I just finished reading (and of course by reading I mean listening to an audio book) called No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs. Ed is a living legend of extreme mountaineering and the book follows along as he conquers one 8,000 metre summit at a time. He has now climbed all 14 of the worlds 14 – 8,000 metre peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen.
Now some people (I am definitely not pointing at my husband) may think this is just plain stupid and they are massive risk takers but as Ed says in his book – he is not a risk taker he is a risk manager. The reason why he has lived to tell his story of his massive achievements and still has ALL of his fingers and toes in tact is because he doesn’t like to take risks. If he feels something isn’t right he trusts his gut instinct and will turn back. He once turned back just before the summit of Everest, and has done so on many mountains if he felt the conditions were not right.
He has a motto that I just love: “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” It is on the decent that most accidents and deaths happen.
The philosophy that Ed stands by for his climbing is such a great analogy to success in all aspects of life – health, fitness, business, personal life. All through the book I kept thinking to myself, wow – that is just so true of everyday life. There really are no shortcuts to the top, if you want to make it in life you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. These great mountaineers certainly don’t just think one day “gee I might give Everest a crack today”. No they work hard. Really hard – for years and years and years! They train hard, they don’t just sit back and wait for it to happen they put in the hard yards.
They start at the bottom, learning everything they need to learn by first climbing smaller mountains. The sheer determination that is required to be a mountaineer is just mind boggling but it is the same with succeeding in life or business in general. To make it you just have to start, start anywhere and work from there – one bit at a time.
I find these books really motivate me… if I ever think I am having a tough day I think – pull yourself together girl – people climb mountains and they often make it, they strap on their crampons, put on their head lamp and set out at 10pm in many cases just to reach the summit in time to turn around and make it back down out of the death zone in time. If they can do that then surely to god you can sort your shit out Dan, surely! Stick your ice axe in and just keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you will reach the top. Oh boy I really have been reading too many mountaineering books haven’t I – I even know the lingo.
Look, as Ed has proved it certainly may not happen on the first try or even the third try but if you keep working hard and giving it a go time and time again you will make it to the top eventually – when it is right. This is so true isn’t it. I was just nodding along the whole time.
I certainly have no desire to climb a snowy mountain but the life lessons that you can learn from these stories are inspirational.
They don’t give up. They get knocked down, but they keep getting back up and giving it another go. Shit definitely goes wrong but they keep going – or they turn back and give it a crack another time.
It takes a very brave person that decides “nope this doesn’t feel right, so I am going to turn back or change direction”. But if this is what your gut is telling you then you should listen. Make the hard decisions. Stand for something. If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything. These decisions will keep you safe and keep you moving forward. They mean you have integrity and will not budge from your beliefs.
So there is my little motivational chat to start the week. I just can’t get enough of these stories of late and keep finding documentaries to watch about mountaineering. So if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them, I am ready for my next book.
Do you have any inspirational words of wisdom to share with us? We would love to hear them.
On wards and upwards my friends. If something feels hard, or your are going through a tough time just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep moving forward, do the small things and you will get there eventually, there will be hard days but just keep going my friends.
I have a “Quote of the Week” poster on my wall at work and I change it for a new quote every Monday morning. I have only just instigated at my current workplace a few weeks ago and I already have other staff on the floor emailing me their favourites 🙂 Some of my favourites are:
Play is the highest form of research. ~Albert Einstein~
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. ~Bruce Lee~
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. ~Marcus Aurelius~
It doesn’t matter what you did or where you were … it matters where you are and what you’re doing. Get out there! Sing the song in your heart and NEVER let anyone shut you up!! ~Steve Maraboli~
Mish