“Ah. It’s Just a Cold, Dark Night on The Side of Everest.”

The Anguish of Adversity

You’re grinding hard to crush obstacles.

You’re on a quest to exceed your limits on the way to achieving something of great import. The stress of each moment is extreme. Yet, you carry on. You do it, leveraging a powerful mindset that fuels the drive to succeed.

Ah. It’s just a cold, dark night on the side of Everest.

–Bret Logan, Yale University

People who are driven to do something they know is important have a special habit.

It’s something they’ve learned and use automatically, both subconsciously and with awareness. The habit is this: It’s their choice to see that the things that are most challenging and anxiety-producing tend to have the highest impact, to make a real difference.

The choice to view life that way is significant in shaping their lives. They have learned they can endure and they use that indelible knowledge to push on.

These are people who relish the anguish, rather than dreading it. This is a habit for re-setting boundaries and making breakthroughs. And, we can all develop this mindset. In fact, we can begin to develop this mindset without realizing its importance, at any age.

I remember in grade school learning geometry — we were working on proofs. It was a major struggle for me, and critically important to my success in math, my weakest skillset. What stands out for me is that I cried and cried as I pushed through my homework and practice, trying different perspectives on each one, searching sometimes frantically for the thought process that would lead to successfully solving proofs.

This is how I learned about the power of a mindset characterized by the will and persistence required to succeed at a task we have previously failed and continue to fear we’ll fail to achieve. It changed me.

Conclusion

For me, at age 12, the lesson was this: When I feel the stress, anxiety or pain of a struggle as I relentlessly pursue an accomplishment, even when I feel lost and want to quit trying, is when I’m on my way to doing something incredibly important to me. It’s the cold, dark night on the side of Everest. It accompanies hard-won learning and growth.

Life is about seizing challenges, doing the things you haven’t been able to do or may never have done before. It holds a special brand of stress and pain that is something to seek rather than avoid.  Each important success is the product of failure, frustration, and perseverance. 

For me, this (mastering proofs) was a life lesson dressed as a math problem. 

I Wish You Many Dark Nights On The Side of Everest.

Since the days of geometric proofs, I’ve had many memorable experiences with the anguish that has become a sharp-edged friend to my learning, growth and change. I have realized over the years that I tend to gravitate toward these types of challenges.

I believe mindsets have dramatic effects on life, whether it’s the way we approach challenges, the values we choose and live by, or even the legacy we build as we go about our lives, designing our own futures.

My passion is in the climbing of such mountains.

You have your mountains, too. What’s your Everest in this moment?

What’s your most memorable, painful, stressful, and all-embracing achievement? What did you learn? How has it changed you?

What’s the next one on your horizon?

The Following Podcast Inspired Me To Share Bret Logan’s Magical Quote.

“Ah. It’s Just a Cold, Dark Night On The Side of Everest.” Can you feel these words? Are you excited by the wisdom? If so, listen to this podcast from Hidden Brain.

LINK: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/reframing-your-reality-part-1/