Training over the course of the last number of years at Esprit de Corps in Montreal with people half my age and less, I have often been told that I am a positive example for them. Certainly, it is in my own best interest to stay fit to continue to do all the challenges and sports I love. But increasingly I realize, I could be in a position to encourage others, younger and older, to Dare to Reach their own challenges and dreams.

Some say it has to be in you to train and live such a lifestyle. I don’t believe that. I have not always been so active in sports or exercise by a long shot. I believe that most of what we do in life does not come from just being born or good at it ‘naturally’. Practically everything we do is ‘learned’ and we make our choices along the way. It is we who decide where we want to go, what we want to be.

Turning 40, 50 or 60 should not mean a time to pack it in, quiet down, or get a bigger TV. Now is the time to expand your horizon, to dream bigger, to Reach further. Every study has shown that keeping active and motivated significantly extends health and quality of life. Often people have more time and resources once job and family are more settled, to return to aspirations lost along the way. Being older is being wiser and allows you to condense your energy more efficiently. Being wiser means tying up those loose ends of the stuff that got away or just couldn’t be realized.

Breaking our mental mould, even in small ways can be daunting. Going out at night in the cold of winter to train in the snow, even for me, is definitely not easy. But 2 hours later I am euphoric. I fought the elements, I pushed myself with other crazy souls and I felt like a million bucks. It is really just the question of setting up new habits, reshuffling the pack a little bit, seeing and feeling results. Everything starts somewhere, and possibilities will grow beyond your imagination. Once fit the list of opportunities and challenges are endless.

People sometimes ask me "how do you push yourself when the going gets really tough". Perhaps best said by Ray Zahab who ran 7,500km across the Sahara in 111 days, about 70 km a day. Interviewed he said, “it is 90% psychological”. When questioned what the other 10% was, he said “mental”.  Fixing your sights on a landmark a hundred meters above you as a goal will get you to the top. One little step at a time. One day at a time. Take a decision, act on your decision, make it a reality. Dare.

So it really comes down to the simple expression "use it or lose it". It applies to body, mind and spirit.

Body is obvious: get out there and be active to keep your physical body strong, or lose it.

Mind: get out and look for new ways to challenge yourself and Dare, big or small.

Spirit is vital: keep that desire to still be a little bit of a kid in you all the time.

This philosophy is so important to everyone, especially as we age. Gradually descending into a living slumber is not an intelligent option. It gets exponentially more difficult to resurface. I’m 62, and in 2008 I climbed the 6th highest mountain in the world. January 2009, I climbed the highest mountain in Antarctica. It is possible to take on even the biggest challenges at any age. All that holds us back is our willingness to get out there and Dare to Reach.

Talk to the ‘Ecole d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce’

27 April 2011

 Why we do what we do

A year ago I climbed Mount Everest. That seems to really capture people’s attention. But the reality is, I have been climbing many high-altitude mountains over the years. But now, a lot more people have suddenly noticed. More importantly, my lifestyle and raison d’etre has always been to look for some type of a mountain to climb. To test myself, to find out who I am, what I am made of, what I am capable of.

In fact, it is not only what you do – more importantly it is why you do what you do.  We never know what we are capable of – do we? Taking on the challenge to climb the highest mountain in the world and reaching its summit was a great accomplishment – right?  But who really cares, why bother? Was I the first person to climb Mount Everest – No!  Did I do it in a radically new way – No!  You see, it is not what you do – it is why you do it that matters.

In 1969, I spent 32 days alone in the Himalaya mountains with no tent and little food, but somehow I managed to get to the foot of Mount Everest up to almost 6000m or 18000’. I barely ate, was lost or uncertain of where I was most of the time, but I accomplished my goal. I took on a really big challenge with no experience, no pot of gold at the end, no one to shake my hand at the finish.  For me, 'it was not about the what, it was about the why I wanted to do it.’ I needed to be who I was,  I needed adventure, I needed to test myself, I needed to be alive. I needed to be a 22 year old kid full of passion to see and conquer the world. It is not what you do, it is why you do what you do!

You may be entertained by my story of climbing Mount Everest. You may even be impressed that I did it. But what will impact you the most I believe – is why I did it. What nature of person am I? What inspires me? Where do I get my energy? Where does my passion come from? Can you learn something from me? Do we share something in common? What really matters to you is:  not only what I did, but more importantly why I did it. People may be amused and entertained by what unique feat someone does, but they need to relate it to themselves. They want to be motivated by your brand of character. They want to join your bandwagon if they are inspired by the why you want to do what you do.

