Hey guys,
I hope you’re all well and everyone is having a great year so far, can you believe we are almost half way through 2017 already! I know it’s pretty crazy… I’ve always said, “Time is one of the most important things we have”.
Today as I sit here typing this blog, it is the 16th May 2017. This day will always be a special day for me. “Why”? I here you cry, well exactly six years ago, I was stood on top of the world, on the summit of Mount Everest. Something I will never forget for as long as I live.
In the last six years I have cycled around the world, been rescued twice, once in the Indian Ocean and once in the Atlantic Ocean. Had too many smaller micro adventures to mention, and most importantly, I’ve met some incredible people.
I am often asked what have I learnt from all of this. The honest answer is, I could write thousands of words on this subject, way too many for a blog. However, I have been fortunate enough to of met a lot of very successful people in my quest for sponsorship.
So here is what I have leant from meeting some of the most successful people out there. Before I do, Just a quick caveat. Success is subjective and cannot be aligned to certain criteria.
Time – This is the most important thing that I have noticed when meeting people that are seemingly successful. It doesn’t matter how much money you have you will never be able to buy time and you’ll never get time back. Successful people do not sleep for 12 hours a day and they do not waste time. Time management is very important. They know the value of time and want to maximize every hour.
Consistency – There is no shadow of a doubt that consistency is a big part of achieving goals. If you’re taking two steps forward and two steps backwards you will never get anywhere.
Sense of urgency – This is something I have really noticed when dealing with successful individuals. They do not put things off for tomorrow or another day, they action things then and there. When they say they will do something it will be undertaken with a sense of urgency and before you know it, it’s done and they are working on the next thing.
Self-belief – There is a famous saying that goes, believe it, achieve it! This is very true, if you really believe in something and you’re prepared to work for it (This is not to be confused with arrogance) the chances are you will achieve it.
Resilience – Probably one of the most important and useful traits a human can have is resilience. Anyone who has achieved anything worth talking about has probably failed many times before they have had success. I have met people who probably wouldn’t mind me saying, they are only where they are now because they just kept going and never gave up on their dreams when they were getting rejection after rejection.
Work Ethic – For me this is the most important thing out of all of the above. I know there is a lot of hype around working smart and not hard, which I understand. But the guy who is working 16 hours a day will, more than likely, achieve more than the guy who is working 8 hours a day, in my opinion. Certainly with every person I have met who has achieved great things and is ultimately in the position to sponsor me, which is why I’m taking to them in the first place. Their work ethic is just off the chart. The famous golfer, Gary Player once said, “The more I practice the luckier I get” This is so true, luck does play a big part in life but ultimately your work ethic will shape how lucky you get. This is something I have experienced first-hand when pursuing sponsorship and funding for expeditions.
The above is really just my personal opinion and things I have noticed over the years of doing what I do. I just wanted to share this with you all.
In other news, one of my goals for 2017 was to continue vlogging and develop my YouTube channel. You guys can show your support by subscribing to my channel, if you’d like to of course. It’s completely free and means you’ll get a notification every time I upload content. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-EfbA352eYeYJlRpFNxUQ
Do drop me a line if you have any specific questions around adventure and achieving your goals etc. Remember guys, the hardest part to achieving anything is taking the first step.
Out for now
Captain Ketch
