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

Have you ever assisted someone, and even though you didn’t help out because you wanted a “thank you” you nevertheless felt a little slighted when the other person didn’t say thanks. Or can you remember a time when you didn’t expect a “thanks” and yet someone expressed heart-felt appreciation for your help? Do you remember how that made you feel?

The words “thank you” are so easy to say and yet so often unspoken. And it seems that a “thank you note”? while not lost to antiquity, is nevertheless a rare occurrence these days.

So the LifeTango Challenge for the week is simply this:

Write a “Thank You” note and give it to someone who has helped you recently.

If you want to adopt this goal, simply click on the following link and then choose “Adopt This Goal” in the upper-left-hand corner of the screen.

Write_A_Thank_You_Note

And let me be the first to say “thanks”to those who have started using LifeTango.com.

Brent

As a kid growing up in the 70s, I vividly remember neighborhood BBQs, block parties, and sidewalk conversations between my parents and the neighbors. But as a parent of the new millennium, it seems like I hardly know my neighbors. Sure, we wave and say hi, but the friendship my parents had with their neighbors seems nothing like the relationship I have with mine.

I live in a larger city than I lived in growing up. Could it be that the “big city”  simply isn’t as sociable, Sure. Could it be the I’m just not as friendly as my parents? (Do I have to answer that?) And could garage door openers have anything to do with it?

When I was growing up, to open the garage door, my parents had to put the car in park and get out of the car to open the garage door. As a result, they’d often just leave the car in the driveway, which meant they at least spent a little more time “out front” which gave them more opportunities to chat with the neighbors. By comparison, I get up in the morning, hit the garage door opener from within my car, pull out and close the garage door from within my car and drive away. The reverse happens when I return home–as I approach the house, I hit the garage door opener, wave at my neighbor, and disappear into my garage, letting the door close behind me with another press of the button.

Now I’m not trying to be a sociologist. Ultimately, I don’t know what factors are contributing to more isolated communities. But regardless of the contributing factors, I can think of one antidote hence a new LifeTango Challenge:

Get to know a friend, neighbor, or family better.

To add this goal to your own list, simply click on the following link and then click on “Adopt This Goal” in the upper right-hand corner.

Get_To_Know_A_Friend_Neighbor_Or_Family_Better

Pick someone in your neighborhood or community who you would like to get to know better and invite them over for dinner, to play games, to socialize–whatever you like. The key is: start or strengthen a friendship.

Brent

If you look in the right-hand column of this page (toward the top of the page), you’ll see a list of “Categories.” One of the categories is “LifeTango Challenges.” Roughly once each week, LifeTango will suggest a challenge or goal for LifeTango members to adopt. Hopefully these will be inspiring, commendable, or just plain fun, and by having LifeTango members like you accept these challenges, we hope we can make the world a little better place for all of us.

To view past challenges, just click on LifeTango Challenges in the category list.

I haven’t rubbed shoulders with a lot of celebs. In fact, the only celebrity I’ve ever even met was James Caviezel (from The Passion of the Christ, High Crimes, The Count of Monte Cristo, Frequency [a personal favorite of mine], etc.). And admittedly I only knew him before he was a celebrity (we went to high school together).

But this isn’t about James or celeb sightings. Rather, because I haven’t rubbed shoulders with a lot of celebrities, I never really thought about the fact that when you become rich and famous, people come out of the woodwork to ask you for things.

Last night, I had the opportunity of meeting a guy on a business flight. In the course of our conversation, I learned that he has a cousin who plays in the NBA, and he mentioned that his cousin gets calls all the time from people he used to know asking for things. He said his cousin has returned home to find as many as 32 voicemail messages asking for money or gifts.

As I was driving home from the airport, I found myself thinking “Why is there so much focus on ‘getting,’ and so little focus on ‘giving.’?” How much different would our world be if we were all more focused on asking how we could help others instead of asking others if they could do something for us?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying there aren’t times when it’s appropriate to ask for help. But as my traveling companion noted, these weren’t 32 requests for food to feed kids because someone had lost their job, or financial assistance due to an unforseen medical emergency. These were requests for Rolexes and other luxuries.

So this week’s LifeTango Challenge is to set a goal to:

Each month, look for one way to give rather than receive

To “adopt” this goal, simply click on the following link. On the resulting screen, click on “Adopt This Goal” in the upper left-hand column.

Each_Month_Look_For_One_Way_To_Give_Rather_Than_Receive

It could mean volunteering for a community or religious organization. It could mean helping a neighbor. Whatever it is, look for one way to give something back to those around you–whether it be your family, your neighborhood, your community, your church, your country, or the world.

And if you have great experiences (and I believe many of you will), email me at brentj@lifetango.com and let me know.

Brent