Stand at the base and look up at 3,000 feet of blankness. It just looks like there's no way you can climb it. That's what you seek as a climber. You want to find something that looks absurd and figure out how to do it.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the desire to tackle seemingly impossible challenges and find ways to overcome them.
Tommy Caldwell's quote reflects the spirit of adventure and resilience found in climbing and life challenges. It captures the essence of seeking out daunting goals that appear insurmountable and embracing the journey of discovering how to achieve them. For climbers, the vast blankness of an enormous rock face symbolizes the ultimate test of skill, determination, and creativity in problem-solving. This idea can be applied beyond climbing to any ambitious endeavor in life, encouraging individuals to pursue what seems absurdly unattainable.
In practice
In a motivational speech about striving for personal goals.
My earliest memory is being in a snow hole, aged two-and-a-half, with my dad somewhere up a mountain in a blizzard. I don't know what my dad saw in me - I was a geeky kid - but he had that philosophy: prepare the kid for the road, not the road for the kid.
I have a slogan I use when I get anxious writing, which happens quite a bit: βthe ordeal is part of the commitment.β Itβs one of my mantras. It makes a lot of things doable.
My ambition is always to get better and better.
Effort is between you, and you, and nobody elseI'm pissed off for greatness. Cause if you ain't pissed off for greatness, that just means you're okay with being mediocre, and ain't no man in here okay with just basic.
Your personal power is not something that is going to reveal itself at some later date. Your power is a result of your decision to reveal it. You are powerful in whatever moment you choose to be.
You know, be able to do something great in your life, you're gonna have to realize your failures. You're gonna have to embrace them and figure out how to overcome it.
Don't go backwards - you've already been there.
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