Today we were reminded that there is a real appeal to harmony in numbers and the patterns that they can form. And as I watched what went on outside of our THPL community there was a loud focus on the rarity of dates like today 11/12/13 and the appeal that dates like this one have because of their uniqueness, ease of remembrance and sequencing for fun and games. But as we think of THPL and the significance of November 12th we leap to a different view of the importance of the day. It was a few short years ago 55, to be exact, on November 12, 1958, when Warren Harding completed the first climb up El Capitan in Yosemite. The route was named The Nose and Harding, with two other climbers, took 45 days to climb the route. An amazing accomplishment for sure, that even with a lifetime of days, many of us would not be able to ascend the 2,500 foot cliff.
And so it was that the marker was set. The baseline for the ascent. And over the next 55 years there we many attempts at climbing the Nose. Could climbers get up that sheer face of granite faster, certainly this would be possible – could they do it in a week? Could they really shave off 38 days? Or maybe they could climb it in a day? Or could you get up it faster, maybe less than a day? Was there a constraint that would inhibit the achievement of a new record – or was it just a mindset to think about how to go faster? We know that in our version of THPL we leverage our road map to higher performance in every chance we have…. Dream it, Plan it, Practice it, Do it. You cannot get to THPL and higher performance without the road map for the journey fully in place. We know that with a lot of time on the “Practice” phase you can get a lot of improvement - but- to get breakthrough performance we need to “Dream” the goal and then plan to do it differently. Yes, you still have to climb but you do not climb in the same way.
And this is exactly what Hans Florine and Alex Honhold did on June 17, 2012 when they made it up the Nose in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds. And so rather than preach about what is possible just keep in mind that these boys did not do the same thing that Harding and his guys did. Yes, they both ascended El Capitan but the new team discarded the approach of the past and innovated their way to an unimaginable achievement. So, next time you are thinking about what is possible and you or your team or your friends or co-workers tell you it is not possible. Just remind yourself that if you follow the same approach they are right but it you take a fresh look literally anything is possible.
Loving life and the limitless possibilities
Ciao
joe