The Diary Of A CEO: "The Greatest Climber Alive: I Shouldn’t Have Attempted That Climb!"

Featuring Alex Honnold
Host: Steven Bartlett
Release Date: February 19, 2026

Episode Overview

In this profound and wide-ranging episode, Steven Bartlett sits down with legendary free solo climber Alex Honnold—famed for scaling some of the world's tallest cliffs and, more recently, the Taipei 101 skyscraper live on Netflix. Together, they dig deep into the psychology of risk, the obstacles and sacrifices of pursuing one’s passion, how childhood and personality shape ambition, and the nuts and bolts of surviving and preparing for life-defining climbs. Honnold’s reflections—on fear, purpose, family, and finding a meaningful life—offer more than a chronicle of adventure: they’re a manual for anyone wanting to push their limits, confront their fears, and live deliberately.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Redefining Risk & Intention

• On intentional risk versus unintentional risk
  • Alex criticizes the idea that his risks are inherently more dangerous:

    “People look at my life and they're like, well, you're crazy. You're such a risk taker. Well, at least I'm taking the risks that I'm choosing…” (00:00)

  • He points out everyone is risking something—often without realizing it:

    “Even sedentary people who are like, well, I don’t take risk. I stay home and I play video games. No, you’re at a much higher risk of heart disease.” (00:03)

  • Takeaway: You can't escape risk, but you can choose which risks are worth it to you.

2. Upbringing, Family, and Formative Influence

• Childhood context shapes the path
  • Alex grew up in an unemotional, non-athletic, high-expectation, but supportive household.
  • His mother pushed for high standards (“not good enough” was a common refrain), but:

    “I don’t want to be crippled by perfectionism. It’s better to fail quickly and learn…than to not try something.” (03:43)

  • Home life was “safe, relatively happy” but affection felt “conditional.”
  • Insights into his parents’ divorce, his father's depression/death, and the effect on his worldview:

    “I don’t think I ever saw my dad truly happy until after the divorce. But then he died.” (02:36)

• On emotional expression
  • His household lacked emotional warmth; he’s aware it shapes his adult relationships.

3. Love for Climbing & Career Trajectory

• Early affinity for climbing
  • Alex fell in love with the movement, challenge, and view (“elemental, like running or swimming”) from childhood, never with the intent of making it a career.
  • He lived in vans for 10 years, scraping by on minimal sponsorship and inheritance after his father died.
  • On resilience and out-lasting the competition:

    “You just can’t master a craft overnight.” (00:43)

  • The turning point: Free Solo documentary and milestone climbs propelled him into the mainstream.

    “All of a sudden, your earnings are like...” (13:11)

• Sacrifice and Career Graph
  • He’d relive the struggle years ("I loved it so much")—validation for “cherishing the journey, not the end result.”
  • Offers implicit advice for those treading unconventional paths.

4. Mortality, Fear, and Mastery

• Death as motivator instead of inhibitor
  • Father’s sudden death illuminated life’s brevity:

    “The most immediate impact...was just reminding me of my own mortality...he died unexpectedly at 55.” (13:59)

  • Society’s denial of mortality keeps people from taking meaningful risks:

    “One of the reasons that people don’t do risky things is...they have this mistaken idea that they can live forever.” (14:36)

• Misconceptions about Fearlessness
  • Many believe Alex lacks fear; he rebuts:

    “You’re just scared all the time as a climber...climbing is fundamentally scary.” (21:46, 22:53)

  • The famous amygdala brain scan seen in Free Solo isn’t proof of biological bravery, but a byproduct of exposure:

    “After 20 years of conditioning I respond differently than an average person. And you’re like, yeah, no kidding.” (23:53)

  • Offers universal encouragement:

    “There’s no hack [to overcoming fear]. You just get really freaking scared over and over for so long and eventually it’s not that scary anymore.” (25:56)

  • On preparing for and managing fear, visuals, and anxiety—"exposure therapy" works.

5. Process, Preparation, and Mastery

• Breaking down challenges
  • Climbs like Taipei 101 involved months of segmenting, note-taking, and rehearsals:

    “Anywhere where you see it looking a little different...each little segment is quite different...so I checked out all of them with ropes...you just go piece by piece.” (39:28)

  • Endurance built over tours of 24–50+ hour climbs, which gives confidence for stunts lasting an hour or two.
  • Visualization and methodical risk control underpin his approach.

6. Work, Money, and Motivation

• Doing it for the love, not the paycheck
  • Early years marked by financial precarity.
  • Honnold’s attitude to money: contribute value first, worry about rewards later—a philosophy Bartlett echoes for entrepreneurship.

    “Throughout my whole...career as a climber, I basically have never worried about money, and I’ve always just tried to do the thing and let it all play out.” (47:29)

  • Even after the Taipei 101 climb, Honnold minimizes the role of money and prefers the impact and serendipitous opportunities that follow passion.

