"I can't do it. I just can't do it. I can't make it up to the top. I can't," I cry on the brink of tears as I struggled to hike up a mountain about a week ago.

Mt Tabor, is in the Northern Range of Trinidad and above the Mount St Benedict Monastery. It’s elevation is 1808 ft.

It is a pretty challenging hike as you are heading uphill continuously. For someone like me who is not a hiker or runner or known for much stamina, I don't know what made me think this would be my jam.

But part of me, the part that recently discovered working out and seeing results, wanted to believe I could do it. And I knew it would be such a gratifying experience.

Almost as soon as we started, I knew I was in trouble. Just the sight ahead of the steep uphill ascent required freaked me out. When we reached the fire tower, about a third of the way up, I was DONE!

I was SO winded, I felt like I would have a heart attack and die. All my fears came rushing in and I was scared to go up and scared to make my way back down, slipping and falling and breaking a body part.

My companion on the trip, my friend Trevor, kept cheering me on. "Natalie, you can do it. You can get to the top. Look after we pass those three markers, you'll be practically there!"

What was I thinking? Am I out of my mind?

I trudged forward, one step at a time because I just couldn't think clearly anymore. I started praying repeatedly, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

About halfway up, I realized that this was a test. If I made it up this mountain, all my reservations about the limitations of my physicality could be reframed. I could start to believe I was strong and capable enough to hike a mountain.

Trevor would not let me give up. "Come on Natalie. We gotta keep going," he kept saying throughout the ascent.

I started to surrender to the experience—reluctantly—but still, letting go of the thought of not seeing it through.

By the time we finally made it to the top, all I wanted to do was face plant to the ground.

But moments later it finally dawned on me that I did it. I DID IT! I climbed Mt Tabor! As I regained my composure, I started looking around admiring the beautiful pine trees all around.

All my debilitating fears were mostly gone now. I didn’t die. I didn’t even get hurt. I said a silent prayer of gratitude to God. His presence was there all around—in the trees, the air, the sky, the mountains we could see straight ahead. He was in the indomitable spirit of Trevor who refused to let me give up.

This experience is such an apt metaphor for so many life experiences. We all have mountains to climb.

How we navigate up that mountain is EVERYTHING!

One of the biggest takeaways for me from the experience was the importance of having a guide, encourager, and championer. I would not have gotten to the top of the mountain without Trevor’s help and support.

This is SO much like the coaching journey I travel with clients who are navigating their career and purpose mountains.

A few key parallels:

1. Trevor helped me to achieve my goal. Up until I got to the fire tower, I thought I could handle it. But after that point, the vision I had of taking beautiful photos from the mountain’s peak and soaking in the breathtaking views went out of my mind. I could only see myself not finishing, or fainting, or dying. I forgot my “why” for embarking on the climb in the first place—to do something out of my comfort zone and experience, fulfillment and joy along the way. He kept reminding me of my why and painting the vision of what finishing could look like. Without Trevor’s help, I would not have summited.

2. His encouragement was everything. At first, it wasn’t landing because my fears were so dominant. But his insistence that I not give up and not quit EVERY single time I wanted to, helped me to keep trekking upward. I know unequivocally that if Trevor was not there cheering me on and sometimes lending his hand to lift me up a step, I would have given up.

3. Trevor believed I could summit when I no longer believed in that outcome for myself. I truly had abandoned my hopes and believed I did not have the capacity to finish. In those moments, My friend believed in my abilities more than I did. At one point a six-year-old kid passed by happily trekking up with his family and Trevor pointed out that if that kid had it in him so did I. This observation helped me to begin to believe again.

4. “You’re not exhausted. You’re just winded.” This reframe he offered checked the lie I was believing that I ran out of energy. He was right. I HAD energy. I just needed to catch my breath a heck of a lot. With this new perspective, thoughts of dying seemed way less possible.

5. Without Trevor’s championing I would have stayed stuck in fear and would never have the gift of the win and all the new narratives I embraced after the climb. I can now proudly boast that I climbed a mountain! I could now believe that I can do other hard physical things. I have this great story I can now share about faith over fear. I have one more experience that underscores for me the value of going through tough life experiences with friends, supporters, advocates, and allies. This IS the way to finish strong.

If you have a choice, don’t climb your mountain alone. We all need support; we all need championing.

It’s why I love the work I do as the Brilliance Unveiler. So much of what I do is reminding women of their magnificence, of their vision for their career in those moments when things are tough, when they are overwhelmed or off-track, when they feel ill-equipped or unqualified to bring their vision to fruition.  I help them finish strong!

Physically, my new goal is to push myself a bit more so that I get more stamina. So that the next time I decide to, I dunno, run a half marathon (yeah right!), I’ll be better prepared.

What mountain do you need to climb?  What support do you need to help you to summit?  Let’s talk about it!