Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking And Do Some Men’s Work

by Leave a Comment

It’s Sunday and of course that means I climbed a mountain this morning. I think I might have seen more women on the mountain this morning than men. Not sure!

As usual I begin my climbs very early in the morning so when I am coming down the mountain I see all the people coming up. I often wonder how the top of the mountain accommodates all those people. I am going to find out next week.

Doubles

Yes, on the 14th of May, two months before my 78th birthday I will attempt to climb Mt Si twice in the same morning. I think it might bleed into the early afternoon. On the other hand there is always a chance that I will collapse.

Have gone so far as to arrange to take Monday off of work (yes, I still work). That will give me some time to recover or get in and out of the hospital. Five months ago I had knee surgery. I would like to say it has completely healed but I would be lying.

It’s Nothing or Is It Something

It might seem like a pretty big deal for an old guy my age to do something like this, but I am reminded of Bronco Sundstrom who at age 77 summited Mt Rainier. The little mountain I will be climbing twice is just 4000 ft not over 14,000 ft. If I recall correctly she continued to climb it for many years. So doing doubles on Mt Si is nothing really own the bigger picture.

However, for me it will be a huge challenge. It is s supposed to be hot that weekend so that will present more of a challenge. The other thing is I have never done it before. No, not even when I was younger.

Bookish Weapon Number Seventy-Two

by Leave a Comment

This book’s subtitle is presented as a “Practical Guide” to face your darkness, end self-sabotage and find freedom. Sounds like a real bookish weapon to me, but then I am bias about bookish weapons.

Connor Beaton’s book makes you think. A lot. So much so he encourages you to get involved with a mens group so you can think about the tops together. After all there is strength in numbers and you are going to need a lot of strength to get through this one.

What Kind of Men?

The men who Connor says need this the most are men that has been abused, abused others, or who are hurting or have been hurt. A man that has hurt others or is hurting others. That covers it.

“A man that avoids his pain is a man that is enslaved by it,” say Beaton. Men are taught to suck it up, stuff it down, pour whiskey on it. Rinse and repeat.

Pain

“Most men simply haven’t been taught how to deal with their pain and use it to become something better,” says Beaton. “In fact, I began to see that not only have most men not been given the tools and resources to deal with the pain and suffering in their lives, but we as men are actively taught the opposite – the idiotic tactic of constant emotional avoidance. Not only this but our emotional avoidance is seen as a theoretical and rational strength in certain circles.” You get the general slant to the book. He says it is for men who wish to integrate their darkness so they are not so controlled by it.

He discusses how to integrate your “shadow.” Phil Stutz has spoken a lot about the shadow so some of you may be familiar with the term. It is the dark side. So this book helps you “to face your shadow and own all you have neglected, ignored and avoided.” Sounds like a big order, but Beaton says there are two pillars to man’s work, “a magnetic pull towards freedom, and the deep yearning to lead ourselves effectively, with passion, respect and fulfillment.” Then he says, “The shadow, especially within the male culture, has become a storehouse of repressed, hidden, and rejected pain.”

One Rule

Beaton refers to the “one rule of men” which is, “Don’t talk about what it’s like to be a man that is struggling.” Stuff it.Suck it up.

For some reason I have not experienced what he is talking about. I tell everybody my problems. That is my shortcoming.

Isolation

This is my other shortcoming. Beaton says, “Isolation makes a man impotent.” Well, that explains a lot for me! He goes on to say isolation creates hopeless and controlling men. He says that “…the inevitable impact of isolation is the amplification of pre-existing conditions, behaviors, thought patterns, emotions, and fears.” And, “When you isolate, you are left with nothing but your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and coping mechanisms – letting them spin outing larger, more robust, and more concrete illusions. Anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome, and the coping mechanisms used to deal with these experiences are all amplified when you isolate from others or attempt to mask your own truth or desires.”

Isolation is built to either protect or punish says Beaton. A lot to think about.

The Father and Mother

I could rewrite the book, but let me just say that your mother and father have a lot to do with who you are now. Of course many men have processed this and at least understand it. If you read this section of the book you will most likely learn more than you thought you knew.

