Walk the Walk

I would like to share a portion of an email which I received recently from a reader.  It struck me as being very straightforward about just exactly what it takes to accomplish your goals in life.

By the way, thanks again for getting me started on these goals.  I never thought it would be as easy as just doing them, but it is.

Is it really that simple?  It reminds me of the old, worn out saying of “You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”  In my own experiences I have been a great talker yet have been able to stick true to much of what comes out of my mouth.  With few exceptions, if I say something you can expect it to be done.

There are times, however, when self-doubt reaches up from inside of us and does everything in its power to stifle our ambitions.  I recently had to overcome my own fears of climbing Mount Saint Helens.  First I didn’t think I would be welcomed by a group of veteran climbers who (I thought) would have a rotten attitude towards novice climbers.

Not only did I concern myself with how I would be treated by these people, but also how they would look at me if I didn’t have the “right” gear.  I don’t have much in the way of mountaineering equipment but I had basically everything I would need in order to summit & make my descent.  This didn’t stop me from making a visit to the sporting goods store to buy a jacket that would fit in with the crowd a little better.

Fitting in wasn’t the only thing on my mind.  I was also concerned with safety even though I knew I wasn’t getting myself into a dangerous situation, I still felt that I “needed” all sorts of technical gear such as crampons, an ice axe, a GPS and rain gear.  Having these things would have made me feel much better about my ascent, but in the end I decided against any of these items and they simply were not necessary.

Another thing on my mind was the weather.  Since I don’t have much of the proper gear, I was concerned with the weather being a problem.  I told myself that if the weather was even the least bit miserable that I would abandon my hopes & dreams of climbing the mountain.  The weather turned out to be the best day in a week and I was no longer able to use this as an excuse not to climb.

The point here is even those who have a record of standing by their word have moments of doubt, where it is easier to make an excuse not to do something in the face of fear.  As much as I wanted to stand at the top of Mount Saint Helens, there was a fear of not having the ability to actually make it to the top.  It would have been more convenient for me to say “Oh, the weather was bad” or “I didn’t have the proper gear” than to face the fact that I just didn’t have it in me to make it up.

Fortunately I set those fears aside and just did it.  And that is what is important; doing it.  Not saying you are going to do something, not even convincing yourself in your own mind that someday you will do it, but actually getting off the couch and taking the first steps.  Fighting inertia is hard but once you are moving forward, the same force that kept you in place will now help keep moving you ahead.