7 Reasons Project
Life is a beautiful gift that ought to be cherished, but life is not always easy. From its inception, this website has been about solving problems. the 7 Reasons Project is about solving an ever growing and critical problem in the world -what many sources call the mental health crisis.
I lived much of my life not understanding this problem, but when I was 26, a life event caused my mental health to suffer. Since I wasn’t able to identify what was happening, it took hold of my life in ways that I never expected. Through personal courage and the relentless support of others, I can proudly say that I learned how to identify and conquer that obstacle.
In 2023, I introduced an ambitious personal project with the goal of helping others learn how to conquer their own mental health obstacles: The 7 Reasons Project.
For the project, I will attempt to climb the 7 Summits, visit the North and South poles under my own power, run a 100-mile ultramarathon, and eventually find a way to travel to space -all for the purpose of helping others find hope, and destigmatizing the mental health conversation.
As I do these things, I will raise money and awareness for mental health resources that I trust, and I will encourage others to join me along the way. I aim to show people who are struggling that they can overcome any mountain that is in front of them, regardless of how daunting it may appear (this picture is from Everest Base Camp, 2014).
Ground Rules
1) Safety first: no summit is worth life or limb. Myself or my team will never intentionally climb into dangerous conditions, and we will do everything in our power to avoid unnecessary risk. We will always sacrifice a summit to save or help anyone on the mountain in need, including those outside of our party.
2) There is no time limit for this project. The only real time limit is my lifetime, but even if that comes to pass before the project is complete, I intend to pass the project on to someone else so that it’s objective lives on. This project is about improving the lives of people, not climbing mountains. It just so happens that doing hard things like climbing peaks and running races inspires people, and helps raise awareness for important issues.
3) I reserve the right to change any of these objectives at any time. Again, the point is to make lives better by improving society’s relationship with, and understanding of, mental health issues. If any of these physical goals become too out of reach, too unsafe, or simply undesirable to complete, then I will change the criteria of the project.
Picture taken in Pangboche, Nepal, on the way to Everest Base Camp in 2014.
The 7 Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest points on each of the seven continents.
1) Mount Everest, Asia (29,032 feet)
2) Aconcagua, South America (22,838 feet)
3) Denali, North America (20,322 feet)
4) Kilimanjaro, Africa (19,341 feet)
5) Mount Elbrus, Europe (18,510 feet)
6) Mount Vinson, Antarctica (16,050 feet)
7) Puncak Jaya, Australia(ish) (16,024 feet)
And since there are different interpretations of the Seven Summits, any good climber will also add:
-Mont Blanc, Europe (15,781 feet)
-Mount Kusciuszko, Australia (7,310 feet)
On Foot
North Pole
South Pole
100-mile ultramarathon
Space
Space. Because this is what I set out to do when I began this journey. Before my first depression symptom ever set in, I was on a path to try to become a NASA astronaut to fulfill my lifelong ambition. I studied astronautical engineering at the US Air Force Academy and became an Air Force pilot, then got a masters in space systems engineering from Johns Hopkins with the intention of applying to USAF Test Pilot School and then to NASA. Then, as I was gaining hours as a USAF instructor pilot, a really difficult event happened in my life. Eventually, I realized that I needed professional help to deal with the fallout of that event, and when I got that help, I lost my pilot qualification. While that seemed to stop my astronaut ambitions in their tracks, I aim to continue to pursue that goal to prove that getting the help you need can never keep you from achieving your dreams.
Vision
What does climbing mountains and running races have to do with helping people? In my opinion, a lot. For some reason, doing hard things inspires people. Throughout my life, I have been inspired by stories of other people overcoming incredible odds and doing incredible things.
These kinds of stories give us hope. They show us that incredible things are possible. They show us that we, too, can do incredible things.
The Vision of the 7RP is to inspire others by doing incredible things. Its as simple as that. I firmly believe that this vision will lead to a multitude of other positive outcomes like helping people heal from trauma, helping people find purpose and passion, and cultivating a community of people who are passionate about helping to solve the mental health crisis.