A reader recently asked if I could provide strategies for dealing with the “let-down” that comes from accomplishing your goal. Many of my Body Results clients are having adventures this month and will be facing the question, “What’s next?” I, too, have reached a major milestone: this is blog post 50 in as many weeks. Below are some resources, suggestions, and strategies that might help.

A local artist painted the walls of this music building in North Seattle. What's the secret to keeping the celebration going after accomplishing your goal?
A local artist painted the walls of this music building in North Seattle. What’s the secret to keeping the celebration going after accomplishing your goal?

What Is Anticipointment?

I first stumbled upon the blended word, “anticipointment,” (anticipating disappointment) in Dana Simpson’s graphic novel, Unicorn Playlist, Another Phoebe and her Unicorn Adventure. In it, young Phoebe tells her sparkly unicorn buddy that she enjoys the anticipation of the holidays, but she also knows she will feel let down after the festivities are over.

Because I love playing with words, I created another phrase: “post-venturum depression.” (Think postpartum depression in a mosh pit with adventuring.) It describes the mental struggle some thru-hikers feel after completing their multi-day adventures on the PCT, CDT, or AT. Climbers sometimes experience it after reaching summits like Mt. Everest, Denali, Aconcagua, and Kilimanjaro. I imagine backpackers attempting the Wonderland Trail and alpinists taking multi-day trips up the Cascade volcanoes might, as well.

Descending from the summit block of Eldorado the summer our daughter turned six. We went from leading more than fifteen climbs in 2003 to once a year when we became new parents. One goal evolved into another.
Descending from the summit block of Eldorado the summer our daughter turned six. We went from leading more than fifteen climbs in 2003 to once a year as new parents. One goal evolved into another.

Goal Turned Into a Career

My first encounter with “anticipointment” came just after my first Mt. Rainier summit. As a graduate student at the University of Washington, I was used to competing in 2-5 km crew races (which last minutes), not high-altitude climbs (which require days). As soon as I got home, exhausted from the adrenaline rush of crossing narrow snow bridges over gaping crevasses, I told myself I’d never do that again.

And yet, several days later, the mountain peeked out from the clouds, and I knew I was hooked. That burning desire led to joining the Seattle Mountaineers later that summer. I’ve since climbed Mt. Rainier eight times, along with dozens of other peaks in the Cascade Mountains. For nearly 25 years I have devoted time helping others enjoy the thrill of adventuring in the mountains safely. What started as a weekend goal with classmates turned into an entire career.

Accomplishing Your Goal, Handling Anticipointment
The author heading toward Mt. Rainier’s Inter Glacier Basin and Camp Schurman to ascend the Emmons Glacier route on the east side of the mountain.

Parenthood

However, it’s hard to do glacier climbs — which involves being away for more than a day — with a young child at home. I replaced climbing with motherhood. I also cut back on my work hours in order to give my daughter every possible opportunity.

Parenting never ends; it merely changes according to life stages. When my goals have changed, a “cure” to avoid any slump includes enjoying every bit of the journey and focusing on the GAINS rather than the GAPS. Hiking with my dog Ajax has replaced climbing, at least temporarily. Blogging replaced fiction writing, at least temporarily. Seeing the many achievements and abilities of the delightful young person we’ve raised has no equal. So how am I preparing for the next stage?

Getting a child successfully through elementary, middle, and high school is a huge adventure. Parenting doesn't end there, but after eighteen years it definitely changes significantly.
Getting a child successfully through elementary, middle, and high school is a huge adventure. Parenting doesn’t end there, but after eighteen years it definitely changes significantly.

Beyond Accomplishing Your Goal

Wanda Thibodeaux of Inc.com suggests five ways to move on after reaching a milestone. Her advice is incredibly accurate.

  • Be involved in multiple projects. In my case, I had my fingers in the writing, coaching, climbing, home ownership (and all that entails), and parenting pies.
  • Know what you will focus on next after you reach the primary goal. I admit this is trickier the longer you’ve been working toward a goal. For nineteen years I’ve been focused on being the best mom I can be and raising a wonderful daughter. Will the goals I had before still fit? Doubtful. But I am already looking for the next thing.
  • Reflect on what you’ve learned. I do a lot of journaling about how my life has changed at various stages.
  • Explore neglected parts of yourself. Writing, hiking, coaching, and feeling deeply have all been skill sets I’ve been developing for the past few years, in anticipation of having more uninterrupted time both alone and with my husband.
  • Help others. Writing a blog, coaching, and volunteering all allow me to pass on tidbits that have worked for myself and for those I have been fortunate to coach.
Glacier Peak from above the cloud line on Eldorado, 2010. When you only get one climb a year, you put everything into it.
Glacier Peak from above the cloud line on Eldorado, 2010. When you only get one climb a year, you put everything into it.

