Mindset Monday - What's Left In The Tank
“When you push yourself beyond your limits, you discover inner reserves, which you never thought existed earlier” – Manoj Arora
Each year I pick one big thing to tackle. Something that defines your year and pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Something that challenges what you know about what you can do.
Last week I didn’t send this email. I was halfway up Mt. Rainier on this year’s one big thing. Mt. Rainier is a beautiful place and the most heavily glaciated mountain in the lower 48.
It was an experience with all the mountaineering excitement you could want out of a climb in the continental US. Ladder crossings over open crevasse, ice axing, colder weather than you would like, and the inevitable feeling that you probably shouldn’t be there.
The one moment that stuck out to me was on the second half of the summit climb, it was the moment you are after. At the end of the first half of the climb, at around midnight you start to hit glacier, and are now on what they call the upper mountain. At this point everything gets steeper, and progressively harder. The cadence of the climb is you push hard for an hour and a half, you take a 10 minute rest, and push for another hour and a half. You do this 5x from the halfway point to the summit. At the second break on the upper mountain above a the “disappointment cleaver”, a pretty nasty stretch of ice covered rock, the guide I was with says, “If you think you have spent more than 30% of your available energy, you need to turn around. From this point on, it gets much harder to get you down if you cant continue above this point”.
My initial reaction was he cant be serious. We are 8 miles in to this thing, and feeling like you have been on a stair climber made of ice with a 40lb pack on for the last 10 hours. 30%?!?! There is no way anyone in this group is thinking to themselves, yeah I have 70% left in the tank after that. Its 19 degrees 30-40 mile an hour winds, nobody is feeling fresh. One by one, hands started to go up. Out of the 9 we took up from the halfway camp, 5 were going back. I guess disappointment cleaver is a fitting name. As much as I knew I could make it, I couldn’t help but think about how it would feel to final walk downhill for a while. I genuinely questioned if I had the rest left, if 30% was the real marker for if I should keep going, but that is what I was here for. To put myself in a position to question if I can keep going. To feel that resistance and self-doubt, and push through it. That’s the point of doing one big thing. At the end of 10 minutes, I stood up, threw on my pack, roped up and headed out. At about 7am we were sitting on the summit.
The most interesting part was after the point where most turned around, at the top of the cleaver, the climb actually seemed to get less grueling. It wasn’t any easier, it was steeper, more technical, but the terrain changed. Your mind was occupied by the various terrain and techniques you had to use. There were ladder crossings, ice axe sections and the visuals completely changed. It was like another planet, above the cloud cap, massive ice formations, walking across huge ledges of ice with seemingly bottomless holes on each side. The guides knew what they were doing. They knew that the push to get up the cleaver was the first really physically taxing single stretch, and where the doubt really starts to creep in.
I started thinking about where the business is. We have been on the stair climber carrying the load for a while. Most of us have sat on top of our own disappointment cleaver over the last couple years at least once. On the other side of that though is where the business gets interesting. You are starting to see the turn. Things are picking up, there are more conversations about the market, there is more activity, and more opportunity to present and provide our expertise to those who need it. Even if we haven’t taken off just yet. We are back in problem solving mode for how to get to apps reviewed quickly, how to handle refinances, how to coach our partners through the NAR changes. The climb isn’t getting easier, but the scenery is starting to change. Soon it wont just be putting one foot in front of the other, it will be how do I get myself and my team to the summit now that the cleaver is behind me.
Happy labor day and get after it tomorrow, plenty of time left on the clock to have a big year and the summit is in sight.
Written by Chris Catania
Chris Catania entered the mortgage industry in 2005. As a seasoned Branch Manager and coach at Fairway, Chris has consistently been at the forefront of providing, creative problem solving, exceptional service and tailored financial solutions. His commitment to excellence and deep understanding of the mortgage landscape have made him a trusted advisor and a leading figure in the field.
Beyond his professional achievements, Chris is a Army veteran, devoted husband and father. He is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. Chris also brings his leadership experience and skills to the community as a coach, where he mentors individuals, teaching them the values of teamwork, discipline, accountability and perseverance. Chris Catania's blend of professional acumen, family dedication, and community involvement truly sets him apart as a respected professional and valued community member.
