There’s More than one Path to the Top
"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain but all the happiness and growth occurs when you're climbing it." - Andy Rooney.
How you approach climbing a mountain can be a metaphor for how you approach your goals in life. The top of the mountain is the destination, it is the goal, but there are often several different paths you can choose all still leading to the top, but they varying in degree of difficulty. Choosing the path that is the right challenge for your skill level can very well determine if you’ll even make it to the top and perhaps more importantly if you’ll enjoy the hike getting there.
Often times, the shortest hike is the one that attracts the most people, regardless of their experience and skill level. Sure, there will be steep inclines, times when you’re climbing mostly hand over hand, with potentially dicey footing and narrow passages, but it gets to the top in less miles than any of the other paths. Even though you are a novice hiker and realize that it will be a harder more difficult ascent, you think that the short-term suffering will be worth it.
You begin the hike off with energy and enthusiasm, eager to see the spectacular vistas that await you. The path begins to steepen, you start breathing hard, but keep pushing, the sweat is now dripping off and your eyes are fully focused downward not allowing yourself to look up and enjoy the views that are already available. Your breath has become labored and a rest is mandatory if you’re to continue on. You move to the side of the trail and instead of relishing the rest all you can focus on is the experienced hikers marching on pass, breathing heavy but laughing and enjoying their time on the trail. What will happen next….you’ll either one- try to push on reaching the top hating the whole experience, probably having sustained some sort of injury or two- realize how far you actually are from the top, become despondent and head back down the parking lot ashamed and depressed.
What if you took a longer more gradual path instead, where the inclines are less steep, where you’ll have moments of struggle but are able to regain your breath and keep marching forward? What if you actually allowed yourself to look around and enjoy the hike up the mountain? You know that the path will take you to the top…it’s not like the mountain is going anywhere, and that you’ll still be challenging yourself but the challenge will match your skill level, it will be hard but you know it will be doable. There’s a lot less stress on this path, yes it will take longer but you’ll be getting stronger and building up confidence in your abilities as you climb.
When you finally do reach the top of the mountain, you’re dog tired but you feel accomplished and energized: you made it to the top without injury, you never gave up, you pushed yourself to the level you could while marching onward, you allowed yourself to actually enjoy the hike, you allowed yourself to embrace the journey and you kept your eyes on you, the peak and beauty of the path. Now that you’ve conquered one mountain and proved to yourself that you can do it and that challenges can actually be enjoyable you start looking at all the other mountains that you GET to climb, all the other chances for adventure, chances to improve, chances to hone your skills and become an expert. There’s always another mountain to climb and with each climb you start looking forward to the next one instead of dreading it.
When setting goals in life, make sure you look at all the paths that are available to you. The shortest ascent isn’t always the best ascent, and failing to embrace the beauty of the struggle and the magnificence of the challenge can lead you to shy away from taking on new goals and challenges. Reaching the top is the shortest part of the journey, it feels amazing but the majority of your time, energy and effort will be spent getting there. Make sure you choose the path that challenges you but also energizes you, that pushes you just slightly pass your current abilities, stretching yourself to get there but not with injury.
If you are interested in the importance of matching the challenge with skill level, please read Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
If you’re interested in hiking but would like an experienced guide please look into the FB Group Two Left Feet , led by Jenny Keefe
If you’ve been struggling with reaching goals of your own and would like to set up a Strategy call with me please click HERE
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