Hiking is one activity that is beneficial beyond belief. Whether you do it to get some exercise in or have a rad photo for Instagram, it can give you a new perspective and even clear your mind. Aside from aestheticism and general health, here are the lessons you can learn from hiking.

1. Trust your Instincts

From which direction you follow, to where to put your foot next, hiking teaches you to trust your instincts and be confident in the moves you make. When you’re a foot away from slipping, it’s dire that you trust yourself enough to know you will not fall. Similarly, the life decisions you make should be based on some rationality, but also instinct. You know the right move to make, just believe in it.

2. Don’t let the fearing of falling stop you

At any moment when hiking, you can step the wrong way and have a meet and greet with some very large rocks or an unforgiving ditch. That’s a risk you take when you climb. In life, it’s not all flat ground. There are going to be difficult choices and scary outcomes, but the fear of falling shouldn’t keep you from going up. Take the chance, because it will be worth it.

3. Nature will give you clarity

When the business of the city seems too loud and the thoughts in your mind won’t stay silenced, nature can offer a new perspective. Personally, I believe you must get lost in order find yourself. The perfect way to free those negative thoughts and enact a stress relief, is let nature be there for you. Let the sounds of the leaves calm your mind, give yourself time to truly think and when you get to the top, soak it in.

4. Be prepared

This can mean having the right hiking shoes or bringing enough water, it’s always good to be prepared. You can use this lesson for a vacation, a job interview, or a test. If you go in knowing you need something and don’t bring it, you’ll probably regret it.

5. There’s always a bigger picture

Sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back when you can’t solve a problem being so close. A house may look huge when you’re at the bottom of a driveway but on top of the mountain, it looks like a spec in a small neighborhood. If it won’t matter in five years, don’t step more than five minutes stressing about it. Don’t let one bad day ruin you, or one bad person break you. There is always something bigger out there.

6. Push yourself and test your limits

For every hike you complete, there is a more challenging one waiting for you. There will always be a steeper climb or a longer trail, but that shouldn’t discourage you from pushing. Conquer those. Test your strengths and improve on what you already know. You might surprise yourself.

7. Ignorance is not bliss

It’s been long debated whether not knowing is better than the truth, and if pain levels out knowledge. Though an opinionated question, hiking can teach you that ignorance is not bliss. When you leave the top of that climb, you are changed. You’ve seen everything from a much higher level and you can’t forget it. Even when you’ve come down and must resume to life how you see it normally, you’ve still seen it. You know it’s there.

8. The view is worth the journey

All the blood, sweat, and tears you put into that hike pays off at the end when the sky shares its story. You look out into this world that you don’t pay attention to enough. Every mountain speaks to you, every valley gleams, and somehow it makes sense that life is abundantly beautiful and nothing to take for granted. It may be a tough road now, you may be in a bad place. But at the end of it all your hardship, there is a breathtaking horizon. It’s worth all the struggle it took to get there.