A climbing goals collage

You know all those climbing magazines you have laying around collecting dust that have all the great photos of climbers, crags, mountains, and gear in them?  Why not make something of them?  I’m talking about goals.  Now that it’s getting to be the last week of February, I don’t feel like I’m preaching “New Year’s Resolutions”, so I can post this now.  I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions simply because I never stick with them, and I applaud people who can actually make some realistic ones!  Anyway, back to the topic at hand – goals.

A perfect way for me to get psyched about climbing is through visual stimuli, such as climbing photos and photos of mountains and beautiful crags that I’d love to cimb.  I’m very visual, so these things appeal to me.  If I’m reading a good book about climbing or a climbing guidebook for a certain area, that’ll do it, too.  So how do you get psyched to climb?  I always have the itch, but getting really psyched requires either being out there doing it, or seeing some awesome photos or something of the sort while I can’t climb (which has been for the last four and a half months).

So what does all of this jibber-jabber have to do with goals, right?  Yes, I mentioned goals.  The perfect way to put some of those fantastic visual elements to work in those magazines that have been cluttering up your basement is to make a collage of climbing goals!  Get a piece of posterboard at the dollar store (they’ll only charge you 69¢ for some colors) and get your creativity out.  Find your favorite photos in those old climbing magazines – ones that really inspire you to climb or to break into a new grade or discipline of climbing or whatever – and cut them out.  Now that you’ve got your visuals and your posterboard, you can work on some goals.  I would recommend at least three goals to start with – one short-term, one medium-term, and one long-term goal that can be completed within a year or so.  Once you have these planned out, you can either write them on the posterboard or use more cuttings from climbing magazines for letters to get them laid out on your posterboard.  Now, once you’ve finished laying out your goals, surround them with those photos and visuals you cut out earlier.  Make sure you don’t cover up your goals, but instead highlight your goals with your visuals and photos.  Use tape, glue, paste, spray adhesive (DON’T huff it!), or whatever you need to in order to get your collage ready to hang on the wall.  Hang your climbing goals collage on your wall.

Now walk out of the room for at least an hour and come back.  Look at your climbing goals collage.  What do you think?  Does it need more?  Then add more!  Is it perfect the way it is?  Great!  Make it what you need it to be to motivate you every day in your climbing mindspace.  It will serve you well, whether you can go climbing that particular day or not!