Hannah Schubert is a 22-year-old professional climber from Austria – and probably doesn’t need any introduction. Over the past few years, she has competed in numerous European Youth Cups, Youth World Championships, World Cups and World Champs – and made podiums all along the way. She’s a multiple time youth world champion in lead climbing and has also made a medal in a Lead World Cup. Besides that, she is a wonderful, determined, outgoing and open-minded human being and I felt really humbled for when she was volunteering to do an Insta takeover for the past week, sharing her thoughts on the recently discussed topic vulnerability.

For some being vulnerable still means being weak which I find really sad and completely not true. We can build walls around us for so many reasons – whether to protect ourselves, to protect others, because we are insecure or feel misunderstood. Sometimes, building walls might feel the easiest way at first. However, in the end it's only gonna make us feel lonely and will probably make everything worse.

Being vulnerable by showing our true selves with all our flaws makes it possible to connect with other people which also means supporting each other. Sharing personal insecurities, struggles and experiences might be tough but at the same time it can help yourself and so many others who feel similar to handle them better. Together it's easier to accept that non of us is perfect. We all have our issues – and talking about them can make everything more bearable.

What I'm trying to say is that nobody should ever feel ashamed of showing their true self just because of the pressure of society to fit into specific patterns that are supposed to be "right".

You want to cry? DO IT!
You want to scream? DO IT!
Showing emotions should never be seen as a sign of weakness but as a sign of strength.

If our body gets injured or we feel sick we go to see a medical doctor. But if we don't feel good mentally or if we have struggles with our mindset most of us don't do anything about it. Why is that?

Some people don't realize that we can not only be physically injured but also mentally injured. I’m convinced that those “mental injuries” keep us from performing at our best in comps even more than physical ones. They are also a lot more complex and therefore harder to get rid off…

So why do we ask a specialist for help when there is something wrong with our body but not if our mind struggles with something?

I think the problem might be that going to a psychologist still has a different reputation in society than seeing a doctor or physio. There are (unfortunately) still lots of people who think that it's weird and people who go to therapy or to a (sport) psychologist are "not normal". I personally have no problem at all with telling people that I'm seeing a therapist every week. I'm actually proud that I'm brave enough to admit that I have problems that I can't fix myself and therefore seek help from a professional. I honestly believe that in fact most people would profit from going to therapy or seeing a psychologist because none of us is perfect and we all have problems we try to deal with.

You can handle it on your own and don't need help? That's great! But please don't judge people who ask for some support, there is nothing bad or a sign of weakness in that. It doesn't matter if it's a psychologist, a mental coach, a nutritionist or any other specialist you need help from, do whatever you think is best for YOU no matter what others might think. Your happiness and health should always be your first priority.

I have always ever cared way too much about what other people might think of me. I think the reason why a lot of people don't share their stories and aren’t more open and vulnerable is because they're afraid of the reactions from others.

Of course, I thought about it a long time before I started to openly talk about my struggles with disordered eating on Instagram at the beginning of last year. Of course, I was afraid of how everyone would react. But right after I shared my story I was really glad I did so.

First of all, it felt like a heavy weight was falling off my shoulders because I was hiding it for a while and felt like I could finally be honest with myself and everyone else. Secondly, the reactions I received were incredibly positive. So many people messaged me, cheered me up, tried to find encouraging words and so so many thanked me for sharing and letting them know that they are not alone with these sorts of problems. I was simply overwhelmed (and still am!) by the amount of love and understanding I received by our community.

Yes, I still sometimes think about other people’s opinion way too much. But from my experiences, I learned that being vulnerable, being honest, showing emotions, being brave and ignoring the worry about the reaction from others brought more positive things in my life than I could've ever expected! 🥰

What about you? What (positive) experiences have you made by being vulnerable? How did it help you to grow as a person? For me this was definitely the case.

If you want to contact Hannah, say hi or thank you, don’t hesitate to write to her by either commenting on this post or writing her a personal message.

GUEST BLOG BY HANNAH SCHUBERT: WHY I THINK VULNERABILITY MATTERS