Recently a few of my girlfriends and I decided to take on the Great Smoky Mountains…
Fueled by [filtered] creek water and the adventure in our hearts, we hiked through the humidity to our camping spot. After setting up tents, cooking dinner and making friends with our neighbors we fell asleep to the sound of rushing water. Bliss.
In the morning, it rained. Rain is lovely when you have a cup of tea on a Saturday morning and no where to go. In the woods, not so much. Despite the weather we decided to take the trail our neighbors told us about – they said it was only a few miles to the top.
The heavens were relentless; our raincoats did not help. We ditched them and continued to climb. And climb. And climb.
I started getting frustrated. The rain was annoying. My feet hurt. I was hungry. And WHERE WAS THE TOP OF THIS MOUNTAIN?! I kept thinking we were close to the peak, but I was always wrong.
My frustration was the fire under my butt. I would not give up. I glanced back at my girlfriends – I didn’t care if they quit. I would keep going. This mountain was MINE.
“Can we stop for a minute?” one of them asked. We stopped and caught our breath before stuffing the last of our protein bars in our mouths.
We began to gage how tired we were, how far we had hiked, etcetera etcetera. “I don’t care what you guys do,” I told them. “But I’m not stopping until I hit the top of this mountain.”
“I actually think we might be hiking along the side of it,” one of my friends said. “I don’t think we’ll reach the top.” The others agreed.
We decided to hike for another half hour and then check back in with each other. As I pressed on, I realized my friend might be right. We may never reach the top.
My motivation dropped.
I kept hiking, we still weren’t getting anywhere.
After 30 minutes we decided to go back to camp. I wasn’t interested in tackling an unattainable destination.
As we were hiking back down, I thought about my change in attitude. I had been focused, determined, relentless like the rain. But when my objective became impossible my motivation sank.
As leaders, we set the vision. We can and should dream big. Dreaming big is what allowed Neil Armstrong to land on the moon and Michael Phepls to become the most decorated Olympian of all time.
But we are also responsible for creating believable missions. If we shoot for the moon without a way to get there or if we make grandiose statements without a strategic plan, it’s rare that people will follow. They may go through the motions, but their determination will be lacking.
People need to believe that the goal is possible. They need to believe the top of the mountain is actually there.
When that is the case, people will buy into the vision. It is then they will push through the blood, sweat, tears {and rain!} to get to the top…
