Navigating the Winds of Life (Part 4)

Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing – Barry Finlay

Camp or Climb

Mountain climbing is not only relegated to the physical ones like Mt. Everest. We are mountaineers in life when we pursue dreams, goals, and new habits such as quitting drugs and alcohol, getting in better mental, physical, and emotional health, starting a business, rebuilding a business or career after a colossal loss, a new job opportunity, going back to school, relocating, restoring a broken relationship, starting off in marriage, or starting a family. These are all uphill endeavors that require climbing. “Everything worthwhile is uphill,” says leadership expert and best-selling author Dr. John C. Maxwell. He continues this observation; “Too many people don’t seem to want to climb a hill. They just want to wait at the bottom and let whatever is at the top roll down to them!” If Dr. Maxwell framed this statement into a question, he would ask, “Are you a climber or a camper?”

The Climb is Worth It

My wife has a climber mentality. She refuses to camp at the base of good ideas and endless chatter about what she hopes to see or do. I’ve watched her go from excelling at personal finances to actively engaging with others to help them experience financial freedom with the knowledge she has amassed over the years. 

Climbing is worthwhile even when the wind of adversity is opposing you. A climber mentality keeps you from coasting through life and moves you into the zone where your efforts, charted in the right direction, take you to the top of the hill where dreams, goals, and better habits are realized. Regardless of confidence, nervousness, or excitement, a mountaineer never reaches the mountain summit while remaining at its base. The winds of life cannot stop the person who chooses to keep climbing. 

A climber mentality keeps you from coasting through life and moves you into the zone where your efforts, charted in the right direction, take you to the top of the hill where dreams, goals, and better habits are realized.

Everest Climbers

Before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the peak of Mt. Everest on May 29th, 1953, several expeditions to the summit had been attempted. None succeeded. With this metric staring them in the face, Norgay and Hillary could have chosen to camp, citing past failures and questioning their ability to fare any differently. Built to climb and not camp on past failures, Norgay and Hillary went on to make history. Their ascent to the top of Everest was a statement to others that although it is hard, it can be done. Since then, numerous successful expeditions to Everest’s summit have taken place.

Make the Choice

What are you aiming for in this season of your life? Are you settled in talking about it, circling around it, building excuses, or getting up and taking action? Are you willing to make the climb through hard work and sacrifice in the face of the winds of adversity? Or camp at the foot of what you wish you could do or reach for because you’ve fallen in love with the concept of where you want to go, but you won’t convert it into consistent action?

Are you willing to make the climb through hard work and sacrifice in the face of the winds of adversity?

Here are four simple steps you can take every day to overcome the camper mentality and become a climber:

1. Remind yourself why you are making the climb
2. Create small and measurable wins to build and maintain momentum that will surge you upward. 
3. Find someone to check in with and hold you accountable. No one succeeds without community. 
4. Help others reach their goals. 

Final Thought: Which mentality do you possess? The good news is that if you have a camper mentality, you can make the change by applying the four steps daily. Will you camp or climb?

Keep on keeping on!