The Philosophy of Killer Hill - or why you need one and why conquer it regularly

Preface
This is an entry from a few days ago, which I managed to delete in anger after receiving some really discouraging comments from an individual over the email (unfortunately this sometimes happens and makes life hard for bloggers trying to keep their spirits up and write interesting stuff).
My day took a drastic turn for the better today however as I received another email asking where the post went and countering all the BS from before with a generous heap of support instead. This great man came to my rescue after I sheepishly confessed to him that I had deleted the entry without backing it up and due to the efforts and lengths he went into finding a cache'd version of this post so I can copy it back up again I owe you, Michael Wong, my deepest gratitude. Thus I dedicate this post to you. You rock!

These days the Internet and bookstores seem awash with attempts to offer self-help on topics ranging from improving yourself, your career, wealth, house, fitness, partner, pet and whatnot. As some clever sod wrote: The easiest way to become a success is to write a book about it. So in an attempt to steer clear of efforts to sell you abstract theories  - I will instead introduce you to the exact opposite: simplicity - Why you need a hill you can comfortably call a killer and why you should regularly push yourself to conquer it.

Life is a series of hills
Killer hills are a killer - particularly if you are running or cycling. Everything is easy when you are going downhill, but come that hill the effortless ease turns into a hot, sweaty struggle accompanied by occasional cursing if no one is around. Life is a lot like that, not that we'd like to admit it sometimes. We work extremely hard at conveying effortless ease to our friends, family and colleagues, because it is not attractive to show your weakness, doubts, worries or be caught whinging about the things you don't think are fair. It is hard to muster up the energy sometimes and even harder to see if you are making any progress overcoming those bouts of anxiety, because it is often all in our mind.

Real hills help us conquer our mental ones
So where do the real hills come in? Well, right now actually - you need to find one for yourself that you can't imagine you can conquer. You may already have found it - whenever you think of going cycling or running, you think of ways to avoid it unless you take the route that allows you to go downhill. It may be an inevitable part of your daily journey and one that you currently prefer to walk up, because it seems too much of an insurmountable task. Or you are plain unlucky(!) and live in Holland or parts of Denmark where it can be extremely flat in places and you really have to look for a hill for miles. If this is the case you may have to substitute this challenge for an extremely long straight road instead, but beware - those are tricky, because you need to be able to tell your progress continuously. You KNOW when you've reached the top of the hill, but it is not so easy to tell where your goal is with a straight piece of road. 

My Killer Hill and the philosophy behind it
I would like to introduce you to my Killer Hill. It is a sneakily large hill hidden away behind unsuspecting flats in a beautiful big park here in London and it is one I have great respect for. I first discovered it when going the opposite way and loved the high speeds I could reach when pedalling furiously before freewheeling down the entire way. Going the opposite way though is a completely different story.

It starts near a car par, which means the steady gradient almost kills you as you eek your way past the car park and all the drivers who are oblivious to the struggle and duress you are under and occasionally decide to turn into your side of the road and slow you down. As you make your way past this challenge, you reach a flat area, surrounded by trees where you can rest before the extremely sharp gradient of the second part of the hill kicks in. This bit also goes around a corner so by the time you finally reach the top you are absolutely spent, but feel victorious.

The philosophy of this hill for me is that often when faced with initial challenges you need to conserve your energy and go for the slow burner approach than try to spend all your energy in the first half, because you invariably are not able to see the full extent of the challenge that lies ahead of you. You often get half-way and realise that if you really want to do something, you have to struggle even harder than before to get it done. Once you do overcome it though, of course you are tired but ultimately ecstatic.

So why use real hills to deal with mental ones?
Good question. For me the explanation is simple: when faced with difficulties in life we have a natural tendency to worry, get anxious, stress and be continuously preoccupied with how to overcome this challenge - whatever it may be. Stress produces cortisol, the body's stress hormone and that makes you more irritable, short-tempered, makes you sleep worse and often you struggle to see the forest for the trees - literally.

Hills are great exercise and great exercise produces endorphins in your body - a natural high that counterbalances stress and instead fills you with a calmness of mind and relaxation of your body. To overcome demanding challenges you need both and the more stress you are under the more you need your Killer Hill. Killer Hills are also symbolic of the struggle you face and it is easy to play-act and imagine the hill is whatever challenge you are under currently and as you gradually pound away up the hill, you mentally become more focused about conquering the real challenge you are faced with too.The hill gives you constant feedback of where you are and rewards you instantly when you have reached the top. These things are often less straight-forward in real life, but you need to at least give yourself the benefit of imagining they are you killer hills and you can conquer them, because if you can believe it you can do it.

