World Champion Climber Sasha DiGiulian on Risk, Fear, and Thriving Under Pressure

Michael Gervais (0:00)

What happens when your biggest obstacle isn't the mountain, it's your own self-doubt. Welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast, where we dive into the minds of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I am your host, Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade and training a high-performance psychologist. Today, we have a very special guest, Sasha DiGiulian, one of the world's top climbers and a true pioneer in her sport. In today's conversation, we dive into Sasha's unique approach to navigating fear, risk, and doubt. You'll hear how she balances the tension of caring while letting go, a mindset that fuels her success in climbing and in life. We also discuss how vulnerability plays a key role to her mental performance and how she learned to tune out external judgment while staying authentic to herself. She opens up about her struggle through multiple hip injuries and the importance of resilience through challenges and how recovery is important for all of us to live our best lives. I know you're looking to explore what it takes to master your own craft, whether you're in sport, business, the arts or as a family member. This conversation is full of actionable insights that will help you perform under pressure, stay grounded, embrace the ever-changing journey ahead. Let's dive into this week's conversation with Sasha DiGiulian.

Sasha, what a treat to have you here. It's a rare opportunity to be able to speak to somebody that has multiple firsts, that carved a unique path in life that most people do not understand. In some respects, it's like, wow, all right. So here we are with somebody who's a pioneer in many respects, and you're just like everyone else at the same time. So I want to understand a handful of how you work from the inside out, what it's like to be you, somebody who's on the frontier that's pushing, that's making waves, and what your inner life is to be able to allow you to do that. So welcome to the Mastery Lab.

Sasha DiGiulian (2:13)

It's an honor to be here. I really appreciate you welcoming me to the show. So excited to dive in.

Michael Gervais (2:19)

Yeah, cool. What is it like for you in this moment right now to be you? What is it like to be in the chair? And the reason I ask is because what's ever happening inside fundamentally shapes the words we choose, the stories we tell or don't tell. And I know that when I sit in your chair, heart rate pounds, something happens for me, sometimes it's excitement, sometimes it's nervousness. And we don't talk about the inner experience enough. And from the distance, it looks like, wow, Sasha's got it all together. But what is it like as we're just getting started in this conversation?

Sasha DiGiulian (2:56)

No, I think you hit the nail on the head about me just being any ordinary person. Like I'm just over here struggling to figure it out. And the facade of like, as if I have it all figured out, I don't.

And internal struggles are a big part of my battle. And so every day is different. Some days are good. Some days are bad. Some days I wake up feeling really proud of myself and motivated to go conquer whatever mountain it is for the day. And then some days I wake up feeling like an imposter in my own body. So I don't know. I would say the struggle is real.

Michael Gervais (3:40)

Thank you for bringing that forward because now we've got a fertile ground now to go explore. And you know why I love speaking with adventure athletes is because you and they love boundaries and to push at the edge of the boundary. And it's at the boundary, at the frontier, at the edge that the breakthrough happens and you could fall apart into a thousand pieces and you could actually hurt yourself in your environment. But let me draw in one more one more time as you are sitting here in this moment, what is happening inside of you?

Sasha DiGiulian (4:20)

I'm feeling excited to get vulnerable and nervous to be misunderstood and calm because you have a very calming presence. So excited to just have a good chat, I guess.

Michael Gervais (4:39)

Look at that. That might be a more important insight that most people have ever said in these conversations. So one, I'm excited to be vulnerable, nervous to be misunderstood.

And at the same time, which both of those are high activation, and then you've got this other piece that says I feel calm because like the space feels calm. Okay, what is the predominant driver? Is it excitement? Is it fear? Or is it calmness? By the way, public speaking, which we're not doing right now, but sharing the inner life with other people is one of the hardest things to do.