Persistence Will Get You Everywhere

BOOM!  The crack of thunder shook the ground behind us and we started hiking faster back to our tents.  At 11,700 feet in elevation, we were still above treeline, and during a lightening storm it’s a dangerous place to be.  I’m 6’4″ and definitely the tallest thing around in the alpine environment.

“Go dude!!” I yelled at my new climbing partner John who I just met on the slopes of Wilson Peak, a fourteener in Colorado.  We had summited the mountain together and were scurrying back to the trees and our tents, barely in time to beat the cold and violence of the rapidly moving storm.

Nothing compares to the swiftness and immediacy of a high mountain storm.  They sometimes appear out of nowhere, and shock you with their intensity.

I plopped in my tent, exhausted after summiting my 55th mountain in Colorado over 14,000 feet.  And the hail started. 

And man, did it hail.  I wondered if my tent would protect me from the onslaught of ice balls.  When it was all said and done, there was about a quarter-inch of ice accumulation in my campsite.

Had that happened while I was high up on the rocky slopes of Wilson Peak two hours earlier, it would have been a crisis situation.  But those are the chances you take while climbing these massive mountains, and if it were easy everyone would be doing it.

 

An Epoch Of Persistence

In late July 2018 I summited Snowmass Mountain at 14,092 feet.   I had successfully climbed all 58 fourteeners in Colorado!  It was the culmination of a nine year journey.

Nine years.

I’ve spent about a fifth of my life working on this project.  It’s an epoch in my life, and that epoch was partially defined by my unrelenting persistence to accomplish a goal.

What is an epoch?  It’s defined as:

 

a period of time in history or a person’s life, typically one marked by notable events or particular characteristics

 

Well, I can’t say the last nine years of my life have been completely defined by climbing 14ers in Colorado.  But when I’m old and grey and looking back on this period of my life, it would be hard not to think of these beautful mountains.  Along with the adventure, struggle, and joy they’ve given me.

Achieving financial independence took way longer, more than twice as long.  But as the name of my blog suggests, I did that accidentally.  It was an “accidental epoch”.

When you want what other people don’t have, you need to do what other people don’t do.

Climbing all 58 fourteeners in Colorado was a very deliberate goal, one wrought with immense challenges.  And it solidified my belief that we humans can do anything we want, if we choose to put the time and effort into the task.

Achievement of a goal is largely a function of persistence.  Einstein once said “It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

I’m not the best mountaineer out there, far from it.  I’m a former fat kid.  But I do have persistence.  At times it probably drifts into the realm of stubbornness, and that trait has a good side when used deliberately and carefully.

 

The Lows Only Serve To Make The Highs Higher

The achievement of a difficult, long term goal is someting that’s hard to teach.  Just saying “be persistent” is of course an insufficient instruction book. It’s akin to directions for building a car that say “connect all the pieces”.

Yeah, got it.  Thanks for the tip.

The devil is in the details of course.  And if there’s one thing I learned during my nine year journey to climb the Colorado 14ers, it’s that the lows only serve to make the highs higher.

I had lows during this quest, lots of them.  Altitude sickness, dangerous storms, cuts and bruises, and broken gear.  And there were canceled flights, damaged rental cars, and threatening wildfires.

On one trip I got a blistering case of poison ivy right before I left, and spent the whole time climbing with horribly itchy rashes all over my body.  I slept maybe 4 hours a night if I was lucky.  But I climbed on.

Each of these lows and setbacks sucked, no two ways about it.  But they were interrupted by successful summits and steady achievement.

Every time I stood on top of the Rocky Mountains at 14,000 feet of elevation on yet another summit, all of the lows that happened since the last one vanished.  And the view from the summit looked that much better because of those lows, because of what I endured and stuck with to get there.

Remember that in your financial life or your journey to financial independence, this rule is the same.  There will be lows for sure. 

Another market crash will come.  But it will only serve to make the recovery that much better.  Those of us who persisted through the 2008-09 market crash can attest that these last eight years are that much more incredible because of that crash. 

The bad news:

• You will have very large unexpected expenses – don’t let them break your spirit and derail you from your goal.
• Life will throw wicked curve balls at you – keep the bigger picture in mind.
• You will question what you’re doing, maybe often – realize that doubt an uncertainty are part of everything in life. 

I can’t tell you how many times I said to myself “Why the eff am I doing this?” when the alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. in my tent and it was freezing outside.  And I laid there for a second in my nice warm sleeping bag and thought of the long day of climbing ahead. 

“The mountain ain’t gonna climb itself”, I would think.  This is admittedly an absurd and inane thing to say. 

But it worked.  Deep down I knew these mountains were teaching me about life, but a throw-away phrase was all it took on the surface to motivate me to set off again for another monster day in the mountains.

Find your absurd motivator. 

 

Be Like Rust

In a weird way, during my fourteeners journey I felt like rust trying to take over a piece of metal.  I would think, “Well, this is number 27, only 31 left to go. I’m moving slow, but I’m moving”.  Rust progresses slowly but very steadily and will eventually overcome a piece of metal.

I felt the same.  Slow and steady, another one down.  Persistence.  Keep moving.  The goal keeps getting closer.

Of course it helps that I really enjoy climbing mountains and being in nature, with all of the physical suffering and discomfort that come with it.  Despite the setbacks and tough times, it’s not like this was a nine year sacrifice. 

This was nine years of vacation bliss, and confirmation that for me at least even vacations have to have struggle and challenge to be rewarding.

Just like life.  Just like your journey to financial independence.

So whatever your goals are, financial, career, or otherwise, be like rust.  Keep moving toward them, creep if you have to.  Persistence is your secret weapon.

 

Here are some stats for the 58 fourteeners I climbed:

• Total Distance Hiked/Climbed:  660 Miles
• Total Elevation Climbed (and descended):  255,548 Feet.  (this is the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest from sea level 8.8 times!)
• Estimated Calories Burned:  175,000
• Number of Marmots Seen:  13 gazillion
• Number Of Helicopter Rescues Witnessed:  3
• Number of Brocken Spectres:  1  (see the picture page linked below for that mystery, it’s worth it)

 

Next

I will keep climbing mountains.  I’ll set new goals, maybe make new lists.  It’s just in me. 

The great thing about finishing a big goal is plotting the next one, and wondering what new lessons and wisdom await you.

There is no finish line.  There’s only the journey, and the lessons and memories that come along with it.

 

Pics!!

*I combed through my picture and video archives and posted some of my favorites here.  If you’d like to escape to the virtual Rocky Mountains for a while have a look and I hope you enjoy them! 

And if you’re interested in climbing the Colorado 14ers or similar mountains here is the gear that I used and recommend.