More than just a climb.
For those of you who might have missed the news this weekend, Alex Honnold completed a free-solo climb of El Capitan at Yosemite.
A free-solo climb is as extreme as you can get when it comes to mountain-climbing.
-No ropes.
-No nothing.
-3,000 feet straight up.
-You slip and fall...
-You die.
In my opinion, this is the greatest athletic achievement ever.
Don’t agree with me? Check out the below video of this much “easier” climb he completed a few years ago. My panic instincts were activated just by watching it on my laptop!
Clearly, this risk involved here is just absurd. But the last minute of the video also makes it crystal clear he is experiencing absolute joy in his talent. How many people who are offered the gift of life can really say this?
This is my favorite quote from Alex:
“Years ago, when I first mentally mapped out what it would mean to free solo Freerider, there were half a dozen of pitches where I was like, ‘Oh that’s a scary move and that’s a really scary sequence, and that little slab, and that traverse,’” Honnold said. “There were so many little sections where I thought ‘Ughh — cringe.’ But in the years since, I’ve pushed my comfort zone and made it bigger and bigger until these objectives that seemed totally crazy eventually fell within the realm of the possible.”
You can read more about Alex’s perspective in his own words in this National Geographic interview, taken while he was still infused with the adrenaline of having just accomplished one heck of a monster goal. It’s fun to hear someone when they are at the absolute top of their game.
What does this have to do with tech startups and Prime Movers?
More than you might think…
When you read his interview and watch his preparation regimen, it is clear that Alex is not just a crazy high wire circus act looking for attention. He keeps his climbs secret from the public for the most part. He doesn’t care about the “ratings.” He cares about attention to detail in building on his unparalleled skill and going for greatness.
-He prepares.
-He focuses.
He takes extraordinary risks but he respects the risks he is taking. He knows he might die but he also knows that the gift of every day matters too. And pursuing the gift of your talents and passions with your limited time in this world is a great way to honor this.
Too many people in today’s world get attention for shocking people. But the folks who truly matter are those who inspire people.
Alex’s willingness to do what it takes reminds me of the same willingness in the best founders of our time. It reminds me of this video where Elon Musk makes one of my forever-favorite comments…
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” — Elon Musk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QygpaIJclm4&feature=share
Prime movers exist everywhere
At Floodgate, we talk about how it’s our job to celebrate the Prime Movers, before the rest of the world believes.
But Prime Movers exist everywhere.
Whether you want to create…
-A theory (like Einstein)
-Or a philosophy (like Aristotle, Plato, and Voltaire)
-Or a song (like Elvis)
-Or a small step (like Neil Armstrong)
-Or a dream (like Martin Luther King).
What ultimately what matters is this: Life is short. We are all tiny specks of humanity in a potentially infinite universe that has lived for billions of years and will endure for billions more. You don’t know how much time you will have in your life. The only thing we know is that no one has ever (yet) escaped their mortality.
Steve Jobs was right when he said that “knowing that you will die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Congrats to you Alex Honnold. A “surface-level” way to recognize you would be to say that you are the “best.” But it’s about more than this. You have found your gift and you have shown the courage to pursue it and honor it, on your own terms, without apologies. And you have used your talent to further causes for the environment that matter and that have gone overlooked for too much time. You are a Prime Mover and then some…in the truest sense of the word…
Every time I hear that you might be about to embark on an even crazier climb on an even bigger mountain, with even more risks involved…I pray for your success. But I also realize that no matter what happens…you are living your life, your way, under your terms, according to your passion, leveraging your gift. So you have already lived a great life no matter what happens in the future. (Having said this, I still pray you never fall!)
Congratulations on completing a climb that is way more than just a climb.
