So it’s 7th February and my first day back at work. I’m 7 weeks too early given my decision to stop my expedition due to injury.
It’s been a challenging few days to say the least, with acceptance of an unsuccessful attempt to complete my 2nd 1,000 mile unsupported adventure within a 12 month period now putting my vision back 12 months.
This is the 4th time in the last 5 years I’ve fallen and not achieved the goal. But hang on a minute, was there an actual defining aspect where I had a win from this experience?
A big part of me wants to get on my bike and go cycle another 1,000 miles across and around the UK, but the reality, I need 7-10 days for my toe and finger tops to heal before I go out and smash another 1,000 miles. I still have 2 months to achieve another 1,000 miles but need to ensure I allow some time for recover. I have very limited feelings in the ends of my fingers due to frostnip and a not-so-great looking middle toe of my left foot. That said, everything is fine and ready to go!
But I pause, I ask myself - What would I achieve if I went and did 1,000 miles on my mountain bike?
Personally, I don’t think it would be an achievement as I can do 1,000 miles on a bike all day long. I continue my pause for a moment and reflect.
I realise I wouldn’t be gaining anything by grabbing my mountain bike and going off to cycle 1,000 miles, and it would be a tick exercise. That is not what I’m about!
It’s been a bitter pill to swallow. My pride, risk of reputation, financial outlay, expenses, time from working with clients and much more. All of which I have to overcome and focus moving forward with my learnings from this experience.
My South Pole world record is still on track!
A big part of me is filled with huge disappointment and something that has yet to process fully within my mind.
All the training, planning and preparation suddenly came to a holt on day 2 when I had conversations with the medical specialist on my options to continue my adventure. I honestly thought it would be a conversation indicating that it would be ok to continue. How wrong I was.
It’s not how hard you fall, but how hard you are willing to get back up fight for your vision, goals and aspirations. You fall down, you get back up, and try again. Fall down twice, get back up again, fall down 3 times, get up 4. Fall down 4 times, get up 5.
Guess this is where I’m at, it’s the 5th time I've gotten up, brushed the dust off my shoulders and continued my pursuit towards my goals.
For me, It’s only when you quit following your goals, dreams or aspirations, that failure presents itself.
Day 1 turned out to be one of the toughest days on any adventure I had experienced. The moment I was dropped off, I was faced with challenges. Challenges I did not expect to occur given the intensive preparations, especially with my equipment.
It took over an hour to get the pulk set up given one of the securing pins had managed to break into the pulk poles and I had to start making repairs. All of which in sub zero conditions didn’t make for a great start with my fingers and toes.
That said I remained focused on my goal.
For the first 4 hours, things just got from bad to worse. Cold weather management with my snowshoes meant I had to add extra socks, try and warm the toes on my left foot. Bearing in mind I have never had problems with keeping my feet and toes warm, but for some reason this time my toes got very cold and numb all of a sudden.
By around hour 7 on day one I was ready for rest as I made it to Joatka Lodge.
I needed to be indoors and not in a tent. My right hand finger tips were suffering yet my toes were toasty and warm having worked on them and changed footwear.
As I warmed my fingers up, I knew I had to wait and see in the morning how my fingers were. I checked my toes and they looked great which was a relief, but I had concerns over the level of frostnip on my finger tips.
The following morning having slept with wool mittens on my hands, my fingertips didn’t feel right. I felt it wise to call back to Alta to see a Doctor and get advice before continuing on my adventure.
This meant checking into a hotel for one night as they couldn’t guarantee what time they would see me.
Still in cold shower mode, I started my shower under cold water and then turned on the warmth.
The lovely warm shower was great until I got out and dried myself off noticing an unforgiving image on my middle toe on my left foot.
There was no doubt, I had frostbite just on the tip of my toe going under the toe nail. I got dressed and went straight to the doctors. After a short wait, I was seen by a lovely caring Doctor.
Good news Jonathan she said, there is circulation on the toes but the injury needs observing and the frostnip on your right hand fingers will ease off over time. That said, you need to be cautious until everything heals. Any further exposure at this stage could lead to serious damage.
It was at this point I made the call. I couldn’t feel any temperature difference on the tips of my right-hand fingers. This is a major concern. Purely because if I can’t feel the cold on my fingers, if I go back out on my expedition, I could lose some or all of my fingers and risk suffering a major issue, furthermore the frostbite injury on my toe could get a lot worse.
My ego and pride initial said just get on with it. My heart said hang-on Jon, Norway will still be here next year, but your toes and fingers may not. Calculate the risk.
It was a simple decision to make. Norway will still be there next year!
Safety first and live to fight another day. No question about it or negotiations needed with my ego. It was simple and quick, postpone my adventure until next year. Afterall, I do control my bear!
It could have been very easy to be egotistical and push on. But really! What would I be proving, that I can destroy my body at any costs just for one of the many adventures I have planned.
No. I’m in full control of my bear, and sometimes, we have to take a step back to go forward.
So I chose to take a positive step, rest, recover and regroup, to the go back another time for a successful outcome.
What I know, is that I can influence my direction going forward and whilst I didn’t achieve my desired outcome at this moment in time, I have to ask the question if it is the universe having another plan for me to which I have chosen to accept this adjustment.
Sometimes in life things don’t always work out as we hope they will do, but it doesn’t mean we bury our heads into the sand and take our bat and ball home. No, I believe in the approach where I embrace my learnings and grow from them.
Parts of my equipment are being upgraded and my training is back on track for 2023 onwards.
Since writing this blog, I’ve spoken and met with my Doctors here in the UK. Everything is going to be OK. The frostbite has became localised and both toes and fingers are healing well.
