I really want to do this!

Ep23. A conversation with Jordan

“if you want to do something big, you’ve got to be ok with failing” - “I can work hard, how hard can it be?” –“it was the most fun I’d never want to do again” -  “I wanted to row across an ocean because I thought it was a cool idea, and I couldn’t take it out of my head” - “I’m a very enthusiastic, passionate person, but in terms of getting a project done, I can get to be very practical. Like If we want to do this, what’s the very next thing that we need to do, and then build that into a bigger timeline” – “To what end?” – “Being a very passionate person can be a double edge sword, because I really want to do the things I want to do, and I’m willing to work really hard to make that happen, and do a lot of things that I would otherwise find unpleasant,…. But if I’m not inspired by the idea, I will not do it! And that is not a good thing…” – “There’s people that can do something to support their passion, or they have to make their passion pay” – “You can’t escape the human experience without something tragic happening to you, that’s part of the human experience. Some people are lucky that they have very little bits of that, and other people seem to be just plagued by it” – “A lot of people like the idea of something, versus the actual thing, so when you are thinking of a project that you wanna do, being self-critical is an important part of that. You have to like the thing, and make sure it’s not ego driven. If you’re going to do something big, do it because you also like it! Because you are passionate about the thing, and not just the idea of accomplishing it” – Jordan’s song is “Aaron Copeland”

Ep22. A conversation with John

“Enjoy! Follow your heart! Follow your dreams!” - “Water! Water makes it work for me. I’m bad on land” – “Paddle sports to me is as much about community and personal health and growth as it is about specific goals” - “What could go wrong? It’s about getting comfortable with the situation, with risk” – “The best teachers will support your needs, whatever those are, and just give you what you need. You just look at a student and you figure out what do they need!” – “When having an objective: Can I do that? What are the positives and the negatives? If those objectives are going to have a negative impact on those around me. Do I back off from that? Do I try to mitigate those disadvantages? Can I mitigate those? Am I going to have to set a different goal? – Aaron Coppeland – Fanfare the common man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKgk6G0lekQ - www.RiversForChange.org

Ep21. A conversation with Erica

“I am a mighty, fearless warrior, loving and supporting myself, truly accepting who I am now” – “People put limits on themselves without even trying beforehand. Even if you have to do the work with a team, you can go around any obstacle. Just get out there and try things that are new to you. You might be surprised about what you learn about yourself along the way” – “just showing up is a huge part of it, so just take that first step, that first push, and go and try it”  - @gowitherica – Erica Davis

Ep20. A conversation with DB

“Life is about moving forward without really knowing the destination. Life is about discovering the path as we go. Not wandering blindly, but in truth, none of us really knows where it will end up” – “We learn so well when we are slightly uncomfortable, when we’re being pushed by a good coach, or mentor, or when in situation that have the potential for failure. And failure is so much more effective in teaching than success. It’s tough to nail down where we succeeded, but it’s usually very obvious to see where we fail” – “The truth of adventure is rain, heat, uncertainty, danger, but that is exactly what life really is. The problem with insulating against natural consequences is that we don’t learn limits, and we don’t learn how far we actually could go. So possibilities are also blunted” – “If we all expect the identified leader to do everything for us, the trip doesn’t go very well. But we all start adding in our pieces, and taking responsibility, all of a sudden the worse trip is still really good” – “Adventure based parenting revitalizes relationships, it motivates active lifestyles, and it fosters long term family connections” – DB’s song is “Ain’t no grave” by Crooked Still  https://youtu.be/py_mHp1g0Bo - Follow backcountry professor on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnQgA1nNV4WePe7LeoFhlw

Ep19. A conversation with Brad

“You are exactly where you need to be” -  “If you don’t do it now, when??” - “Do right, be right, and pay it forward” - “You’ll have more money, but when do you think you’ll find more time?” – “There are a lot of things that you can replace in this world, but people and time are not one of them” – “If you’re listening, that’s when your opportunities show up” – “The best way to know what’s going on with someone is ask them. Connect at that 1 to 1 level” – “This was the perfect storm for my ego and my mental state at the time” – “When someone wants to do something, a lot of times what gets in our way is the story of our past journey” – “That’d be so cool, but I can’t, because I’m a big fat lineman! That’s the story I was telling myself” – Hawaiian like me IZ https://youtu.be/MNLAvZTC7_A - Bob Marley - Three little birds https://youtu.be/zaGUr6wzyT8

Ep18. A conversation with Oscar

“I do get overboard at everything I do. I do everything flat out, or don’t do it“ – “You’ve got it, it’s up to you, to actually realize, that you can make yourself whatever you want to be” -  “You can’t let the pain overtake the brain. The brain’s got to be in charge” - “I love to teach! I’ll teach you, even if you don’t want to. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to getting the technic right, and doing everything right, and I hate seeing people doing it wrong” – “I always say when I’m teaching: Don’t believe me, work it out for yourself, and believe in me, once you work it out for yourself then you’ll know that I’m right” – “If I got to do something, I do it now” – “I’m going to train, I said I was going to train, I’m going. I don’t care about the weather or things like that” – “If you have a plan and you write it down, 80% of your goal is achieved. That is the think at the start: you’ve got to write everything down” -  “if you go off the rails, you must be able to come back on” – “I wasn’t born a Surfski paddler, I wasn’t born a keto expert, I wasn’t born a swimmer… I made myself” – “Extra talent means nothing until you use it. And the only way to use is is work, and determination, and discipline to do it” – “I’m the person who’s always trying to shortcut everything, trying to make everything a little bit easier. No matter what I do” – “Just make sure, whatever you’re doing, that is helping you to forward yourself in life”

