Looking out and being able to see the curvature of the Earth in the sunrise took my breath away. The cold blast being blown off the glacier stung my face and made me keep moving.
“We made it” my tent-mate Gayle hugged me hard
“Not yet, we’re only half-way – all the way up and all the way down remember?”
When I committed to climbing this mountain, I knew I would need to train physically, but I knew that the difference for me was going to be in the mental preparation. I knew it was going to be difficult and that I would have to dig deep into my emotional reserves. I was not going to allow my mindset to be the factor that cost me this summit. I read autobiographies about mountaineers and modelled their mental preparation. I examined the differences between those who were successful and those who failed and took the attributes of those who made it safely home, even those who gave up on reaching the summit in favour of coming home alive. Most disasters on mountains happen on the way down. When your focus is on reaching the summit, you may not leave yourself the resources to get back down. One woman who had summited Mount Everest lent me her mantra “All the way up and all the way down”. I must have repeated this hundreds of times on the six day climb towards the summit.
I made it all the way up and all the way down safely. It wasn’t easy and my face is permanently scarred from the icy cold conditions on the final climb. When you know what you want to achieve, you need to prepare well in every way that you can. Not optimising your mindset can make the difference between success and failure in any aspect of your life or your business. Don’t leave it to chance!
Be Challenge-ready for whatever challenge you are facing or planning.
Many adventures have been on hold for 2020. While we can’t prepare for adventures in the usual way, perhaps starting 2021 by getting your mindset challenge-ready will be the best way to use your time!
The next programme starts on 4th January 2021 and lasts 8 weeks. I can’t wait to share with you what it takes to stand on the top of the world, whatever that means to you!
You can find all the details including the super early bird offer here.
