How will you go on when the applause dies down?

The Mountain

Why Climb? - Beyoond the Summit - Todd Skinner

We cannot lower the mountain, therefore we must elevate ourselves.

We climb the mountain not to stand on top, but to gain from the ascent. Choose your mountains according to what you desire to gain, and how that gain will contribute to your further ascent. True success is not defined simply by how far you go, but by how much farther what you have gained will allow you to go.

Success is often defined externally by traditonal currencies: money, fame, prestige, applause. But there hallmarks of success are frequently by products of true success, of doing something very well anbd to pursue the reward while trying to bypass the solid foundation of enduring success often results in a bad ending, as illustrated by the number of bankrupt companies in the news.

If you allow your success to be defined solely by a consensus of merit, your choice of mountains will be limited to only those others recognise and find valuable. You will be the thousandth to be carried up the easy route on Everest, rather than the first to climb some unnamed spire in outer Mongolia that will truly further your lifelong ascent. You will be applauded more for climbing Everest, but applause can be one of the greatest saboteurs of aspiration. To gain applause, all you need is to satnd a little higher than your fellow peers. You are given a sense of arrival, bringing your climbing to a standstill, while your lifelong ascent is asking for departures. And if all you seek is accolodes, how will you go on if the applause dies down?