Convincing Your Head To Succeed

One thing I notice as I try to become a better climber is that the difference between hanging on or falling off often boils down to convincing yourself that you can make the move. There have been so many times where I've been poised to move to the next hold, energy and strength level getting to the edge of flagging but still enough that it's conceivable that I could do it, and my mind didn't see it happening. And I let go. Sure, I suppose I could train hard enough so that I'm never approaching the limits of my endurance or power -- but part of the challenge of climbing is poking at those limits. It's enlightening to put yourself at the edge to find out how you perform when the outcome teeters easily between failure or success. And every time I face those moments, I want my head to be utterly convinced that I'm going to make that move. Or utterly convinced that I'm not going to make that move, for that matter. But what I don't want is to fall off wondering whether I could have succeeded.