You Haven't Hit Your Peak Yet!

3Believe in Yourself

People achieve to the degree they believe in themselves

“This is the worst day of my life. I must have been nuts to think I could do this.”

Those were the words of my chief of staff, Greg Bailey, one summer as he climbed Mount of the Holy Cross in the Vail area, one of Colorado’s famous 14,000-foot peaks commonly referred to as the “Fourteeners.” He took his two boys on a mountain climbing expedition as part of an extended family father/son bonding in what he thought sounded like a fun hike or adventure.

Once he got down from more than eight hours on the mountain and recovered, he had a completely different perspective. He wanted to climb another “Fourteener” … of course, at a later date. He told me climbing that mountain was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. He had never pushed himself to this level before.

Why do people push themselves to another level? What makes them accomplish or even attempt things that others think are not attainable or are even crazy to try? Is it the excitement, adventure, stimulation, or just plain challenge?

Remember the four-minute mile? People had been trying to achieve it since the days of the ancient Greeks. In fact, folklore has it that the Greeks had lions chase the runners, thinking that would make them run faster. They also tried tiger’s milk—not the stuff you get down at the health-food store, but the real thing.

Nothing worked. So they decided it was impossible. And for over a thousand years everyone ...