Erik Weihenmayer is an amazing person. He lost his sight as a teenager and in spite of this disability, went on to reach the summit of Mount Everest and, ultimately, the Seven Peaks – the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. I had the opportunity to hear him speak in Orlando this week and I wanted to share my strongest recommendation to learn more about him if you have the chance. You will be inspired and amazed.
Erik’s message is that adversity is really opportunity. Adversity can help you grow and do things that you never thought you could do. It would be easy to simplify the message down to a simple sentence – “You can do it” – or a Nike ad slogan, but that would be doing a disservice to him, his accomplishments and his service to others.
How can we take this example and inspiring story and apply it in our own journeys that will never take us to the highest spot on the planet? Maybe it comes down to striving to do the best that you can every day, and when it gets difficult, relying on your team – family, friends, coworkers – to help you get through. Maybe it’s relying on your faith, knowing that there is a reason you are facing the steep hill in front of you, and it’s all for a greater purpose.
More important than this, though, is the question of what you can do for others. Erik spends time discussing his accomplishments, but he also gives lots of credit to those who helped him, those tied to the same rope line, those scaling the same mountain face who helped him reach his goals. What are you and I doing to grow and develop others? What are you doing to serve others? What are you doing today that will allow you to reflect and say that you did your very best to help others do their best? What are you doing to make it count? I may not have a summit day today, but I can take steps to get there.
Work: Getting It & Keeping It 