or “this is insurmountable” or “this is bigger than I can ever be” or “it’s never been done” or “I’m not the one to do this.” He put aside all reasons for why not. Instead, he thought only of “what’s needed now?” and “what’s possible in this situation?” and “what’s next?” No self-concern for comfort or convenience. No formula, no habitual patterns of thinking, planning, and acting. Dealing with this moment. Doing whatever is called for, whatever is wanted, whatever is needed. No thinking. Total presence.
Mostly in life we look for the confidence of certainty. He had only the confidence of honesty, integrity, focus, being present and perfect readiness.
These elements made an ordinary person extraordinary.
What about you? What is your El Capitan?
Corporate Consulting, High Performance Teams
I challenge you to lead. To lead your own life, and be who you are. Take on something big. Put your stake in the ground for something that inspires you and moves you—something that doesn’t yet exist in your sphere. To recreate and alter your reality, something that would make a difference.
Do you ever stop and wonder—regarding the circumstances of your life—“How did I wind up here? I thought I’d be somewhere else at this point in my life, be something else at this point.” Do you have a sense that you are living life “by default?” Playing it safe and coasting now that you’re at the top? Ask yourself, why are you not living this precious, one life you have to the fullest?
Heraclitus of Ephesus, more than 2000 years ago, in 5th Century BC Greece, said: “Your character is your fate.” Amazing! And, conversely, I suppose that your fate, or future, is your character. I don’t mean the future when it happens (positively this will affect you)—I mean right now, today, what is your future?
It shapes and defines you.
Imagine yourself six months from now, living the experience of all your goals. How does this make you feel? Excited? Joyful? Rich?
A leader develops his character by taking on something big. Something he didn’t think was possible.
Since you’ve read this far, I’ll share a life hack with you. To make new goals part of your reality, not only do we (as humans) rely on our self-confidence, we allow threads of evidence to appear in our day to day experience. We must trust. If it seems impossible, you must do the work!
If you would like to have a short call and discuss your goals – please reach out to us using the contact form at the bottom of the page.
Corporate Consulting, Executive Coaching, High Performance Teams, Leadership
WHAT YOU MASTER | From Idea to Impact: Inspiration in Action
In our work together, you discover the levers and dials of creating Revolutionary Results: the science of translating an idea, even an Impossibility—a breakthrough—into reality.
This begins with a Reinvention of yourself in the following sense: What got you to where you are now—your legacy ways of thinking, planning, and action—circumscribe the domain of “what is possible” for you. How strange that your greatest strengths are at the same time your greatest limitations!
Reinventing yourself means to identify these habitual approaches, putting them aside, and discovering a world of new of possibilities and actions that enable you to produce something Revolutionary. Suddenly the present and future become malleable and the scope of what can happen expands.
And, the Reinvention of an organization, of a team, begins with the Reinvention of its leaders first. The next level repeats the individual Reinvention at the level of group and organization. What are the legacy, cultural ways of thinking, planning, and acting? Identifying and then putting these aside, what Impossibilities will you take on as a team, as a company? Imagine releasing the brilliance of an entire group or enterprise, aimed at some Revolutionary result?
We call this a Science for this reason: my approach is a rigorous, reliable method for accomplishment. After we put aside the past-based strategies that you/your team/your organization have used, we then discover the tools, principles, and laws of Revolutionary Performance.
We use the word Discovery in this sense: what you discover for yourself belongs to you. It has a different value, utility, and power when it is yours.
So our method, our approach is the Discovery of the Science of Accomplishing the Revolutionary.
— Barry
Let’s talk about your own possibilities. Remember, your inquiry is always confidential.
