Have you ever tried to climb a mountain by yourself? I remember one time I was in the mountains, not even by myself but with a couple of friends and we decided to climb up a pretty steep cliff with no gear. I still remember this experience 12 years later because it was pretty scary, and can say I have not done anything like that again.
Climbing the mountain of success in any area of our life – can really feel like climbing that steep mountain except its more like climbing the face of a sheer cliff— of ice.
You start off at the bottom full of excitement. You are ready for the adventure of a life time. You may have even motivational books and feel amped up and excited to begin that climb. You feel like you have the right tools in your hand. You have your spikey shoes, your climbing rope and your little pick axes or whatever they call those things — You can obviously tell I am an expert climber!
You begin this climb one step at a time, and since you are new at it, there is a good chance that after just a few steps up you strike your axe and hit the wrong part of the ice and come crashing down in the snow, which hopefully is soft, but sometimes is hard and really hurts. You keep trying over and over and over but you just keep falling over and over and feel like you are not getting any where.
Most people at this point of crashing and burning over and over will give up. They say, “Forget this, this is way too hard.” They cop out in that moment and give up on their goal or dream and go back to something that is easier. Remember, most goals and good things in life, come from hard work and diligence.
There will be others that go and get more education, training and motivation but yet come back and try the exact same thing over again just to land on their butt repeatedly. They are so stubborn, that they just keep going and going, but don’t learn from their experiences. Some of them may even keep trying to climb that mountain of success until they get old and die, but having gotten no where.
First, understand that what you think you need to be happy in life isn’t always whats going to actually make you happy. As a mentor of mine Michael Neill says, “You can be happy driving a Porsche or you can be happy driving a bike.” Happiness is not guaranteed by getting to the top of your mountain of success. You can choose to be happy now. You only get one life, enjoy it and if your not enjoying it look harder, I’m sure there are parts of your life that you enjoy!
Now back to the ice climbers… I want you to know I have been each of these… and still am that person that keeps fighting and keeps climbing. I have climbed, fallen and then gone back to the books, studying and refining my skills. I have used this approach for quite a few years. In those many years I have begun my ascent of success and at times have been doing pretty well, however, after a while my axe hits into that soft part of ice and I land back down in the snow. Sometimes the landing has been soft and other times its pretty hard. At times it feels painful to get up and try again. However, I read some more, gain some hope, swallow my pride and keep climbing that mountain.
However, there is another way. It’s important to remember you don’t actually care if you climb the ice, you just want to reach the top of the mountain of success – whatever that is in your life. But there are many ways to do it. One that came to me today as I was working with my amazing coach Limhi Montoya is the following.
As you look around at that ice wall, odds are there many other people trying to climb that same ice wall and probably also falling on their but. At first, it may be funny to look at each other and light heartedly laugh as each of you fall down. Maybe you even say things like , “It’s okay, just keep going… you got this.” However, after you and another person keep watching each other rise and fall repeatedly, you both get a genius idea and realize you don’t actually care how you climb the wall. You have currently been trying the hardest way possible, but what if you tried something different?
What if you two worked together and what if you made it so you could climb in stages. You get a genius idea, “The ice wall really isn’t that high. I think there’s a better way.” You look just to the side of the ice wall and notice, just normal looking rock that’s not covered in snow.
You decide it would be easier if you could climb the mountain almost in phases. You remember seeing even on really tall buildings they constructed scaffolding. You begin to create scaffolding with your new ice climbing buddy. You put the first level in of the scaffolding and then jointly climb up the little make shift ladders on the side. You both take a look at the view. You are now 10 feet high, you go back down to get your next row of scaffolding. You even walk over to the other little ice climbers and say, “Hey come check this out.” However, they like you before, are just stubborn and say they have to climb the ice. After insisting for a while, you realize they are not going to listen and walk back to your scaffolding to put on the next level.
You and your partner then each carry up portions of the second level of scaffolding. It takes you a few trips. But soon enough you and your partner in crime are looking down from 20 feet. You are now only 80 feet away from your goal. And you are much higher than you ever got trying to climb the ice wall on your own. You enjoy your view for a little bit, and then anchor your scaffolding in the ice so it doesn’t tip. You give your partner a fist bump and celebrate your success. You then climb down and try to tell your struggling ice climbers to come with you again but to no avail. You and your partner gather more scaffolding and build the 3rd tier. Now you are 30 feet high only 70 feet away from your ultimate goal, and of course you not only anchor the scaffolding but you also tie yourself into the scaffolding. The view now may even be a little scary, you have never been this high up before, but you have your partner reminding you that you are doing great and helping keep you calm.
This pattern continues over and over until after a while you have built your 100 feet of scaffolding all the way to the top of the cliff. You look down at the fellow ice climbers, many that started when you did have now given up and are gone, but new ones have taken their places and are now attempting to climb the ice. You look over at your partner and you exchange an embrace. You have both done it, you have reached the top of the mountain of success and there is a humility in knowing that you could not have done it without them. I was a struggling ice climber for quite a while, and then I found a fellow ice climber my coach, accountability partner and friend Limhi Montoya and we began to build scaffolding together. It has made all the difference in my life and business.
If you are still currently trying to climb the ice, look around find a fellow climber and say “Let’s do this”. Doing things with an accountability partner is so much easier. You do the same work but just knowing that you have someone that believes in you, supports you and cares about you makes all the difference in the world.
Once again, If you are currently struggling to climb the ice mountain of success by yourself, partner up with someone. Start working together and help each other. And if you feel your struggling and want to sit with a coach that can help you find and rediscover the confidence in your life to believe that you really can have the exact life that you want then contact me and lets have a chat!