Here I sit in my hotel room in Hong Kong. Twenty-four hours ago, not counting the time zone change, I was in Lukla, Nepal, at 9,100 feet of elevation hoping that the fog would lift so a helicopter could fly me to the Kathmandu airport in time to catch …

My eyes tried to focus on my watch but my mind was in a fog. Actually my whole body was in a fog which extended to the entire hotel. I looked out the window of my hotel and saw nothing but gray clouds. Over the last 14 days we had nothing but great m…

Yes, I stopped breathing. Not that that is unusual when you are at 16,000 feet of elevation.Your body has three ways to determine if you need to breathe. The most important is the amount of carbon dioxide building up in your blood. The second is the pH…

A critical factor in ensuring everyone on the team reaches the high point is to make certain that their system is acclimatized, or adjusted, to the oxygen available at the higher altitude. If it’s not, you could experience severe headaches, nausea, shortness of breath and tiredness, or possibly something fatal involving your lungs or brain.

This acclimatization process takes place as your system detects the oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood and makes modifications to compensate. Mountaineers live by the mantra, “climb high and sleep low.”

Taking the Extra Steps
When our team arrives at their new camp — and a higher elevation — the members need to hike a hundred meters or more above that elevation and spend at least 30-60 minutes. This short amount of time helps to ensure that you will be able to sleep comfortably in the evening, avoid or minimize a headache or upset stomach, and start the physiological changes in your body to compensate for the lesser amount of oxygen in each breath you take.

Unfortunately, after a day a strenuous hiking the team members would prefer to relax, read, or make preparations for the next day — not hike farther up the mountain. Our lead guide, who has successfully led a great number of trekking groups high on the mountain, has arranged our route so that we take a break on a pass or trail higher than our final camp and calls for a rest at that point. This arrangement allows for the acclimatization time without having to motivate the hikers after they reach their daily goal.

Strive to Achieve a Little More
This strategy for gaining elevation has application in achieving many of the personal and business goals in our life. If we can arrange to have our colleagues or ourselves achieve a little more than they think is possible, they recognize their ability to reach an even higher goal. If this can be incorporated into their daily work, the process can occur very naturally. It can also work by meeting your particular goal and then pushing yourself to slightly exceed that goal.

An example might be a personal trainer who sets a resistance exercise goal of 10 repetitions and then encourages you to add “just one more rep.” Knowing this can be done makes it an achievable goal for the next day.

What areas in your life would benefit by “acclimatizing” yourself and moving a little closer to a personal goal?

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.

We reached Everest Base Camp at 5,364 meters. That probably doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment. After all, around 25,000 people a year make this trek. However, it’s unique in that we came to Nepal with 40 people in our trekking group and every one of them made it.

Apparently, this isn’t all that common and it seemed to surprise all of the people we told. From keepers of hotels to a number of other trekking leaders — all were impressed. We had a trekker in every decade of age from the teens to the 80s. Our youngest is 18 and the oldest, if you can appropriately use that word, is 84.

I have to admit that when I first met our group in Kathmandu I had some doubts as to whether some of them would make it to the camp. Why do I say that? Well, even in a normal group of 40 you would expect some to get sick, some to lose their drive to achieve, some to not be prepared, some to have a minor accident that would prevent them from walking every day, and maybe even one or two that would just decide it wasn’t worth the effort.

Working Toward a Common Goal
So why did we make it? I believe that we came together as a family with a common goal. From the beginning, people were expressing why they wanted to make this trek and what it would mean for them. With that focus, the entire group began to talk positively, expressing their confidence in each person’s ability, and vocalizing their willingness to help make this happen. At the same time our leader, Werner Berger, and our tour guide, KP, always communicated their confidence in the team and that we could succeed if we followed the plan.

Things definitely didn’t go perfectly. Some people were not in as good of shape as they would have liked, baggage was lost and items had to be replaced, personal confidence was not always at a high point, and altitude sickness affected almost everyone. But those were the times when the “family” came together to share and care. Talk was always positive, assistance was offered, alternate solutions were identified, and modifications were made.