Could the injuries have been avoided? Mostly yes which I take ownership of. Could I have prevented the equipment failure at the beginning. No, I have stripped and cleaned the equipment maticulously.
That said, things don’t always go to plan in life, but it’s the actions and decisions I made during and afterwards that I embrace and take with me going forward.
For now, I will be focusing on my private client work, supporting clients achieve a solid mindset that can take on anything they desire both in the office and outdoors.
Roll on 2023 and beyond for my next set of adventures...
If you want to explore how I support clients, just click on the get in touch button below to arrange a short discovery session.
GET IN TOUCHA question I often get asked. So many people asking how I train for such an adventure and is it hard!
Some feel it’s more about my physical fitness than mental fitness, some think otherwise where it’s mainly about mental fitness. For the majority, their opinion is honest speculation, or they may have read a book! How would they know if they have never pushed themselves beyond the norm? It’s a bit like someone giving you advice about something you want to achieve, and they haven’t even tried or succeeded themselves at whatever it is you are setting out to achieve!
If I’m being totally honest, I don’t have the equipment to measure the difference between mental and physical.
However, what I can tell you is, each part has a role to play, and I want to put a metaphorical situation to you;
A technique for harnessing your emotions to your advantage;
Close your eyes, and imagine for a second that someone or something in your life who means everything to you, needs your help. They are stranded hundreds of miles away and you have to get to them urgently.
All public and personal transportation has broken down and you have to walk to them.
You have never walked or run hundreds of miles. Potentially never run or walked a marathon. yet you know that if you don’t reach them, the worst case scenarios could happen to them, and failure is not an option. Your mind has told you that you will make this journey and not even think twice about. Before you even realise it, your subconscious mind has taken control!
But hang on a minute, what do you do? Your conscious mind, plus your fight or flight system may also be kicking in. Instructing you to consider standing back and saying your goodbye to them. Afterall your conscious mind knows you’ve never run or walked the distance and you’re certainly not fit enough in your conscious mind.
Then your emotions begin to kick in and say otherwise. Instructing you to get on your feet, prepare for the journey and once you have all you need, then set off with abolsute intent on getting to your loved one no matter what it takes. Your emotions are now beginning to overide your logic. You don’t care, because you love them so much, you would move mountains to get to them (metaphorically of course).
Yes, for most people, saying a final goodbye is not an option, with the only option being, to get to their loved one regardless of the perceived journey ahead.
Now imagine you are applying your emotions to your goals, aims and objectives in life.
Your approach to your journey of life can be very siimilar if you choose to engage your powerful emotional drivers within you. Often eradicating any limiting beliefs, social conditioning, phobias, bad habits and much more.
How you connect with your emotions on a deep powerful level is where training your mind requires practice and correct guidance and support in a way that suits you. Remember, everyone is different, so it’s not a one size fits all approach to training your mind. You need to understand your programming first.
Insight to my mindset when training;
So to give you an example of my training for walking 1,000 miles in extreme conditions in the Yukon and Alaskan wilderness does require plenty of physical training if I want my journey to be enjoyable. Whilst writing part of this artcile, it’s 5pm Friday 24th July 2020 and I will be getting up at 4am in the morning. Breakfast and a 1 hour drive to walk 26 miles pulling my trye across unforgiving terrain and hills. As you can imagine, at times my mind can scream at me telling me to stop not only within the first 10 minutes of training but at various points.
Guess what, I tell my bear ( my mind) where to go! If I don’t train my body, there is every chance that my first few days or week on the 1,000 mile arctic trek, whilst my body adapts will be painful, mentally draining, and potentially run the risk of an injury.
Some say I’m lucky to have a mindset that can be so determined. I say I created it this way through understanding my mind and working a proven process I practice with clients.
So what is equally important, is my daily training on my mind, even though I have studied, applied and practiced mindset techniques for many years. I never take it for granted and continue to practice daily!
A mix of mindful programming, visualisation, mental strategy planning, meditation and much more every day. Yes, my mind can sometimes try and tell me that I’m mad, reckless and crazy. I mean, I have enough people around me telling me that anyway, so why wouldn’t my mind tell me otherwise. After all, this is the effect of social conditioning at it’s best. Other people imposing their outlook on life and limiting beliefs upon you. The crazy thing is that 99% of the people telling me it’s reckless, crazy, pointless and much more, are people who don’t do much themselves. This is not an attack on them, it’s just their way in life, but I refuse to allow others to influence my passion for adventure however big or small.
If you have a dream, goal or ambition etc, yes listen to what’s being said by people who have achieved or demonstrate success in the area you are striving to succeed within. But don’t allow those that haven’t or don’t pursue a life achieving the things you are setting out to ahieve to tell you otherwise.
So, when things begin tough, the important thing is connecting with your emotional intent, which can lead to you eradicating habits that no longer serve you, your desire for change and success and much more.
How you may ask, do you connect with your emotional driver?
Start with a simple exercise and set yourself off for success, understand where you are wanting to go, what are you wanting to achieve, what it will feel like when you have achieved it. Also look at the potential variables, influencers in your life both positive and negative, your strategy and plan of action. Then imagine teh emotions you will feel completing your goal. Be prepared to adapt along the way.
Yes, for many, they may need to understand their key drivers for wanting to achieve xyz. You may even want to look at your programming of your mind, but this is just a starting point to get you going. I’d naturally encourage gaining a deeper understanding of your mind. This way you can take yourself to the next level if you desire.
So, when I begin walking 1,000 miles, whilst I have my eyes on the destination, I’m also fully alert for change along the journey and ready to adapt to the environment. I’ll explain in my next blog about training your mind for adaptability and working with the unknown curve balls of life.
If you want to know more and keep updated on the blogs/articles, don’t forget to register for updates.
Warmest wishes
Walking With My Bear.
