How To Achieve Alex Honnold's Superhuman Clarity

What We Can Learn About Focus and Goal Setting From the World's Greatest Free Climber

“There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”

– Napoleon Hill

One thing common to those who enjoy repeated and long-lasting success is they know what they want and are able to clearly define it in specific terms. In other words, they have clarity of purpose and a clear vision of where they want to go.

Imagine taking shots at a target blindfolded. It is possible that you may hit the bullseye by blind luck, but invariably your odds of success increase when you remove the blindfold and have an unobstructed view. The same is true for success in life. It’s possible you may stumble into a great opportunity by pure chance, but if you have a chosen destination in mind, you can map out the best route to get there.

The Amazing Story of Free Solo

A great example of incredible clarity of vision and focus is the story of Alex Honnold and his unbelievable quest to free climb the 3000-foot face of Yosemite’s El Capitan, which was documented in the film Free Solo. The most incredible part of the endeavor was that Honnold achieved it without using any climbing equipment. That means if made a single error or miscalculation, he would have likely fallen to a gruesome end.

If you are not familiar with the sport, free soloing is a dangerous form of rock climbing where participants eschew the use of ropes, harnesses, or any type of protective gear. Unlike bouldering, free climbers scale heights above what is considered safe, where the fall would likely result in serious injury or death. It is considered a niche within the world of rock climbing that has the ability to propel the best climbers to either incredible stardom or a most grisly death. Without question, it takes incredible mental fortitude to even attempt the deadly challenges free soloing presents to even the most gifted in the sport.

Honnold is one of the most celebrated free climbers in the world, and his conquest of El Capitan, which he completed in 2017, is hailed as the greatest feat in rock climbing history. Putting this in more perspective, consider that it sometimes takes experienced climbers 5 to 7 days to make this ascent with the use of climbing equipment.

Honnold made his historic climb with no equipment in less than 4 hours!

While this achievement required incredible physical ability and preparation, one of the most fascinating parts of the story is the mindset he developed which allowed him to stay focused and calm in the face of fear.

In one insightful passage, he mentions:

“It’s about being a warrior. It doesn’t matter about the cause necessarily. This is your path and you will pursue it with excellence. You face fear because your goal demands it. That is the warrior spirit. I think that the free soloing mentality is pretty close to warrior culture, where you give something 100% focus because your life depends on it.”

Honnold’s achievement has many important facets, but it began with a clarity of vision to do something that no one had ever successfully undertaken. From his perspective, some people view life as a quest for comfort or happiness, while he is in search of accomplishment. He has even discussed that an important part of developing that vision came from a mindset that is geared toward unlimited potential.

Instead of thinking of El Capitan as something he wasn’t capable of, he looked at it as something he wasn’t capable of yet. This distinction is important and highlights the way someone with a high agency mindset operates. He did not let the challenge stop him but found a way to circumvent the challenge in front of him. That being said, there are a number of key takeaways we can extrapolate from Honnold’s successful endeavor.

First of all, this was not an overnight success story in which he decided what he wanted to do and the next day accomplished it. Instead, Honnold had been climbing for over 20 years and still spent several years of hyper-focused training before even attempting the challenge. In essence, he set the goal he wanted firmly in mind, and then trained incredibly diligently to realize that goal.

Secondly, he didn't take shortcuts on the way to his goal. In addition to honing his body, he took the time to plan out the task at hand to the smallest detail. Instead of looking at El Capitan as an impossible obstacle, he broke the ascent down into a number of smaller, more manageable problems to be solved and went about structuring his training to address each puzzle that was presented to him. By breaking it down this way and figuring out the best way through the maze, he not only built confidence but minimized every potential risk.

Thirdly, he did not let failure deter him. Several times during his journey he suffered from both physical setbacks and moments of incredible doubt. Indeed, one day he even started the climb, but early on in the attempt, pulled the plug and aborted because he didnt “feel right.” Instead of quitting, however, he re-focused his efforts and got back on track mentally to continue his quest.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, after setting his audacious goal, he did everything within his power to focus on accomplishing it. This included living an austere lifestyle out of his van so he could live simply and inexpensively and fully commit to his training regimen. It also went as far as cutting off distractions such as social media and email and getting his mind to a place where his sole focus could be envisioning what his success would look like. In other words, he made a total commitment to the end goal and ensured he would have no excuses when it mattered.

If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It’s quite possibly one of the most breathtaking films you will ever watch and truly highlights what is possible when one combines clarity of vision with a powerful mindset to make that vision into an accomplishment.

My Search for Clarity

Personally, I think one of my earliest professional stumbling blocks was having a focus that pointed in too many directions. Being somewhat of a dreamer, I often fantasized about things like being a successful writer, starting my own business, being an entrepreneur, being a contestant on Survivor, etc.

Invariably with my time limited and my focus fractured, I would often start something and hit a wall, but instead of pushing through, I would shift my focus to the next goal that offered the path of least resistance. While I did accomplish some moderate success, it was nowhere near what I hoped and thus left me constantly unsatisfied.

For many years, I struggled with this divided focus. I literally had so many ambitions I wanted to pursue that I would never dedicate the needed time and effort to any single one. Not only did the lack of focus contribute to endeavors failing, but it also gave me an excuse to justify those failures. 

I started to achieve true professional success when I clarified what I hoped to accomplish. It started off with identifying the things I excelled at, as well as the possible rewards associated with each skill. Recruiting was something I was always good at, but it was not the thing I was most passionate about. However, the lucrative potential coupled with the ability to work remotely was attractive.

I chose to start my consultancy, Recruiting Juggernaut, and poured all my efforts into the success of the venture. That meant seeking out every opportunity I could to prove my ability to provide superior talent to clients in a variety of industries. With my single-minded approach to business, my productivity went nuclear. Over my career, I have had the good fortune to work with world-class companies such as Databricks, Splunk, Facebook, Electronic Arts, and LinkedIn, as well as dozens of up-and-coming technology start-ups.

In reality, honing in on singular goals is still something I struggle with today, but the more success I achieve, the more confidence I build and the more ways I look to challenge myself. What I have learned most is that taking the time to focus on a defined goal and making sure it is done to the best of your ability is well worth the effort. Quality trumps quantity every time and establishing a base of success lays the foundation to add new levels and continue to build.

Go Find a Target!

So, what is that vision you have in mind? Not everyone is going to climb frightening mountains without a safety net, but we all have dreams and passions that we can make into reality. You cannot hit a bullseye if you don’t know the target, so choose your own target and take aim. Taking that step brings you that much closer to realizing your chosen goal.