The most important 4-letter word ever: SELF
In the months leading to my ocean crossing, I have come to realize that the most important is self-motivation: to do, to think, to act, to contact, to call, to make, to train, to rest, to work, to prepare, to make happen…. Nobody is going to do it for me. If I want it, I have to do it myself, no matter what needs to be done.
=> The most important word here is “SELF”.
photo courtesy: Carter Johnson
In my kayak, I will be alone. For SE-VEN-TY days, every day, I will be alone. That’s just the cold hard truth. Just myself. Alone. Every decision will be mine. Every move will be my choice. Every consequence will be my making. I have to be ok with that. My life depends on it.
Crossing the ocean solo is SO different than going at it as a team, like I did in 2016. These 1,000 decisions to make can be shared, and it’s so much easier on the mental. When you are solo, you have to own your decisions. “Me, myself and I, will decide what to do. I will OWN what I do.”
For the preparation, that means that I need to do my homework and decide on: electricity set up, paddling intensity, weather patterns, current forces, best gear to use from head to toes, solar panels and power capacity of the batteries, shape of the boat, survival in storms, size of the sea-anchor, navigation at night, food quality and quantity, repairing and fixing the water producing equipment, curing wounds, regulating the mental and the emotional, …. Etc.
I came to realize that, if I were to be successful, I would have to find my own fire. I would have to be able to initiate the spark from WITHIN, with MY own thoughts and ideas, MY own desires and wishes, and then convert in MY own actions and moves. It all starts from WITHIN, or with the SELF.
Basically, I had to teach myself the art of deciding on my own, or SELF-decision. Again, the crucial word here is SELF, because it means that the subject is taking control.
“If I succeed, success will be mine. If I fail, failure will be mine too. I am ok with that!”
As the months went by thinking like this, I started to realize what a drive that is, and how it is key to being successful, in LIFE. I started to notice that all people that I consider successful had that trait! They were entrepreneurs, leaders, visionaries, adventurers… They traced their own path!
Why don’t you do the same exercise: find the person you consider the most SUCCESSFUL. For this, you can take the definition of success that you prefer.
Now, tell me if he is not a CHAMPION in the art of those following SELF-actions:
Self Drive
Self Belief
Self Discipline
Self Esteem
Self Attitude
Self Values
Self Respect
Become that champion YOUR-SELF.