A Time to Celebrate
As a result, even with a very long day of hiking, with variable weather, the “family” showed up at the Everest Base Camp sign amid hugs and jubilation. As some of the last people climbed the final hill the group cheered and applauded. Hugs and congratulations were flowing everywhere. Even those who were exhausted had smiles on their faces. Photographs were taken to remember the moment and the feeling was electric.

It worked just like a team should. A group of people came together with a common, clearly defined goal. They identified and utilized the diversity of their participants and identified the boundaries and metrics they would use to measure their success. They worked together and made sure to celebrate their successes.

It just proves that almost anything can be accomplished when we work together as a team.

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.

Happy Mother’s Day. You are not reading this on Mother’s Day because connections are getting harder to access and use on our hiking schedule. We actually have several mothers on the trek with us and four mother/child groupings.

One is here with his mother-in-law. When he arrived in Kathmandu he was experiencing some medical concerns so he went to a local clinic. He explained that he was here to trek with his brothers and mother-in-law. The attendant joked that perhaps that was why he was experiencing his problem, but he assured him that was not the case.

Celebrating Mother’s Day
When we woke up on Sunday morning almost everyone sought out the mothers in our group to wish them a happy day and give them a hug. Some even sought out surrogate mothers to celebrate with. After a full day of hiking, we arrived at the small village of Tengboche where we had our first clear view of Mt. Everest, or Sagarmatha, who is the Mother Goddess.

At the conclusion of supper, our tour director asked all of the mothers in our party to come forward for some special recognition. Once they had assembled he made a few short comments to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day and then asked if any of those present would like to make any comments. It was very touching as children addressed their mother to express their love and how much it meant that they were together on this trek.

Others made comments regarding their mothers and wives, who were back home, and how much they loved and missed them. One comment was directed to those women in the group that did not have children but still provide great examples to those around them.

One mother in our group is in her eighties and is trekking with her daughter and son-in-law. Another is here with her two sons and one is here with her daughter. And the one, mentioned at the beginning of this piece, is here with her two sons and son-in-law.

Well Wishes All Around
It was indeed convenient that this small village supports a bakery, which provided a nice cake with a solitary candle that was shared by all. This was followed by hugs and well wishes around the room. Several people headed down to the cyber-café to see if they could connect with their mothers at home who were just starting to rise from their beds.

Early on Monday morning, I was able to acquire a mobile phone connection by standing on the far corner of the second floor balcony, leaning out over the railing and cocking my head slightly to the north. In this position I was able to reach my wonderful wife and let her know how much I miss her. I am also blessed to have a wonderful mother-in-law and was able to reach her on this important day.

It was a day filled with sights that truly exemplify the often over-used words like awesome, majestic and magnificent. Huge snow-covered peaks appeared and vanished around us as we walked through a dream-like forest of pink and white Rhododendrons. But the most memorable part of the day came from remembering our awesome, majestic and magnificent mothers.

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.

I hope that most of you know that I am currently on a trek to Everest Base Camp with 40 people, most of whom are associated with USANA Health Sciences. So the question comes up: How do you know when you’re with members of the USANA family?

Here are four great keys:

1. It’s 7 a.m. on a Saturday. You’ve just finished breakfast, your bags are being loaded on the yaks, and everyone is gathered on the street waiting to start the days hike to the village of Khumjung, the location of the Hillary School and Hospital. You notice that small groups of people are gravitating to the cyber-café on the corner and you discover that, since we are 12 hours ahead of Salt Lake City, they are all using these last few minutes to check their business centers before the close of business for the week.

2. As you are ascending the trail above Namche Bazaar you begin a conversation with the person next to you and they share that, in their absence, they have earned a healthy commission and, in fact their business has grown thanks to the focus of their downline team.
3. When you sit down to dinner the group is ecstatic that we are having garlic soup and vegetables, and everyone is reaching into their pockets and swallowing a varied assortment of brightly colored tablets with their lemon tea.
4. The dinner conversation is heavily sprinkled with goals and dreams to “make a difference” and plans to make them happen, and it often focuses on trips to exciting places around the world that were available because of their personal business.

