01/19/2026
I wrote this years ago, long before the songs and books about it - I thought I would post it, before I let it go. Hope it inspires a shift in you.
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When we are young, life goals look like mountains—treacherous climbs, to say the least. Perhaps your mountain started with learning to ride a bike, buying your first home, or graduating from school. Chances are, you are in the middle of a climb toward your personal mountaintop right now. It has jagged rocks, icy cliffs, and messy conditions from moment to moment. There happen to be other climbers on your mountain; some will help you, some will undermine you, and others you will have to leave behind.
As we make this climb to the top, it shapes us. We learn so much about who we are and who we want to be. We learn to survive, then thrive. Then a moment happens—we look around and realize we have reached an apex. We did it. We accomplished a climb we once thought impossible. We celebrate. We are happy.
Then, before we know it, the moment is gone, and we see that the climb is not over. Standing in front of us is another mountain. Then the oddest thing happens: we are so full of fear that we start to think we can’t climb the next one. What we just did, we don’t believe we can do again.
So why is it that no matter how many mountains we climb, we look at the next one and ask ourselves if we have what it takes? Why do we continuously doubt ourselves during transitions? When will we start to realize that our past climbs are proof that we can climb mountains? It never ceases to amaze me how strong people are during the climb and how proud they feel standing atop their mountain, raising their flag—yet I am equally amazed at how resistant we can be to the next climb. This resistance is normal, but I hope to encourage you to see it differently.
So we face a new mountain. It isn’t that we don’t prepare for it or dismiss the seriousness of the venture—it will have new challenges—but we don’t need to approach it with the same fear or anxiety as we take our first steps toward it.
It helps to remind ourselves that nothing lasts forever, and the only constant in life is change. In other words, expect that you will climb another mountain and accept it as part of being human. As I am climbing a mountain right now, like many of you, I have come to understand that most of life is climbing. We must learn to enjoy the climb, or we will spend the majority of our lives in struggle or unhappiness.
The climb is the reward, not the apex. If we grow from our journey, we should fall in love with the opportunity to climb—not just with reaching the goal. How often do we accomplish something only to be met with an anticlimactic realization of its unimportance? It feels like the strike of midnight on New Year’s Eve: nothing changes except the number on the calendar. The night was never about midnight—it was about the 365 days that came before it.
So I encourage you to realize that it was never about the goal, the accomplishment, or the success—it was about doing it. Let go of the stories, the fear, and the resistance created by overthinking, because they prevent the best version of you from fully experiencing life. When you reach your mountaintop and look back at your journey, you will want to love the person who got you there. If you achieve your goals while stressed and worried the entire time, even the greatest success can feel empty.
So what is a goal worth if there is no value in becoming the person who achieves it?
This changed for me years ago when I was asked what my “dream” was. Before understanding the importance of being present, I might have answered with an arbitrary goal—being on stage with Tony Robbins or hitting a financial milestone. Instead, my response was, “What I am doing now.” It was laughed off, but I was serious. Even as I write this, I am living my dream. I am writing about something I care deeply about for people I care about, hoping to influence them to do the same. Where else can we live our dream but in moments of action? Wake up every day and realize that those small steps are the dream—you are already in it. Congratulations don’t need to wait for the end; they exist in the now.