Ep17. A conversation with Cam

“The answer is within” – “Starting meditation, and looking inside, was the changing point. I could see how my thoughts were bad, how destructive they were. I had been looking outside the whole time and now it is time to look within. And I knew I was going to meditate for the rest of my life. Continuously looking it, and I knew this was the answer” – “I was always encouraged to pursue my dreams. My dad once told us: I want you guys to do whatever the hell you want to do, no matter what it is” - “There’s so much uncertainly in life, you never know what’s going to happen, what’s gonna come up. That’s the beauty about life” – “I do like to control, but I also love the uncertainty and be spontaneous” – “I love to have crazy crazy goals, like impossible goals. (…) At the same time I try to lose attachment to making it, to actually fulfilling it” – “Out beyond success and failure, there is a field, I’ll meet you there - Rumi” – “When you know, you know. I saw what he was doing and I knew straight away: I want to do that too. That’s going to happen for me too” – “when you come up with these very cool ideas, you should be in a good mental space, and a very relaxed space” – “It’s a four step process. 1. Put yourself in a place where you can make a decision. (For me its: slip into the gap between thoughts) 2. When you have that idea, make it as specific as possible. What you want to do, what you want to achieve, who you want to help along the way, all your intentions for everybody that you want to inspire. 3. Detach yourself from the outcome. 4. Let the universe handle the details” - https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-ubunye-challengeSanitationforSchools - Cam’s song: “A Real Hero” by College - https://youtu.be/-DSVDcw6iW8

Ep16. A conversation with Jennifer

“Endurance isn’t just for sports, it’s for Everything in your life” – “If you’re not happy in your life with whatever you’re doing, whether it be work or your relationship or anything, or if there’s something you want to do, don’t limit yourself, don’t keep making excuses. You’ve got to make it happen. You’ve got one life, and life is precious” – “If you want something bad enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen” – “If you can dream it, you can do it” - “You can’t really tell someone what’s right and wrong, to a certain extent they have to figure it out for themselves” – “ When I decide to do something, I can be very impulsive” – “I am 35 years old and I still struggle with depression, but I’ve learned to cope, as I know it’s a part of me” – “I can take things in my life, and realize that this is only a moment. This is a moment, this is a feeling, this is an emotion. Whatever I’m dealing with that is stressful, this too shall pass” – “The challenge for me was: ok, I’m going to make this happen, but HOW am I going to make it happen? I got to find out, because I’m definitely going to make this happen!” -  “one of the most exciting thing about this races for me are the getting ready” – Jennifer’s song is by Miguel – Pineapple Skies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKwAib6LosM

Ep15. A conversation with Carlo

“You have to realize that sometimes stubbornness can be a good thing. Not wanting to give up on it, wanting to continue on it” – “Open yourself up. Be willing to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, and learn from it. Trust that if it’s still interesting to you, then it’s worth pursuing             ” - “You can’t necessarily look at an end goal and think: I can do that. You need to look at the end goal and think: How do I get myself to there. If I can do this little bit, and then from this little bit I do this, and then this, and this…, yes I can get to that end goal” – “I really want to do this, but I have no clue how to do this!” – “I really think that’s a key part of starting your process: talking to people and sharing what your goal is. It’s so easy to keep that goal internal and be afraid to talk about it, be afraid to share it, because you’re worried about what other people are going to say. You open yourself up to negativity, you open yourself up to positivity, but you have to start that process of opening yourself up and getting feedback. You don’t have to take that negative feedback and dictate whether you’re going to move forward or not. Focus on the positive, because those are going to be the cheerleaders in it” – “Through your uncomfortableness is where you make the best changes” – “You have to be willing to put in the hard work. You can’t be afraid to the hard work that is going to come with achieving your goal” – “Does it spike your curiosity? How do I know what my passion is? You don’t have to know, you just have to follow your curiosity!” – Carlo’s song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5KgsubkMCA

Ep14. A conversation with Ivan

“Sometimes I could do something that I didn’t think I was capable of, and that was magic to me. Wow, that’s a feeling that I love. I love that feeling of achievement: you go for something that is just out of reach, and you not only reach it, but you over-reach it. You’ve got the feeling of peace, because you’re doing the right thing, you’re doing your thing, for your reasons. And if you’re doing something for your reasons, you can’t fail” – “The best places I’ve been, actually turn out to be the places with the best people. The less people have, the more they sing, the more they laugh, the more they dance” – “When we are talking about personality traits, or different types of attitudes, I think we are all born with everything that we need, and all we do, we suppress the bits, we suppress some of it, we exaggerate some of it, we mock up what was already perfect in the first place” – “Don’t overthink, don’t think yourself into paralysis, where you can’t do anything” – “I think so many people get tied up with this idea that there’s a right way of doing things, that they think themselves out, because you can never find that “right way”, you just have YOUR way” – “Be happy with what you are happy with. It doesn’t matter, that’s fine. Just because nobody else values it, it doesn’t matter” – “once you start valuing the extrinsic praise rather than the intrinsic praise which you give yourself, then you’ve got a problem” – “Don’t undervalue your own goal, however small that is. A goal is a goal. Don’t be paralyzed by looking up to other people. Don’t look up to people. Look up to some traits that they have but never put people on a pedestal, they are just people” – Ivan’s song: I can see clearly now, Jimmy Cliff - https://youtu.be/MrHxhQPOO2c - “Don’t follow me, follow yourself”.