Accomplishing Your Goal: Seeking New Direction

Kristin Wong, from Well and Good, mentions three additional strategies that I plan to implement in this new phase:

  • Enjoy the time between goals. The question becomes: HOW MUCH time will I put between blog posts 50 and 51? As long as it takes.
  • Determine what you are really after AND WHY. If you want to be a creative person, find ways to do that daily. If you want to be physically active, find something you love and do it regularly and consistently, whether that’s walking, swimming, doing yoga, dancing, or hiking. Someone who wants to be a giving person might volunteer. If you want to keep hiking after your big thru-hike, research fun places you want to explore in the shoulder or off-season and keep going.
  • Explore something new. Since three big goals will end for me this summer — sending our daughter to college, completing a year of blogging, and visiting Alaska — I am prepared for a challenging September. I’m already exploring. Books to review. Hikes Ajax and I might do. Manuscripts to dust off. Friends to reconnect with. Ways to change my blog. Places my husband and I can explore together. This is not an end, merely a change. And as my husband so aptly put it, “If you embrace change as an opportunity to move forward, rather than an indication that something is broken, you can find joy anywhere.”
Sunset on Rainier. The end of one chapter means another is starting. Accomplishing your goal can inspire new ones. What will YOUR next adventure be? Join me for mine.
Sunset at Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. The end of one chapter means another is starting. Accomplishing your goal can inspire new ones. What will YOUR next adventure be? Join me for mine.

The Next Chapter

When we enjoy the process and path on the way to the goal, we are less likely to “hit a slump” and more likely to flow to the next thing. Combine that knowledge with the wisdom from the Gap and the Gain, and you can pause, celebrate your WINS, and keep looking for your GAINS. As Nelson Mandela so succinctly put it, “I never lose, I either win or learn.” If my blog has helped you in any way, please comment below. I love to hear from readers.

Published by Courtenay Schurman

Co-author of The Outdoor Athlete (2009) and Train to Climb Mt. Rainier or Any High Peak DVD (2002), author of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills/conditioning chapter 4 (3 editions), and Peak Performance column for the Mountaineers Mag (2014-present). Member of PNWA, SCBWI, EPIC. Served on the steering committee for WOTS (2019-present). Completed UW Certificate program for Children's Literature and Memoir. Co-owner of Body Results, Inc. in Seattle. Climb leader with Seattle Mountaineers for over 15 years. Volunteer at Woodland Park Zoo since 2014.

6 replies on “Accomplishing Your Goal, Handling Anticipointment”

  1. Ha! Just as I find myself fresh off my “big” adventure of 2022, this anticipointments post reveals itself extremely useful, in conjunction with previous ones (GAIN vs GAP in particular). My goal was a bit open ended: go as far as “I can” on a particular long distance hike. Being clear from the get go that my goal was NOT binary turned out to be very helpful; “binary” may not be a very useful concept beyond the zeroes and ones all computers rely on. Nevertheless, I did not know if achieving what “I could” would FEEL like enough (how do these climbers feel when they MUST turn around a few hundred vertical feet from a major summit?). Waiting in a hostel for a ride back home, I DO know that I DID do all my body could tolerate… and yet the small nagging inner voice says “was it enough? Can I be happy with what I DID accomplish? I saw others (in my age group) do so much more! All the risks and futility of measuring myself against “perfect” results or against others. Working with a trainer for almost a year has drastically realigned my mind towards a more constructive (and still very demanding view) of what my goals are. I went as far as I did BECAUSE I let go of the obsession about “all or nothing”; if I had clung to it I likely would have “bailed out” much earlier. Yet, in my certitude that I gave it my best, there is sorrow and sadness that this particular adventure has now ended. Having pointers about how to deal with my post-venturum becomes essential. Several of the post’s proposals do appeal to me, starting with the first three of Wanda Thibodeaux’s list. Not putting all my emotional eggs in the same basket (diversify!), sketching the outline of my next adventures (so much pleasure in planning too!), and lifting the “fog of venturing” (taking steps back to properly honor the journey I went through — so many ways to “journal the journey”). From Kristin Wong, I can review what I learned and, more importantly, felt during my adventure to “figure out WHAT I am after and WHY” – get closer to a simple and true answer with every new adventure I devote myself to. While there is no denying the rush a plain old “victory” provides, I have found more deeply pleasurable peace in the certainty that I knew what I wanted and I gave it the best I had at the moment, physically but even more importantly mentally and emotionally. It feels hard for me to “fail” when i follow that path. As a last thought, what I miss the most right now is my “tramily”, this loose ephemeral family of strangers who meet, part ways, and reconnect as walking pace, campsites, and days in town define who will be where when. At the end they all drift away. Having the solid anchor (advice, emotional support, and faith in men) of a coach and friend greatly helped me accept this unavoidable small sadness.

    1. Yes, there is the “missing”, always, but three words come to mind: Tramily — love your creation of “Trail family” — probably some magnificent stories there. Second, Kisage — keep it simple and good enough; and third, GAIN (without comparison). There will always be people who do things differently, more, in another direction, better, but as you point out IF YOU DID YOUR VERY BEST with whatever tools you had at the time, you can be pleased, happy and proud of what you accomplished. Proud of you. Go rest on your laurels, celebrate what you accomplished, and then in a few days when your feet feel rested, think about what’s next. There’s always something more on the horizon. Onward, upward, forward.

  2. Congrats on reaching all your milestones! I’ve so enjoyed reading about your journey and I’m looking forward to hearing about what comes next for you. Thank you for sharing it with the world!

    1. Thanks for the comment, Christine! Celebrating with yard work. It’s become a jungle out there — but like the light at the end of any tunnel, I think I have carved a path through the worst of the brambles. It always helps with whatever goal we set for ourselves to have an end objective, whatever that looks like. Biting into blogging with a 50-post goal seemed incredibly challenging, and now it’s done. Power to the little people!

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