Why We Must Keep Climbing

“We set our own limits and sometimes the only thing between us and our dreams is ourselves” — Georgina Miranda

The mountains have become my teacher, my soul quencher, my inspiration to keep exploring and push limits. Yet in climbing, the journey up the mountain is not without its challenges, trials, and doubt as to whether continue onward. Lately the mountains have been the constant reminder as to why we must keep climbing in life, even when the going gets tough, when the storm sets in, and the top of that mountain seems out of reach. As an entrepreneur I can say starting a business is harder than any mountain I have climbed, Everest included. I am grateful for my previous climbs, as they help me daily to keep pushing forward. Time has shown me that when we ignore or put our dreams on hold, time does not stand still, and the heart and soul does not go quiet for what it wants. When you do not feed your soul, it starts to die a little, and bottom line that is no way of living. So what can we do? Keep climbing for our dreams, for our happiness, for our well being, for our life that we are here to enjoy.

Little tips that help me up the mountain in the literal or non-literal sense:


Know where you are trying to go.

Establish your route, prepare your backpack, get your team together and set off. Have an understanding of how long it will take you to get to the top, and remember that is only half the journey, a successful summit is when you and your team make it back safely.

Provide Self-Care and Be Self-Aware.

Eat, sleep, and tend to your wounds. Make sure your body is being nurtured as you attempt this feat! Pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you. It might be time to quiet the noise in your head and wrap up the thoughts to keep your body pushing onward.

Believe.

Trust that you have trained and prepared the best you could to get you up that mountain. Believe in yourself, your strength, and your skills, to get you where you are trying to go.

Take joy in each step you take up that mountain.

It will be one foot in front of the other that gets you up the mountain, not a sprint. So when it looks like the top is so far out of sight and a single step seems insignificant, just remember it’s the sum of all of those little steps that will help you reach your goal.

Take a look back every now and again and see how far you have come!

Pat yourself on the back for your hard work thus far. You may still have a ways to go, it may be further than you thought, but you have made progress, acknowledge that.

It may take a couple of rounds.

Sometimes you have to climb up, acclimate, learn, and then head back down to where you started in order to go back up again. Your body needs some time to prepare for what it is about to go do! Let yourself have a practice round if you need to. High altitude climbing involves several rotations before even attempting the summit, so you end up climbing that mountain 2–3 times in most instances! Truth.

Check in with your team.

Get a pulse check on moral, energy levels, overall wellbeing. Do they need a boost? You want everyone to be feeling good and encouraged on the last push!

Moment of truth.

Exhaustion, fear, and doubt have set in; this mountain is harder to get up than I thought! I can’t take another step. Are your thoughts the only thing getting in the way? Now is real talk time, keep going! Dig deep, what did you learn in your journey so far and from your other mountains? Where can you draw inspiration from? Have you done all you can? Do you need a moral boost, a pep talk? Do you just need a break or are you really ready to quit? Your body will do whatever your mind tells it to, remember that.

The outcome. 2 Possibilities

Success! Well getting up the mountain is only half of the journey. You still have to get back down safely to go climb that next bigger mountain. What did you learn? What can you share? Celebrate your success with your team!

We didn't make it. What did you learn to help prepare you for the next time? Failure only comes if you never get up and try another mountain again. Maybe that first one is not your path anymore, maybe there is another challenge more suited. Regardless, failure only comes if you don’t get back up and try again in some way. Take some time to recover and gain your strength back. Brush it off, shed a tear, there are more mountains to climb.

At the end of the day, sometimes you have to let go of the outcome, focus on your vision, put one foot in front of the other in the direction you are trying to go, enjoy the journey, and be ok with the fact that what you signed up for might be much harder than you thought.


Some mountains have blessed me with beautiful weather and peaceful summits, others have tested every ounce of will and nearly killed me off, literally. Yet, they all taught me something, and I can look back at the journey, smile at the challenge, and look forward to stepping foot on the next one. After-all they allowed me to dream, push my limits, and fill my soul.


Find what fills your soul and climb for it. One step is all it takes to get started.