Category Archives: Motivation

04
May
2011

Do what you love and you will never work a day all your life

15 comments
Posted in Guest Blog, Motivation
When people ask what my job is, I never know how to respond. I go on journeys and set myself challenges. I write, for books, for magazines, for blogs. I give talks and take photographs. But none of these actually feel like a “job”. And for that I am a lucky man. Do what you [...]

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12
Apr
2011

Rory McIlroy and the Art of Suffering

1 comment
Posted in Expeditions, Motivation, Ramblings, South Pole
There are many obvious similarities between golf and the expedition world. The sensation of hacking through inpenetrable wilderness, marvelling that you are in a place where no human being has ever set foot.
08
Apr
2011

7 Lessons Learned While Baking Bread

0 comments
Posted in Motivation
Do your thing really well and you'll find a way to make a living - and a difference.
09
Mar
2011

Intense Living Becomes a Compulsion

13 comments
Posted in Motivation
Sport is about the human need to live intensely. To live with ardour.
23
Feb
2011

You May Never Win the Lottery

5 comments
Posted in Motivation
Would you do what you do even if nobody ever found out? Even if you didn't get fame and recognition?
14
Feb
2011

What Would You Say If You Had Only 5 Minutes Left To Live?

25 comments
Posted in Motivation
A friend emailed me recently saying that he had to give a five minute talk titled ‘What would you say if you had five minutes left to live?’ Wow! A difficult task indeed… Here though is my attempt. With just five minutes to live I would tidy up my past and (with a degree of [...]

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01
Feb
2011

Lessons on Starting Something You Love

1 comment
Posted in Motivation, Speaking
Last week I spoke at an event called Start Something You Love. Following the event the organisers, Rob and Dom, have summarised what advice they picked up from each speaker. Apologies for including my own ‘advice’. It seemed vain to do so and obfuscatory not to. Anyway… So… here they are… a few things Esc [...]

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03
Jan
2011

Manifesto for 2011: the Revolution Will Not be Motorised

54 comments
Posted in Health and Fitness, MicroAdventure, Motivation, Our World
I make my living from speaking and writing about the things that I do. I have a platform to preach from. And the time has come for me to practice what I preach.
16
Dec
2010

You are not a unique snowflake

4 comments
Posted in Motivation, Training
It's about doing things well, honestly, and without cheating yourself... The more capable you become, the higher the mountain rises ahead of you.
28
Oct
2010

Should we bestow sainthood on reckless adventurers?

35 comments
Posted in Expeditions, Motivation
127 Hours, the movie about the climber who cut his own arm off, premieres today. Is the guy a hero or not? Discussion...
14
Oct
2010

Two useful things about expeditions

5 comments
Posted in Expeditions, Motivation
“It’s like blackjack. He might get the ace or the top one, so organise your twos and threes into a run, then you’ll have ****ed him, son. And for that you’ll be the better one.” - The Streets You learn a lot on expeditions. How to pitch a tent in a gale. How to tie [...]

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17
Sep
2010

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be

4 comments
Posted in Motivation, Travel, Writing
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” - Douglas Adams I went round the world once. On a bicycle. I’m an ordinary guy who had an extra-ordinary dream. It took me four years to achieve my dream of cycling round [...]

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16
Sep
2010

The things the last 10 years have taught me

8 comments
Posted in Lists, Motivation
David Hieatt founded the clothing company howies. He is now integral to the wonderful Do Lectures that begin today. Here are some of the things the last decade has taught him: If we can’t do the basics amazingly well, nothing else will matter. Be brave with your ideas. And fight like a brave to make [...]

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05
Aug
2010

The fight is won or lost far away

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Posted in Motivation, Poetry, Training
“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses… “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights” – Muhammad Ali DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read [...]

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02
Aug
2010

The Joy of Less

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Posted in Motivation, Our World
I’ve edited down this superb piece on simple living by Pico Eyer. Read the full New York Times article here. “The beat of my heart has grown deeper, more active, and yet more peaceful, and it is as if I were all the time storing up inner riches…My [life] is one long sequence of inner [...]

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04
Jul
2010

Is Wimbledon a metaphor for courage?

1 comment
Posted in Motivation
One of my favourite blog posts was about last year’s Wimbledon final. I hope it does not seem too indulgent to post it again today. That Wimbledon final [last year]… Replace the racquet and ball for whatever makes you resonate. Be that a bull and cape, caped duellers drawing rapiers at dawn, or sitting tight [...]

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09
Jun
2010

Will and Suffering

4 comments
Posted in Expeditions, Motivation, Training
I have had a change of tack in 2010. My projects have been geared towards encouraging others to take on challenges. I have sought out ideas that would be accessible to most people with half a brain, half a set of lungs, and enough oomph to get on and do stuff. It’s been a rewarding [...]

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19
May
2010

I Am What I Am – Roz Savage

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Posted in Channel Rowing, Lists, Motivation
Some interesting thoughts from ocean rower Roz Savage: o Don’t waste mental energy asking yourself if you CAN do something. Just do it. You’ll surprise yourself. I did. o Be clear about your objectives. Ignore others, stay true to yourself and measure success only against your own criteria. I was last to finish the race [...]

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18
May
2010

On the variety of our world

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Posted in Best Bits, Motivation, Our World, Writing
“World is crazier and more of it than we think, Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion A tangerine and spit the pips and feel The drunkenness of things being various.” - Louise MacNeise ‘Snow’ I am an Englishman. I grew up in an English village. I went to a school full of English kids. My [...]

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10
May
2010

The Days of Anguish: being a writer

4 comments
Posted in Best Bits, Motivation, Writing
I find writing books to be the hardest thing I have ever done.