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Top Ten Lessons Learned From Climbing NY Mountain

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I figured I would get a lot of people responding to my post yesterday and I want to thank everyone who had kind words and well wishes for me. Mom, don’t worry I am totally fine 🙂 I mentioned yesterday that I was going to provide you with a series of three blog posts about the trip, so today is number two. Today’s post is way more important than my overall story about the trip because today I am going to tell you what I learned and how to apply my learned lessons into your business and personal life.

Here are the top ten things I learned and in no particular order!

1.) Prepare
I should be ashamed of myself for not being more prepared. The last time I did a six hour endurance trip was almost 10 years ago. Mentally I was ready but not physically. So, remember in order to accomplish a demanding task in front of you, especially one that involves taking you out into a different element and environment, you need to be physically and mentally prepared.

2.) Get the loser out of you
I am a big fan of Robert Kyiosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, and this is something I picked up from him. you see over the last eight months I have had my ups and downs and in all honesty I have no business to ever feel sorry for myself. I live in the greatest country in the world, have the best family, and live in my own little bubble in Frisco, TX, so there is no need for me to feel sorry for myself. However, that being said, there are times I get down and after experiencing this trip I got the loser out of me. Now, I am not bragging but there are not many people who can or are willing to fight through 6 hours of climbing to reach a place in the mountains. And that is perfectly okay, but for me accomplishing that task will always be something I can look back on and be proud of.

As I mentioned climbing 6 hours to the top of a mountain may not e your thing and that is okay but here is what I want you to get out of my lesson. If and when, because we all do at some point feel sorry for ourselves, create a challenge that is out of your comfort zone and go for it. Get the loser out of you! Use the experience to build confidence in your future endeavors!

3.) Connect/Re-connect
One of the benefits of having a good size group on the expedition was the ability to connect with other people from different backgrounds and careers. The unique part about this group I was with was the fact that everyone was an entrepreneur and owned their own business. I took so much away from talking to everyone about struggles they have had and visions of the future. The suggestions and information they gave me I could not have gotten elsewhere. Also, I say re-connect because being up at 11,300 feet I had the opportunity to reconnect with myself and my surroundings. It was so peaceful without constant TV, Internet, and my I-CRACK (remember CRACKBERRY well I call my I-phone ICRACK). Anyone I was able to reflect and think about the things that are important to me.

4.) Push through it
I really had no choice but if you remember my story about getting to the point where I wanted to quit I had no other choice but to keep pushing ahead. It might have been one step at a time but I kept moving closer to the top by pushing through the physical pain and emotional struggle.

5.) Be Thankful
I learned so much from so many different guys on the trip that I really was thankful for everything I have in my life. I was reminded once again that the things that happen in my life that may seem so terrible to me happen to everyone and it just gave me a better appreciation for the people and things I have in my life.

6.) Attitude
Things could have been really bad had I not had a great attitude. I have been told this is one of my strengths and it served me well. The lesson here is you have a choice when things get tough. You can either be negative and make things worse or be positive and make the best of the situation. Sure I had my moments but I realized that if I was going to make it to the top I needed to not waste energy on being negative. Negativity would only use up more energy and I needed all the positive energy I could get to reach the top. Are you wasting energy by having a bad attitude? If so, know that you can easily change that by thinking positive and making the best of the situation.

7.) Purpose
I would probably rank this up at the top in terms of lessons learned. I made it to the top and back to the bottom of the hill because I had one purpose in my mind, and that was to get back to my family. My “Why” was so great that it gave me my incentive to be smart throughout the trip. As I was laying on the bed trying to bring my heart rate down all I could think about was my family. I knew I had to focus and concentrate on brining my body core temp and my heart rate back down as quickly as possible and the reason was so I could see my family again. What is your purpose? Do you have a big “why” for doing something. If you want to achieve something your “why” has to be there!

8.) Believe
I have a saying that I use in my cycling classes. I tell my students, “You have to believe. I believe in you but you have to believe in yourself!” I finally had to use this on myself. When I hit that 1 mile mark left to the hut I wanted to quit. I did not think I could do it but something clicked in me and I started to think about my teachings. Of all the things I would tell my students belief is what I needed to tell myself and it worked. What doubts do you have? Confidence and belief can get you through it. Start believing today in yourself!

