I’ve just returned from a six day trip up Mt. Baker in Washington guiding and teaching a group of all African American people from around the U.S. who are training to climb Denali next summer. We were also being filmed by a media team to market next years climb for sponsorship!

Mt. Baker holds the largest amount of glaciers in the lower 48, and sees hundreds of people climb it’s flanks in the short window of summer. It seems daunting to first look at, and you might say, “No way, I can’t climb that.” Which is really a metaphor for many situations in life.

In relation to other situations in my life, I use to say, “No way, I can’t do that because I don’t have the money.” or “No way, I can’t do that because I don’t have the skill.” or “No way, I can’t do that because I don’t know how.”

It was my mind that was putting up the wall of “I can’t(s)”, not reality. And underneath my mind, was my belief that it wasn’t possible. So when you look at the picture of Mt. Baker above, do you believe you can climb it? I know you can climb it, and I know this for a fact. You can do whatever you set your mind to, and believe you can do. 

It’s up to you to believe it. In my video, I talk about how to climb a mountain, and it’s relation to your everyday life. Maybe you’re making a big change in your life like moving, starting or ending a new job or relationship, or grieving the loss of something. Or perhaps you are giving birth to a child, or starting a business. All of these situations can seem insurmountable at times.

So how do you take the “I can’t”, to “I can” in climbing what seem like mountains in your life? Just like we did this past week to climb Mt. Baker – one step at a time, and remember to breath. Over, and over, and over again.

Here are a three steps to climb the mountains of your life:

• Self-care: Remember that every day is a day you need to take care of yourself. And this is more than eating and surviving. This means taking time to do things that you enjoy like exercise, movies, play dates with friends, and what I find most important – meditation, time to set intentions for the day, and say a prayer of gratitude. I can’t express how important this is in setting your day, week, month, and year up for success in climbing your own personal mountain(s).

• Teamwork: Remember that you need support in life to accomplish what matters to you. You need people in your life to hold you accountable, watch your back, support you along the way, cheer you on, and celebrate with you when you reach the summit or ridge-line. They provide the juice in your life when you have doubts you can do it, or you get side tracked. Find your team, and nurture the relationship. The rewards are priceless.

• Develop skills: To climb Mt. Baker, we needed the skills to do it such as camping, outdoor cooking, glacier travel, and using crampons. To climb the mountains of your life, you’ll want to develop your own skill set, such as compassion and kindness toward yourself and others, taking care of your health and well-being, nurturing friendships and relationships, and feeding your spirituality through music, prayer, dance, art, nature, exercise, or anything that helps you be in the moment.

Take one step at a time, and remember to breath. Do it over, and over, and over again. You’ll climb your personal mountains with energy, teamwork, and skill.

Categories: Self-Organization