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