Conquering Everest
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves”. These are words from Sir Edmund Hillary who in 1953 became one of the first persons to successfully summit over 29,000 feet to reach the peak of Mount Everest, which at the time was considered the highest point on Earth. He had done what twelve expeditions prior failed to do!
If their is any guarantees in life, it is that we all at multiple points in time will come face to face with our own Mount Everest. Massive cliffs, peak and valleys that seem insurmountable.
Some Everest’s come in the form of financial hardships. Others may come as a bitter, painful divorce. Perhaps a struggle with mental or physical illness. No mountain is ever the same and many believe they may never conquer their Everest. Of course that is what they said about the Mount Everest, that is until Sir Edmund Hillary made the impossible possible.
I have come face to face with many Everest’s in my life. Each time I came face to face with that Goliath, draped in a shadow of trepidation, my initial instinct was to run. Thing is once you arrive at the base of your mountain there is nowhere to run. You either curl up and die or you grab a handful of cold, jagged rock and start climbing that son of a bitch.
Start climbing, easier said the done right? Believe me each time I have come face to face with a hardship, these two internal voices start arguing like a couple of siblings. No you can’t! Yes I can! No you can’t! Yes I can! NO YOU CAN’T! Thing is both voices are right. As Henry Ford is credited with saying, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”.
So how do we conquer our Everest? As I reflect over my life and consider what it has taken to overcome my past hardships, I have come up with the principle of the 4 D’s. I know the name is cheesy but I haven’t yet come up with a better one.
So what are the 4 D’s?
#1. Decide
Before any positive action can be taken, you must decide to act! Be deliberate and declare your intentions. Change your “I want” to “I will”. Growing up, I often remember my mom saying “shit in one hand, wish in the other and tell me which fills up first”. Decide to act!
#2. Define
Define your why. Unless your why is greater than your why not, you will stay stuck right where you are. There is a reason you want to conquer that mountain before you. Burn that “why” into your mind.Tattoo it on your arm if you have to. Remind yourself each and every day why you are fighting the good fight.
#3. Design
When you want to go somewhere you have never been what do you do? You break out the map or you set the coordinates on your GPS. If you get lost then you ask for directions. Design your plan. Good news is you do not have to design it alone. There are countless people that have been through what you are facing and they can help. The are countless blogs, books, podcast and trained therapists that are ready, willing and able to help.
#4. Develop
Sir Edmund Hillary did not conquer Everest the first time he tried. He failed. He then took that failure and learned from it. He didn’t run away with his tail between his legs convinced that the climb was impossible. No he looked at that big, old, gnarly mountain and said in his best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice said “I’ll be back”. OK maybe not the Arnold voice but I am sure he went back and studied more, trained harder and leveraged resources. Then he kicked that mountain’s ass!
Somebody reading this right now is struggling. I know that mountain before you seems insurmountable. I know you are doubting yourself. Believe me I am facing my own Everest as I type this. There is no way the average person will ever successfully scale your mountain. So to that I say DON’T BE AVERAGE!
Decide to conquer your Everest. Define within why you must conquer it. Design your plan, with the help from others, and take action. Develop yourself by learning from your mistakes.
Since 1953, Mount Everest has been conquered by over 4000 people. The impossible is truly possible. You too shall overcome.
“It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves.”
