9 life lessons from rock climbing- Matthew Childs

Rating: ****

Matthew Childs lectures the audience on nine lessons that not only apply to rock climbing but to life as well.   

Childs explains nine simple rules to apply to your daily life and your climb. The first is “Don’t let go”. The message he conveys here is to never give up too soon. You can usually work through the problem. His second word of advice is “Hesitation is bad”. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing and don’t look back. Trust your intuition. The third lesson is “Have a plan”. If you want to succeed then you need to look at the bigger picture as well. You shouldn’t waste all of your energy at once. “The move is the end”, talks about how you shouldn’t stop in the middle of what you’re doing, you should try your best to follow through to the end. Childs’ fifth lesson is “Know how to rest”. When you’re worn out and stressed, the best thing to do is to find a way to rest and gather yourself before continuing with your task. His sixth lesson is “Fear sucks”. Childs tells the audience to always focus on what they’re doing instead of letting the fear of failing distract them.  “Opposites are good”, tells us to think outside of the box and to not always do what we’re used to. Another lesson Matthew Childs explains is “Strength ≠ success”. Use all of your muscles, especially the ones that are used most often. Balance is the key to success. Be realistic with the way you approach things. Finally, Childs teaches the audience to “Know how to let go”. If you know that you are going to fall, think of how you can control it to decrease the amount of damage done.       

This TED talks has made me think about examples in my life of when I would be able to apply these lessons, and how I could have handled some situations differently. I have learned to always try to follow through with the task at hand, to plan ahead, to keep a clear mind, to be creative and balanced, to trust myself and to know when it is time to give up. I will try to share the knowledge I have gained from this video with others around me. Matthew Childs’ speech has inspired me to apply these tips to my own life whenever I can.

Childs, Matthew. '9 Life Lessons From Rock Climbing'. Ted.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2015.