I’ve just finished watching the documentary “Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy”. It tells the story of an expedition to the top of Mt Everest by a number of different climbing parties that went tragically wrong.  It interviews those who survived and honors those who failed.  I sat transfixed as Beck Weathers tells the story of being abandoned for dead and having a life defining moment where he realised he wanted to live for his family’s sake and got up and walked down the hill (see the picture below of what he arrived back looking like!).  It also tells of the frantic effort to provide help by some in abominable conditions and the self-preservation that others focussed on.  As Beck Weathers, comments you find a lot about people’s true nature and motives at 27000 feet when your life is on the line.

I went through a phase a few years ago of reading as many mountaineering books as I could.  I was in awe of the bravery, the training and the effort these people went to to scale these peaks.  It started with “Touching The Void” which tells the story of two English climbers in South America where one of them breaks their leg at the top of the mountain, fell over the edge of a cliff, and yet somehow survived! I remember starting the book rather matter of factly and reading the book straight through until 3am in the morning to finish it.  I couldn’t put it down (seriously, go and read this book!!)

I then went on to read “Annapurna“ which tells the story about climbing prior to Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s ascension to the top of Mt Everest when Annapurna was the highest unscaled mountain in the world in the 1950’s.  It tells of the success of the climb to the top, but the terrible toll on those who climbed it and the effect on their bodies.  The frostbite to toes, fingers, noses etc required many amputations.  It almost became matter of fact as the doctors had to remove items.

The next book I read was Jon Krakauers’ “Into Thin Air“ which is also about the 1996 tragedy on Mt Everest involving Rob Hall, Scott Fischer, Beck Weathers and others.  This is an amazing tale of the human toll on life and what can go wrong in mountaineering.

So why am I telling you this story? What’s the point? Well what amazes me is the commitment that these people have had to achieving their goals.  These people were willingly prepared to sacrifice parts of their bodies, and even their lives, to stand on the highest mountains in the world. It’s pretty easy to judge them and say they were insane.  Indeed, the Taiwanese climber interviewed in “Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy” admits that if he had known that the loss of both of his hands and his nose then he probably would not have signed up.  But these people were prepared to do whatever it took to realise their dreams.

And there is a lesson in life here also.  For all of the glory of the upside of the goal achievement there is also a very inglorious dark side.  The example of Mt Everest amplifies the upside and the downside but it is true of smaller goals as well.  There is a consequence for everything we do that we must be aware of.  This should not be used to deter us from pursuing our goals and taking risks but that we must be prepared to pay the price. It may not be as drastic as having to have a finger or a hand removed but there is a consequence nevertheless.

Are you prepared to do what it takes for the opportunity to stand on the summit and have all that you have conquered below you? If you are, then you should be commended…you’ve earnt it and all the rewards that result.  And if you aren’t, well maybe you’re prepared to tackle a slightly smaller mountain a bit more within your reach and prepare for the big assault.

In this post I’ve picked a video from YouTube that features part of an interview with Beck Weathers called “The Dark Side of Everest” (part 2).  If you enjoy this I’ve also included links to all 5 parts in the series also.

The Dark Side of Everest - Part 1

The Dark Side of Everest - Part 2

The Dark Side of Everest - Part 3

The Dark Side of Everest - Part 4

The Dark Side of Everest - Part 5

Until next time may you successfully scale the mountains you aspire to.

Chris

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One of the things that I struggle with my kids is when they try something new.  The regularly get frustrated that they are not good at it straight away.  They are still young and so the concept that “practice makes perfect” is something that doesn’t have a lot of meaning to them.  My job is to convince them that they need to keep trying and that if they really want to be good at it they’ll need to keep practicing.  To me, this is all about imparting family success.

They have a good excuse…they’re kids.  We, as adults, are guilty of giving up ourselves and pretty often its just before we are likely to succeed in our endeavours.

I thought you’d enjoy this news report in the link below to remind you of some of the great people who failed spectacularly before they achieved their dreams.  Many of them are now renowned in history for their accomplishments but less well known for the fact that they failed first.  But they were different to most of us.  They had the courage, and the fortitude to back up, and try again, ultimately succeeding.

News Report - Failures Can Become Success Stories

The lesson is pretty clear…if we want it badly enough we must persist…the darkest hour is the hour before the dawn.

To your persistence in pursuing your own success.

Chris

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A friend sent this video link to me recently and it really got me thinking.  Now I’m not a doomsayer or anything of the sort but I think we are all agreed that we are in the midst of some tough financial times.  I have to confess it came on a lot sooner than I was expecting.  My expectation was that we had another 2-3 years of good times before things got tougher and that was certainly the basis of a lot of my financial planning.

When word of the sup-prime mortgage problems came out I took it as being a localised problem and just assumed it was unrelated to anything I would experience.  The resources boom in China was going gangbusters and everything should keep rolling along.  I couldn’t see the dependency between some bad debt to low credit users in the US and the main financial institutions, and ultimately me and my family.  I also have to confess that I don’t watch a lot of television or read a lot in the newspapers as I find them overly negative and focussed on the “bad stuff” rather than the inherent good things in the world that I like to believe in.

But take a look at the video below and have a look at how much of a hard time, one particular commentator who tried to ride against the “bullish” pack had to go.

The lesson for me is quite clear.  The so called financial experts aren’t and when everyone is on the one bandwagon it is time to prick your ears and get suspicious.  Start looking for the contrarian view, start to do your own research rather than rely on that of others.

Peter Schiff knew he was right. Its easy to say that he was just a negative doomsayer, but when you listen to him speak you realise that he knew exactly why the system would fail and tried to alert people. He tried to help. However, everyone shot him down because it wasn’t in their interests to listen to him.

It’s okay to question. It’s okay to take a different path to others. You can choose to follow, or you can choose to diverge. It’s your life…and you are ultimately responsible for what it gives you.

Here’s to you and your success
Chris

PS If you haven’t done so already you can subscribe to our newsletter for FREE by visiting http://www.familysuccessclub.com/newsletter/subscribe now.