Your dreams are like any tall mountain covered in snow: an exhausting upward climb full of unbearably cold temperatures with rough edges and tips for you to fall off of all around you. Fulfilling your life’s purpose is very much like conquering a mountain of this nature.
It’s a long, hard battle that forces you to summon an unknown amount of willpower to lead a life deserving of the world’s most meaningful rewards in which you will ultimately emerge with incomparable strength and value.
Most people give up at the middle or even the bottom of the mountain, and only those who commit to their own ability to get through whatever is put in front of them and decide to persevere against all forms of opposing logic make it to the top and put their flag of accomplishment down at the tip.
Here are the most essential pieces of advice we can give you to help you make it to the top while keeping your head high and priorities straight in the process.
Choose the mountain you want to climb.
Don’t ever pay attention to what other people say when it comes to choosing the path you feel would satisfy your desires most, such as “that mountain is more beautiful experience” or “this one is an easier trek for someone like you.” You’ll be using lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re getting yourself into.
Know how to get close to it.
Mountains are often seen from far off – beautiful, interesting, full of mysterious challenges. But what happens when we come closer? Roads run all around them, flowers grow between you and your objective, what seemed so clear on the map is tough in real life.
So try all the paths and all the tracks until eventually one day you’re standing in front of the top that you yearn to reach. It won’t be easy but as long as you keep trying and remain focused and resourceful, you will reach your goal.
Learn from someone who has already been up there.
No matter how unique you feel, there is always someone who has had the same dream before you and ended up leaving marks that can make your journey easier; places to hang the rope, trails, broken branches to make the journey a less painful and shocking endeavor.
The climb is yours, so is the responsibility, but don’t forget that the experience of others can help a lot. They have figured out what it takes to overcome what will eventually come your way so their advice will only help you. There is no more efficient way to learn how to solve a prolonged problem than from another experience and how it relates to your own.
When seen up close, dangers are controllable.
When you begin to climb the mountain of your dreams, pay attention to the surroundings. There are cliffs, of course. There are almost imperceptible cracks in the mountain rock. There are stones so polished by storms that they have become as slippery as ice. But if you know where you are placing each footstep, you will notice the traps and how to get around them.
The landscape changes, so enjoy it
Of course, you have to have an objective in mind – to reach the top. But as you are going up, more things can be seen, and it’s no bother to stop now and again and enjoy the panorama around you. At every meter conquered, you can see a little further, so use this to discover intriguing elements of this new lifestyle that you hadn’t really payed attention to at first.
Respect your body
You can only climb a mountain if you give your body the attention it deserves. You have all the time that life grants you, as long as you walk without demanding what can’t be granted. If you go too fast you will grow tired and give up half way there.
If you go too slow, night will fall and you will be lost. Enjoy the scenery, take delight in the cool spring water and the fruit that nature generously offers you, but remember that these are only tools to help you cover more ground when you walk.
Respect your soul
Don’t keep repeating “I’m going to make it”. Your soul already knows that, what it needs is to use the long journey to be able to grow, stretch along the horizon, touch the sky. An obsession does not help you at all to reach your objective, and even ends up taking the pleasure out of the climb. But pay attention: don’t keep saying “it’s harder than I thought”, because that will make you lose your inner strength.
Be prepared to climb one kilometer more
The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far. But since you were prepared to go beyond, this is not really a problem.
Be happy when you reach the top
Cry, clap your hands, shout to the four winds that you did it, let the wind – the wind is always blowing up there – purify your mind, refresh your tired and sweaty feet, open your eyes, clean the dust from your heart. It feels so good, what was just a dream before, a distant vision, is now part of your life, you did it!
Make a promise
Now that you have discovered a force within yourself that you were not even aware of, tell yourself that from now on you will use this force for the rest of your life to further perfect the life you have always dreamed of living and craft an environment you want to live it in. You can even promise to discover another mountain, and set off on another adventure to become the best version of yourself you could possibly imagine.
Preston Waters | Elite.
