Never mistake a plan for reality.  A plan is a necessary, but insufficient element of achieving your goals.  You cannot anticipate everything that will happen on your way to your goals.  Even if you could at a point in time, things change.

In the mountains I’ve encountered snow that made the trail impassable, avalanche tailings that erased it altogether, and storms and predators that made it deadly.  You must adjust. 

Your two-dimensional plan starts to come to life only once you take your first few steps up the trail toward your destination.  Your plan is a map, not the trail itself.  You must take new information into account as you encounter it and make needed modifications to your plan.

To improve the chances your plan will succeed, think through the details and create the conditions that will make it happen—ahead of time if possible. 

If the batteries in your headlamp burn out on the trail and you didn’t bring extras, you’re in trouble.  If you brought extras, but they don’t work, your still in trouble and you feel foolish.  Test everything before you need it.  Have a back-up.  Test your back-up.    

Anticipate mistakes and prepare for them.  I keep an extra pair of hiking boots in my 4-Runner in case I forget to pack my regular pair.  I’ve had to use them, too. 

Prepare for the unexpected.  I once neglected to bring a headlamp on a hike because I was sure I’d be off the trail by midafternoon.  I was hours from the trailhead when the sun went down and the rain started to fall.  I got back to my car at 3 am, whipped, wet, and wiser.    

Pay close attention to the details.  A friend of mine showed up at the trailhead with a pair of boots.  But he brought two left boots.  Fortunately, we were near a store that sold hiking boots.  Now he has three pairs.

I have a friend who served in the Israeli army.  He was taught to prepare not for what he thought the enemy would do, but for what they were capable of doing.  In other words, prepare for the possible, not just the likely.   

Now you’ve got your plan in place and you are as well prepared as you can be. It’s time to get started.  How exciting!  You look up at the massive mountain looming in front of you.  The excitement evaporates and is replaced by doubts and a question.  “Can I do this?”

They say that every journey begins with a single step.  But another way to look at it is that every journey is comprised of a series of many steps.  Your task is not to climb that massive, looming mountain.  Your task is to keep taking steps, one after the other.  You can do that.

If you break every objective into the actions needed to achieve it, the overwhelming nature of your undertaking is reduced to a series of manageable efforts.       

Imagining yourself taking a series of small steps may be less overwhelming than contemplating the conquest of a craggy mountain.  But taking step after step is hard too.

The first few steps are easy.  So are the last steps as you approach the summit.  Your goal is now in sight.  Halfway up the mountain, though, your steps come harder.  You feel the sweat and the soreness.  Success is not assured, and your goal is out of sight in the thin air above you.   

Anybody can talk about climbing a mountain.  That doesn’t get you any closer to the summit. Success is born from the willingness to grind away when others head back down the mountain.  Everyone standing on the summit did the work to get there.  If you persevere, you can too. 

Grinding your way to glory is a lot easier if you know why you’re doing it.  A plan without purpose is an empty vessel.

Simon Sinek wrote an entire book on this topic (Start with Why).  Make your “why” the center of your plan and revisit it often, especially when your resolve fades or becomes fuzzy.

People climb mountains and start businesses for many reasons.  The closer your “why” is to your heart, the more motivating it will be.  If making lots of money or stroking your own ego is the “why” behind your business, you will have a long hard slog to the summit.       

Work on your attitude as hard as you work on your plan.  A positive attitude is a powerful tool.  It makes your pack lighter and your steps quick and easy.  If everyone in your group has one, you fly up the trail with little sense of time or effort.

Focusing on the negative aspects of the task at hand or having a whiner in your group is like hiking with rocks in your pack. 

Find something to celebrate.  It might be the passage of each mile or the beautiful views on the way up but seek the joy in your journey.  It will get you up the steepest incline.      

There is nothing wrong with doing the same thing over and over.  There are many mountains I have climbed multiple times just because I love being in the mountains.  But the most memorable and rewarding experiences came when I undertook a new adventure that I wasn’t sure I could successfully complete.

You may be an expert in a highly technical area of financial planning and serve a niche market that values your services greatly.  Nothing wrong with that. But what if…

Could you broaden your planning skills?  Could you expand to serve a new niche?  Could you diversify your business by partnering with someone whose skills complement your own?  Could you alter and improve the experience your clients have working with you?

Being unwilling to consider the possibilities outside your comfort zone may lead to a stagnant business and/or a weak competitive position.  And change can foster personal growth and keep your professional life interesting and fulfilling.

Don’t be afraid to step out a little, or even a lot.  Failure is just a sub-category of experience.  At a minimum, you can learn from it.  If your risk pays off, however, you will be rewarded with a sense of confidence and accomplishment that is priceless and your clients will benefit too.

I chose to hike solo on my tri-mountain excursion.  I summitted all three mountains within the time I had set for myself.  But I didn’t do it alone.

Others built and maintained the roads that got me to the trailhead and the trail itself.  The app I used to find my way (All Trails) and the GPS tracker that kept my wife informed about my progress were developed by brilliant people whose names I will never know.  My mentors who taught me how to enjoy and conduct myself in the wilderness were with me in spirit.

In business, too, nothing good happens without a team.  Those who believe they individually drive success are fooling themselves.  And they are likely to fail in the long run.  Those around them will feel unappreciated and will either leave or not put forth their best effort.

On a team not everyone plays the same role.  But the efforts of all are necessary for success.

Joy shared is joy multiplied.  There are few things sweeter and longer lasting than the bond created among people who have accomplished something difficult together.      

On the trail there is an unwritten code.  You give help to those who need it.  It doesn’t matter if they are strangers.  Everyone is responsible for the safety and well-being of everyone else. 

There are two reasons to live by this code.  First, it’s the right thing to do.  The other reason is more practical.  You might be the one who needs help. 

I’ve been in the financial services industry for 45 years.  It is remarkable how many people who I never thought I’d see again have re-emerged.  Some had the power to help or hurt me.

Treating people with respect and helping them when you can, breeds reciprocal behavior in others.  Whether it’s on a hike or in business, we can all use all the help we can get.