What Everest is really “like”

As you may know, I recently crossed off a bucket-list item by making the trek to Everest base camp. I appreciate all of the congratulations and support for my journey. Now that I’ve returned from the whirlwind and have had time to reflect on accomplishing a life-long dream, I feel?happy.?

Maybe that’s a bit anticlimactic. Yes, the social media photos are a great symbol of the breathtaking and life-changing experiences. And the?memories I made with new friends will be with me for the rest of my life.?

Many friends and acquaintances have asked me, “Bill, what was it like? What was Everest like?” That’s an interesting question. I can tell you what the experience is according to my senses, what I saw, what I heard, smelled, and so forth. I can share details of each day’s trek, who I met, share photos/videos, and so on.?

But I think the real question behind “what was it like?” is,?“How did the experience feel?” and furthermore, “What is similar so I can also feel that way?”?(Especially if Everest isn’t your thing.) So let me break it down in the best way I know how.?

See, I pride myself on continually learning, specifically learning from those wiser than me. Arthur Brooks is a writer, speaker, social scientist and academic I follow who researched and wrote about?the science of happiness . I spoke about this previously during my gratitude email, discussing the connection between happiness and gratitude. But to refresh your memory, the elements of happiness are:?

1. Enjoyment?
2. Satisfaction
3. Purpose

Enjoyment. You must enjoy life and find joy in day-to-day moments. You may have recently experienced enjoyment sitting around the Thanksgiving table or will experience some joy during the upcoming holidays. These can be seen as ordinary, small moments, but looking back, you’ll know they were the most significant.?

Satisfaction.?Satisfaction comes from setting goals, accomplishing them, and this part gets overlooked,?celebrating them. The goals can be either smaller or significant, but there is a beginning and end point.

You need to?have goals?in order to accomplish them. That’s why I created specific tools at The Lions Pride. We coach on the 90-day rhythms of?GPS Life Wheel —a tool to accelerate your productivity with ruthless prioritization.

We also offer the?Reflect Back Look Forward ?exercise (for free!) to empower our badasses to set out next year’s initiatives. We don’t make resolutions at TLP. Instead, we have initiatives, but more on that later.?

Without strategic goals and planning, you’re just mindlessly floating and likely wasting time and money.?

Purpose.?You need purpose.?This is not working on deadline items, like buying groceries by Friday, or external, vicarious achievements, such as raising kids who do well. But rather a long transcendental view of your life.?

Purpose is what?David Brooks ?calls “Eulogy virtues.” Eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral—whether you were kind, brave, honest, or faithful. Were you capable of deep love? And so on. A purpose can change but it is usually rooted in a more profound value, not external possessions.

It’s usually a long-term driving force that stays with you until you pass on. Peter Diamandis calls it your?Massively Transformative Purpose , unique to individuals and, when followed through, can change the world. I call it your?core purpose.?

When I went to Everest, I had all three of these working in conjunction with each other. It was a strenuous exertion, and we were “roughing it.” It was cold, I wasn’t enjoying a great meal (albeit warm), and the accommodations were far from luxurious, but I was with really good people...and I could find joy in that.

My satisfaction was accomplishing a bucket list item. I prepared and conditioned my body, trained, took supplements, and didn’t get sick from elevation because I worked on this. I performed well and finished my mission.?

I’m in my 69th year, and by now, I’ve learned a lot the hard way and a little the easy way, but I want to share it all with you, which is why I’m sharing this today. Why? Because my purpose is to help high-impact Founder CEOs build exceptional businesses, legendary lives, and sharpened tip-of-the-spear humans—at the same time.

So I’ll keep doing and sharing, but make sure to find the thing that is like Everest to you.?

Enjoyment, satisfaction, purpose -> when you integrate these intentionally into your life, you’ll be happier and live the life you desire. You’ll actually live, not just exist.?

P.S. If you’re intrigued and interested in becoming happier, check out our Cohort tracks -> https://www.thelionspride.com/cohort