As of this Saturday I will be off on another mountaineering expedition. I will be climbing Mt. Elbrus in Russia. Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe and will, if I am successful, be the 6th of the 7 summits that I have climbed. The challenge to climb the seven summits was initiated by a Texas business man named Dick Bass in the mid 1980’s. Always looking for a challenge, Dick thought it would be fitting to attempt to climb to the highest point on each of the seven continents. Once he accomplished his feat he set off a wave of climbing energy unlike anything seen before.
Since Dick climbed all seven many, many people have taken up this challenge and I am one of them. I did not initially set out to climb the 7 summits, but after I had climbed a few in my early climbing days it only seemed natural to set a goal to climb all seven.
As I embark on this journey I will do my best to share this experience with you as I did with Ama Dablam and Everest in the past. I will relate my daily adventures and insights into leadership and team that pop up along the way.
I have spent the last few weeks getting gear together and getting my Russian visa. As of today I am almost ready to go.
I will write briefly here about the importance of goal setting. Most people, myself included, thrive on goals. Goals provide focus, inspiration and energy. I always endeavour to have a few short term goals and a few long term goals in mind. Elbrus began as a long term goal which has moved to the present. When setting goals think big, but be realistic. Write it down and tell others about it and you will have a greater chance of following through on it. I once met a man who wanted to cycle across Canada so he had a map of Canada tattooed on his chest with a start and end point. This is a little extreme perhaps, but it would be difficult not to complete this personal goal with such a commitment. The key to making a goal come to life is making sure it is something you truly want to do and to enlist others to keep you on track and give yourself a deadline. For many bigger projects there is never going to be the right time. Set a date and make it happen.
Tags: 7 Summits, challenge, Elbrus, Everest Blog, everest speaker, goal setting, Motivation, Scott Kress Frontier Team Building Summit Training Team Development Leadership Everest, Seven Summits, team building, team development, teamwork