On Climbing the Mountain of Life

I love persistence.

There are few things as inspiring as a person who keeps trying when things don't go their way.

There are few facts about this life as encouraging as our ability to keep going in the face of difficulty.

One of the most powerful and beautiful metaphors for persistence, but also for life in general, is mountain climbing.

In some of the most challenging periods of my life, I've regularly imagined myself climbing a mountain. I would encourage myself by imagining that I put my head down, don't look to the top, and how much I have left, but just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

And, in some of the most beautiful moments of my life in recent years, during some of my biggest victories, I would again imagine myself climbing a mountain. Even though I was far from the top of the mountain, I imagined myself stopping to look around. The view was beautiful. I was much higher than before. And I appreciated the fact that those painful and exhausting parts of the climb were necessary for me to enjoy this beautiful view.

Sometimes, when I'm writing, I imagine you climbing the mountain with me. I can't comprehend or imagine thousands of people, so I imagine just one person. It represents every single one of you, as unique as you are. As the purpose of my writing is to encourage you to engage in life and realize that there is more in you than you know, I do the same during our climb. Sometimes, I yell at you. "Don't you dare tell me that you can't put one foot in front of the other one more time, and one more time, and one more time..." And, sometimes, when I feel like I can't keep going anymore, you climbing with me is the reason I don't stop.

However, as much as I love our ability to put our heads down and keep going, I have to acknowledge that things don't always work that way. Don't get me wrong, persistence always works. But sometimes persistence involves changing directions.

One of my favorite analogies for this multi-directional persistence comes from Naval Ravikant. I'll paraphrase.

You could spend years, and even decades, climbing your mountain. And let's say you get two-thirds of the way up. But now you're stuck. You can't get to the top by following this same path. To get to the top, you actually need to go down the mountain to look for a new path. And that's what most people are unable to do. After investing so much of your time and energy into one path, it's painful to abandon it and start over. But this is also the characteristic of some of the most impressive individuals we all know: they are able to start over from scratch.

But I want to add another scenario to our metaphor of mountain climbing.

Not only do you sometimes need to go down the mountain and look for another path. Sometimes, you are pushed off the mountain.

One of my best friends, whom I can proudly call my brother, has spent most of his life playing basketball. That was his mountain. And he was climbing it with confidence that was backed up by years of consistent hard work and dedication. Undeniable talent was also there. It seemed like he had all the tools to get to the top of the mountain. It was just a matter of not getting distracted. And he didn't. The top was almost there. We could all see it. I was excited to see someone "make it" in their lifelong passion that they sacrificed so much for. Someone who deserved it.

But then, life happened.

After a series of injuries, his body simply wasn't able to keep up with his desire, dedication, and talent. It wasn't really a choice for him to go down the mountain. He was pushed off.

The school trips missed for games and tournaments, the summers spent training rather than partying with friends. All the headaches and stress of trying to live up to your own expectations and the expectations of those around you. Tens of thousands of hours invested in one thing. And suddenly you have to make peace with the fact that you won't get rewarded for all the effort and sacrifices?

So what did he do after being pushed?

I would be lying to you if I said he immediately dusted himself off and started climbing again.

He crashed on the ground. Only he knows how hard the fall was. And no matter how close we are, I won't even try to speak of the scars of losing a dream you gave your life to. Few people sacrifice so much for one thing to even be able to experience that kind of loss. I hope I will get him to share his experience with us one day, along with the more uplifting, second part of his story.

He did, like all great people do, eventually dust himself off and start climbing again. He found a new path or a new mountain, however you want to structure the metaphor. When I think of the concept of reinventing oneself, he is the first person that comes to my mind. In the process of crashing down, getting up, and starting to climb again, he has become one of the wisest people I know.

His second climb has just begun, and he is too young for me to give you any conclusions. After all, his story and this essay are not about conclusions, mountain tops, or finish lines. They are about the climb. I wanted to remind you of the fact that, no matter how persistent you are, you can't always keep going forward or up. Sometimes you have to go down to find a new path. Sometimes you are pushed down. However, that doesn't diminish the importance and value of persistence. It just informs us that unidirectional persistence is not enough. But even if you are forced to temporarily change direction, it is in your power to keep climbing.

Thank you for reading.

Free Resources:

My Book Recommendation List

My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading

My free training programs

Paid Resources:

The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency

The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living

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