And if those aren’t enough, just count the number of happy, supportive, outgoing people with big smiles on their faces who are “working” on their trek to Everest Base Camp…

…and the USANA logo merchandise doesn’t hurt.

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.

It rained last night. I don’t mean soft, put-you-to-sleep rain. This was loud, think-you’re-living-on-a-river, gully-washer rain.

In the morning the sky was washed crystal clear. As I looked out my window, I had an incredible storybook view of Namche Bazaar in the valley and huge snow-covered mountains in the background. It was the kind of morning where you weren’t sure whether you wanted to get out and witness the first light or stay curled up in your down comforter and watch the world come to life.

Increasing Our Altitude
We met for breakfast and laid out the plans for the day. As beautiful as it was and as much as people wanted to laze around in their rooms or the local shops, there were things that needed to be done. Number 1 on the list was to get some altitude in so our system could acclimatize. One of the biggest challenge in the mountains is getting your system to adjust to the higher elevation and resulting decrease in oxygen available for your cells.

The rule for success is hike high and sleep low. On a rest day that means that you should take a hike and gain about 1,000 feet of elevation, spend a couple of hours at that elevation and then return to your sleeping elevation. The time spent in this activity will pay great dividends when you try to sleep and when you set off the next morning.

At our final destination, Everest Base Camp, there will only be about half as much oxygen as there is at sea level. The acclimatization process is critical to being functional at that point.

Timing is Everything
In spite of personal preferences, we all hiked up to the Hillary Museum and were rewarded by some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. A large group decided to gain more altitude by visiting another lookout, while several others circumnavigated the village to another viewpoint.

While we were hiking, the clouds slowly moved in and the temperature dropped. If we had waited until later in the morning it would have been even more difficult to make that hike and if we didn’t make the hike, many people would find it difficult to sleep in the evening. All in all, it was the best thing to do.

When you don’t make the right choice in the mountains you can pay a tremendous price. It may mean that you don’t achieve your destination. You may reach your goal but at the cost of splitting headaches, upset stomachs and general discomfort. In the worst case you could have a serious case of Mountain Sickness that, with increased elevation, leads to severe pulmonary or cerebral problems. Making the right acclimatization decision can go a long way toward preventing such an outcome.

Make Time to Acclimatize
In our work-a-day world, the consequences of procrastinating may be small enough that it becomes common in our decision making process. We know we would be better off taking care of something today and reaping the benefit tomorrow but we decide to make that choice… “tomorrow.”

The sad part is that in most cases we will never know what might have been if our schedule had been open, our project was completed a little earlier, our customer received their answer ahead of time, our proposal was made on time, we made that call to someone special, or our load was just a little lighter.

Make the time to “acclimatize” or you may never discover what’s waiting at the top.

Today I learned a huge lesson. It’s not a lesson I haven’t learned before but it was reinforced several times. Maybe this time it will stick.

We rose early so that we could eat and be ready to leave Phakding at 7:30 a.m. Everyone was excited and nervous contemplating the hike to Jorsale and then the long steep ascent to Namche Bazaar in the afternoon.

My normal pace in the mountains is pretty fast but fortunately our head guide, KP, was in charge and he was focused on the success for all 40 members of our team. It is very easy to push a little too hard and come up short at the end of the trail. By the time we reached the base of our afternoon assault there were quite a number of sore knees, feet and hips.

“Everyone Will Make It“
Twenty minutes up the trail KP called for a rest break and people scattered for the trees. My impatience surfaced and I really wanted to keep going. As KP and I spoke he said, “We go very slow and take breaks every 20 minutes. Everyone will make it to the Namche.” I responded that he was in charge and I meant it.

