Backdrop: The Grand Canyon.

Last week I hiked Rim-to-Rim with a group of friends. North Rim to the South Rim. Roughly 20+ miles and somewhere around ten or eleven hours depending on whose watch/app/phone you trust.

The Grand Canyon is difficult to describe until you stand on the edge of it. Pictures do not do it justice. It is bigger, deeper, older, and somehow more humbling than expected. A few moments stood out. Seeing one of if not the world's best ultrarunner, Jim Walmsley, on the trail. Then seeing him again later. The heat. The climb. Looking around and realizing just how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

But the lesson that stayed with me had nothing to do with any of those things.

At some point early in the hike, I realized something simple. None of us could really see the other side. Sure, we knew it existed. We had maps. We had a plan. We had a destination. But from where we stood, we could not see exactly how the day would unfold. We could not know how we would feel ten hours later. We could not know where the difficult stretches would appear or how many times we would need to stop and regroup.

And yet we started anyway.

That thought followed me throughout the canyon because it reminded me of a recent meditation from Pete at 100% Committed. Too often in life, business, and investing, we wait until we can see the entire path before taking the first step. We want certainty. We want guarantees. We want to know exactly how things turn out before we begin.

The problem is that many worthwhile pursuits do not work that way.

Starting a business. Building wealth. Improving your health. Raising children. Changing your life. Crossing a canyon.

None of them come with complete visibility. You start because the destination matters. Then you figure out the path as you go.

Ben Hardy often talks about 10X being easier than 2X. That sounds ridiculous at first, but standing in the Grand Canyon it started to make more sense. A goal that is big enough eliminates distractions. There are not fifty different ways to hike Rim to Rim. There are really only a few. You stop debating. You stop negotiating with yourself. You stop chasing alternatives and simply begin moving toward the objective.

Stock markets often tempt us in the opposite direction.

Every day there seems to be a new shiny object competing for attention. AI. Crypto. The next trillion dollar company, SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic. The next IPO, SpaceX, Open AI, Anthropic – Yeah they are the same – trillion-dollar IPOs – truly giving the Grand Canyon a run for size. The next opportunity that supposedly changes everything. Investors spend enormous amounts of energy searching for shortcuts while often overlooking the simple disciplines that have historically built wealth. Invest consistently. Own productive assets. Manage risk. Stay diversified. Stay invested. Repeat.

Not because it is exciting. Because it works.

Another lesson emerged as the day wore on. I tend to move quickly uphill, then tire and need a break. Early in the hike I would push ahead. Then I would stop to rest. And every time I rested, the group caught back up. And their candor, support, shared snacks, lifted my spirits.

Eventually it became obvious that the experience itself was a metaphor for a favorite African proverb, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

The support of others makes ambitious goals possible. That is true in the canyon. It is true in business. And it is true in life. Very few meaningful accomplishments happen entirely alone. The people around us help us challenge assumptions, push through difficult stretches, and sometimes remind us that we are capable of more than we think.

That may have been the biggest lesson of all.

Many of us walk through life carrying ceilings that do not actually exist. Stories we tell ourselves about what is possible. Beliefs about who we are. Beliefs about what we can accomplish. Beliefs about what we cannot.

Those beliefs influence our actions. Our actions create results. Those results reinforce the story. And the cycle continues.

If we want different results, we often need different actions first. Not different certainty. Different action.

The canyon does not care what story you tell yourself. Eventually you either take the next step or you do not.

Markets are similar.

Long-term wealth is usually built by people willing to take disciplined action before they have all the answers. In many ways, investing is less about maximizing returns and more about surviving long enough to benefit from compounding. The climb out of the Grand Canyon reminded me of something I have written about recently. Even if you know you are headed in the right direction, you still have to survive the short term to reach the long term.

Anyone can enjoy the descent. Gravity helps. Momentum helps. Conditions help.

The climb out is different.

The climb out requires preparation, patience, discipline, hydration, persistence, and a willingness to keep moving even when progress feels slower than expected. Bull markets can feel like the descent. Everything seems easier. Confidence rises. Risks appear smaller than they really are.

Eventually, though, every investor encounters a climb.

The goal is not to predict exactly when it arrives. The goal is to be prepared when it does.

By the end of the hike, the other side looked remarkably similar to the side where we started. The canyon was still there. The rocks were still there. The view was different, but not entirely different.

We were the things that had changed.

Perhaps that is the point.

The value is not always in reaching the other side. Sometimes the value is in becoming the person capable of getting there.

Stay invested.

Keep climbing.

Take the next step.

Dane Czaplicki, CFA
CEO & CIO
Members' Wealth

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About the Author

Dane Czaplicki, CFA®

Dane Czaplicki is CEO of Members’ Wealth, a boutique wealth management firm that offers a comprehensive approach to serving individuals, families, business owners, and institutions. The firm’s goal is to preserve and grow its clients’ wealth to endure over time, while thoughtfully evolving its strategy to suit an ever-changing world. With over 20 years of wealth management experience, Dane and the Members' Wealth team thrive on bringing clarity and confidence to clients' unique situations. He believes everyone needs sound financial advice from someone whose interests are aligned with theirs, and is determined to put service before all else.

Dane received his MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg University. Outside work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, hiking and camping, reading, running, and playing with his dog. To learn more about Dane, connect with him on LinkedIn.

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