I had a ton of fun writing the story of when I climbed Mt. Hood. I made the climb with my buddy Chad Tackett and it was the most physically demanding thing I have ever done. I included the story as part of the introduction to my second book. Atlantic Publishing gave me the green light to excerpt it…so I posted the story here. I hope you like it!

 

 Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

I love seeking out challenges that push me to be better, to perform, and to reach new levels that I did not think I was capable of reaching. I literally thought I had met my match on a crisp, early morning in April 2000. It was on that day that I learned the keys to total happiness. I learned that my ability to focus and relentlessly pursue what I loved and wanted most in this world were the keys to making me happy. And on that April morning, there were times I definitely felt like quitting and giving up the pursuit. But I did not give in — and I am so glad that I pushed forward because total happiness found me that morning on the side of Mt. Hood.

I had arrived in Portland, Oregon several days earlier to continue the due diligence process regarding a company called Global Health & Fitness (GHF). The company was owned by Chad and Jody Tackett and it represented a very strategic acquisition for the company I had recently founded called FortifiedNutrition.com (FN). From the moment I landed, Chad Tackett and I worked well together and we got along great. Our personalities and goals were completely in sync. A friendship that lasts to this day had been born.

The idea for climbing Mt. Hood came up after Chad and I had finished playing basketball with some of his friends and eating way too much pizza one night. While we stood around the kitchen, one of Chad’s friends asked him what we were planning to do the next day and at that point there was nothing on the agenda. So when Chad suggested we climb Mt. Hood, it sounded like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had no idea what I had just agreed to do but would quickly find out.

I woke up early the next morning with a nervous and anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was I seriously going to attempt the climb? How had I let Chad talk me into it this? I was starting to reconsider the wisdom of my decision for several important reasons.

First, Mt. Hood is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth highest in the Cascades. It is approximately 11,200 feet high and is home to 12 glaciers. Yes, 12! Mt. Hood is also considered to be the most likely volcano in Oregon to erupt. Super. Second, Chad was in significantly better cardiovascular condition than I was. Consequently, I was afraid of being left in the snow only to be found in late May by some unsuspecting skiers. My body had been trained for lifting heavy objects and moving them from point A to point B — not snowshoeing up the side of a mountain. So my endurance would likely be a problem. Third, I had never been snowshoeing and physical coordination is not one of my strengths. I lacked the experience of doing anything physical in high altitude, which meant that my energy level would be a real and present issue.

So there I sat in the hotel lobby—waiting for Chad to pick me up. I tried to choke down a protein bar while my stomach continued to churn.  And then it was time. Chad drove up and we were off to get our gear at the nearby outfitter. We then packed up all of our gear which consisted of snowshoes, boots, and some ski poles. “Hey, how about some food and water”?, I thought to myself. What I did not realize is that this was just going to be an extended cardio session for Chad, but it would physically push me to my furthest edge.

We decided to climb Mt. Hood’s West Leg Trail, which is one of the most popular ski trails that curves and twists its way from Timberline Lodge down the southern flank to the base of the mountain. All totaled, the West Leg Trail of Mt. Hood trail is 5.5 miles long. Our plan was to climb the trail until we reached the lodge located just below Palmer Glacier. Chad and I would be climbing a very significant incline and covering about 5,000 feet in elevation. Our goal was to complete the climb in approximately three hours so we could have lunch at the lodge. It all sounded like a good plan; I was so naïve!

“You can do this,” I chanted to myself. Chad looked at me and smiled. He could see from the anxious expression on my face that I was nervous and had no idea what to expect. Then Chad said something to me that I suspect was supposed to instill confidence and encouragement, but all I heard was mumbling. I had tuned everything out and was trying to focus.

We were off. I looked ahead as far as I could follow the trail. It ascended and then headed into a tree line. The sun’s glare reflecting off the snow was nearly blinding. It was one of the most impressive and beautiful scenes I have ever witnessed. Just being in the presence of all that grandeur was incredibly awe inspiring.

The splendor and beauty of the mountain quickly faded during the first 10-minutes of the climb — I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Granted, I already had assumed my lack of conditioning would be an issue, but I never imagined that I would begin feeling the affect in such a short period of time. I thought I might have a heart attack and die right there at the base of Mt. Hood. And it was only going to get worse.

