Surviving life’s storms with lessons from Mt Everest

“These life lessons are not entirely new but when you are in the presence of the world’s highest peak with the sole aim to reach there, five decades’ worth of these lessons get reinforced in a 43-day Everest expedition, where the level of risk and uncertainty is the highest,” says corporate honcho Aditya Gupta, who scaled the Everest at 50. He has recently come out with a coffee-table book, ‘7 Lessons from Everest: Expedition Learnings for Life & Business’. The lessons — Passion + Preparation = Performance; The Power of Focus; Scale Need Not Scare You; One Step at a Time; Expect the Unexpected; Make Friends with Fear and Time is Oxygen — helped him surmount not only the Everest, but worked for him in real and corporate world alike.

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However, he finds three of them most significant, which can help you surmount any Everest in life. If you befriend your fears, you can prepare accordingly to meet any challenge. During any tough situation, expect the unexpected. As there can’t be a plan B, being able to do the needful with a calm mind can help you resolve any storm, real or metaphorical. A TEDx speaker, the author says the outcome of any problem depends on your focus. Keep the long-term focus on the final goal, blot out the negatives and short-term one on the next step and you can pretty much do anything, including climbing the Everest.

For him, adventure is not about seeking the adrenaline rush but the experience and confidence it gives you to not just survive any storm but thrive in. Life may have been back to normal for this guy, but the fact that he could scale Everest has left him with the courage to face anything now.

The book has some stunning visuals of the Everest and also documents the travails and joys that mountaineers experience en route. — TNS