7. Personal Life, Relationships & Parenting

• Relationships shaped by upbringing
  • Alex admits to low emotional expressiveness but high commitment via acts of service.
  • Reflection following a heartfelt letter by his wife, Sanni McCandless, highlighting his love expressed through presence, helpfulness, and attention not words:

    “Actions speak louder than words. I’m kind of like, if you’re doing all the things...you don’t need to talk about them.” (60:01)

  • Ongoing work to grow in verbal expression (“incremental progress”).
  • Advice to his daughters—find “the thing you love to do, go hard...find the thing that doesn’t feel like hard work.” (18:54)

8. Resilience, Perseverance, and Outlasting

• Persistence as the real hack
  • Whether climbing, podcasting, or business:

    “So much of the game in becoming great at something...is just grinding. It’s just going, keep doing it, unusual amount...it’s like compounding interest.” (62:30)

  • Little steps matter more than perfect plans or giant leaps:

    “It’s always better to take a step than to not take a step.” (75:02)

  • “Greatness doesn’t exist. Greatness is just good repeated.” (75:36)
  • Focus on value, learning, and small goals over grand masterplans.

9. Meaning, Purpose, & Social Good

• Deep meaning comes from value and service
  • His work through the Honnold Foundation—giving a third of his income to community solar projects worldwide—is a response to wanting tangible, positive impact.
  • Website: honnoldfoundation.org (94:19)
  • “Direct material impact immediately...the foundation has always been my attempt at doing something useful.” (94:43, 95:01)
  • The intangible impact—providing inspiration—also matters. “That’s the framing that I hope for...best case scenario for my climbing.” (95:59)
• Final advice: Don’t procrastinate searching for the big picture—trust that acting on what you love will draw your life’s pattern in hindsight.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On risk:

  "So you might as well take smart, calculated risks and do all the things that you want to do and at least die happy when you go." — Alex (00:00, 15:29, 88:16)

• On overcoming fear:

  "There’s no hack [to overcoming fear]. You just get really freaking scared over and over for so long and eventually it’s not that scary anymore." (25:56)

• On achievement’s illusion:

  "People watch some of those programs and they’re like, he just walked up and did it. And you’re like, well, yeah, after 30 years of practice, like, I just walked up and did it. But no, it’s not like just walking up and doing it." (21:15)

• On relationships:

  "Not overly emotional, but present, committed and always seeing what others miss." — Sanni’s letter (59:00–59:15)

• On finding and building a fulfilling life:

  "Following your own goals is, I think, certainly one of the cores of having a meaningful life. Like, having things that you find valuable." (34:55)

• On small steps:

  "The thing is, it’s always better to take a step than not take a step." (75:02)

• On persistence:

  "If you put enough time into something and you let it compound, it slowly gets bigger and bigger." (62:34)

• On mastery:

  "You just can’t master a craft overnight." (00:43)

• On planning versus serendipity:

  "You don’t always know ahead of time which of those things are going to stand out...but you just do them anyway." (68:10)

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–00:34 — On choosing intentional risk
• 02:36–04:14 — Family dynamics and the roots of Alex's drive
• 06:29–09:49 — Discovering and dedicating to climbing
• 13:11–14:31 — Impact of father’s death and lesson in mortality
• 21:46–23:53 — Misconceptions about fear, the brain scan, and exposure therapy
• 39:28–41:07 — Preparing for Taipei 101: process, breakdown, visualization
• 47:29–50:48 — Money, motivation, and focusing on value over reward
• 54:39–61:33 — Relationships, emotional intelligence, and Sanni’s letter
• 62:30–63:26 — Compounding interest: perseverance, patience, and long-term success
• 75:02–76:38 — Power of incremental, embarrassingly small steps
• 88:16–89:12 — The philosophy of risk, intentionality, and practical advice
• 94:19–95:01 — Honnold Foundation and direct social impact

Episode Tone & Language

• Conversational, authentic, sometimes blunt—Alex is practical, understated, and anti-hype.
• Steven mixes curiosity, admiration, and personal vulnerability, keeping the dialogue warm but incisive.
• The episode exudes humility, integrity, and a challenge to conventional thinking.

Summary Takeaways

Alex Honnold’s extraordinary achievements are not the result of superhuman fearlessness or physical gifts, but of relentless, intentional effort, choosing worthy risks, and a deep love for his craft. Whether it’s overcoming emotional barriers, grinding through years of obscurity, or leveraging his fame for greater causes, Alex advocates living with eyes open: embracing discomfort, confronting mortality, and always taking the next step. His story is both permission and provocation—don’t wait for clarity; start, persist, and let greatness unfold.

Links:

• Honnold Foundation

For further inspiration:

• “Greatness doesn’t exist. Greatness is just good repeated.” (75:36)
• “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.” — Steve Jobs (76:38)

For climbing fans, risk takers, or anyone asking how to live more fully, this episode is a masterclass in courage, process, and intentional action.