I’ve always believed that obsession can be one of the most powerful tools in hard climbing. Visualising daily, thinking deeply about a project, and keeping it alive in your mind can create clarity, direction and belief.

But this week, a conversation with my friend John made me question whether obsession is always useful.

John told me that with his own project, Sufferance, he reached a point where he had to mentally distance himself from it completely. He stopped visualising, stepped away, and almost forgot the route existed for a month.

As soon as he suggested I might need to do the same with Free at Last, something clicked.

In this episode, I talk through the difference between commitment and attachment, why caring deeply can sometimes turn into pressure, and why stepping away from a project isn’t the same as giving up. S ...