TED Talks: 9 Life Lessons From Rock Climbing -- Matthew Childs

Rating: ***

In many things, concepts and lessons learnt can usually be found to transcend the medium that they were discovered in.  These things can carry over into life and often lead to the greatest epiphanies that many may experience in their lifetimes.  Matthew Childs is a rock climber who has first hand experience with many of these realizations and stands as a testament to the truth of this statement.  His life has been forever changed by pursuing what he loves.

In his short lecture, Matthew Childs talks about lessons that he has learnt from rock climbing that are perfectly applicable to his real life as well.  About 35 years into pursuing the craft he loves, he has focused on these 9 tips to get both his climbing and day-to-day life on the most desirable tracks, and he wishes to share those with the world.

The 9 tips are:

• #1: Don’t Let Go.
• #2: Hesitation Is Bad.
• #3: Have a Plan.
• #4: The Move is the End.
• #5: Know How to Rest.
• #6: Fear Sucks.
• #7: Opposites are Good.
• #8: Strength ≠ Success.
• #9: Know How to Let Go.

He has learnt these lessons throughout many different climbs all over the world, and they have greatly impacted his outlook on life and his willingness to always strive for what he believes to be the fullest of his capabilities.

This particular TED Talks short lecture was nice to watch, as it points out a number of things that people really should remember to heed in their lives.  That said, it’s a rather general message that has been conveyed many times before and is, suffice to say, not heavily intriguing.  So; therefore, I wasn’t all that interested or invested in this story and I didn’t learn or take anything away from it as it is, at the core, unoriginal material.  I figured though that I would still write on it since it does seem to entail referring to concepts that are often too elusive for many.  People get caught up in their daily “going-on’s” and quite regularly forget to think or channel their adaptive capabilities, and that leads to them forgetting many of these general “life rules,” which can undeniably be very helpful to remember whether you’re just getting through the day or climbing Yosemite Park mountains.

Childs, M. (2009) 9 Life Lessons From Rock Climbing. TED Talks. Recovered: June 5, 2015.