Sir Edmund Hillary, the first mountaineers to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, died today. This is a tribute to him someone posted at YouTube:
In his long interview with the Academy of Achievement, Hillary talked a lot about his life journey, and offered some wisdom of living a satisfied life, including the following:
Let’s talk about motivation. Obviously, your life has had a lot of self-motivation.
Sir Edmund Hillary: I think motivation is the single most important factor in any sort of success. Physical fitness is important, technical skill is important, and maybe even the desire for money is important in some respects. But a sort of basic motivation, the desire to succeed, to stretch yourself to the utmost is the most important factor. Certainly in the field of exploration, it’s the thing that makes the difference between someone who does really well and someone who doesn’t.
Let’s talk about motivation and things that aren’t necessarily accomplished the first time. When you don’t get the encouragement, how do you keep your motivation going?
Sir Edmund Hillary: I’ve always felt that it’s far more important to set your sights high. Aim for something high, and even fail on it if necessary. To me, that’s always been more impressive than someone who doesn’t ask for very much and achieves it. That’s not a great deal of satisfaction, in my view. I’ve always tried to carry things through to a conclusion once I’ve started them. Setting your sights high and extending what were — in my case — modest abilities to the utmost… If you succeed, you certainly get a tremendous sense of satisfaction.
Many learners can attest it: mastering a second language, if you succeed, certainly get you a tremendous sense of satisfaction.
The best way to pay a tribute to Hillary is to act upon his words: aim high, and stretch yourself to the utmost.
