5 lessons from the mountains

It's been just under a week since I returned home from my 9-day excursion up Mt. Whitney with my brother and some friends.

The climbing was fun, the views were amazing, and plenty of challenges were overcome:

• Hiked 40+ miles, carrying a gear-filled pack for roughly half the distance
• Gained about 20,000 ft of elevation from hiking
• Gained another 2,000 ft of elevation from climbing
• Hiked (and then slept) through a thunderstorm at 12,000 ft
• Cold-plunged in Iceberg Lake
• Made it safely through a 21-hour summit day (camp to summit to camp)

Through the relative solitude and the physical and mental challenges, I was reminded of numerous lessons learned during past mountain adventures. Here are the top five that also seem applicable to just about any other area of life.

1. Slow and steady does the trick

Hiking uphill with a weighted pack is hard. Doing it for four to seven hours above 8500 ft is even harder.

In general, we can approach such an endeavor in one of two ways: try to cover the distance as quickly as possible or move at a slower, more methodical pace.

Moving as quickly as possible seems like a better option at first because, obviously, a lot of distance is covered quickly. That feels fun and motivating.

The problem is that it's exhausting, which means frequent stops for rest are needed. That not only causes delay but also requires significant energy expenditure to start moving again (e.g. standing, picking up and readjusting the pack, taking another "first step"). That's less fun and can be rather demotivating depending on its frequency.

Alternatively, moving at an easily maintainable pace feels (and is) excessively slow at first. But since momentum requires less energy to maintain than to initiate and since an easy pace requires fewer rest stops, a lot more distance — even if it's uphill — can be covered in an equal amount of time while also feeling less exhausting.

Getting past the slow start can be slightly challenging, but making steady and consistent progress for longer periods of time more than makes up for it.

Applying this idea to fitness, "as fast as possible" is like starting that fad diet along with a six-day-per-week fitness program and falling off the wagon after week two. "Slow and methodical" is more like building habits — nutrition, exercise, recovery, sleep, stress management — that produce results over the long haul and which can be maintained throughout life.

What's your current strategy? How's it working for you? Might it be time for a change?

2. Four small steps are often easier than one big step

Piggybacking on the last idea, this one also relates to momentum, energy expenditure, and habits.

Taking a big step uphill onto a tall rock while carrying a heavy pack can be intimidating, off-balancing, and, especially when you're tired, a momentum killer.

While it might seem like more work to divide that big step into four smaller steps onto shorter rocks, reality is quite the opposite. Often, those small steps don't feel much different than normal (flat) steps.

If you've ever performed a 1-rep max lift — that is, the maximum weight you can lift for a single rep in any given exercise — that probably makes sense. If you haven't, lifting a submaximal weight requires significantly less energy than lifting a maximal or near maximal weight.

For example, deadlifting 100 pounds for four reps is far easier than deadlifting 400 pounds for one rep. The same rule applies to stepping uphill onto rocks. And to building habits.

Take small steps. Build momentum. End up in the same (or a better) place, perhaps in slightly more time but definitely having expended less energy overall.

3. When in doubt (anxious, scared, tired), breathe

Have you ever noticed the tendency to hold your breath when you're nervous, frightened, physically straining, or hyper-focused?

If so, you're not alone. While it's perhaps a natural reaction to do so, unintentionally holding your breath doesn't help in such situations. In fact, it often exacerbates the issue by depriving your brain and muscles of the oxygen they need to perform optimally.

And that becomes an issue whether you're scaling a rock face at 14,000 ft, presenting in a boardroom meeting, having a disagreement with your spouse, or exercising (particularly cardiovascular training).

Taking a long, slow breath — inhaling through the nose and exhaling slightly longer than your inhalation — during moments like those helps to settle the mind, relax the muscles, and, with practice, lower the heart rate. All of which improves focus and performance potential.

I've built the habit of quietly singing or humming to myself while I'm climbing, especially during harder moves. Besides making my forearms feel slightly less "on fire", it also helps redirect my mind away from the fear of falling and onto intentionally moving toward the next handhold.

Singing or humming may not be the best strategy in your next anxiety- or exertion-inducing situation. Still, you'll be more comfortable and perform better if you remember to occasionally pause and intentionally breathe!

4. Be grateful

Hiking and climbing up a mountain aren't the only challenging parts of the adventure. Everything is challenging and either takes extra effort, is less comfortable, or both.

There's no potable water, refrigerator, shower, toilet, or comfortable bed.

If you need water, you find a water source (e.g. stream, lake), filter it, and carry the excess.

Hungry? Heat some water using the portable stove (that you carried) so you can reconstitute your freeze-dried dinner.

Need a restroom? Dig a hole behind that rock or use a "wag bag" (which needs to be carried off the mountain with you; TMI, I know, but that's how it is).

When it's time to sleep, clean up using some portable wipes (which also need to be carried off the mountain), blow up your 20-inch wide sleeping pad, and zip yourself into your sleeping bag, hopefully sheltered by a tent (which you also carried).

Oh, and you'll also alternate between being hot and cold because the temperature ranges from 25-75° throughout the day, and there's no furnace or AC.

If you think nine days of that (or more depending on the adventure) sounds awful, remember two things: First, experiencing those inconveniences produces feelings of true gratefulness for all of the amazing conveniences that we have at our fingertips today.

And, second...

5. It's supposed to be challenging

Our culture tries to sell us on the idea that everything is supposed to be easy and that, if something is too hard, we're probably doing it wrong.

But overcoming obstacles is actually what develops our confidence, produces meaningful memories, and makes us feel fulfilled.

If you doubt that, think of your favorite movie. I don't care if it's the likes of Dead Poets Society or Star Wars or Legally Blonde. If the protagonist didn't have challenges to overcome — adversaries, misunderstandings, "short straw" situations — it wouldn't hold your interest. In fact, it's precisely those obstacles that make the story interesting.

The same applies to our lives. Not having to deal with challenges — even if that's what we think we want — leads to boredom and depression. On the other hand, encountering and dealing with challenges — even if we think we're woefully unprepared — is interesting and fulfilling.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that you need to climb a mountain to encounter meaningful obstacles. Rather, embrace the challenges you encounter in everyday life — at work, the gym, with your spouse or kids or traffic or any other situation or circumstance — instead of wishing things were easier.

Those obstacles will make you stronger.

Putting It Into Practice

Over the past two(+) years, lesson #5 has been the most impactful in my own life. I was actually exposed to the idea while going through the Heroic Coach program instead of while on a mountain adventure (although it definitely could have been a lesson from the mountains had I been actively looking for it).

I'm human, so there are still occasions when I'd prefer things to be not quite so annoyingly challenging. But mostly adopting the it's-supposed-to-be-challenging mindset has vastly improved my attitude, motivation, and effort, both at work and in my personal life.

If you want to learn more about the idea, how to practically use it to your advantage in life, and more, come to the Mindset 101: Heroic Confidence & Antifragile Clarity workshop I'm running this Saturday at TNT.

As a prior attendee has commented, "it's like a roadmap for living to your full potential".

(Thanks for the props, Meg. 🙂)