A Vision of Climbing Mt. Rainier
I remember when I decided to Climb Mt. Rainier (14,411’) in Washington State. I knew that it would be very difficult having read that only 50% of those who attempt to summit actually make it to the summit. In preparation I upped my exercise program to twice daily. I knew that in order to be successful in my attempt at summiting I would have to have a very clear vision of what I wanted to achieve and I would need to set goals in order to achieve this vision.
Day of the Climb
On the day of the climb we started at Paradise Inn located at the 5,400 ft. level. We carried 65 lbs. on our backs and headed to the 10,000’ level where base camp would be. But before we left Paradise Inn, we looked at the map and decided where we would stop and take breaks along the trail. These became our goals to reach on our trek to 10’000’. We had a vision of reaching base camp by a certain time in the day.
Base Camp
After setting up our base camp we began preparations for our climb to the summit and achieving my vision of summiting. We again looked at the map and determined our goals to help us reach the summit and measure our progress. Our group of seven, left base camp at 2:30 am. When we reached 12,000’ half the group that had left an hour before us was coming back down the trail. They had given up. When we arrived at 13,000’ the other half of this earlier group was sitting along the side of the trail, also having given up. We never saw them summit.
The last 14,411’ was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was incredibly steep and visibility was limited. I still had my vision of reaching the summit and this kept me going in the face of this difficulty. My measurement of success to achieve my vision of summiting became smaller as I climbed. I would put my head down and count 200 steps, then, I would look up, put my head down and count another 200 steps. This continued until I summited at 8:30 am. I had created the vision of what I wanted to achieve, set the goals necessary to be prepared, and then set intermediary goals to reach the summit.
What does this have to do with business? It is what happens every day with successful business owners. Great leaders create a vision of their desired future and what they want it to look like. Creating a vision is the first step toward achieving our desired future. We create a vision of our desired future so that we have a target to aim at. It is an expression of optimism on our part. This doesn’t mean that it won’t be hard work, but knowing where we are going and what the future will look like when we get there can be incredibly motivating. It will motivate us to do the hard work necessary to hit the target and our sub-conscious minds will also go to work to help us achieve our vision.
As we begin 2015, it’s an excellent time to sit down and decide what we want our businesses to look like at the end of this year. What is it that we want to achieve? What does our desired future look like? Once we know where we are going we can set goals to guide us along the way and help us measure our progress.
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