Chad saw that I was struggling so he coached me on how to develop a rhythm with the snowshoes and poles.  “And do not forget to breathe,” Chad said to me. “Gee, thanks for the pearl of wisdom,” I thought sarcastically to myself. “And how can we be inclining already? Doesn’t this mountain come with some sort of test trail or something so we can properly warm up? Come on!”

Once I focused on following Chad’s sequential process of pulling, stepping, and breathing my way up the trail, my efforts became much more efficient and effective. And I was covering more ground while using less energy. Darn him for knowing everything! I am convinced that Chad was enjoying the thoughts of the physical torture that the trail was about to inflict on me.

As we continued our ascent, the fatigue and thinning oxygen levels were setting in and causing me to lose my focus. Chad could see that I had begun to mentally wander so he started chatting me up and asking me all sorts of due diligence questions about how our team planned to fund the acquisition, our timing for the initial public offering of FN, and aspects of our exit strategy. It must have worked because I snapped back to the reality of the situation and thought, “You must be joking. Here we are, snowshoeing up the side of a mountain, and he wants to talk about stock options, venture capital, and who knows what else!” But that was Chad. He loved to multi-task so why not combine the two things he really loved—intense exercise with business. Chad is one of the most driven people I have ever met. But his Q&A session also helped me maintain my focus and the relentless pursuit of Timberline Lodge. I kept urging myself forward by saying, “Come on…keeping pushing up the trail. If you stop, you will never get started again. You will pass out and you will not be found until spring!” 

Chad tried a tactic that he thought would motivate me further, even though it was sort of demoralizing. He literally leaped ahead of me and began sprinting up the side of the mountain as if he were jogging in his snowshoes. I stopped and looked incredulously up at him. “What the hell? How can you even do that?” I shouted up at him. I shook my head and kept trudging up the mountain.

When I finally caught up to Chad, I dug my poles into the snow and sunk the spikes of my shoes into the trail. I reached down and pulled off the sweatshirt I had been wearing; it was soaked with sweat. I tied it around my waist and turned to look back down the trail we had just climbed. Off in the distance, I saw Mt. Jefferson and it looked larger than life. It looked so close, I thought that if I got a running start, I could leap off Mt. Hood and land on the side of it. Little did I know that apparently altitude plays games with distance perception because Mt. Jefferson is approximately 50 miles away from Mt. Hood. Insane.

Being dug into the sided of Mt. Hood gave me the opportunity to take in some of the most beautiful nature views I had ever seen firsthand.

It would have been easy to quit. It would have been easy to give up the relentless pursuit. But Chad would not let me quit. He would not let me give up. Chad knew that if he could motivate me to finish the climb, that I would remember this day for the rest of my life. Chad pushed me to persevere, to dig deeper than I ever had dug before in my life, and to ignore the tremendous pain in my legs, back, and arms. He pushed me to focus on reaching the end of the trail.

It was a miraculous sight when we finally cleared the tree line and we saw Timberline Lodge. I had willed myself to achieve something I would have never considered possible for me to achieve. I had nothing left. I was mentally and physically exhausted. And in that state of depletion, a quote from Coach Vince Lombardi made perfect sense to me. Coach Lombardi once said, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he is exhausted on the field of battle — victorious.”

But it is because of that morning on Mt. Hood, as well as other experiences in my life, that I firmly believe a person’s focus and their relentless pursuit of what they love and want most in this world are the keys to total happiness.

Everything worth doing requires commitment, strategy, and hard work. A person needs to have a singular focus…as if you are pursing the one thing you have always wanted most in your life. There is no magic bullet or secret that can grant us what we want most in this world. There are no short cuts, there are no second chances, and we have to enjoy every opportunity we have.

And the same goes for the viral social networking process I am about to share with you in this book. Yes, the process is efficient and effective. And yes, it will produce maximum results in the least amount of time. But it requires your focus and relentless pursuit of the business goals you are trying to accomplish. I assure you, there will absolutely be times when you want to quit or when you begin to question whether or not your time investment is going to pay off.

Trust me when I tell you that your time commitment will pay off. But consistently communicating with the people in your social network takes time and it takes discipline to keep up with the conversation versus a flurry of posts and comments during one week and then nothing from you for three to four weeks as if you disappeared. This type of inconsistent communication will produce lackluster results.

You must relentlessly pursue your goals…never give up…keep on fighting…and enjoy the total happiness that comes your way!

It is time to learn something new! It is time to challenge the status quo! Are you ready?

I wish you the best of success.

- Stephen