The guy who conquered more than Everest

In a business meeting last month, a guest speaker was invited to give a motivational presentation during dinner. David Lim is a passionate mountaineer who has made it to Everest (and other summits around the world), and came back to Singapore and set up a motivation company. As this guy recounted his (and his team) challenges during the preparation as well as the actual adventure of climbing Everest, I was listening without much interest. I know it’s no easy task to get to the highest peak in the world. Well, some people choose to take up the challenge, they’re up to the challenge and most of them succeed.

And then, he recounted his experience with his illness soon after he got back from climbing the Everest. In 1998, David suffered from a very rare disease called the Guillain-Barre syndrome, where his immune system attacked his nervous system, leaving him totally paralysed. During his treatment and recovery, he has to re-learn everything. His spirit was unwavered. He spoke of how elated he was when he could swing his arm, because then he could dictate words by swinging his hand to the wanted alphabet (written on a paper I presume) and that saved so much time, rather than previously having to have each alphabet recited one by one until he get to the one he wanted before he gave a slight nod. How he celebrated the achievement of finally being able to go to the loo without help, to walk. His story grabbed my attention. This is a man who rose up to the challenge of rehabilitating himself after a total paralysis! He walks with a limp now, but what he did was totally impressive. And he still climbs mountains!

After his experience facing the disease, David became more active in campaigning for the rights of the disabled. In fact, in 2004 he and 3 other disabled men climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s difficult not to be touched and impressed. One of them, Jamie (photo below) lost all his four limbs in a tragic accident. And yet look at his smile – you can how happy and proud he was. His story really humbled me – these people had accepted what they have and struggled to achieve great feats with their amazing spirit and willpower. So - I, whom Allah has created a perfect human being, Alhamdulillah, should stop complaining and making excuses and just get to it! (whatever it may be) InsyaAllah…

The following are four points that David Lim had shared with us during presentation that he said could help us succeed in what we want to achieve:

1. Have an ambitious stretched goal that excites you and can be visualized in 3D future reality


2. Pay the price, for example hard work, sacrifices
   
3. Get the right people, with 5Cs – commitment, competence, compatibility, courage, and communication


4. Separate facts from beliefs