As you do this on a regular basis, you notice that your fitness level increases, you get better at it - things feel a little less hard work every time and this gives you confidence and determination to go on. And confidence and determination are the most important things you need to overcome any challenge, whether physical or mental.

These days the Internet and bookstores seem awash with attempts to offer self-help on topics ranging from improving yourself, your career, wealth, house, fitness, partner, pet and whatnot. As some clever sod wrote: The easiest way to become a success is to write a book about it. So in an attempt to steer clear of efforts to sell you abstract theories  - I will instead introduce you to the exact opposite: simplicity - Why you need a hill you can comfortably call a killer and why you should regularly push yourself to conquer it.

Life is a series of hills
Killer hills are a killer - particularly if you are running or cycling. Everything is easy when you are going downhill, but come that hill the effortless ease turns into a hot, sweaty struggle accompanied by occasional cursing if no one is around. Life is a lot like that, not that we'd like to admit it sometimes. We work extremely hard at conveying effortless ease to our friends, family and colleagues, because it is not attractive to show your weakness, doubts, worries or be caught whinging about the things you don't think are fair. It is hard to muster up the energy sometimes and even harder to see if you are making any progress overcoming those bouts of anxiety, because it is often all in our mind.

Real hills help us conquer our mental ones
So where do the real hills come in? Well, right now actually - you need to find one for yourself that you can't imagine you can conquer. You may already have found it - whenever you think of going cycling or running, you think of ways to avoid it unless you take the route that allows you to go downhill. It may be an inevitable part of your daily journey and one that you currently prefer to walk up, because it seems too much of an insurmountable task. Or you are plain unlucky(!) and live in Holland or parts of Denmark where it can be extremely flat in places and you really have to look for a hill for miles. If this is the case you may have to substitute this challenge for an extremely long straight road instead, but beware - those are tricky, because you need to be able to tell your progress continuously. You KNOW when you've reached the top of the hill, but it is not so easy to tell where your goal is with a straight piece of road. 

My Killer Hill and the philosophy behind it
I would like to introduce you to my Killer Hill. It is a sneakily large hill hidden away behind unsuspecting flats in a beautiful big park here in London and it is one I have great respect for. I first discovered it when going the opposite way and loved the high speeds I could reach when pedalling furiously before freewheeling down the entire way. Going the opposite way though is a completely different story.

It starts near a car par, which means the steady gradient almost kills you as you eek your way past the car park and all the drivers who are oblivious to the struggle and duress you are under and occasionally decide to turn into your side of the road and slow you down. As you make your way past this challenge, you reach a flat area, surrounded by trees where you can rest before the extremely sharp gradient of the second part of the hill kicks in. This bit also goes around a corner so by the time you finally reach the top you are absolutely spent, but feel victorious.

The philosophy of this hill for me is that often when faced with initial challenges you need to conserve your energy and go for the slow burner approach than try to spend all your energy in the first half, because you invariably are not able to see the full extent of the challenge that lies ahead of you. You often get half-way and realise that if you really want to do something, you have to struggle even harder than before to get it done. Once you do overcome it though, of course you are tired but ultimately ecstatic.

So why use real hills to deal with mental ones?
Good question. For me the explanation is simple: when faced with difficulties in life we have a natural tendency to worry, get anxious, stress and be continuously preoccupied with how to overcome this challenge - whatever it may be. Stress produces cortisol, the body's stress hormone and that makes you more irritable, short-tempered, makes you sleep worse and often you struggle to see the forest for the trees - literally.

Hills are great exercise and great exercise produces endorphins in your body - a natural high that counterbalances stress and instead fills you with a calmness of mind and relaxation of your body. To overcome demanding challenges you need both and the more stress you are under the more you need your Killer Hill. Killer Hills are also symbolic of the struggle you face and it is easy to play-act and imagine the hill is whatever challenge you are under currently and as you gradually pound away up the hill, you mentally become more focused about conquering the real challenge you are faced with too.The hill gives you constant feedback of where you are and rewards you instantly when you have reached the top. These things are often less straight-forward in real life, but you need to at least give yourself the benefit of imagining they are you killer hills and you can conquer them, because if you can believe it you can do it.

As you do this on a regular basis, you notice that your fitness level increases, you get better at it - things feel a little less hard work every time and this gives you confidence and determination to go on. And confidence and determination are the most important things you need to overcome any challenge, whether physical or mental.

Comments

[maketraffic]

Wonderful post!

I read and re-read it again!

Heard from Michael wong the story of the missing post. Thank God that you repost it again.

Cheers! MT