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Attacking Adversity

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Go Hiking And Give Yourself A High Five

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

What could be more natural. You get to the top of a mountain and give yourself a high five! Why if I don’t have a mirror with me you say? High five your shadow!

Wait, what if it is raining? Then high five the air in front of you as you imagine looking at yourself. It took a lot to get to the top of that mountain so you deserve a high five.

That Morning

Of course if you read my summary of Mel Robbins book, “The High Five Habit,” https://www.stayonoffense.com/2021/10/10/bookish-weapon-number-sixty/you already know you are supposed to have high fives yourself that morning in the mirror while setting the intention of climbing to the top of the mountain you are on now.

The high five habit was created for mountain climbers even if Mel Robbins didn’t think that would be one of the outcomes of her new book. Hikers need more reasons to high five themselves.

Sitting In Your Car

Yes, you are sitting there even though you get to the trailhead fifteen minutes ago. Why?

Well, when you are sitting in your car at the trailhead and it is raining or snowing and you don’t want to get out of the car, high five yourself in your rear view mirror. Set your intention again and open that door! See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Now you’re on your way.

It Gets Difficult

The high five habit is a “bookish weapon” against obstacles that pop up, like rain or snow or wind. What if the trail gets steep and you have never climbed this particular mountain? I say put one hand in front of you and high five yourself. It will keep you going!

Then you slip on the snow and go down. Get back up and high five yourself! Keep going. The high five habit will keep you on the game and on the mountain. Now go hiking!

Go Hiking But Don’t Try To Be Jack Reacher

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

If Jack Reacher were climbing a mountain my guess is he would be sure he never climbed the same one again. That might be a good philosophy for some, but I am against it.

Going up the same mountain over and over has some real advantages. You get to know the trail well which helps me a lot because I hike in the dark. Then I can pick a mountain that is safe in the snow and not prone to avalanches.

On the Other Hand

However, Jack Reacher walks a lot and doesn’t seem to mind it much. He could certainly handle climbing a mountain. When you are big it is a little more difficult because you are carrying so much weight. A former NFL friend of mine told me each one of his legs weight 100 pounds. So that might be tough on Reacher, but I think he would like the scenery.

Most likely he would find something that didn’t look quite right on the trail and soon and himself involved in some kind of crime. It would probably involve all of the mountains in the area so he would have to climb them. Otherwise I don’t think he would.

A Mountain In Every Book

You could say that solving whatever crime or nefarious plot is kind of like climbing a mountain. Of course there are so many things in life that are like climbing a mountain.

Reacher needs to climb these mental mountains his his stories. Just like real mountains, sometimes they are average size and sometimes they are huge. Sometimes they require no technical ability and sometimes they do. You need to be prepared.

Be Yourself

It is probably best not to try to be a Jack Reacher on a mountain. You will enjoy yourself more if you just be yourself. Don’t try to be like your hero, even if he or she are not Jack Reacher. I really don’t think Jack would be much of a mountain climber.

If you are yourself in life and on mountains you learn from your mistakes and not be trying to figure out why something didn’t work out after you copied exactly what someone else did.

Go Hiking, Take My Course And Skip the Line

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

Actually, that heading should read “Go Hiking Early, Take My Course and Skip The Line.” Early on the trail helps you avoid people. They are in front of you and you don’t want that.

The earlier you get to the trail head, the better. I say at least an hour and a half before sunrise. Then if you add to that the knowledge you gain from taking my hiking course you will be skipping the line, but time.

Take the course by going here: https://bmontgome.mastermind.com/masterminds/25439

Get Ahead and Stay Ahead

In the book Altucher talks about Micro skills. You need Micro skills in hiking too. Like knowing how to tie your shoelaces so they don’t come loose and you end up fast on your face. You can learn about those kinds of things in my course.

James discusses doing lots of experiments which is great when you are considering a business idea, but you don’t want to be experimenting with your body on the trail. You can avoid that by learning what to do from someone who has been doing it for thirty years and is still at at seventy-six.

Hiking Multiplication and Division

In the book, “Skip the Line,” Altucher talks about idea multiplication and division. Here let’s consider hiking multiplication and division. What is hiking multiplication? It is when you have taken my course and are hiking multiple times a month or a week. Division is when you don’t take my course and you are only liking half of what you wanted to.

He does talk about one other thing when it comes to ideas and that is idea sex. I am not going to get into that when discussing hiking, ok?

