‘Plan’ every mountain & other life hacks

Well, you don’t climb mountains without a plan. Even the Von Trapps knew that in The Sound of Music.

The four-day weekend just past got me planning my mountains, yes, for even in middle age we still have our Everest dreams. The long break also gave me time not just to stop and smell the roses, but to listen to the birds chirp.

During a recent trip to Austria and Germany, I was awestruck by their beautiful mountains and realized it made sense to “plan” every mountain in our lives instead of just “climbing” them.

Let me share with you some more life hacks that have helped me through my journeys in life:

1. Though it is good to let life surprise you once in a while by going where your feet lead you, you conquer the Everests of your life by preparing for the climb. And by choosing your mountains, the way you choose your battles.

Sometimes, it is more prudent to choose a Mt. Makiling over a Mt. Everest, because at 1,090 meters, it is relatively easier to conquer than the 8,848-meter Himalayan giant. Set realistic goals, but know that the more challenging climb would likely give you the best view, and an incredible high.

When you “plan” your mountain instead of just “climbing” it, in effect, you’re planning out the route you’re going to take in life. Uphill, where the rewards in the summit are exclusive to those who finally reach it? Smooth and easy, where you enjoy the climb and appreciate the view, but risk being overtaken in the race to the top? Or would you rather just stay at base camp, serving and supporting the intrepid frontrunners?

So instead of climbing every mountain in search of your dream, better plan your mountain first. And decide if it’s worth the climb at all. It isn’t a mountain if it doesn’t take your breath away, literally and figuratively. It isn’t a mountain if you don’t struggle against the pull of gravity, making your legs feel like lead the higher you go. It isn’t a mountain if it’s just a walk in the park — say, if you’ve decided that you’d be perfectly fine with a “B” than an “A” grade. It’s your choice, and there’s nothing wrong if you feel the climb isn’t worth it.

But if you’ve decided to scale the mountain of your dreams, go for it.

2. Make your bed every morning. Or at least, whenever you can. It puts order in your day because you’re starting it by smoothing creases, putting things in their proper place, tucking loose ends. It’s like putting order in your life with the bed as your template.

The helper who cleans my room went on leave and, forced to make our bed in the mornings, I found some satisfaction in turning a topsy-turvy jumble of sheets and pillows into a flatland of calm.

The commander of the Navy Seal forces that organized the raid that took down Bin Laden, said in a speech in 2014 before graduates of the University of Texas, his alma mater, that the best way to start one’s day is to make one’s bed.

“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed,” said Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, the commander of the US Special Operations Command.

“Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed.

“If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack — rack — that’s Navy talk for bed.

“It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that we were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle hardened SEALs — but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

“By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.

“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

“And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”

So whether you want to make your bed look as inviting as one straight out of a five-star hotel suite, or simply as Spartan as a Navy Seal’s bed in the barracks, is simply fine. At the end of the day, whatever soothes your tired bones is a bed of feathers.

3. Specialize. There is this kingfisher in the pocket garden below our bedroom window. It sings at dawn, it’s my sign that the newspaper would be delivered soon and that in a couple of hours, I have to get up myself.

While I’m having my coffee facing the garden, I see this kingfisher (I presume there’s only one) perched on a ledge on the wall and flying in regular intervals to and from a palm tree abuzz with insects. It goes with the determination of a bull after each insect, then flies back to the ledge, making countless laps between tree and ledge.

Of all the birds in the garden, this is one my husband and I notice because it has a “specialty.” And seems good at it, too. When I came back from my trip, little kingfisher was on the job still. Talk about consistency.

In our workplace, we get the attention of people who matter — whether our superiors or our clients — if we stand out in at least one thing, or at least stand out for being identified with some useful endeavor. When we just flit around doing this and that, it will be hard for us to catch the eye that matters.

4. Know that “unhappy endings” could actually be the happiest yet.

A friend was forced to resign because of intrigues in her prestigious job, and was “forced” to work in the family business to make both ends meet. The business took off after she joined it and now she can even afford to double the salary of the former co-workers who plotted against her. The unhappy ending in her old job was actually a new beginning!

In the critical and box-office hit La La Land, your heart breaks at the ending but then you realize, hey, this is what the lead characters Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) dreamed of all their lives. These were their mountains and they have scaled them. This is what they have set out to do against the pull of failures and disappointment.

If the ending had been the one in the reel that unraveled in Mia’s head in the final scene, tell me, would that have been a happy ending?

For those who plan their Everests, maybe not.

 (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)