EP 20: Steve Bechtel: The Glass Is Already Broken

Today on episode 20 I am so very pleased to welcome back to Clipping Chains climber, coach, trainer, and all-around great guy, Steve Bechtel. Steve joins us from Lander, Wyoming where he is the owner of Elemental Performance + Fitness and Climb Strong. Steve is a highly regarded pillar of the climbing coaching and training world, seemingly due to his no-nonsense persona, a dedication to simplicity, and a focus on key principles that generate results for his athletes.

That said, regardless of your dedication to training or even climbing in general, Steve has so much insight and clarity into living our best lives. Perhaps most poignant of all, Steve values the impermanence of today. If we can understand that the glass is already broken, a topic we’ll discuss, we know that every moment with it is precious.

Topics Discussed with Steve Bechtel

  • Steve’s origins on being a climber and a business owner
  • The importance of time as a non-renewable resource
  • Steve’s evolution on the importance of saving to enhance our available time
  • Steve’s thoughts on the many ways we all participate in self sabotage
  • Why Steve stepped away from social media
  • Simplicity: the universal importance of basic principles
  • Anti-fragility in a comfortable world
  • The importance of the “mini retirement”
  • The growing demand for climbing coaches
  • So much more!
Steve Bechtel bouldering at Elemental gym (photo: Craig Okraska)
Steve Bechtel bouldering at Elemental gym (photo: Craig Okraska)
Steve on Young Mountain Arete near his home of Lander, Wyoming (photo: Ellen Bechtel)
Steve on Young Mountain Arete near his home of Lander, Wyoming (photo: Ellen Bechtel)

Get in Touch with Steve Bechtel

Steve’s original interview with Clipping Chains: Steve Bechtel: The Importance of Time

Steve’s gym in Lander, WY: Elemental Performance + Fitness

Online-based training and coaching for climbers: Climb Strong

Performance Climbing Coach

Books by Steve Bechtel (select)

Logical Progression, 2nd Ed: Building Training Programs for Year-Round Climbing Performance

Unstoppable Force: Strength Training for Climbers

Lander Rock Climbs 2018

Mettle: Lessons From the Gym and Crag in Pursuit of Better Climbing

(My review of Mettle)

Other Books Mentioned

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (Michael Gerber)

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Cal Newport)

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto) (Nassim Taleb)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds: All Volumes – Complete and Unabridged (Charles Mackay)

The Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins)

Supertraining (Yuri Verkhoshansky)

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West (Wallace Stegner)

Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14 (Jeff Smoot)

Podcasts Mentioned

The Nugget Climbing Follow-Up with Steve Bechtel (Patron only)

Baffle Days: Steve Bechtel

Enormocast Episode 176: Jeff Smoot – The 80s Come Alive with Hangdog Days

The Simple Systems to Kicking Monetary Ass

Automation: The Dirty Little Secret to Spending Less

The GameStop Saga: Hedge Funds, Reddit Investors, and Why They’re All Wrong

Bitcoin and Other Things You Shouldn’t Own

Digital Minimalism: Give Me Back My Brain

Fear: Here’s How It’s Holding You Back

Emotional Fragility: Is This the New Normal?

Taking Action: Moving Beyond Inspiration

Ego and Mastery: Looking Good vs Being Good


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