Many dream, but few make it happen

There are only a handful of people who have climbed all of the world's fourteen 8000 meter peaks. Reinhold Messner was the first (see his book All Fourteen 8000ers); Ed Viesturs is the only American to accomplish this feat.

It is inspiring, then, to hear of young Noah McKelvin, a 15 year old from Colorado who has a bold dream to one day join this select group of stunning climbers.

I have written in the past about the importance of dreams and of visualizing those dreams, of keeping them in the forefront of our minds, of keeping the dream alive. This is the key to success on all of life's Everests, and young Noah knows this.

As he eloquently put it in a letter to MountEverest.net:

Many don’t get to say, “I Lived My Dream.” You usually have to work unimaginably hard to get there. Some are willing to work and others are not. It’s all up to your commitment and your endurance to get to the top of your game. As I always say, “Many dream, but few make it happen.” You will have to keep working to get there. You will face obstacles beyond belief but overcome them.

The key to success is: What you think you can do, you will always do. So think you can do this! And you will get there. Don’t think, “I can’t do this.” Let nothing stop your dream from happening. Don’t give up. Tackle your dreams! And get to the top!

Well put, Noah.

Let us all find some inspiration, a nugget of motivation and wisdom from this young man with a big dream.

Unearth those passions and dreams you have kept hidden because they were too difficult, too challenging, too risky.

Allow yourself to dream in life, to set lofty goals...and to go after them.

As Mark Twain once said:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.

Comments

[Kraig]

Nice post Jake. I read Noah's article too, and thought it was great that he was already going after his dreams and goals.

Great quote from Mark Twain too! An excellent reminder that we should always be dreaming big, exploring new places, and chasing our dreams!