As the day wore on the frequent breaks allowed everyone to recover and keep their focus on the day’s goal.

As the group followed KP up the mountain, everyone settled into the short, measured mountaineering step and followed the path of the person ahead of them. I noticed that the yaks and mules were even using the same pace.

Slow and Deliberate
Approximately three hours from the base of the mountain we rounded the corner and spied the bright reds and blues of Namche Bazaar. As we approached our hotel I noticed a couple of children working in the potato fields. Working slowly, but with purpose, they were weeding a very small portion of a very large family field. Obviously in no rush, but making sure that they didn’t miss a weed, they kept their focus on the small area in front of them.

Less than 100 feet from the potato field I noticed two young men sawing a log into timbers, by hand. With one worker straddling the top of the log and the other under a supporting structure they worked together to pull and push the eight-foot saw vertically through the 16-inch piece of wood. After only a few long strokes they would take a short break and then repeat.

Namche Bazaar is colorful, unique, fascinating…amazing, I’m sure it was built following the same principles I had been reminded of during the day. Focusing on a specific goal and then taking small but consistent steps. Those little steps brought us up the mountain to Namche. The weeding of a small plot produces a large productive garden. The short strokes of the saw result in a fine timber. It’s the rule of the mountain but it applies so perfectly in work and life. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

Photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shicks/ / CC BY 2.0

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.

With the stores still closed on Tuesday, the 4th, the trekking group got in some miles by walking out to see a couple of sights in the city. Not everyone was in peak shape for the upcoming trek, but they were all motivated to achieve a personal goal and you could feel the anticipation building. With everyone excited for the real trekking on Wednesday, we retired early and set our alarms for a 4 a.m. breakfast.

Our initial day of trekking was not planned to be very long. However, with the continued transportation issues in the city, the crowds at the airport for domestic flights and the potential for rainy weather cancelling flights into Lukla, the guides felt we should get to the airport early. While everybody wasn’t thrilled about the early morning wake up call, they were all in agreement that we needed to get started if we were going to achieve our goal.

Boarding at Lukla
Lukla is arguably the most dangerous airport in the world and yet, the caliber of pilots has kept its safety record very high. The airport is situated at about 10,000 feet above sea level within a twisting river valley and mountains that create their own weather — weather that can change at the drop of a prayer flag.

The planes cannot fly if the visibility is poor, the rain is heavy or the wind it strong. One of the airport’s unique features is its short, uphill slanted runway that terminates in the side of the mountain.

When our group arrived at the domestic airport there was a reasonable queue already in place. The new passengers were running late and felt they should move to the front of the line. Once again our guides kept us focused and we moved quickly through the ticketing process. Before we knew it we were crowding into the 14 seats of our turboprop plane and taxiing into takeoff position. With no baggage racks above the seats we all had our backpacks balanced on our seats.

Even as the pilot threaded the plane through the mountainous terrain, we could see the clouds moving in and a light rain started to fall. With practiced precision we landed safely and exited the plane into a light rain. Everyone pulled on their rain jackets and within 10 minutes we had arrived at the North Face Restaurant to enjoy some morning tea while our guides and porters loaded their yaks and their backs with our gear.

Are You Guiding Your Success?
As we headed down the trail we could see the weather had shut down the airport and there was going to be a significant delay in arrivals for the morning. Our pleasant morning of hiking and lunch at the town of Phatding was largely possible because our experienced guide team pushed us to rise early and get started with our journey, even though it was not the “popular” option.

I couldn’t help but think about some goals in my life that haven’t moved off of the planning board simply because I haven’t decided to get started. I need to be my own guide, place the wake-up call and get myself on the trail. There are a lot of variables that could make it challenging to achieve my personal success but none as permanent as delaying the start.

What about you?

Photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilker/ / CC BY 2.0

A group of about 40 individuals, most of whom are USANA Associates, departed on May 3 for a Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek led by expert climber Werner Berger. Read more about their journey on the Corporate Blog and on What’s Up, USANA.