You may have seen my post on LinkedIn this week. This isn’t a repeat of that.
If you didn’t, here’s the context you need. I spent last weekend in Kerry. Two days in the mountains with the team I’ll be heading to Morocco with in June.
I broke my ankle and tore medial ligaments back in November. The surgeon shook his head when I told him about the Atlas Mountains expedition. Suggested I think about 2027 instead.
So there was a bit to prove. To myself, mostly.
Day one up Carrauntoohil. Day two up Purple Mountain. Consecutive days, moving at pace, ankle held up better than it has in months.
I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t chuffed. I absolutely was.
So now that I’ve got the “Amn’t I bleedin’ deadly?!” bit out of the way, let’s carry on!!
The weekend was incredibly uplifting. Our team for Morocco were in the company of greatness.
Pat Falvey and Jason Black are Irish legends when it comes to mountaineering. We all stayed in Pat’s place, Jason included. And we had wonderful chats each night
They spent the weekend sharing what they’ve learned from a lifetime of expeditions. And the thing that kept coming through wasn’t about mountains at all.
It was about who you become along the way.
The process. The people around them.
That’s what Dare to Explore actually means to me (the name of the Moroccan expedition we’re undertaking with Jason).
It’s not about the altitude. It’s about being willing to step into something uncertain, do the work it requires, and see what it shows you about yourself.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot this week.
Because I’m also sitting with a different kind of awareness right now. A client of mine passed away ten days ago. He loved this kind of thing. Getting out, pushing himself, being in nature. And I find myself very conscious of what a privilege it is to be able to lace up the boots and go.
I have a friend too who can’t take those steps right now. A catastrophic injury last year. And when I think about both of them, the mountains feel less like an achievement and more like a responsibility.
To use it well.
The recovery taught me something I keep coming back to. When you get really clear on where you want to go, and you build the habits to get there consistently, you can surprise yourself. The surgeon’s message back to me this week was encouraging. More than I expected.
And now I’m asking myself the honest question. Where else could I apply that same quality of thinking? That same process? Business. Family. The things that matter.
That’s probably where I need to dare to explore a little more.
So far this week I’ve been addressing this through a business lens. I’ll keep you posted.
Where do you need to?