The Process For Getting The Impossible Change We All Seek

It’s the hardest thing anyone can do.It takes time, persistence, courage, and keeping calm.The strange thing is that more and more people do it everyday.

Have you ever climbed Mt. Everest?

The first few times, there were no ropes, no sherpas, no handbooks, no technical boots, no wind proof synthetic down jackets.

But then it got easier.

All of a sudden there were ladders, base camps, and guidebooks.All of a sudden, it didn’t require the same risk or investment.If you ask the folks who ascend massive peaks or climb giant granite wall faces or who run hundreds of miles in an ultra-marathon—they’ll tell you that they are now different people because of it.

It’s the impossible challenge that forges new character.

Yvonne Chouinard, founder and CEO of Patagonia, the outdoor equipment company known for its activism, once said:

“Taking a trip for six months, you get in the rhythm of it. It feels like you can go on forever doing that. Climbing Everest is the ultimate and the opposite of that. Because you get these high-powered plastic surgeons and CEOs, and you know, they pay $80,000 and have Sherpas put the ladders in place and 8,000 feet of fixed ropes and you get to the camp and you don’t even have to lay out your sleeping bag. It’s already laid out with a chocolate mint on the top. The whole purpose of planning something like Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain and if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out and you’re an asshole when you get back.”– 180° South

The point here is about process.What kind of transformation are you seeking and are you compromising on the process?

2 Minute Action:

Are you going through the motions?Pick a role model, expert in your field, or mentor.What would Elon Musk do?How might a navy seal do it?What might your high-school track coach say about your method?It’s your call to do the work but it’s also your call on how to define what the work is.Take 2 minutes to question your process and poke some holes in it.

Why Are You Reading This?

I ask a lot of questions, tell a few stories, and give examples of tactics that have worked for me in the past.The point isn’t to tell you what to do.The point is to ask you questions that you can ask yourself in the future. You read this and get a small reminder of how to think instead of what to think.

2 Minute Action:

Here are some simple questions you can ask yourself in the future:What would Elon Musk do if faced with this problem?How would Bill Gates approach this?What’s something positive your Mom would say about you?