As 2017 comes to end its a time of reflection on what has been achieved and a time to think about the big bold goals that we will set for ourselves in 2018.
I’ve always been a fan of setting big bold goals. Goals that inspire us to achieve more, goals that really test our limits because I have always thought that we can do more, that we have masses of untapped potential.
In previous years I have always tried to set what felt like big bold goals for myself, like running my first marathon in 6 months even though I wasn’t a runner & I had never run more than 5 miles, (and that was 25 years before), to write a book in 3 months, to land a $20k speaking opportuntiy, and trying to become one of the Worlds Top Leadership Experts.
All of these were big goals for me and I was thrilled as I achieved each of them, I had not only pushed myself out of my comfort zones, I had redefined my comfort zone and had tested my limits.
Or so I thought
Like many I have been thinking about my 2018 and what could I do to push even further, what other skills, abilities, and opportunities did I have that I was missing out of because I just didn’t aim high enough.
But how high is too high. I believed that we needed to be careful of being too bold, taking on challenges that are not just outside of our reach but are completely outside of our skills and consequently outside the realms of reality.
But all that changed 2 days ago.
How did that happen?
Well, I was watching a movie called L’Ascension (The Climb).
It’s a French movie that came out in January 2017 and it tells the story of Samy Diakhate a young man from the slums of Paris who decided, never have done any climbing, and who had never ever set foot on a mountain before, that he would climb Mount Everest.
The movie is a romantic comedy, and it’s both funny and entertaining.
But at the end of the movie came the real coup de grace, it said it was based on a true story.
As I sat there, I thought no way.
Climbing Mount Everest is strictly for the professionals not only is is extremely difficult, it’s also extremely dangerous. Experts die trying to climb Mount Everest.
I thought this has to be one of those things where the director has taken artistic license, and Samy had some mountain climbing experience, he’d probably climbed in the Alps, and this was just a big step up for him.
Now whilst it’s true that there is some artistic license at play, but this revolves around the reason for the climb which was for love, rather than the facts surrounding the climb itself and the hero’s level of experience.
To be honest I am not sure why they changed the motivation to be one of love because I think the real reasons is actually more romantic.
This is the story of Nadir Dendoune, a French Algerian, who wanted to create a positive image of an Arab immigrant, rather than one of a footballer, or drug dealer as he mentions himself. He wanted to show up somewhere where he was not expected and for him, that was at the summit of Mount Everest.
It’s true that he had never set foot on a mountain, and that before he started his attempt the closest he had come to climbing was using the stairs in his apartment block where he lived in the suburb of Paris (Arrondissement 93).
In order to get accepted into a group he had to fake his resume and he wrote that he had climbed several mountains including Kilimanjaro and that he was an experienced mountaineer.
So how did it all turn out?
Unbelievably Nadire successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest, in spite of having no experience and never been on a mountain before.
This is a truly amazing feat.
Here in the picture, Nadire is at the summit holding a sign showing a heart with the number 93 on it, depicting his love for his suburb of Paris to which he wanted to bring some pride.
He titled the picture a Loser at the Top of the World.
This is not only an amazing story, but Nadir has also redefined what we should think of as possible.
No longer are I don’t have the skills or I don’t have any experience reasonable excuses for not setting and achieving BIG BOLD Goals.
All Nadire had was passion, commitment, perseverance and a willingness to try.
So as I start to think about my goals for 2018 the bar has not just been raised, it’s been removed.
We should not limit ourselves to what we think we can do, or even worse what others think we can do.
There truly are no limits, other than the limitations that we put on ourselves.
So what are the goals that you will set for yourself in 2018.
Leave a comment letting me know what is your Mount Everest, what big bold goal do you plan to achieve.
All the best for a prosperous 2018
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