 What do I do

I climb mountains. Well, sometimes. After 1969, I didn’t climb any more real mountains until 1999. The mountains I climbed were not geographical: I became a serious world traveler, an artist, a businessman, a sport fanatic, and finally a fanatic mountain climber. I lived for years in Europe in the early 70’s making a living owning a 41 seater bus carrying hippies around, then being a full time artist in Europe and here, next building a real estate company, and recently following more esoteric goals of physical fortitude. I love life. I don’t want to miss a single day of it. I don’t want to miss any opportunity that comes along in my life that grabs my imagination, that provokes my passion, that nudges me to ‘go for it’. I’m selfish; I want what I want…period. 

Which bring us to big mountains?  After several failures of reaching the summits of two 6000+ meter mountains in the South American Andes in 2001 and 2002, and some serious Mount Washington winter camping and hiking time in between, I finally realized success on 7000m Aconcagua January 2006. Next Mont Blanc; Denali in Alaska;  8200m Cho Oyu in Tibet;  Vinson in Antarctica; and of course Everest last May 2010. At 63, I may be the 2^nd oldest Canadian to reach its summit. Apparently in this narrow category of 60+ year old Everest summiteers, 1 in 4 don’t come back.

Let me tell you briefly my Everest experience. I really pulled-off one of my lifetime goals. It probably changed me in some un-measurable way. I spent 65 days total on this climb, but I spent months calculating about it beforehand. They say teenage boys think about sex every 7 seconds. I thought about Everest every 6 seconds the months preceding my departure. No one has any idea or certainty how they are going to do once they get on Everest. In fact, most climbers are only too aware of the reality that they may not be coming back home.

Climbing Everest is physically tough. You get up often at 2am when it is the coldest and climb all night when the ice is more solid, since there is less chance of avalanche. Day after day, you climb higher to acclimatize, and then after a week descend back to base camp for several days of rest to solidify your physiological gains. You do this week after week.

Everest demands that you manage fear. Climbing up through the treacherous Khumbu Ice Fall; crossing ladders over deep crevasses with your crampons on; getting blasted by 100km an hour winds on the steep, rock-hard icy slopes of Lhotse; being holed up for 30 hours in our tents precipitously carved into the Lhotse Face and feeling like any moment we would get blown off the mountain; finding bodies melting out of the glacier ice.  Summit day you are on your own in the death zone and there is no room for error. No one can help you. It is just you, the mountain, and your life.

Everest demands your psychological tenacity. You must be stubborn; you must hold fast; you must know why you are there. You must see what you don’t want to see, but be able to remove it from mind’s eye. You must focus on one thing or you will die. Your world is exactly one step at a time.  

Permit to remind you. It is not what you do; it is why you do it. I went to climb Mount Everest for exactly the same reason I went there in 1969; that I travelled around the world; that I built a business from the ground up. I needed to make my own mark in this world. I needed to squeeze out every ounce of opportunity that came my way. I am very proud of all that. It is not what you do – it is why you do it.

So what do I mean when I say: it is not only what you do but much more importantly why you do it.

This is a universal value and it applies as much to your personal life as it does to your professional or business life. We hear a lot from people about what they do, but what really captures our imagination is why they do what they do. What they believe in. What motivates them to push their limits? What inspires them? How are they different and unique? What is special about them?

Recently I heard a talk by Simon Sinek who wrote a book about leadership and gave many examples, personal and business.  He suggests that all the great and inspiring leaders and organizations in the world all think and act in exactly the same way and it is the complete opposite of everyone else. Every single person or organization knows what they do, some know how they do it, but very few he claims, know why they do what they do.  And by why he means what is their purpose, their cause, their belief, why does their organization exist.

I have heard it said that there are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority but those who lead inspire us. We follow those who lead not for them but for ourselves.  We do things for ourselves. And it is those people who start with ‘why’ who have the ability to inspire those around them. Sinek states: “if you hire people who can do a job – they will work for your money. But if you hire people who believe in what you believe – they will work for you will blood, sweat and tears”. If you talk and promote about what you believe in, you can change the world, if you build products and services that you believe in you can change the world, because you will attract those who also believe in what you believe. Whether in our professional lives or our personal lives it is the ‘WHY’ that mobilizes us and connects us to others.

I climbed Mount Everest because it was an extension of who I am.  It was a 40 year goal, a dream, a passion, call it what you want. It was a personal commitment to test myself, to continue to push my limits as I have always done in my life. Likewise, I believe that I have always followed these same principals in my business life as well over the years. To get the most out of life, I believe you need to be clear why you want to do what you do.