“Just another cold, dark night on the side of Everest.”
— Kelly McGonigal

In her book The Upside of Stress, Kelly McGonigal says that we all have our own Mt. Everest: some challenge that we are facing in our lives, or an important journey that we are taking.

When someone climbs Everest, they know there are going to be challenging times. They know there will be stress and fatigue and maybe even some pain along the way. So why do they do it? Because they want to reach the summit.

“Can you imagine a climber scaling the wall of ice at Everest’s Lhotse Face and saying, ‘This is such a hassle.’ Or spending the first night in the mountain’s death zone and thinking, ‘I don’t need this stress.’ You are most liable to feel like a victim of stress in your life when you forget the context the stress is unfolding in.”

It would be like an athlete complaining about their offseason workout program or Spring Training/training camp drills. Sorry, but they don’t let you skip that, or the long road trips, or extra-inning games and allow you to go right to playing in the World Series.

Or an author complaining about the work they have to do in writing a book or editing it.

And on and on it goes.

Today, as you go about your work, if you feel fatigue or stress, or experience some hassles, remind yourself of what your mission is. Say to yourself, “It’s just another cold, dark night on the side of Everest” as you keep climbing toward the summit.

Win Your Day!