EP 124: Karly Rager — Mental Strategies for Developing Focus, Learning vs. Performing, and Building a Coaching Business

The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Karly Rager is a structural engineer turned climbing coach, and the founder of Project Direct Coaching. We talked about Karly’s background and what led her to start her own coaching business, being a female in two male-dominated industries, mental strategies for developing focus and overcoming fear, transitioning between climbing disciplines, using injuries as opportunities, cultivating longevity in our climbing, valuing coaches more highly, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/karly-rager

Nuggets:

0:06:11 – Literature, poetry, and public speaking

0:10:07 – Engineering school, and rediscovering art

0:11:37 – Karly’s background, studying engineering and working as a structural engineer, and discovering climbing

0:15:48 – How climbing connects with the engineering and the artistic parts of the brain

0:19:11 – Mentoring friends, and becoming a climbing coach

0:21:52 – Mental strategies for developing focus, and being an observer of your own mind

0:25:53 – Making mental training measurable, and mindfulness practice

0:28:31 – Starting her coaching business (Project Direct), and figuring out which lever to pull

0:31:58 – Developing skills, emersion, and learning vs. performing

0:36:41 – The “Trenches of Transition”, and my (Steven’s) transition from Smith Rock to steep cave climbing

0:39:26 – Having different grade pyramids for different styles of climbing

0:43:51 – Karly’s 4 Pillars, and questions to ask yourself if you are considering getting a coach

0:48:24 – How to get initial coaching experience, Karly’s leap from engineering to coaching, and recommended certifications for climbing coaches

0:53:43 – Stacking her resume, and being female in a male-dominated engineering world

0:58:23 – Being scrutinized as a female climbing coach, standing up for herself, and letting her guard down

1:01:49 – Using respectful language, and Karly’s tip of pretending your email is addressed to a male recipient

1:07:18 – Setbacks in climbing, breaking her leg, and the finite number of tears we have to cry

1:14:30 – My (Steven’s) first finger injury, and the wisdom I got from my roommate

1:17:45 – Using injuries as an opportunity

1:22:47 – My (Steven’s) favorite climbing areas right now, and favorite crags in St. George, UT

1:26:45 – New rock types take time

1:33:01 – Trying to onsight ‘The Rainbow Wall’

1:40:41 – Placing more value on ourselves as climbers and coaches, and being paid based on the scarcity of our skills

1:48:12 – How we value overworking in western society, and why we should be encouraged (and paid well) to do work we enjoy

1:52:56 – Karly’s “zone of genius”

1:54:51 – Cultivating longevity

1:59:36 – The eye contact drill

2:01:50 – Give each skill 8-10 weeks of focus

2:02:35 – Our body’s ability to remember skills and movements

2:04:51 – Different learning styles, using imagery, and using video as a tool

2:12:22 – Karly’s strategies for keeping her coaching businesses sustainable, having set days for specific tasks, and taking time off

2:20:13 – Making coaching more accessible while paying coaches well, and other ways to pay it forward

2:28:00 – Being a mentor and a mentee

2:30:33 – How Karly is currently being a mentee

2:33:46 – Karly’s hope for the climbing industry