Nobody ever climbed to the top of the mountain by being dropped on top of it. They climbed to the top of the mountain; through various peaks and valleys, through adverse conditions. For those that make it, they had a vision of reaching the top and all that would come with it. Their vision pulled them through the times they wanted to give up and quit or retreat to safe familiar ground. It’s the climb that builds ones’ capacity to succeed and climb other mountains.
As with any large endeavor in life or in business we must have and hold a vision of where we want to get to. Having that vision creates a cognitive dissonance in us that provides the impulse, attention, and intention to do the things we must do to make the vision a reality.
It’s no different than getting ourselves to the store to buy groceries. Something in our environment informs us what we are out of, or need and don’t have. We make a list. We know to get in the car and navigate to the store, buy the groceries and return home. With that vision, we end up at the store and then back home with what was on the list. We don’t end up at the doctor’s office waiting in the waiting room for an appointment we didn’t have because that wasn’t the vision.
A clear and compelling vision creates a vacuum that pulls us toward it.
There’s not much that is scary about going to the store so it’s easy to stay out of our own way and get to the store. However, what about starting our own business, asking for the order from the big prospect, or doing that crucial presentation? Those can be scary. Or at least we can conjure up a pretty scary vision of it being a disaster before we even take the first step. That scary vision keeps us stuck.
To bring the vision into reality…to get to the top of our mountain we must play the PART of the person that gets to the top. We must, borrow the brilliance of others that have gone before us, we must fake it till we make it, we must act as if we know with absolute certainty that the vision is coming into our reality. This is how we grow into our full potential.
We don’t doubt that the store will be there; we don’t stew on the what if’s of the store not stocking a particular item, we don’t wonder if we will get the right change back when checking out, and on and on. If we know, in our bones, we could not fail and that we will overcome any adversity or setbacks and reach our summit we will show up differently in our life each day.
To reach the summit we must play the PART of the person that will reach the summit.
P – Plan our trip to the summit. We must get a clear sense of where we are headed over the next 3-5 years. From that place, look back over that time and notice what has to have happened in order to feel happy about the progress made. Write out those various projects and action items.
A – Assume and Act on the plan. – Look at what has been written down in the plan. Now that we have a sense of what needs to get done in the next few months, we need to step up and act on it. Remember, time exists so we don’t have to do everything all at once. It’s one step at a time. And, in reality, we have plenty of time. Watch out for the busy trap. Eric Hoffer said, “When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else.”
R – Review the plan. – Look at the plan every day. There will be closed roads, washed out bridges, and detours along the way making the current plan obsolete. We will need to calibrate our plan to reactivate its effectiveness. We will have to redirect upon setbacks. As we make progress and move forward it’s inevitable the horizon will change. As we make progress we may see better paths we did not see at the onset. Adjust for those as well each day.
T – Thank ourselves for our progress. – Successful fulfilled people don’t achieve to experience happiness, they happily experience the journey along the way to the achievement. They play. They find a way to make it fun. One of the most powerful ways to affect that is through gratitude. They acknowledge the small achievements along the way. If we are thankful for what we do have, we have everything. If we focus on and complain about what we don’t yet have, our experience is that of having nothing. What we focus on expands. If we want more progress, we must acknowledge our progress.
Play the PART, every day, of the person that knows they are successfully on their way to their summit. By doing so we dramatically increase the chance of bringing about more opportunities and resources needed, day by day, to achieve it.
Make it up, make it fun, and get it done!