Go Hiking But First Take My Course – Attacking Mountains At Any Age

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

If you want to be a hiking warrior, then it is time for you to take my hiking course. If you are a beginner and want to learn the basics in a fun way, plus avoid a lot of mistakes (ones I have made), then let’s go! If you are a little older and would like to get into the mountains but you have some challenges then I can help. Go to the course:

https://bmontgome.mastermind.com/masterminds/25439

In the course I give you the basics and discuss how you can prevent injuries. If you have bad knees I talk about how to get around that. There is always a way. Maybe you say, I climbed this one mountain in record time when I was 18 years old, but now you are 50 and all you talk about is when you were 18. You can do it again! Don’t stop living just because you are a little older.

Training

You will learn how to train for hiking. What I do and don’t do. If a 76 year old man can keep himself on the trail for 30 years think how much you can learn and how much pain you can avoid!

Did you think you could just go climb mountains every week without training? No! You need to get in shape and stay in shape.

Mindset

This section of the course is worth the price by itself, because it will give you tools to help you achieve goals you set in every area of life. Find out what your “why “ is in every area of life. Learn the motivation formula so you can get yourself to do what you say you want to do.

Mindset is so important if you set a path to climb mountains once a week, three times a week or even once a month.

Diet and Nutrition

I don’t have a diet for you, but I call this section “The Chocolate Bar Diet and Nutrition Plan.” I tell you up front it is really not a diet but my philosophy about diet. I also give you some recommendations for supplements.

However, twenty years ago I weighed 214 pounds and I dropped that weight and kept it off. I am 165 now so I know something about this area. As I say in my book, “Attacking Adversity,” diet and exercise are strategies one and two for getting through any adversity. Simple? Yes, but not easy! Don’t stay on the SAD (Standard American Diet).

Click on the link above and take my course. You will be glad you did!

Go Hiking And Develop Your Attributes

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

Yes, by now if you have been reading these tributes to hiking you know what I m going to say. Hiking will help you develop your attributes.

It doesn’t take much skill to hike. You just need to know how to put one foot in front of another. It is different from climbing or mountaineering in that way. However, it does take some strong attributes. Plus, if you don’t know the BEARS you need to buy my hiking course which will be linked to as soon as it is available.

Discipline

It takes strong discipline to hike a mountain every week. Remember, discipline is different that self- discipline. Discipline means understanding what it takes to achieve your goal (the top of the mountain or doing it every week) and being “steadfast” in executing.

Week after week, month after month you climb a mountain. Not the same mountain but a mountain. You always reach the top. That’s discipline!

Perseverance

As Rich Diviney says in “The Attributes,“ “If courage is the ability to effectively move through fear, challenge, and discomfort, then perseverance is the ability to keep doing it over and over.” Hiking week after week fits that description.

Many times you might not even feel like getting out of bed to go hiking. It is nice and warm in your bed and you would like just a little more sleep. But no, you get up and go. Again and again and again!

Narcissism

This attribute drives us to take risks and get noticed. So it helps us achieve our potential. A good thing, right? Well, it is sort of like Goldilocks and The Three Bears. It has to be just right.
Too much narcissism and you become easily offended. You can’t take criticism and your self-esteem is usually low. People will catch on pretty fast and it will be over for you.

Use it when you go hiking to help you set that big goal. A mountain you haven’t climbed or a climbing record for a certain mountain. In any case go hiking!

Go Hiking and Get Beyond Order

Go Hiking, Keep Moving Forward

How do you get beyond order when you go hiking? Simple, as Jordan B. Peterson has said, nature is chaos. You can’t get much further from order than that.

Getting into the wild is, well, wild! As I write this I am planing a hike in a place known for lots of bears. When you’re out there in the woods, the bears and the cougars are the dragons in your world.

Lions, Tigers, Bears and Dragons

Here in North America there arena’t many lions or tigers unless you include Texas. Texas is the exception. I was going to say you wouldn’t find any real dragons in North America but when I think about Texas I am not so sure. After all doesn’t Tim Kennedy live in Texas?

Yes, I am digressing a bit. It happens when I talk about dragons. Peterson often tells a story of a dragon under a bed somewhere. He says we should kill the dragon when it’s small before it gets so big it can eat you. Good idea for sure. But with bears in the woods you actually want to stay away from the little ones because mom is usually close by.

Whistling In the Dark

It isn’t really dark when I hike before sunrise because I wear a headlamp. I tell myself that the bright light will scare the Sasquatches, bears and cougars away. So I Googled that and it says,
“Bears aren’t typically scared of bright lights because bears naturally have no negative association with bright light and don’t see it as a threat.” So much for that theory. I really wished I hadn’t looked for the information.

What’s left? Whistling! Noise does scare bears away. I am not so sure about cougars. I don’t think anything scares a cougar. If it’s hungry it just wants to eat you. I am not going to Google for an answer. Cougars scare me more than bears.

So go hiking, face real danger and then come home and the little dragon under your bed will seem like nothing.