Pen hosted a series of special invitation-only dinners for board director’s of the UK’s most influential businesses.
Speech Themes
PERSONAL MOTIVATION
Sledge-hauling into the night – temperature dipping below -40˚
“I once knew a 17-year old boy. He was a good sportsman and did well academically too. His future was rosy. Then, just before his ‘A’ levels he developed post viral fatigue symptoms so bad that for weeks he couldn’t even get out of bed, and for the next three months he could hardly move.
Over the next two decades he continued to struggle against the recurring debilitating illness with its frequent malaria-like fevers, and the artfully concealed depression that lived in its shadow. Yet all the time, he nursed a dream to do something – something very particular. But to his intense frustration he didn’t know what it was then.
However, he never gave up searching – and he never gave up hope. This young man went on to achieve his dream. And it happened that his dream came to involve doing something so extreme, so absolute, and so pure that he – and his peers – would know he had won through his illness, achieved something noteworthy, and fulfilled his potential. In fact it was to be something that pushed back the boundaries – in a very small way – of what was known to be humanly possible… That boy stands before you now.”
Motivation, for both individuals and teams, is a state of mind that can be focused, nurtured, and harnessed, to achieve goals. So what is it that the Poles offer, in terms of a powerfully attractive vision, that can be replicated in the workplace?
Did you know you’ve always had the option of having your own personal coach? Yes…. it’s You! You can identify and review all the components which affect your performance, and then come up with your own performance, and then come up with your own plan to raise your game. There’s no official register of performance coaches for going solo in the polar regions, so I had to do just this for myself for this solo endeavour.
It’s possible to develop psychological tactics specific to you, so that you can tap into your own motivational forces in predictably difficult situations – approaching [an ice rubble-field or] thin ice on the Arctic Ocean required just such techniques. I used to run a ‘mental video’ of my little boy, Wilf, picking daffodils for his mother. I had to stay in one piece, and get back home to him. This simple device stopped me from taking unnecessary risks.
Self confidence is one of the keys – it’s not a fixed mental state, it’s a dynamic process which requires constant re-affirmation by you that you are making progress towards your goal. The idea of enduring, yet alone travelling , ‘for another 60 days like today’ was too much for me going solo in the early stages, so I had targets that were achievable over the forthcoming hours rather than days.