Coming Down the Mountain

There is no lack of distractions in the frontcountry that permit the mind to reclude itself from introspection. Spending ten days in the mountains without any of these distractions (namely smartphones and my laptop) forced me to be alone with my thoughts often. This trek confirmed my suspicion that I love challenges. Pushing the limits of the human mind and body’s natural comfort zones is something I enjoy. Motivating ourselves to achieve our goals is similar to packing a backpack on a trek. Whenever it seems that the backpack could not possibly fit another item no matter how small, I always find space. Whenever I feel like quitting or that I’m incapable of something, I always find a way. This backpacking analogy has implications for the human condition as well. Humans are creative and constantly finding solutions to challenges hurled our way. This understanding is freeing since it relieved stress during the trek when our plans did not work out. We always found an alternative path to explore, sometimes quite literally. I also learned that I am content in almost all circumstances. Being adaptable to our environment is a major part of backcountry treks. I find contentedness by making the best of my surroundings. During the trek, I was constantly finding hyper optimizations for my processes like cooking, packing, and pooping. By focusing on this side of things you quickly forget that you are sleeping outside in a tent on the cold and rocky ground. Throughout this trek I also observed my desire to capture the memories which I create. Without journaling my happenings, how will I prove to myself that I haven’t wasted my life? This is a poor mindset to have and is motivated by fears and insecurities and is something I am trying to deal with. Adventures in life are everywhere and you don’t need to break the bank on an expensive trip just to prove to people you hate that you are “doing something with your life.” Instead I want to focusing on sharing experiences and inspiring others to take action. 

Throughout this trip, we all had to exhibit leadership at all times for ten days straight! The stamina to keep up with this was difficult at times but gave me some new perspectives on leadership. First, self awareness is critical for leadership. Knowing when to let people figure things out for themselves or set healthy boundaries is a skill we hopefully aim to improve. Next, selfishness is not an acceptable solution to getting your way. Yes, it might be a short term fix to getting a group of people to do what you want but its long term harm will cause a snowball of selfishness within a group. I noticed that the most selfless people on the trek, often got what they wanted without ruffling the feathers of others. The motivations behind our actions as leaders must be driven by selflessness. I am not saying we should all be a bunch of yes men and pushovers, but rather that we should engage with others utilizing a best intentions mindset. 

For myself, this trek has revealed a few ways in which I can improve as a leader. First, I need to fight my natural impulse to keep everyone happy and not be afraid to ruffle a few feathers or embarrass myself when my opinions clash with the group or I see others being mistreated. Second, I aim to create personable relationships with all members of the group. Understanding the motivations of each individual will help you tailor your leadership style to achieve the group’s goals. Also, when people are comfortable around you and know that you care about them as a person, they are more likely to assume best intentions when you interact with them. Third, I aim to be more consistent. Leadership is like trust in that it is easily broken and hard to repair. Yes, this was extremely difficult for everyone to maintain during a ten day trek, but if you have nine days of consistent beneficial leadership and one day of poor leadership, people will only remember that one day. 

For this post’s side quest, me and some of the others have been taking a short walk to the Woodstock school to play basketball and lift weights in the morning. Doing this so close to the end of this study abroad trip makes me very homesick and miss the routines of my daily life. Next stop is Delhi and then the Taj Mahal before returning to America. I am definitely cooking a large ribeye steak the night I get home 🤤.