With an elevation of 29,029 feet, Mt. Everest serves as the supreme symbol of man’s personal struggle to achieve.
As a metaphor; Everest is simple and pure, man versus nature.
It approaches a universal understanding of our primal desire to conquer, and will eternally stand as a symbol for triumph in the face of great obstacles…for rising to meet the mental and physical demands of a big challenging goal.
For the purposes of this message we are going to focus on the word elevate, and by the time we’re done…I hope to convict you with the belief that you can, will and must shoot for the moon and conquer your own personal Everest.
Let’s begin with a brilliant quote by Henry David Thoreau who said, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”
So what exactly does it mean to elevate your life?
ELEVATE is a transitive verb which means to exalt, to lift up and improve morally, intellectually, physically, relationally, financially, culturally….you name it.
And, in the spirit of making this a message that will catapult your life and overall performance to another orbit, I offer the following game plan which you can implement with immediate effect.
1. Elevate Your Vision…as you will never be greater than the vision that guides you.
In the same way that no Astronaut ever walked on the moon without going there first in their mind, not one climber made it to the summit of Everest without an inspiring mental picture.
A compelling vision of their performance inevitably guided and inspired all the years of hard work. This same principle applies to you…your past and future achievements.
Your vision is not just a picture of what you could be…it’s an appeal to elevate yourself, a call to become something more, a challenge to go to a place mentally where you have never been.
Due to its elevated position in the sky…if you were standing on the summit of Mount Everest, your vision of the horizon would surpass an astonishing 208 miles. That’s the kind of vision you want to experience.
2. Elevate Your Expectations…as you get out of life, what you expect out of life.
You see what you expect to see, feel what you expect to feel, act how you expect to act, and achieve what you expect to achieve.
Elevating the expectations you have of yourself and those around you profoundly influences everything in your life—your health, your wealth, your happiness, your career, your relationships, and your abilities.
Expect greatness from yourself, expect to win in advance, expect that great things will happen…and then work hard to make them happen.
The youngest person to climb Everest was 13 year old Jordan Romero from the United States who reached the summit on May 22, 2010…and the oldest was 80 year Yuichiro Miura from Japan on May 23, 2013.
What that means is it’s never too early or late to elevate your expectations, to aim high, to go after your own personal Everest and win.
3. Elevate Your Standards…as superior performance is not, never has been, nor will it ever be, the by-product of ordinary efforts.
If you are really committed to getting to the next level, to raising the standards of your profession, to unleashing your greatness…there is only one way: elevate your standards.
With high standards you dramatically increase what is possible in your life, and that is why you must refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
Those that have reached the summit of Everest display a zero tolerance for mediocrity, self-doubt, and any behavior that could potentially undermine victory.
They know that what they put up with, they end up with and as a result…they have elevated standards for themselves and those around them.
And, that’s why you must never apologize or feel guilty for having high standards. I assure you that the people who want to be in your life will rise to meet them.
Just as an elevator exists to transport you vertically to a higher floor…your thoughts, words and actions exist to elevate you to higher levels of health, wealth and happiness.
Do something big, bold and beautiful today and always remember…
Gary Ryan Blair
P.S. The next 100 Day Challenge begins in a few weeks and you can get all the details here.
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