the summit was the main objective

018. but it was so much more than that

Oct 29, 2023

“I either win or I learn.”
- Nelson Mandela

Happy Sunday! I hope your weekend was filled with laughter and time outdoors. We're back on the laptop and in bustling Thamel, Kathmandu. Goodness, this place is intense. Think of Canggu in Bali and multiply it by 10. No sidewalks, cars and scooters coming from all directions. It's chaotic. But somehow, it seems to work. Not only do you have scooters and cars coming at you from all directions, but there are also guys on the side of the street approaching you, whispering slowly in the creepiest voice, "You want hash bro. Try for free bro." I love traveling. It always makes me giggle and look back at Australia, realising we really have nothing to complain about.

For those who were unaware, I spent the past month in Nepal. The main objective was to spend 18 days trekking and climbing Island Peak, a 6000-meter peak. I'll provide a recap of the entire trip, including the highs and lows, soon. However, I want to share some lessons and realisations from my time in the mountains.

I remember writing in my journal years ago, "The outdoors is my classroom. Mother Nature is the head teacher." Every time I head outdoors, I'm quickly reminded of that. These few weeks were no different. I was reminded about the power of setting micro goals that lead us into what we could call mega goals. Micro and Mega goals, I like that. Each day, we had a micro goal of getting from one tea house to another. We walked for 4-7 hours a day, with each day reaching higher altitudes. With that comes the need to allow the body to acclimatize. So, we added in rest days at certain tea houses to try and lower the risk of altitude sickness.

The mega goal was quite obvious, and it was the goal I told everyone about. Each time someone asked me what I was doing in Nepal, I quickly pulled out my phone and showed them a photo of Island Peak - it was the shiny thing. It was the race I was training for, it was the result I wanted on my university assignment, it was the amount of money I wanted to make this year. The shiny thing is the mega goal. It’s the exciting stuff.

On the other hand, the micro goal plays an important role in achieving the mega goal. Without rest days and walking slowly to each tea house, reaching the summit of Island Peak would become less likely as you open yourself up to altitude sickness and exhaustion. Without those solo 4-hour runs on Sundays or the hours of study to get that result, the shiny thing doesn't happen. Reflecting on the past few weeks, the mega goal - the successful summit of Island Peak - gets some appreciation, but my highlights were the days prior, walking through Samgrantha National Park with seven strangers who became family over the weeks. The conversations we had, the views we were lucky enough to experience together, the daily belly laughs, the disconnection from the outside world - the micro goal got a lot more attention in my journal. The shiny thing of the mega goal absolutely got attention on social media, as it should - that's what social media is for. It's a highlight reel. Just like when you shared when you bought your first house. But did you share or mention the hours of work you put in and the Saturdays you had to sacrifice?

Setting up micro goals is something I know I need to work on. I can easily get so focused on the shiny thing of the mega goal that I don't give the micro goals enough attention for projects. A classic example is this expedition - the nine days getting to base camp didn't receive the love and respect it deserved. But during the process, the mega goal quickly got forgotten until another group asked us what we were up to, and then it came back, "oh yeah, we're heading to Island Peak!"

My lesson to myself, and maybe to you, is to build such a strong structure within the micro goal section that some days you don’t even think about the mega goal. I love running for this one reason. My good friend Zara is currently training for a 100-mile race in the Grampians, and we’ve spent hours on the phone together chatting about the training plan she is on and what each week has in store. That is the micro goal. The seven-hour hike, that's the focus for that day. The double run and gym day, that’s the micro goal. And in three weeks' time when we cross the finish line after completing the 163km race, that’s the shiny thing of the mega goal completed. Yeah, of course, there will be a race recap and many stories will come from that 30-40 hours out on the course, but the lessons have come from the seven months prior. Waking up at 3-4 am to get a few hours of work in on the legs before work or a social activity. Missing out on events because of training. Running on new trails to get more elevation in the legs - without the mega goal, exploring new trails may not have even come to mind.

Without my curiosity to climb Island Peak, I wouldn't have seen how magical this part of the world is.

The challenge here is to take time to reflect on a mega goal you achieved and replay the micro goals that it took to get to the shiny thing. In a world that likes to move fast, the shiny thing gets all the attention. Give some space for the micro goals.