Are You Hiding From Your 10,000-Foot Mountain - Pathfinder Careers

Are You Hiding From Your 10,000-Foot Mountain - Pathfinder Careers Are You Hiding From Your 10,000-Foot Mountain? Sometime in August, my husband and I are going to go to Central Oregon  with the intention of  climbing South Sister, a dormant volcano in the Cascade Mountains which rises up to 10,363 feet / 3,158 meters.  The views  on top are amazing and can stretch for hundreds of  miles, with other snowcapped peaks dotting the horizon.   A very worthy hike indeed.   This also  isnt a technical climb its 11 miles round-trip and almost 5,000 feet elevation gain on a hiking trail with no ropes or crampons required.   Its definitely doable. But I have to confess. Im  completely and utterly terrified. I hike fairly regularly, and summited Mt. St. Helens  over 15 years ago  which was a tough hike  (even though I climbed  that one when I was in the worst shape of my life), but I am definitely not the kind of person that you would think of as a mountain climber.   No, more like a moderate exerciser who enjoys the outdoors, but isnt a super jock.   In high school, I wasnt an athlete, but now I would classify myself as active, without being an athlete. What I am now staring in the eye is what seems like an insurmountable challenge that will test my very moral fiber. Can I, from the sheer force of will, push myself up a 10,000 foot mountain? Or will I hide from it and wish I did? We all have bucket lists and hiking South Sister is on mine.   Its something Ive always wanted to do, know its going to be the toughest thing Ive ever done, and that theres a possibility that I will fail miserably doing it. Or, I steel my mind,  focus on putting one foot in front of another, and take it one step at a time like the little engine that could.   Mental toughness, indeed. Within the next month, Ill have  four choices: 1)   Climb it 2)   Dont climb it, but stay in the base camp and enjoy the view anyway, but wish I was climbing it (while my husband makes the summit) 3)   Start to climb it, realize I cant do it, and quit 4)   Dont even go to the area and still wish I did climb it Sort of looks like I really want to climb this monstrosity, huh?   What do you think is going to happen? Will I make it? This story has a lot of applications and parallels into our work lives.   Theres always that one thing  which  stands as a huge challenge in either our job or our career.  We are well aware of  where the path goes in order to overcome that obstacle and ultimately, it begins within by making that decision to take it on. But can we find the courage to put our feet down that trail to start that journey? Are we ready to push ourselves to the very limit? Will the outcome outweigh the  difficulty in getting there? Can I say I am the same person if I succeed, or will this change me in a wonderful, fundamental way for confronting this 10,000 foot mountain? Right now, this hike seems like a 20,000 foot / 6,096 meter challenge in my mind.   But one of the biggest truths that I have found in life is that when you are scared of something (truly terrified), its easy to let the fear get bigger than it really needs to be.   Your best opportunity to overcome that obstacle is to not run away from it; but instead, start running towards it.   The closer you get to that very thing that scares you most, the smaller it gets. Once you conquer it, you are stronger.   Facing those fears and conquering those insurmountable challenges does push you to new levels.   But what Ive found is that you have to psychologically commit to saying, I will not hide from this, and instead, take it on, and learn things about myself when I am experiencing the most hardship. Ultimately, on the other end, we discover resilience, inner strength, and faith in ourselves. So, are you hiding from your 10,000 foot mountain? Are you ready to tackle that challenge?