The Mountain I Didn’t Know I Was Climbing
Hi there, friend —
Some books change the way you think.
Others change the way you live.
The Second Mountain by David Brooks did both for me.
This book took me to the balcony — that quiet place above the noise — and asked a question I didn’t know I needed to answer:
What mountain are you climbing?
I spent the first part of my life climbing the mountain the world points to:
Success. Achievement. Accomplishment.
What Brooks calls the first mountain.
But at some point, life shakes you.
Something crumbles.
Or maybe … something’s missing.
That’s when you realize the first mountain was never the point.
Brooks writes about a second mountain — one built not on ego, but on meaning.
Not on personal achievement, but on devotion.
He gave language to the shift I’ve been trying to live out.
Here are four transitions his words helped crystallize:
From Ego → Soul
“Fulfillment and joy are on the side of service.”
The soul is quieter than the ego.
It tugs, often without shouting.
And when you listen, it leads you toward something deeper than success — toward a life that actually matters.
Self → Others
“A beautiful marriage is not dramatic … the acts that define it are so small, constant, and particular.”
I won the lottery with my wife.
But the truth is, a great relationship isn’t built with grand gestures.
It’s built with brick: quiet acts of kindness, loyalty, humility — stacked side by side, every day.
Death is our greatest teacher.
It doesn’t announce itself with answers — only with questions.
What matters most? What will outlast me? What will I leave behind?
There’s a poem that captured this in a way I’ve never forgotten — a raw, honest portrayal of grief, love, and the sacred weight of our time here.
It reminded me that loss doesn’t just break us open. It clarifies what we were too busy to see.
From Nothing → Faith
“There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”
I’ve gone through seasons of doubt.
Times when I didn’t want to trust anything I couldn’t measure.
But I’m learning that faith isn’t blind – it’s courageous.
(It gives purpose to pain and direction to our days.)
I’m learning it’s okay to surrender to messy. Richard Rohr has.
From Work → Vocation
We spend most of our waking hours at work.
What if that work could be an act of worship?
Not just a ladder to climb, but a structure to help build — brick by brick, with people we like, admire, and trust.
The first mountain says: build your résumé.
The second mountain says: build your eulogy.
Brooks reminded me that the greatest leaders don’t just achieve something.
They become something.
That’s what Thinking in Centuries is all about.
If you’re in a season of rethinking what the climb is really for — this is a book worth your time.
I can’t recommend The Second Mountain highly enough.
Keep building.
Onward,
Matt