Wednesday Wisdom: Climbing a New Mountain Personally and Professionally

As the speaker approached the stage with a cane and Seeing Eye dog by his side accompanied by one of my friends, I watched in awe as he navigated the stairs, walked towards the podium and arrived at it with a big smile on his face. Ready to greet his audience, Tim Conners, “America’s Ambassador of Hope,” is a sightless visionary who became blind at the age of 15 and has redefined what was possible in his life which includes climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa in a few weeks.

“Going blind from cancer actually opened up my eyes to what was right in front of me,” Tim explained. He continued by saying, “I believe I can move mountains so remember no matter what barriers lie in your way, with the right mindset nothing can stop you.” Words I felt I lived when I was able to finish the 26.2 mile run in Boston and raising $8,000 for Team 261Fearless only 2 weeks ago. I knew what Tim was talking about because I had just spent 9 months believing I could move my own mountain and complete my goal. I also was blessed to witness a blind woman running in the marathon next to me on Heartbreak Hill.

Life lessons can produce parallel business lessons if we live within the place of possibility amid the right mindset and goals. Although we are not blind, we need to open our eyes to see what is right in front of us creating desire and opportunity. To run a successful business we know we need a business plan to guide us, similar to a blind person needing a cane and dog to lead them. Other times we need to lift our eyes away from the black and white plan, and see with our heart what is right in front of us and make a new decision to embark.

In 1995 when I started running to lose weight and then in 2005 when I started my second business to connect women across New York State and once again in 2017 when I took 110 women to the Women’s March on Washington to stand for equality, I listened to a voice within me, saw with my eyes a need, and trusted my wisdom to get me started and succeeding. As Tim said, it really does begin with the idea that we can ‘move mountains’ by our own will and focus.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to stop for a couple minutes and think about what is right in front of you – opportunities, people, ideas – that you need to grab a hold of and start experiencing. It could be something that repetitively shows up in your life, someone or a few people who you keep intersecting with by accident or a gut feeling you haven’t taken serious enough to investigate. Sometimes we need a leap of faith to get moving on a new path in entrepreneurship and life.