Prepare for the Summit

There’s a vast mountain ahead, and we’re eager to get going. The peak looks terrific, and imagine the views. Plus, you’re talented, so you’ve got what it takes to reach the summit.

That mountaintop – a promotion, a dream trip, or a simple hike – excites us. We look at it and want to be there; it calls us. So it’s those goals, those things we want. And we’re going after them.

How could we sit there bumbling at that base?

There’s a pull toward the top, a siren song calling us forward. It’s what we want. It’s what we need.

But the preparation for the climb determines what you find at the top.

Let’s say it’s a promotion, that next step for your dream job. You’re ready for it, and it should be yours. You can see it glimmering ahead. But you can’t just step into a job you don’t know how to do. No matter how bad you want that promotion, charging up for it won’t offer much help until you’ve prepared to do it.

Likewise, throwing a party is 95% preparing to host and 5% having the party. Priya Parker preaches that parties start with the invite and that you prime your guests with the invitation. And it’s the decorating, cleaning, coordinating, and cooking that happens before a party starts that determines how the party goes, not how clever that joke told is.

Once you show up to climb the mountain, you’ve already determined if you’ll make the summit or not. The preparation done shows, or doesn’t, once we get going.

And, if we’re not careful, that siren song will lead us charging ahead. But it’s the child that runs off toward the peak at first sight and the adult that first calculates the journey.

We speed ahead because the outcome or goal is what we want, and the preparation is a hassle. How many of us would surf, fly an airplane, or play in the NBA if we could show up and do it without putting the work in before? But it’s the preparation that makes those things worthwhile. Otherwise, anyone could do it.

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win,” said Bobby Knight. But it’s that preparation that so often determines what happens.

My point is preparation is part of the journey, and it’s a crucial part. So channel that energy for reaching the peak into the work before. That’s where the talent to summit is cultivated, long before the harvest.