LifeTango.com Blog

For years, rock-climbing experts said that climbing to the top of Trango Tower in the Karakoram Himalayas couldn’t be done. Though “only” 20,500 feet high (roughly 10,000 feet lower than Everest), most of the ascent is straight up.

For other images of Trango Tower, click here http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=trango+tower&gbv=2

So when Todd Skinner said he was going to climb Trango Tower, everyone thought he was crazy.

But Skinner had a dream and a plan. His dream, of course, was to climb a peak that everyone said couldn’t be climbed. His plan was to begin making every “first ascent” he could. In rock climbing, a “first ascent” is a peak (or more often, a path to a peak) that no one has climbed before. His reasoning was that, by climbing first ascents, he would have to learn during the climb, and that would prepare him for the unknowns he would face on Trango Tower.

I had the great fortune of listening to a keynote that Skinner gave at a Microsoft Business Solutions seminar a couple years back. His narrative of the climb was mesmerizing. If you ever get the chance to hear him recount his experiences on Trango Tower, I’d highly encourage it.

As it relates to dreams, Skinner has said:

Whenever you can, you should base your goals on dreams, because the feel of a goal tied to a dream is entirely different from a goal without a dream–you are pulled instead of pushed. A dream is a motivational force that makes your destination worth going to. Even if the goal at hand is not your actual dream, if it moves you toward a dream on the horizon beyond, it can share the same lift. (Todd Skinner. Beyond the Summit. p23)

At times the goals we set are really more “tasks” or “things to do.” That’s not bad, but as Skinner notes, basing your goals on dreams can have a powerful, motivating effect. So this week’s LifeTango Challenge is to

Identify and Pursue Your Own “Trango Tower”

Of course, this goal is a metaphor for whatever your lofty, inspiring dream is.

In his narrative, Skinner refers to Dreams and supporting Goals. At LifeTango, you can create Goals and supporting Milestones. But regardless of the terminology, the key is to ensure that you set some lofty Dreams/Goals and then identify some more immediate Goals/Milestones that will move you closer to achieving your dream. (When you are viewing your Goal List in the My Tango section of the site, you can create a Milestone for a goal by clicking on “Add Milestone” to the right side of the goal.)

To adopt this goal, click on the following link and then click “Adopt This Goal,” which is listed in the righ-hand column.

LifeTango_Challenge_Identify_And_Pursue_Your_Own_Trango_Tower

Enjoy the climb!

Brent

A little over a year ago, I came across a cassette tape that my parents had made for me when I was nine. There was nothing special about it — it was just them telling what was going on in their lives at that time. But so many years later, I enjoyed hearing their voices from another time, and I thought how fortunate it will be when they pass on (many, many years from now) to have something with their voices on it.

About the same time, I came across another cassette that another father of mine had made for me. (I’ve been blessed with 3 fathers and 2 mothers due to divorce, remarriage, etc.) Unfortunately, this father passed away 5 years ago, and I’m glad I have something with his voice on it to remember him by.

After listening to these cassettes, I had an idea. For Christmas, what if my wife and I, as well as my parents and my wife’s parents, created audio books for my kids. I figured it would be one of those gifts that they would like a little bit now, but years from now when their grandparents are gone, and even later when my wife and I are gone, I figured it would be the only gift they’d remember from Christmas 2005.

So beginning around this time last year, we all started creating audio books for my kids. Since the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was coming out last December, we decided to each create an audio book for one of the books in The Chronicles of Narnia.

As I mentioned, I thought my kids would like their audio books a little bit now, but I figured they wouldn’t really cherish them for years to come. Amazingly, however, their audio books are already the only gift they remember from last Christmas. In fact, just tonight, I went to turn off the night-light in my oldest daughter’s room and she had fallen asleep listening to her grandma read one of the books to her. And that’s not a rarity. More nights than not, my kids fall asleep listening to one of their audio books.

It was such a hit that I’ve asked my wife’s and my parents to create more audio books for this Christmas.

If you have kids or grandkids, no matter what their age, I can’t think of a better challenge for this week’s LifeTango Challenge than to encourage you to create an audio book for them. And, even if creating an audio book isn’t appealing to you, I’d encourage you to create an audio journal for your posterity. You can accept one or both of these challenges by clicking on the links below and then selecting “Adopt This Goal.”?

For both the “Audio Book”? goal and the “Audio Journal”? goal, I will post some technical suggestions for how to create your CDs. Additionally, for the Audio Journal, I’ll suggest some questions you could answer to get your Audio Journal started.

Finally, if you accept either of these challenges and have good experiences, please return and add comments to share your experiences with others.

Create an Audio Book for Your Family
http://www.lifetango.com/goals/goal.php/1512/LifeTango_Challenge_Create_An_Audio_Book_For_Your_Family.html

Create an Audio Journal CD
http://www.lifetango.com/goals/goal.php/1513/LifeTango_Challenge_Create_An_Audio_Journal_CD.html

Best wishes,

Brent

The last few LifeTango Challenges have been more serious and more targeted at finding ways to improve our relationships with others and our communities, so this week I thought it’d be nice to pick something just for fun.

I scanned the goals in the Community section and found one that peaked my interest:

Go Glow Bowling

Now at first, I have to admit I didn’t know what “glow bowling” was–but honestly, that made it more interesting. From a quick search on the internet, I think its bowling with the normal lights turned off and black lights turned on, which makes the pins glow in the darkness.

Thanks to jenedreamer for the idea. This week’s LifeTango Challenge is to encourage you to try out Glow Bowling. To adopt jenedreamer’s goal, click here:

Go_Glow_Bowling

“[Goals] contribute significantly to higher creativity and problem solving.”

Managing Strategic Implementation
2000
Patrick C Flood, Liam Gorman, Tony Dromgoole
p.35
References: Wood and Locke 1990

“Goal setting has been shown to result in positive changes in motivation [and] confidence.”

Science and Medicine in Sport
1995
John Bloomfield
p.157

“It is important that an individual should accept [a goal].”

Advanced Psychology: Applications, Issues & Perspectives
2002
Christine Brain
p.135
Reference: Locke et al 1981

“Researchers have . . . found that extrinsic rewards such as bonuses can increase people’s commitment.”

Advanced Psychology: Applications, Issues & Perspectives
2002
Christine Brain
p.135

“Supportive relationships . . . are a major part of . . . goal setting.”

Organization Development and Change
2005
Thomas G Cummings, Christopher G Worley
p.424