I recently had an interesting conversation with somebody about motivation (whether it's something one should build) and it really got me thinking about motivation and the space around it. Before I ask questions, I'm going to share my personal experience. I have an okay relationship with motivation, I like it because it makes the doing easier and I can do things without it, but I realized that the first thing I do before the task at hand is search for motivation. What does this really mean? I think that, even though I can succeed without it, I use motivation as a crutch, I don't keep my mind on the task until I do it (this is fine, but what my mind is on isn't) but rather on what my reason for doing it is, I don't think about why it has to be done; I think about what positives are there that make me want to do it. I think my motivations are mostly reliant on people. Not only do I crave to be seen in a good light like most people, I also want to see those around me flourish. With this in mind, most of the time I look for an interpersonal motivation before I try to set out to a task. What is your relationship with motivation? What motivates you? How do you fare without motivation?

I don't know about most people, but I feel like my climbing skills were less cultivated by me and more by the people around me. When I started climbing, I was homeschooled; I didn't have many friends (though I could make friends pretty readily) and I liked the community around climbing. Everybody was nice and social, we were at a place where we all had a common interest. That socialization brought me around some pretty strong climbers, Team Texas kids, Team USA kids, the like and being around them helped me really think about how climbing works and the techniques that make everything easy. That kind of inadvertent mentoring really enhanced my growth past the norm. What about you? What kind of interaction, if any, helps you become better?

I love asking this question. In reality it is a combination, and depends on the climb. But curious what everyone in the group is focused on....

These were my main shoes last year, but I used to wear Vapor’s for the first 5 or so years indoor and outdoor! Left to right TC pros (for crack climbing) 5.10 mocsassains (slip on warm up/ chill shoes) Skwamas (my try hard shoe) I’ve been using unparalleled Quincy’s for the last 5 or so months and really liking them too. Curious what everyone else is wearing??

im from Quebec, Canada, I rarely climb outside, but when I go I flash easily a v7. When I’m climbing inside I can flash v10 and sometimes v11. I can give some good advice, sometime I’m coaching and I’m working in route setting. I’m here principale for help people and to try to have some help with my climbing.