Real and metaphorical mountain climbing
Life Changing Mountains
Yesterday, Easter Monday I climbed Ben Narnain, part of the “Arrochar Alps” and at 927 metres, A Munro. I’m an occasional hill climber unlike my brother who led the way so it was quite a tough climb for me. It made me think a lot about an image that Jay Kubassek uses a lot in presentations as a means to illustrate the metaphorical mountain that faces anyone looking to build a life changing business in the digital age.
Jay is talking about becoming a successful Internet entrepreneur and as the slide shows, a high percentage of those who aim for life changing online success, give up just shy of the summit. I have to be honest and admit that the first time I climbed a real mountain I was ready to give up many times (it was life changing too as my legs hurt for a week) – yesterday I was tempted a few times as well but thanks to my brother’s patience and encouragement I didn’t.
On the digital entrepreneur side of things, thanks to the mentoring of Jay, Stuart Ross and the SFM/DEA community I won’t be stopping short of that summit either. Unlike with hill climbing where the way down from the top is actually worse in many ways, the rewards waiting just past the summit of the digital lifestyle mountain are worth any amount of effort.
Change Your Thinking – Change Your Life Mountain
Kubassek Mountain
To go into this mountain analogy a bit further: When you stand at the bottom of a mountain you can see the distant top. You can only get there one step at a time and as you climb higher and higher the summit actually gets further away – there are lots of false summits that weren’t apparent from the bottom. Each of those can be disheartening: You thought you were nearly there only to discover another valley, another little summit that was hidden.
It’s the same with learning new skills that will take you to whatever goal or summit you are aiming for and change your life for the better. Building an online business is exactly the same. The goal is the lifestyle freedom and financial independence that it will get you. There will undoubtedly be some false summits along the way but if you overcome them one step at a time you can only succeed. If you give up and turn back you won’t.
Changing Your LIfe For The Better – A Worthwhile Mountain To Climb
With both of these mountains you need the appropriate tools. For hill climbing it’s the right clothing, a rucksack, light but high-energy food and drinks, maybe some climbing aids for when things get rocky. For the digital economy business it’s the laptop, the business systems and the training. For both you need the right mindset (change your thinking, change your life) and you need to take consistent action – to keep taking the next step and the next….
One other thing both these mountains have in common as I mentioned before is that they are much easier with a mentor: Some one who has done it before, knows the route and who will encourage and support you to follow it – even to the extent of a kick in the ass when you need it. I definitely needed that a time or two on Ben Narnain.
Although there are similarities in these different types of mountain climbing there is one major difference and that is time. To climb a Munro at a manageable pace might take you 3 or 4 hours and half that or less to get back down. To completely change your life will take a lot longer.
If you are up for the challenge however and want the best equipment, mentors and support there is only one place in my mind. Before you set out changing your life for the better you can check out the route with a series of free videos from SFM by clicking the link below. For Ben Narnain just Google it.
