Each person has their own personal Everest, and one can conquer it with resiliency, determination, and tenacity.
Most people admire those who can successfully climb and conquer the almost insurmountable mountains of the world. Conquering Mt. Everest is a challenging undertaking. It requires meticulous planning and analysis of various situations one might face while climbing to the peak.
Whether you realize it or not, to maximize their effectiveness, successful people in other fields must spend time reviewing their actions and the results of those actions. Fine-tuning their efforts regularly keeps their outlook fresh and their optimism high. And sometimes, it only takes a minor coarse adjustment to make a big difference in the outcome.
Here are a few ideas to get you started on your journey toward excellence as you climb your mountain.
Your Personal Growth Plan. Begin by assessing your skill level and determining what new skills you need to acquire to help with your growth strategy. Who might you solicit to help with the accomplishment of your plan? Humanity needs help. Climbing mountains alone is not a good idea. Find a mentor to guide you along the way and to help keep you on course. Come alive! No more coasting. No more just getting by. Go for it with a focused plan of action and a commitment to improving. Remember, it is mountain climbing time.
What You Stand For. People who have no stance about their life will generally stand for anything. And that scattered focus cannot get you laser beam success. Becoming very clear about your values and core beliefs is the starting point. Once you have those ideals crystal clear, you know what actions you are willing to take and which ones you are not. Doing this will significantly simplify your decision process and make you more satisfied with your decisions and results. Remember that it is about developing congruence between your inside thinking and your outside actions.
The Mountains You Want To Climb. People have dreams. Unfortunately, most people go to their graves with unfulfilled goals. But fulfillment would only have required defining which mountain they wanted to climb. Making up your mind is half the game. Where is the empty spot in your heart? Why not develop some action to fill that void? This destination, if reached, is almost guaranteed to bring happiness and immense satisfaction. Want to have good feelings? Identify your mountain!
Start the process with an attitude adjustment. You may experience moderate success with a lousy attitude, but it is only possible to achieve great success by possessing the confidence a positive attitude provides. Viewing your future as a possibility, not an impossibility, would be best. You must see, feel, and taste the fruits of self-improvement. It would help if you thought of yourself rising the mountain and edging closer to the peak.
At The Peak
Alan V. Goldman, in his book Reflections on Mountaineering, summarizes much of what he learned in his more than thirty years of climbing. Here, many of the same moral issues that confront people in everyday life are present in the high mountains, only to a sharper degree. Musing on topics such as awe and wonder, fear and how to confront it, the lure of the big mountains, as well as the role of luck, fate, and chance, Mr. Goldman makes accessible to the general public the otherwise “hidden” truths that mountaineers often experience.
Further, many poems address the human perception of reality in the context of the meaning of life itself and how climbers impart sense to the mountains by climbing them. Of course, the poems deal with the feelings evoked by striving for success in the hills and coping with defeat.
Above all, there is meaning to be found in the preparation and discipline required for mountaineering and in experiencing the delight of the conquest of both the mountains and of oneself.
Two months ago, Christians around the world celebrated the season of Advent. Advent is a time of joy and anticipation for Christmas, a day that is remembered as the birth of Christ. Why not interject a bit of “Advent” into your daily routine beginning now? Commit to adopting a focused plan to help you climb your mountain. It is an action well worth the effort. It is a mountain worth climbing in the first two months of the New Year!
Wandering Will 