9.) Visualize
Visualization is so powerful and I realized this at the end of the hike up. As I was one of the last ones left to get to the top I could see in my mind the other guys up there sitting around waiting for me. I visualized my self crossing the finish line and getting up to the top so I could sit around an recover. Imagery is so powerful and it helped me on my journey. Grant it you can’t just visualize it and assume it will be. You have to work at it but the more you visualize something being of reality the more likely you are to obtain it.

10.) Never Quit
Simple statement and simple lesson! Too many times in life we give up. Had I given up the result would not have been good for me or my family. Yeah, the stakes were high but so was the reward. Same goes for you not matter how big the challenge. You will never know if you are capable of doing something if you quit and don’t see it all the way through. Tie a knot at the end of the rope and hold on and NEVER QUIT!

Those are the lessons I took away from an amazing trip. I know it is not for everyone and the company that puts these trips on knows that as well, so that is why they have a number of different options. tomorrow I am going to put together a post that will talk a little bit more on the expedition retreats and how to learn more.

In health and prosperity,
Coach Dave

I Nearly Died Climbing NY Mountain

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This past weekend I had an amazing life experience. A good friend of mine put together a back country skiing expedition that involved climbing to 11,200 feet and staying in a Yurt for 2 days on NY Mountain in Colorado. The purpose of the trip was to set the stage for future expeditions for a company called, The Third Drive. More on that later but today I want to tell you about my experience. I am also going to make this a three part series, so today will be about my experience, tomorrow will be my takeaway and finally the last post will be about information on retreat company The Third Base.
Bottom of NY Mountain

Okay, so let me tell you about my journey to the top of NY Mountain. We started out at the bottom of the mountain around 1:30 in the afternoon. It was 8 guys and our guide Michael, which by the way Michael is an amazing mountain guide. Anyway, we started skinning up the old mining road and planned on getting to the Yurt in about 5 to 6 hours. That right there should have been my first indication that this could be disastrous for me. For one, the last time I did cardio for six hours it was a six hour cycling class. the second thing that was not working in my favor was as we got closer to the top there was less oxygen and I had come from Dallas just the other day with no real acclimatization. Oh, and for those of you who do not know what “skinnning” is let me explain real quick. The easiest way to describe it is you put this grip or ‘skin” like material on the bottom of your skis to give you traction. Once you have the skin on the skis you shuffle your feet and perform a slow walking motion on the snow.

Alright, so we are moving along and we get to the half way point. Now at this stage in the trip I am a little tired but doing okay. The climb to this point has been gradual and steady and my bod is feeling good. Also, at this point I have a decision to make. We had a snowmobile to take our big stuff to the top of the Yurt and the guide on the snowmobile was at the half way point asking if anyone needed a ride to the top. I so wanted to jump on the snowmobile but I also wanted to reach my goal of skinning all the way to the top so I did not say anything and moved on.

So I made the decision to “go for it” and boy that is when things started to get ugly. The second part of the climb was much steeper and harder. Not too far into the second phase I started to feel my ‘hip flexor’ and ‘quad’ tighten up. Also, I was now working that much harder and my heart rate was started to climb. Being that I have been working with clients and heart rate monitors I know full well that the body just can’t maintain an elevated HR for too long. That being said, I decided I needed to stop and rest for awhile. Also, I decided it was best to just climb without the skis and use my poles to help me. That worked for awhile but I knew if I was going to make it to the top I had to put my skis back on and slug through the rest of the climb. So I put my skis back on and continued.

As I continued to climb I started to think about whether or not I was going to make it. Not a good thing, especially since there was no other option for me but to make it to the top. Just as I was thinking these thoughts we came to the sign that said, “1 mile to the Yurt.” You would have thought I was relieved but actually I was in despair. I had one more mile to go. No way! What in the world did I get myself into was what I was thinking. My thoughts were slowly turning into negative thoughts and I was not sure I was going to make it, but something clicked in me.

Over the past 14 years I have been teaching indoor cycling classes and I started to visualize me teaching my class and telling them to climb the hill and reach their goal. I was saying to them, “You have to believe, I believe in you but you need to believe in yourself.” And you know what, I started to get a pace that got me going again and gave me a second wind.

