Marketing and Climbing Share Similar Traits

Climbing to the top takes more than muscle. The last time I received an offer to subscribe to magazines free of charge, I chose Climbing instead of a usual business magazine option.

What these mountain scalers achieve is nothing short of miraculous. Every step brings them closer to success, and a misstep may result in a severe accident, or worse.

Some of the terms aren’t understandable to me, a person who isn’t part of the sport, but that doesn’t matter. As a solo marketer, I clearly understand how confronting a challenge makes your heart race.

Isn’t that how you feel when you take on something new, knowing the victory that awaits you at the end?

In one of Climbing’s October columns called Hot Flashes, they interviewed Silvia Vidal of Spain. During a 21 day-climb in Pakistan, she lived through 12 days of snow on a popular tower that climbers describe as a “frightening place.” She recounted her thoughts as she inched higher.

“…things started to get a bit loopy. ‘[That's when] crazy thoughts came to me,’ she said. ‘I was trying to imagine which was life’s color. And for me at that moment, it was lilac.’ “

Doesn’t this describe the same zone you enter when deep inside your own projects? I know that suddenly, everything changes for me. I emerge with a clear mind and point of view that takes me to the next level and on to success as I reach the top.

Experiencing such revelations is why I encourage you to browse through magazines that don’t talk business. You’ll get a real “high” when reading about someone else’s world.

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