Life really is about the journey, not the destination. I am back. Four weeks away, and this trip has cracked me open in ways I didn’t expect, in ways that even I, as a mindset coach, didn’t see coming.
Quick Summary: A Mindset Coach Lesson From Kilimanjaro
I set out to summit Kilimanjaro after six months of training. I turned back 350 metres from the top when altitude sickness took hold. What I came home with instead was a bigger lesson than any summit could teach, the same one I share as a mindset coach: the goal isn’t the goal.
Why the Mountain Had Other Plans
I thought climbing Kilimanjaro would be about reaching the top, arms outstretched like in the movies. That’s what we trained for, six months of early mornings, afternoon hills, sore muscles, packing and repacking gear. But the mountain had other plans. It’s a reminder I give as a mindset coach all the time: life is never about the destination; it’s about everything in between.
The Mountain Itself
Kilimanjaro is breathtaking, the kind of beauty that humbles you. Golden sunrises spilling across endless skies, lunar-like landscapes that make you feel small but alive, and porters and guides who made every step feel like part of something bigger. For the first seven days I felt strong, though the altitude whispered warnings: lightheadedness, slower breaths. My husband battled altitude sickness early, but with Diamox and grit, he came good.
Summit Day
At 12 am, under a sky scattered with stars, cold as I have ever experienced, I took my first step. I had a head cold that had crept in that morning; my chest felt like something wasn’t right, but I pushed it down. This is summit day, I told myself. You’ve trained for this. You’ve got this.
Seven and a half hours later, I was still climbing. The cold was biting, my energy tanking, and my mind playing tricks on me. Then the dizziness hit. I was 350 metres from the top when the guides put an oxygen mask on my face and told me it was time to go down. I didn’t summit.
Expectation vs. Reality
The Ego and the Lesson
For a few hours, I was gutted. I blamed the trekker who’d brought a bug into the mess tent, blamed myself for not being stronger. Worst of all, I let my ego scream about being so close and not making it.
But somewhere between disappointment and gratitude, I found perspective, the same work I do as a mindset coach with the women I support. I didn’t stand at the very top, but I experienced her beauty, walked her trails, breathed her thin air, and let her teach me a bigger lesson than any summit could.
Sometimes the goal isn’t the goal. Sometimes it’s about letting go of expectations, of control, of the need to prove something to yourself or anyone else. When my husband chose to come down with me instead of summiting alone, I realised what really matters: connection, health, life, the journey.
The Safari
After the trek, we spent five days on safari, and that’s where the magic really landed. Watching a lioness nuzzle her cubs, elephants moving across the plains, and the simplicity of life in the Serengeti shifted something deep in me. The people we met in Tanzania, their humility and joy despite having so little, taught me more about gratitude than any book could.
The Habits Shift
This is what my 52-week habits journey has been about, too. One habit at a time, I’ve been stripping away the noise, breathing deeper, complaining less, judging less, moving more, nourishing better. Post-Kilimanjaro, as a mindset coach, it all makes sense.
This wasn’t about standing at a summit and ticking off another achievement. It was about presence, appreciating every step, even the hard ones, shedding heavy stories, and letting go of what no longer serves me- the identity-level rebuild I walk women through inside Reclaim Her. The mountain gave me what I needed, not what I wanted.
Conclusion
If you’re chasing your own summit right now, wondering whether failing to reach it means you’ve failed, I promise you haven’t. This is exactly the work of a mindset coach, showing you that letting go is often the real climb, the rebuild I walk women through in Transformational Coaching.
FAQs
Why does a mindset coach talk about a mountain instead of goals?
Because the mountain taught the lesson I teach every day: growth matters more than the goal.
Did not reaching the summit mean the trip failed?
No. Turning back taught more than summiting would have.
What does letting go have to do with mindset coaching?
Everything. The real shift happens in releasing control, not gripping it tighter.
What’s one small way to start letting go?
Notice one expectation you’re gripping tightly, then ask what it would feel like to loosen it.
Do you have to succeed to teach these lessons as a mindset coach?
No. The most useful lessons often come from what didn’t go to plan.