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