If you ever want to do something crazy but for a good cause, I highly recommend the CN Tower climb in Toronto, Canada.
Standing at 1,815 feet, it’s the 9th largest free-standing structure in the world. And over the weekend, I scaled its 1,776 steps to raise awareness for the World Wildlife Fund.
The 2019 CN Tower Climb was an amazing experience and I would love to do it again. Completing the challenge taught me a lot of things about myself that I think translate well as life lessons for achieving one’s goals
Be Vulnerable: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
One of the first challenges of tackling the CN Tower Climb revealed itself before I even set foot on a single step. Given that this was a fundraising event, I had to raise a minimum of $120 before I would even be eligible to participate.
I was uncomfortable with this requirement, because it meant I would have to ask people to sponsor me. Which made me even more uncomfortable because I hate asking people for anything, much less money, and was especially terrified that I would face rejection.
Turns out, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. My network of friends and family were proud that I was taking part in the event, and gladly donated money so that could participate. In the end, I exceeded my expected goal a whole month before the climb!
Sometimes, in order for us to grow or to experience new and exciting things, we have to let ourselves be uncomfortable in new situations. It is in those uncomfortable moments that we often have our most valuable experiences.
Prepare for What You Intend to Do
As I mentioned earlier, the CN Tower Climb comprises of 1,776 steps. That’s way more than I tackle in a day, even when I consider the steps I climb at the subway station or the stairs I climb to travel between multiple floors at work.
Therefore, once I registered for the event, I made the effort to go to the gym at least once a week to put in some time with the Stairmaster.
In life, sometimes we set a goal for ourselves that seems insurmountable. We can make things easier for ourselves if we recognize the amount of work we must put in to succeed and schedule time to work towards our goals.
I’m writing the manuscript for my novel, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work still ahead of me. Then I realize that I just need to show up regularly and consistently. If I write a little bit every day, I will eventually complete the manuscript and move on to the equally arduous task of editing.
Go at Your Own Pace
Since this was my first time doing the CN Tower Climb and I didn’t want to burn out halfway through, I decided to take a very slow, conservative approach to tackling the 1,776 steps. I hugged the right side of the stairwell and used the handrail to help propel myself upward and take the strain off my leg muscles.
There were a few times a much faster person would quickly ascend the steps and go right past me. I resisted the urge to speed up, despite perhaps annoying a few double-handrail climbers that may have been trying to break a personal record.
I refused to cow to the pressure to speed up because I was running my own race. I don’t know the history of the other climbers; I don’t know who else is doing it for the first time or who is a veteran of this event. I don’t know who has trained their body to handle sprint sessions up the steps or who’s employing a destructive strategy that will cause them to flame out several floors ahead of me.
It’s important to take a similar approach to life. Not all of us are climbing at the same speeds. Some people start with better advantages or different strategies. But you must always go at your own pace. What helps one individual to succeed may not necessarily help you, and may actually hinder your progress.
As I’ve mentioned before, the only person you should try to beat every day is YOURSELF. Strive to improve just a little bit every day, and eventually you’ll succeed.
Don’t compare yourself to others. We might not all reach the top at the same speed, but we all get to the top. And we all get a t-shirt with our time recorded at the end.
So in short, it’s important to believe in yourself. When I signed up for the CN Tower Climb, I initially wasn’t sure if I was up for the challenge. But I persevered and believed in myself, and in doing so, I learned how many people I knew and loved believed in me as well.
And that confidence can give you the strength to scale the top of the tower, or complete that YA manuscript. So keep at it. You’ll never know what you’re capable of until you try.