Do Hard Things
Embark Exploration Co.
“Is this like a premature midlife crisis or something?”
Since I began telling people that I was planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this fall, I’ve received several different reactions. The comments range from, “Dude, you’re crazy,” to “It’s about time.”
One common response is simply, “Why?”
For me, the answer is simple. Because it’s hard. As a father raising three kids, I want to show them two important things:
If you have a dream or a vision, go all-in on it.
You can do hard things.
Hard is a relative term. Something being hard means that it requires a great deal of effort. That doesn’t necessarily mean complicated or unpleasant, but it might.
Many things are hard. School can be hard. Work can be hard. Writing a book is hard. Running a marathon is hard. Parenting is hard. Relationships are hard. Life, even, is hard sometimes.
Life is full of peaks and valleys. We don’t always control where the valleys take us, but we can absolutely choose the summits we chase – literally and metaphorically.
After finishing 75 HARD to begin 2024, and really embracing a radical lifestyle change, I decided to keep the “hard” theme going and set my sights on the mountain. Not only did my relationship with fitness and wellbeing change, but my mindset has as well.
A friend of mine made the trek up to 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) and Kilimanjaro’s summit at Uhuru Peak several years ago. Learning about his experience inspired me to investigate it further. For more than a few years now, the mountaintop has been in my peripheral view. Quietly, I’ve read several books and listened to countless podcasts about mountaineering.
I’ve used my love for cycling and hiking to mentally prepare for long periods of exertion.
I know it will be hard. That’s the point.
As hard as it might be, it pales in comparison to the challenges kids battling cancer and their families face every single day. That’s why I’m teaming up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to raise funds and awareness through climbing Kilimanjaro with the St. Jude Heroes program.
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food - because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer.
I’ve made a commitment to raise $12,000 to fight childhood cancer. I have a deadline to be halfway there by July, and across the finish line by the end of October when I travel to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro with other St. Jude Heroes led by Embark Exploration Co.
Follow along by visiting https://brandoncox.co/kilimanjaro to subscribe for updates and donate to the cause. You can also follow @trekwithbrandon on Instagram for training updates and photos from the climb.
I am training hard and with your help we can cross the finish line together. Even when the climb is done, the fight to end childhood cancer continues.
Thank you for your support. Let’s go!