Throwing Holds to the Ground

Sport climbing is mostly judged by the difficulty of the route climbed. But there is an offshoot of gym climbing called "Speed Climbing". As the name implies, it is a sport where the competition is to see who can climb up a relatively easy route the fastest. Years ago I read about speed climbing champion Hans Florine and I remember this quote from him: "I imagine I am throwing the holds to the ground."

This quote really resonated with me, as it is easy to imagine that mindset. I feel the same way about getting anything done. You need to grab the project and throw it behind you. That is, you want to get it done -- completely and well -- as quickly as possible. You want that project to be in your past.  If you don't, if you hold on to them too long, then the next project comes along and suddenly you have two projects on our hands, and it becomes harder to throw the first project. Then more come along and next thing we know, you're juggling multiple projects at the same time and never get past any of them.

If I may use another outdoor sports analogy: expedition-style adventure racing is basically a multi-sport endurance race. The "Eco-Challenge" is probably the most well-known of these. Top teams finish the course in roughly 36 hours, people at the back of the pack take 4-5 days, if they finish at all. I once saw an interview with a member of a champion team who said something like: "When I'm on the course, all I can think about is 'I have to get off this course as soon as possible!  I don't know how those guys survive being on the course for 4 or 5 days. It's brutal. I would just die."