Michael Rosenbaum

So consciously, maybe you really want that big promotion at work, right?

The status, the money.

Mm-hmm.

But maybe unconsciously you're actually terrified of the extra responsibility or maybe a fear of failure you didn't even realize was there.

That internal conflict, that tug of war, that can show up as procrastination or self-doubt or maybe even subtly sabotaging yourself.

That's your mountain.

And figuring out how to reconcile those parts of yourself is how you start climbing.

It does put it in that grand context.

If you follow that logic, it implies our problems, our mountains, they aren't just annoyances.

They might actually be the very things pushing us to expand our capacity.

To experience life more deeply, maybe to develop new ways of understanding, new ways of relating to ourselves in the world.

The problems become the catalyst for growth.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it's such a key insight.

The text frames imperfection not as a failing, but as like a necessary feature of anything that grows and adapts.

How so?

Think about DNA.

Without little variations, little imperfections, evolution just wouldn't happen.

Stagnation.

Similarly, our own breaks, faults, and gaps, as the text puts it.

Those are the very spaces where something new can emerge.