Kay:
Hey Questers! Welcome to Episode 88 of The Mentorship Quest! Today’s quest guidance and quote is from Mel Robbins. She says, “You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others that it can be moved.”
Shi:
There is SO much goodness in this quote. But first, we have to fangirl a little, tiny bit about Mel Robbins because she is amazing! And if you guys haven’t ever heard of her, go watch her Ted talk. Look her up on YouTube (you can watch a little 15-20 minute video) and you’ll get a flavor for her. She’s amazing, super practical, funny, relatable and super smart! AKA: She’s a BA lady.
Kay:
Well, she’s surely quick as a whip smart. I think she’s a New Yorker lady and you can tell in her accent and how she’s right to the point and kind of gets down to the nitty gritty of what it actually takes to succeed. But, before we get too far into the episode, I will say I had a little bit of beef with this quote before we got started…
Shi:
You did. But, I think it’s good to bring that kind of critical eye sometimes to something like this. I mean, this is a pretty strong statement, “You have been assigned to this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.” I mean, that’s making a lot of assumptions about the mountains that are in front of people, about the reasons that they’re there, and about their ability to actually move it or not. So, actually, it’s just like Mel…it’s a BOLD quote!
Kay:
So I’m just going to do a little bit of self revising because it helps me. So to say instead – “ONE of the reasons you have been assigned this mountain is so that you can show others that it can be moved” – I think I like that better! Just because there is something really real that happens when one person achieves the impossible.
Shi:
Well, when you think about Roger Bannister being the first guy to run a mile in under 5 minutes in 1954 – everyone doubted him, and no one thought it could be done. But, he did it! And then, the next year, I think it was 12 people that were able to do that same thing, even though ALL of human recorded history had never seen it. So, just by that one person demonstrating, more people believed it could be achieved, and went to do it themselves. So, it’s really incredible to see the physical expression of this moving the mountain concept, but it can apply in so many different ways.
Kay:
You know, it reminds me of a concept that you and I teach on very frequently in our marketing teachings, which is that “done beats perfect”. And, what gets done gets perfected. And, sometimes what gets done by you gets perfected by others!
Shi:
Totally. And being first definitely does not necessarily mean being the best. In fact, people who come after – if you carve the trail up the mountain – have an easier time coming up right after, and following suit. Because, you did some of the hard learning – and some of the hard work – and made some of the wrong turns – and ultimately sort of suffered the brunt of that front line. So yeah!…You got to be the first for the view…But that also means the others who come up behind you don’t have it quite as hard, because you showed them that it could be done. And, truthfully, what that ripple effect can mean across time, and for humanity, and for the generations…it’s exponential.
Kay:
Now that’s a beautiful macro view of how this principle can play out. But, let’s take this down to a micro level because I think this plays out in a lot of families as well. Particularly with, (this might hit a little close to home), but with siblings...When the first sibling or the first person comes along into the family, the parents are brand new at parenting, and they are younger. They know nothing other than what they’ve accumulated in their teen years about how to care for a child, how to raise a kid in their own environment, or how to be the leader of a family. They have NO IDEA what they’re doing…I would know as a parent myself, and thank goodness I had people go before me so I could ask questions! But, they say that the first kid comes along and the parents are more strict, or they make more mistakes but…when the second kid rolls in – it’s a different story! And it almost seems like the younger kid had it easier…And, MAN, does every sibling relationship have this!
Shi:
Definitely. I think that all older siblings can unite and admit that their parents learned their lesson with you. And then, of course as a parent you’re (maybe reluctantly) like, “yes, that is true.” You learn your lessons on the first one…I was lucky enough to have two for my first, so they just got to experience the misery together 😉
Kay:
Well, it’s not misery...but it’s reality! I mean, if somebody walks a path and the grass is tall, it’s going to be stamped down a little bit more for the next person to go down that path…and that’s just fact!
Shi:
I mean, if you take this quote and you think about how you would actually MOVE a mountain... you would move it stone, by stone, by stone – and that takes a long time! But, if you did that – if you moved stone, by stone, by stone, and truly dedicated your life to moving that mountain – imagine the example that you would set, and the lesson that you would teach, and others would see: You CAN move a mountain, but it takes a lot of hard work to do it!
Kay:
Well moving even just one stone can be really difficult! It can be super hard to find the motivation to move one singular stone, let alone an entire mountain! So one of Mel Robbins’ most famous principles, and gifts that she gives us, is something that she calls the “five second rule.” And, the five second rule comes into play when you don’t feel like picking up the stone and taking it over to move the mountain. And, in this situation, she tells us to count to ourselves, “five, four, three, two, one”. And, after you count down, to get up and take physical action – MOVE your body – and go and do that thing!
Shi:
It’s like a rocket launch! And it helps you circumvent that hesitation in your brain that can hold you back from doing things. So the “five, four, three, two, one” was a handy little trick that she learned that helped her bust through and move that mountain stone by stone. And…now...it is YOUR quest today! Five, four, three, two, one! Count yourself down so that you can move whatever stone it is towards the mountain that you need to create. So – that thing you’ve been hesitating on?…Count it down, and quest away!
Kay:
Happy questing!
