Let me paint you a picture. Located just a little to the south of me is Mt Warning. The first place in Australia to catch the sunrise every day. Thousands of locals and tourists alike take the 4.4km hike up (and another 4.4km hike down) the mountain each and every week. Estimated time to complete climb is 4 to 5 hours. Its not for the faint hearted. And, its certainly not for the weak minded. But the rewards are many. For 14 years Ive wanted to climb that mountain and let other things get in my way. If you really want to get down to it, I used other things to do, and many other excuses as reasons why I didnt take the climb. Not that I was afraid I couldnt make it. I just let other things get in the way of achieving my goal. Much like many of us do in our businesses. So, on Saturday morning, my partner Daniel and I set-out on a mission to conquer that mountain. We began our climb at 7am. The first 20 minutes of the trek see us hitting up hundreds of steps, of varying heights. In no time at all my quads are burning and Im wondering what the hell Ive gotten myself in for. I havent seen any signs of how far there is to go and I start to have second thoughts. That self-sabotaging dragon in my head is starting to yell all kinds of negative words at me. I stop and turn to Dan and say Hey babe, this is gonna kill me... To which he replies Youll be right babe!. So I did. Because although it may be really painful now, the rewards will be worth it. AND Im. Not. A. Quitter. I. Do. Not. Take. The. Easy. Way. Out. Doing so does not fill me with feelings of achievement. It fills me with regret. On we went. One step at a time. Twenty minutes later, legs burning and aching, lungs raking in each breath, sweat starting to bead on down my face and in my hair... And, then there was a sign. Dan points out that were half way there. Thank the Gods! I look back at Dan and hes a little pale. Said hes been dizzy and had spots in his eyes for 20 minutes. But, he hasnt complained or quit either. Hes a trooper. And, if theres a job to be done... well, hell just get in there and do whatever it takes to get it done. Were pretty similar like that. So, we encourage each other along. We rest for a few seconds here and there. Take in the magnificent view that is unfolding before our eyes. The Northern Rivers of NSW is spectacular and is flanked by the Pacific Ocean, valleys and mountains. As far as the eye can see the views are breathtaking. And, as we climb, they get better and better. But something else is happening. Something more internal. Something much more personal. Ill come back to that. On and on we climbed. Up steps made from timber. Up steps that have been forged out of the mountain rock. Over creeks and mountain streams. It was tough... Sometimes quite grueling. And, I would think How much farther is there to go... We walked on for another twenty minutes or so and saw another sign telling us we were only 1.4kms from the top. Well, there was no way we were going to stop now. We were almost there. We could taste victory!!! I was born down and out. I have raised myself up above that. I did that on my own. And, I did it by not letting anyone tell me I cant. I did it by not allowing myself to tell me I cant. I did it by not taking pity on myself. I did it by not winging about my situation. I am determined. I am resolved. I am resourceful. I am strong. I am resilient. I am focused. I am not defeatist. And, when I really want something, I go out and get it! Higher and higher we went. It wasnt a walk in the park. There were some really difficult sections to be faced. And, overcome. It was getting really steep now. We had to not only use our feet and legs. But, get our hands in on the action. We were climbing a mountain after all. AND The higher we climbed... The tougher it became. BUT The higher we climbed... The tougher we became. Finally. We reached the final precipice. There were just 400 metres to go. There was a chain rail to assist in this section as it is almost straight up! Dan being 6ft+ decided he didnt want to use the chain and became a human mountain goat. Using just his sheer will and physical strength to get to the top. Climbing straight up the rock face. It was an impressive sight. It is also very reflective of how he lives life. Hes not a mummys boy. Hes athletic. Hes strong. Hes independent. And, me being a big of a short arse decided that using the chain for support was going to be the best solution. The foot-holds on some of those rocky sections were just too far apart and being that my arse is just too close to the ground I couldnt get a proper footing. And, thats o.k. too. Because sometimes in life you need to put your hand out and ask for/accept help. And, doing so is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, the most successful business people, sports people, and the like, have all asked for help at some point. They realised that if they didnt ask/accept help they risked more than just hurting their pride. They risked not achieving their goals. And, not achieving their goals was not something they were prepared to do. The would not settle for less. So, for me, it was either use the rope or wait at the base of that precipice for Dan to come back down and tell me just how amazingly gorgeous the view is from the top. Wait for him to come back down and tell me just how accomplished he feels. It was a matter of accept the help on hand. Or remain stuck. And, accept all that comes with that. And, as it is in business, so it is in life. Remaining stuck at the base of that precipice is something I just will not accept. Im nothing if not competitive. I grabbed on to that chain. And, Oh. My. God. There was nothing going to stop me getting to the top. My adrenaline had kicked in big time. I held on for dear life. It was a long hard fall if I didnt. The higher I went, the more difficult it became. But, with every step. With every haul on that chain. I was soooo much closer to achieving my goal. I could see Dan scaling the mountain above me and my competitive nature changed things up a notch. (Did I say I was competitive? #lol) He was almost at the top. That spurred me on. There was no way we were going down this mountain without me getting to the top and standing by his side. And, then... with just a couple of metres to go, I could feel it. It was beginning to consume me. I had to maintain focus and control. I didnt want to get ahead of myself. Then. With one last heave on the chain and a massive step. I planted myself atop that mountain. The view, said to be nothing short of amazing, was more than I could have imagined. The sky, which, only 24 hours before had been overcast and rainy, was a perfect blue. We could see for miles and miles north, south, east and west. Id never been so high up in my life. I didnt want to come back down. And, like I said earlier, there was more to it than that. It was deeper. It was more personal. A friend of mine who has been climbing the mountain once a month mentioned that he likes to take stuff up with him and leave it behind. Stuff that is weighing him down. And, I thought that was a brilliant idea. So, I took my stuff up the mountain. Stuff that had been doing my head in. Stuff that Id been carrying around for too long. Stuff that was holding me back. Stuff that was stopping me from achieving my goals. Stuff that was working against me and not for me. And, I left it there. As I stood atop Mt Warning looking out at the world I said goodbye to stuff that wasnt serving me. I let it go. To land where it may. To be free of it. By getting to the top I was able to feel things I hadnt felt for some time. I felt lighter. I felt unburdened. I felt free. I felt accomplished. I felt successful. I had an overwhelming feeling of achievement. I had a renewed mindset. We had it easy in comparison. It took the first explorers to climb Mt Warning 3.5 days to reach the top. It was much more rugged then. When they reached the top they found the views to be magnificent. So much so that they decided to spend the night atop the mountain, disregarding the fact they had absolutely no food. But, I cant help but feel there was a lot more going on for those guys. In their heads. Than the views alone. Where are you spending your time in business and life... At the base of the precipice? Or, from the top of a mountain? What do you need to let go of so you can be the YOU that you know you deserve to be?
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 06:50:32 +0000
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