As You Strive Towards Your Own Everest Goal, Remember the Lessons of the Mountain

This is the third and final post in a series where I’m sharing my tips for helping you meet the big, audacious goals in your life. To start at the beginning, click here!

-------------------------------------

For the last few weeks I’ve been sharing my tips for how you can work towards accomplishing big, audacious goals in your life — also known as Everest Goals — and I have a few final tips to share with you here. But, before we get to that I want to acknowledge the tragic events that have been unfolding on Everest these past few weeks.

Eleven individuals lost their lives working toward the summit of Mt Everest this season. The attention thus far has been on the traffic jams near the summit (you may have seen this picture), but it’s important to understand why the traffic jams exist. As I shared on the Mitch Albom Radio Show recently, this year’s tragic events can be explained by an influx of inexperienced climbers, inexperienced guides and a lack of leadership, loose permitting restrictions from the Nepalese government, and unpredictable weather that created a narrow summit window.

My heart goes out to everyone involved and the friends and family of those who’ve lost their lives. We can honor their lives and work together to ensure these tragic events do not repeat in the future — first by supporting the local communities who work in the mountains, and second by ensuring we learn from these tragic events.

The people who live and work in the Himalayan mountains and support the climbers attempting to summit Everest need our support. These folks are critical members of any climbing team and are essential for sound decision making at high altitudes. Yet, funding for education and family support is scarce, leading to greater inexperience on the mountain. If you would like to support them, please check out the Apa Sherpa Foundation or the Juniper Fund. These nonprofits provide essential support to local families and provide educational resources that elevate the level of professionalism and preparedness on Everest. A little bit of support can make a huge difference.

In addition to supporting the local communities surrounding Mt. Everest, we can also make sure we learn from recent events and apply those lessons in the pursuit of our own Everest goals — on and off the mountain.

There are at least three important lessons from the recent events that we can apply to our own lives as we pursue our most ambitious goals at home and in the workplace.

Tip #3 - Be Bold, Not Foolish

In my own experience climbing Mt. Everest, reaching the top was one of the most anti-climactic experiences of my life.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s stunning to see the world from its peak and an incredible feeling to know you’ve reached the summit. But when one of my team members announced at the summit that “we had achieved our goal,” I felt obligated to remind him and myself that actually we were only halfway to our goal — to reach the summit and get home safely!

It’s a humble reminder to know that what is a remarkable feat — reaching the top of the world — is only halfway to your goal.

The tragic events of the past few weeks illuminate how pursuing ambitious goals can lure people into moments of poor judgment. On Everest, climbers have a limited amount of oxygen, meaning they also have a limited amount of time to reach the summit and descend before their oxygen runs out.

If you run into unexpected traffic like climbers did this year, one can predict that the round trip will take longer than expected and the oxygen may expire before descending. In this case, the rational side of us says turn around, live to see another day, and try again later. Yet, people too often choose to ignore the realities and keep moving up, being lured into thinking they will somehow be able to overcome the lack of oxygen that will inevitably occur when their tanks empty.

Is this because of the pressure to reach the summit? Is it because of the money and time invested? Is it because they lose sight of the true goal (to summit and return safely)? Yes, yes, and yes.

Social scientists call it escalation of commitment, and no matter if you’re at work or on a mountain, all of us can fall trap to it.

Be bold, not foolish. The mountain — whatever that is for you — will be there tomorrow.

Tip #4 - Insist On and Empower Diversity

Nobody accomplishes something extraordinary entirely on their own. Everyone has a team. It might be your family or friends; it might be your team at work; it might be a group of strangers you met in Nepal on the way to Everest base camp. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the team you have around you as you work towards your own Everest goals. Often times, the team (or lack thereof) can be the difference between the thrill of reaching your goal and the overwhelming feeling of disappointment.

When building your team — the group who will help you accomplish your Everest goal — you need to answer two important questions:

Is your team composed of people with diverse perspectives who will challenge and make you better?

You will face challenges, ambiguous problems that must be overcome, and unexpected obstacles. The more diverse your team in terms of perspectives, backgrounds, and biases, the more creative your solutions will be in overcoming these challenges — that is, assuming you listen to those diverse perspectives.

Can anyone in your team speak up and challenge the status quo?

To ensure sound decision making and maximization of your creativity in the face of obstacles, you must promote a culture where any person in the team can speak truth to power, challenge conventional wisdom, and normalize “rocking the boat”.

In organizational science, this cultural element is called psychological safety and researchers such as Amy Edmondson have demonstrated time and time again its value. If one of your team members — or even your team leader — is telling the group to keep climbing despite the obvious reality that you will run out of oxygen, you want someone on your team who will speak up and challenge conventional wisdom. The issue for you may not be about oxygen, but nonetheless, your life might just depend on it.

Tip #5 - Embrace Failure to Achieve Success

Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear path. There are twists and turns, and ups and downs. In other words, extraordinary is not easy.

How do you think about failure? Are you filled with disappointment, regret, or embarrassment? Or are you inspired to get better, be more prepared, and try again?

Ask anyone who has ever achieved a notable first — the first to climb a mountain, the first to launch a new type of business, or the first to discover a new drug that revolutionizes healthcare. There were many failures along the way — some small, some big — but they learned from each and every one. And each of these failures motivated them to work harder, work smarter, and keep going in the face of all obstacles.

To achieve the extraordinary, embrace failure, use it to get better, and find inspiration in the ups and the downs. The failures are as much of your ultimate success as are the small wins along the way.

Tip #6 - Taking Care of Yourself is Not Selfish

How many times have you heard people say to put others first and to prioritize the team’s needs above your own? Many times no doubt.

Let me offer a different perspective that I have learned through climbing.

We all want people on our team who embrace a team-first mindset and will help others when the time comes. I myself have done research on the importance of helping in teams, and I’ve called out individuals on climbing teams — including on Mt. Everest — who I thought were selfish and would put themselves ahead of the team. There is no place for selfishness that undermines the team.

If you want to accomplish the extraordinary, you need to know that your team will have your back when you need them.

What is also true, however, is that if you’re not taking care of yourself, you won’t be able to perform at your best when your team needs you the most. On the mountain, if you’re not taking care of your gear, staying hydrated and physically strong, or breathing properly, you’re not going to be at your best in the moments that matter.

At work, if you’re not maintaining healthy habits — sleep, diet, mental and physical exercise — you will not be at your best when your team needs you. In fact, I would argue that being selfish to the extent you need to take care of yourself and ensure you are ready to perform is a sacrifice for your team. You are making sure you’re ready to show up and bring your best self when your team needs you.

In mountaineering, the expectation is that each and every team member takes care of him or herself first, and then and only then worry about the team. The logic is if you’re not taking care of yourself you will be burden on the team and get in the way of achieving the Everest goal. In the workplace, it’s the same.

Taking care of yourself and showing up at your best is not a nice-to-have, it’s a responsibility you have to your team.

If you have a big, audacious goal in your life that you’ve been wanting to accomplish, hopefully these last few posts have given you some of the tools or motivation you need to be successful.

Are you working toward an Everest goal of your own? Let me know in the comments. And, if you haven’t read the first two parts of this series, you can access them by clicking here.