The “big ideas,” as Brian Johnson likes to discuss in his Philosopher Notes are asking yourself questions about how your father showed up in your life or not. Also, his pain. Then Beaton asks a lot of questions about your pain and how to turn your pain into purpose. The next idea that is discussed is the “shadow of the mother.” For example, Beaton says, “ A man who had a good experience with his mother, maybe too good, can become very effeminate in nature, be preyed upon or taken advantage of by women, and will usually struggle to cope with or want to face the hardships of life. These men are prone to reflecting and thinking about life so much that they struggle to live it fully.”

Your Anger

Beaton says to embrace it. This is a good discussion of how men relate to their anger. I personally am working on getting better at Reactive Discipline which is giving something some time before reacting. Beaton says, “Your activity is a neon sign pointing toward your shadow.” “Defensiveness, passive-aggression, feeling hopeless, shutting down, or aggressively criticizing are all examples of reactivity.”

So get a grip on your anger guys!

One Last Thing

I have spent a good deal of my life in personal development so when I read the following it got my attention:

“The hidden truth about your personal development, or personal growth, is that it is equally a practice in personal death.” If you want to read more of this sort of thing get the book and read it.

Go Hiking And Endure Or Not

by Leave a Comment

I know what you’re thinking! He’s going to tell me I need to endure the hikes even if I am sick and tired or over trained. If I had written this a year ago, I would have said you were dead right.

However, climbing a grueling mountain trail when you are over trained doesn’t make a lot of sense. Like I said, a year ago I would have done it anyway, but I changed my mind.

Pay Attention

If you are fortunate or nerdy enough to use the NatureBeat (Sweetwaterhrv) App, Whoop, or even a Garmin watch, you are paying attention to your heart rate variability. With NatureBeat it will give you both your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic numbers. Those to numbers make represent you autonomic nervous system. The first one is your “flight or flight” readiness and the second your “rest and digest” score. With the Whoop you also get a recovery score.

So what do you do if you don’t have any of this technology? Listen to your body! If you are overly tired maybe a day off would be the wisest choice. Then you will have less chance of getting an injury or even sick. Now don’t think you can just be a slacker. You can get improvements in fitness by pushing yourself when the numbers are bad. Just don’t do it all the time.

Pay With Your Heath

If you do not listen to your body and push through there is a good chance you will not do well. I learned this myself the hard way. A pattern developed where I was not getting enough sleep and was exercising hard every day and then of course, climbing a mountain. All my numbers were bad. So I thought I would see if I could get the numbers to go back up after taking a week off from exercise. It worked. They went up a little. More on that other time.

After once again hitting the trail, a late night (anything after 5:00 PM) wedding resulted in making me even more tired than the exercise. Of course I had climbed a mountain the day before so I was primed for weariness.

My Permission

It is official. You have my permission to take a week off from s hike if everything is stacked against you. You do not have to endure! Of course you don’t need my permission for anything!

The most important think to remember as a general rule with some exceptions: Go Hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number 69

by Leave a Comment

Cameron Hanes runs up mountains to train himself to be the best bowhunter in the world. He likes to hunt far away from the typical hunting grounds in places that are hard to reach unless you’re in his kind of physical shape.

His book “Endure” captures his story which is a great one and one that continues. I was drawn to the title, because I though my word for this year was “endure.” There was one other box with the same name, but Cam’s subtitle included the words “keep hammering” and that spoke to me.

Focus

The thing that stood out for me right away was the intense focus this man has put on one thing, hunting. Maybe two. Hunting and training to hunt.

To some, running 100 mile races might seem over the top, but not for Hanes. He knows they give him the edge he needs to be a successful hunter year after year. It all provides meaning and purpose to his life.

Learn From Cameron

There are lots of excellent lessons in this book like how not to let your critics get to you. How to learn from others and how to “burst through the bonds of low expectations.”

He stresses the importance of believing in yourself and being obsessed with improvement. He thinks that obsession in successful people is not because they think they are great, but because they really think they are not that great at all and need to improve!

Get Used to Being Uncomfortable

This book is about what I have learned to be expansive discipline which is putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. They induce growth. Cam says that “My good friend Misery and I have become real close over the years.

Now remember this not about being yourself up for the sake of beating yourself up. Hanes has a purpose and a mission. Getting used to being uncomfortable helps him hit the mark time and time again.

Greatness

Cameron Hanes believes in you and me. He says, “The good news is I believe each and every one of us is capable of greatness in something. He continues, by saying, “Your bowhunting is out there. I promise. It will open doors for yours well. But be warned: when you become obsessed, it takes over your life. This obsessive approach works for me.”

