What’s Your Everest?
It’s your life…Do something amazing with it.
“Everyone has their own Mount Everest…a big challenging goal which they were put on this earth to climb and conquer. What’s Your Everest?” — Gary Ryan Blair
With an elevation of 29,035 feet, Mt. Everest serves as the supreme symbol of man’s personal struggle to achieve.
As a metaphor; Everest is simple and pure…man versus nature.
It approaches a universal understanding of our primal desire to conquer…and will eternally stand as a symbol for triumph in the face of great obstacles…as an inspiring force for elevating our sights…and for rising to meet the mental and physical demands of a big, challenging goals.
For the purposes of this message we’re going to focus on the word elevate, and by the time we’re done…I hope to convince you with the belief that you can, will and must aim higher…that it is your right and responsibility to shoot for the moon…and that it is your destiny to conquer your own personal Everest.
Let’s begin with a brilliant quote by Henry David Thoreau who said…
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”
So what exactly does it mean to elevate your life?
ELEVATE is a transitive verb which means to exalt, to lift up and improve morally, intellectually, physically, relationally, financially, culturally….you name it.
And, in the spirit of making this a message that will catapult your life and overall performance to another orbit, I offer the following game plan which you can implement to pursue and ultimately achieve your own personal Everest.
- ELEVATE YOUR VISION
You must come to the understanding that you will never be greater than the vision that guides you…and in the same way that no Astronaut ever walked on the moon without going there first in their mind…not one climber made it to the summit of Everest without an inspiring mental picture.
A compelling vision of their performance inevitably guided and inspired all the years of hard work. This same principle applies to you…your past, current and all future achievements.
Your vision is not just a picture of what you could be, do and have…it’s an appeal to elevate yourself…a call to become something more, better and greater…a challenge to go to a place mentally where you have never been.
Due to its elevated position in the sky…if you were standing on the summit of Mount Everest, your vision of the horizon would surpass an astonishing 208 miles. That’s the kind of vision you want to experience.
2. ELEVATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
Here’s a rule without an exception…You get out of life, what you expect out of life.
You see what you expect to see, feel what you expect to feel, act how you expect to act, and achieve what you expect to achieve.
Elevating the expectations you have of yourself and those around you profoundly influences everything in your life — your health, your wealth, your happiness, your career, your relationships, and your abilities.
You must demand and expect greatness from yourself…expect to win in advance…expect that great things will happen…and then work hard and pay the necessary price to make them happen.
The youngest person to climb Everest was 13 year old Jordan Romero from the United States who reached the summit on May 22, 2010…and the oldest was 80 year Yuichiro Miura from Japan on May 23, 2013.
What that means is…it’s never too early or late to dream big…to elevate your expectations and to conquer your own personal Everest.
3. ELEVATE YOUR STANDARDS
Let this next thought marinate for a while…Superior performance is not, never has been, nor will it ever be, the by-product of ordinary efforts.
If you are seriously committed to getting to the next level, to raising the standards of your profession, to unleashing your greatness…there is only one way…ELEVATE YOUR STANDARDS.
With high standards you dramatically increase what is possible in your life, and that is precisely why you must refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
Those that have reached the summit of Everest display a zero tolerance for mediocrity, self-doubt, and any behavior that could potentially undermine victory.
They know that what they put up with, they end up with and as a result…they have elevated standards for themselves and those around them.
And, that’s why you must never apologize or feel guilty for having high standards. I assure you that the people who want to be in your life will rise to meet them.
As we wrap this one up…consider the implications of this question:
How long are you going to wait before elevate your vision…before you expect and demand more from yourself…before you raise your standards for yourself and those around you?
It’s your life…Do something amazing with it!
Gary Ryan Blair is creator of the 100 Day Challenge…a radical approach to goal achievement that shows people how to accelerate their results, achieve 10X size goals and transform every area of their life and career — FAST.
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