Climb the Wrong Mountain - You’ll Still Learn Something
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I lost my cool so hard earlier this year on instagram that I had to write a whole post about it.
James Clear is great even if we're beefing right now
Listen, let's kick things off by saying James Clear is great. But yesterday? I was personally beefing with him. James has no idea of course. That's the best part of a parasocial relationship. You know, those friendships that you're convinced if we met in real life we'd be besties but we've never even spoken? They're fun. I like them. I have some IG ones, and some people in books/movies that I frequently am processing the fact that we will never actually get to meet.
Wait pause - who are you in a parasocial relationship with?
Tell me. Maybe it's the same person! (Is it Jess from Gilmore Girls? Or Florence Pugh?)
Okay back to the beef. The other day, James Clear posted this:
And my heart gave out.
Normally we see eye-to-eye, me and Jamesy boy. But this inspirational quote made me get the sweats. So I'm here to combat it!
So here's my re-written quote for all of us!
"Don't worry about climbing the wrong mountain. You'll still learn how to climb a mountain."
Climbing a mountain is the skill. Who cares if it's the wrong one.
Some years ago on my honeymoon, my boo thang and I set out for a hike. There was a time in my life where we hiked quite a bit in fact. There weren't children. My foot wasn't broken. My foot is currently broken. Let's reminisce on those wonderful times where I could walk without crutches!
This hike was hard to find the start of. That was fine we decided. We went ahead and climbed on up, following the trail blazes until we reached the vista, pulled out a snack and looked upon our wonderful progress.
TBD if this was from that specific hike, it was like 7 years ago, give me a break.
And we realized - we were hiking the wrong hike. We could see people out in the distance on the right hike. (It was a famous hike to take, after all, and our voyage had been mysteriously devoid of human interaction.)
So what to do? Do we go on with our day and eat some delicious poke? Do we fall apart in tears that we hiked the wrong hike? Or, do we start again, a little more tired, a little less hydrated, and with slightly subpar snacks.
Truthfully? It doesn't matter what we did.
Hiking a mountain - even the wrong one - is still hiking a mountain and worthy of celebration and learnings.
If we had opted for poke this story would still be a win. We did in fact do the other hike. It was a great hike. We had a great view. We made some buddies on the walk.
Here's the thing.
If we're so focused on finding the right mountain to climb, we may never climb a mountain.
So, rather than getting in your own way as a perfectionist... it's okay to climb the wrong mountain.
If you're thoughtful about the mountain, what you're trying to learn and accomplish - it will still be worth it to climb the wrong mountain.
You'll walk away with new discoveries, stronger muscles, and better direction than if you skipped climbing it at all.
So please. Please. Please. Let yourself make some mistakes. Go ahead and climb the wrong mountain. Mess up a little bit in a meeting. Take that interview. Pitch that VC. Build that website or prototype. Shout into the void.
You learn nothing from avoiding the wrong mountain, and you learn a shit ton more from learning how to climb a mountain.
So tell me - what was the last "wrong mountain" you climbed? Maybe it was a job you took and realized it wasn't for you. Or a pitch you attempted that failed miserably. A new hobby that turns out won't fix the world events happening around you.
Want help identifying mountains to climb and the space to reflect and learn from your mistakes? Work with me.