What’s it going to take. You might have guessed it. Hard work or as Cam says, “…damn hard work.”

Your Body

Frankly I can’t say it better than Cameron Hanes, “Your body gives what you ask of it. Don’t ask much and it won’t give you much. Ask a lot and it will give you a lot. I haven’t found my limit yet, but I am trying.”
This book is very inspirational especially for those who want to strengthen themselves. He talks about putting his body through the wringer. However, he might disagree with me when I say you do need some rest from time to time. Even then your main focus must be to “keep hammering!”

Go Hiking And Be A Hero On A Mission

by Leave a Comment

How many of you use a Garmin or a Whoop or a Fitbit or and Oura Ring to track everything? Two out of the three track you steps, all track your sleep, and two your recovery from exercise. Everything! So you can look at the in the morning and get a good idea about how much you can push yourself that day.

Last Sunday morning my “devices” all said I was a mess. Now I could have used that as an excuse to skip the hike altogether or maybe just “stroll” up the mountain. However, if you are depleted and you push yourself the upside is that it can improve fitness.

Hero

Still, what do you do? I decided to take on the challenge and push myself like never before (at least not recently) and I beat my recent records to the top. After all, I was a Hero on a mission. A mission to get to the top of the mountain.

Did I mention how much my legs hurt when I was running the trail? They hurt! But the challenge was exciting and getting to the top of a mountain is meaningful.

No Trekking Poles

I recommend everyone uses trekking poles, especially when they come down a mountain, because it will save your knees long term. In fact my knees were so bad in the past that I could not get down a mountain without them.

However, one of the devices mentioned above does not count your steps correctly when you use trekking poles. So Decided that I would climb up and down without them. The difference in number of steps was 15,000!!. Yeah, kinda nuts.

Do It Again

When I would make a sale in the past one of my favorite sales managers would tell me, “Good job. Now do it again.” It is the same when you climb mountains. You may have done a good job this week, but now it is your responsibility to keep executing.

Did you go hiking last week? Did you beat your personal record to the top? Then do it again!

Bookish Weapon Number Sixty-Seven

by Leave a Comment

“Hero On A Mission,” is one of the better books I have re-read recently again and it was just published this year. It is a book about purpose and story. Your and my story!

Did you know you were involved in a story? Has your story lost your interest? These are questions the author asks of us and he gives excellent advice.

Our Stories

On a page even before the introduction Miller states, “I don’t think any of us should trust fate to write the story of our lives. Fate is a terrible writer.

We are all in stories and they have characters in them just like all stories. There is the victim, the villain, the hero and the guide. Do you recognize any of these in your life?

Control

In self help books you can read a lot about how you should focus on what you can control and ignore the rest. So how much can you control? Miller makes the argument that “…a human being has a ridiculous amount of personal agency. A person’s reaction to a set of circumstances dramatically affects how their story plays out.”

He goes on and says, “The character who becomes the victim believes they are helpless and acts out of that belief. The character who becomes the hero accepts their agency and rises up against their circumstances.” How does this speak to your life?

Accomplish Something Important

Miller says that what we all need to do is “…throw yourself into a story in which you try to accomplish something important.”

He goes on to say, “If we don’t want something, face our challenges, and try hard things, our life stories don’t work either.” You can just “dream up” a story for yourself and live “like a hero on a mission.” Miller says you have to sit and think about everything you have overcome in your life to realize your strength.

Want Something

The author says we need to want something! He says many have killed their desire and any story needs to be about a character who wants something.

He says, “When you define specific destination for your life, your story will begin to take shape and you’ll become more interested in your own life.” “Discipline is a good bit easier to come by if you have narrative traction in your life.” So he asks, “What is the thing you just have to do?

What If

I loved this little exercise. He says to ask yourself, “What if?” Simple, right? What if I sold everything and moved to Portugal? What if I quit my job? He says “what if” leads to adventure.

He uses what if questions when he writes books and gets stuck, but he says, “Asking What if can drive incredible change in your life and give you a terrific reason to get out of bed in the morning.”

Narrative

Miller says “narrative traction” is “the feeling that our personal story is so interesting we can’t turn away.” You could even join an existing mission!

Questions to ask yourself once you start to build your life plan include: “What will you build? What story will you join? What could your life look like one year, five years, and ten years from now?

So that’s the first half of the book. The second half is how to set up a plan for your life. Get the book and read it! There is so much more to learn!