A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
UNSHARED SUCCESS IS FAILURE
While walking through a random bookstore in New York last week I found a small book called The Zen of Climbing by Francis Sanzaro. It wasn’t on my list, wasn’t a topic I was looking for, isn’t an author I knew. For all intents and purposes, it wasn’t a book I would buy. For whatever reason that evening I decided I needed that book.
A third of the way through the book I was introduced to the Japanese world, Shokunin. It is a word used to describe a person that does the same thing every day. In some sushi restaurants for example, an apprentice may spend ten years just cooking rice. Yes, ten years. Rock climbers are shokunin. They are a breed of people who surrender to mastering the simplicity in complexity. They are devoted to a craft. They develop a depth of understanding of one thing - deeper than most would ever think possible.
The importance of that concept spoke to me, so I started looking for other things I could learn from the best rock climbers in the world. I bought a few other books, I downloaded some articles, and began to listen to interviews with the world’s greats.
I came across a recent interview with Tommy Caldwell - who National Geographic referred to as "arguably the best all-around rock climber on the planet.” Even if it were argued that they were wrong, it’s not bad company to be in. I listened to his interview to learn how he thought, how he processed decision making, where his perspective came from, and what seemed to drive him. In that interview he said one of the most powerful things I’ve heard in a podcast interview. I'll share his response to the question about what drive him here:
“Success that is not shared, is not success. It is still failure. When I was young, I was so objective oriented. I was so goal oriented. And those goals did not have another person’s name next to them. It was just me accomplishing those things. And then I learned that the goal is just a mechanism to develop relationships that matter. The actual goal really matters less.”
Wow. And yes.
Perhaps more than any other year I have seen people struggle with setting their goals and intentions for 2024. They are lacking the motivation to set big goals for themselves. They are feeling a little disconnected from setting their sights on a new achievement, or breaking a previous record. They are struggling to find which metaphorical mountain they would like to conquer this year.
Take a lesson from an individual who holds countless records and is constantly conquering bigger and more difficult and never before done actual mountains. If we set our sights on an individual goal and achieve it, well, it will always feel empty at the end. So, YOU are number one. So, YOU broke your record from last year. So, YOU increased your income yet again. So, YOU walked across a stage or received an award.
“Success that is not shared, is not success. It is still failure.”
If we are struggling with setting goals, go back and look at them. Do they involve others? Are you bringing people with you? Are any of your goals attached to helping someone else achieve their goals? Remember, “the goal is just a mechanism to develop relationships that matter.”
As I think about our entire business model, it is based 100% around partnership. I am able to wake up every day motivated to hit goals, not for the achievement or the satisfaction of being a goal oriented person. Rather, I wake up every day with built in mechanisms to build incredible relationships that matter.
Where in your personal life or business life is that missing? The power of partnership is, well, powerful.