Finally, night is approaching and I just was thinking one foot in front of the other until I hear Michael, our guide, start hootin and hollerin that we made it. A deep sigh of relief came over me as I slugged the last few hundred yards up to the Yurt, which by the way is a Mongolian term for hut. I was so relieved to get there but the story does not end there.

After 6 hours of climbing I was covered in sweat and completely exhausted. Now anyone who has ever put on ski boots knows that getting those things off after a day of skiing is challenging but I had hardly any strength left in me to get changed but somehow managed to get into dry clothes. That felt wonderful and I sat down drinking water and trying to recover from the 6 hours of climbing that I just did but for some reason I just could not cool down. I started to feel really hot and my heart rate started to climb. I knew this was not good and possibly could and I was going to need to tell Michael. Obviously at 11,200 feet the first thought comes to mind is altitude sickness, but I really did not have classics signs that are associated with altitude sickness. So, Michael recommend that I lay down on my bed and put my feet up. He took my heart rate and it was elevated. The first thing that started to come to my mind was my brother had passed away because of Heat Stroke and was I going to go down that same path? Once again I knew that I needed to change my mind set but this time I had kept saying one thing over and over in my head. “I have to get back to my girls, they need me.” Now, after about an hour and a half of me lying still and just focusing in on my breathing I started to cool down and bring my heart rate down. I tell you, it was not a near death experience and I don’t know if it was heat exhaustion but it sure was close enough to a near death experience that I have a better appreciation for everything I have in life and am thankful to be writing this to you today.

That night I struggled to sleepand just laid there trying to focus in on recovery. When morning came I felt okay and decided to push to the top of the mountain with the rest of the group. This time the 45 minute climb was not as bad as the previous day for me, and let me tell you that it was all worth it when you get to the top and see how beautiful it is.

Now the top of the mountain was beautiful but I had another problem and that was getting down the mountain. You see, I am used to skiing at Vail or Breckenrdige, CO, not the back country. Skiing the back country involves going through open areas and tight areas that are surrounded by tress with tons of powder snow. Trees are not good for those of us who need to make wide turns.

Well the story of getting back to the Yurt involved me walking a little ways down and also being guided by Michael again through the tress and back to the trail head. I tell you what, if it wasn’t for Michael being a patient and great guide I don’t know what I would have done. So, I finally make it back to the Yurt and was thankful. The rest of the trip I knew was going to be hanging out in the hut and being okay with that.

I know I have gone on for awhile with the story but wanted to share with you my struggles. You may be wondering how I made it back to the bottom and I will tell you I have absoulutely no shame in letting you know that I rode down on the snowmobile. It actually was a cool experience in itself, since I have not been on a snowmobile since I was a little kid. Anyway, I made it down and was safe and sound and that is the conclusion of the first part of this series.

Here are some more videos of the trip that I wanted to share with you.


Yurt Trip

Dave and Jason


Dave and Michael at the bottom of NY Mountain

Dave and Michael at the bottom of NY Mountain

Does the “Past” matter?

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When it comes to getting more personal training clients does the prospect’s past experience with a personal trainer matter? Of course it does, and I was made aware of this again today when one of my newest trainers encountered a new member who told her a horrific story about the last time she met with a trainer. Listen, the fitness industry is notorious for creating negative experiences in people’s minds and it makes the job of changing that perception in the prospect’s mind much more difficult. Don’t worry, all hope is not lost, if you are going to have any chance of landing this prospect as a personal training client you are going to need to do the following:

1.) You need to establish trust with your prospect. Become a Trusted Advisor. I have said this before, but I can’t say it enough, ” clients buy because they trust you.” Now in order to establish this trust you need to listen to them and find out what their needs are and show them how you can help them achieve their goals.

2.) Create a memorable experience. Once you have established trust it is important to create a memorable experience. It is so important that the initial experience that a client has is something they enjoy and have fun. Yes, I mean make it fun for your client because if there is one thing that is missing with the “gym experience” is that we, as health professionals, sometimes forgot to have fun and make the experience memorable.

Let me be frank here and tell you that you have an uphill battle when it comes to changing the past of a current prospect but it can be done with the establishment of trust and an experience that leaves the client wanting more. Focus on these two sales strategies and you will win over the past and create a new future for your client. Good luck!

Coach Dave