I think it was a few weeks ago that I saw an ad run by REI that focused on the concept of choosing one thing to really master in your life. Which is strange because in many instances mastering one thing includes mastering many aspects of that thing.

Tree climbing, for example. Throw lining, ascending, work positioning and safe work practices. I’m sure we could name ten thousand more aspects as well. In fact, I’m thinking specifically along the lines of tree climbing competitions because it provides a great example of what mastery is in a quantifiable way. That is, accumulating points, and winning masters, right?

Consider the three spheres of tree climbing: the tree, yourself and your gear. I believe that the more you have control over any one of these spheres, the better tree climber you will become. The closer to mastering the craft you will be. The better chance you will have at scoring points and winning masters. I totally understand that I’ll lose a couple people here.

Let’s think about ourselves first. I’ve heard a great quote stumbling around many a youtube motivational videos, and I’m sure you’ve heard it too: “Don’t let yourself get in your way.” I think many times we have this idea of ourself that we can’t escape. We say ‘well I’m not good at this but I am good at this’ so we accept ourselves for who we are, even if we’re not happy about it. We settle. This doesn’t become a problem until we want to grow or change or get better or win a contest. If we prevent ourselves from pursuing what we want, we’re in our own way.

Back to tree climbing competitions. If you finish 25th place or 27th place out of 30 climbers, or 30th, and that’s ok with you, then this would be a good place to stop reading. Also, if you are ok with being a decent climber, and you’ve settled with being able to move around the tree ‘pretty good’, then this would also be a good spot to stop reading.

But if getting better and improving as a climber keeps you up at night, or if it’s important to you to take an epic swing or install your lanyard as fast as you can at every chance you get in the crown, or if you’re constantly reconfiguring gear because you think you gain a micro-edge in proficiency, or maybe a few discretionary points, or if you do one footlock every night before bed because you know that every second shaved is point potential, or if you keep a copy of the revised rule book under your pillow, then you’re probably still with me here. You’ve decided that winning tree climbing contests is important to you.

You haven’t settled, and chances are you’re not going to let yourself stand in your own way. Or you may quite possibly be troubleshooting that issue right now. The critical thing is that you allow yourself time to grow. Change doesn’t happen overnight. To master ourselves-and I don’t want to go off the philosophical deep end here-we need to master our minds. That means lots of exposure to things that challenge us, so we can develop  our tools (especially our minds), exponentially.

Things that are too hard, or too uncomfortable, too daunting a task, start there. Make those things easy. Make those things a part of a regular routine until they become second nature. Mastering the details, the techniques, the brushstrokes, is the process of creating a finished masterpiece. It is a very complex dynamic, made up of the simplest of things.

Now for mastering the tree. And by the tree I mean all the trees. Or rather, the specific tree that you get to climb. So we see how easy it is to say, ‘well I’m really good at climbing Oaks but I’m not really that good at climbing Ash trees because I hate dealing with narrow crotches’. Back to the details.   ‘I can’t ever get my throw ball to run on Cherry or Hickory bark.’ Wah Wah Wah. So we identify where the struggle is in the challenging characteristics of specific trees, and develop tools to deal with those things. We have a plan for every species, and trick for every form of architecture.

Which brings us to mastering thy’ gear. And in our gear I think we see the tree and the self really come full circle. The eclipse begins. Because gear is so personal. There are many unique nuances amongst modern climbers, and behind those nuances is this idea of mastery. The developmental process is always ongoing, and a good climber will seek to perfect gear and how it is arranged forever and ever. For that shot at the title. A lanyard hangs to low, and gets caught on brush during the limb walk, which costs discretionary points. Change it. Dropped a handsaw and got DQ’ed. Change it. I fumbled with a htchclimber pulley during AR and lost about 40 seconds. Change it. My hitch locked up after taking a big swing and I couldn’t break it smoothly for the next station. Change it. I forgot to keep two hands on my handsaw when I rang bells. Change it. I forgot to say ‘stand clear’, I got a throw line stuck, I never told anyone to call ‘911’. Change it.

It might be this simple: to change is to master.