As you might have figured, my Arctic expedition was one for the books.
In case you missed the previous newsletter in which I shared my experience, you can check it out here. It was amazing! Both the adventure and the newsletter!
Anyway, let’s carry on…
I’m still unpacking and integrating all the profound lessons that unfolded out there in the extreme conditions. An experience that intense awakens you on a core level.
Experiencing that state of pure mental stillness and silence was utterly sublime. No voices. No chatter. No insecurity, gasoline fuming up the mind. Just…presence. Existing fully in that crystalline moment without any shadow voices weighing me down.
It’s like a drug. I want it again. I need it again.
The magical part was recognising how that profound quiet arises. It’s not some lofty spiritual attainment reserved for monks and mystics. It happens simply by embracing the intensity of the present challenge with grit and forward momentum and nurturing a playful yet powerful energy. You have to do the hard things!
Out there on the ice, hour after hour of raw exertion amid the harsh elements, there was no option but to stay centred and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Kinda like life, right? And you know what happens when you fully commit to that with an intention of resilience and strength? The endless stream of negative self-talk from the voices in your head has no choice but to go silent.
At first, they’d pipe up with the usual bullshit – self-doubt, fear of failure, regret, shame, and feelings of unworthiness. But their power dissolved when I refused to feed them attention. Yeah, that’s a lesson you need to write down!
The consistent commitment to showing up and doing the hard work no matter what drowned them out entirely.
After cycling through hours of imperceptible progress and varying levels of suffering, those rickety delusions simply stopped whispering their deranged mantras. In their place? This spacious, pristine quiet was equal parts disorienting and utterly peaceful. It was… beautiful!
From that stillness, deeper truths became clear. Like how most of our perceived prisons and limitations are totally made up. We’re never as trapped or restricted as we convince ourselves through those limiting narratives and fear-based stories. All those dead ends, obstacles, and hardened fictions we loop in our minds are just mirages that evaporate when exposed to the light of pure presence.
Now that’s not to say those voices won’t fire back up again at some point during life’s inevitable cycles of anxiety and overthinking. But once you’ve tasted the unconditioned freedom of a quiet mind, you can’t unsee it. You can’t unfeel it.
A whole new depth of being reveals itself – one where every perceived block transforms into an open portal when faced with steadiness and self-compassion.
This revelation is less an academic theory and more of a somatic rewiring that becomes hardwired into your system through the amazing privilege of struggle. The intense inner work required to push through suffering and doubt is what initiates you into these deeper domains of unwavering poise. It’s an inside job that becomes available through embracing “the work” most people avoid, like exploring a new identity beyond limiting labels.
The ultimate selflessness is in embodying these awakenings in daily life – staying unwaveringly committed to truth and authenticity in each situation and continuously showing up as your most aware, loving self. Using every experience as a training ground for cultivating presence and realigning with your core values and driving motivations.
With that as the underpinning, I’ve started to prepare for my next expedition into even rougher extremes in Greenland in May 2025. 540km over 25 days.
Scared shitless? Yes. Need to work on support and funding? Yes. Something I need to do? Yes.
I can’t grasp what insights await, but I know the path forward requires walking directly through every self-doubt, exceeding each perceived limitation, and arriving in complete surrender to this wondrous present moment and all its wildness.
No more entertaining the tired mindsets that we’re not enough or can’t meet life’s summons.
It’s going to be an extraordinary journey, for sure. Yes, it’s scary as shit. Yes, there are massive challenges to overcome. But it’s also incredibly exciting!
I feel alive just thinking about the growth and awakenings that await by daring to take on such an extreme endeavour.
That’s why I truly believe everyone should have a “big white whale” goal – some epic, audacious dream that both terrifies and electrifies you. I have been telling each and every one of my mindset coaching clients this!
A pursuit that shatters your comfort zones and compels you to become far more than you currently are. When you finally harpoon that great whale, you’ll have transformed into a vastly more courageous, capable, and fully-alive version of yourself.
I’m beyond grateful to have people – some of you! – follow along, encourage me, and, in their own way, live through my adventures. I truly hope I can inspire, teach, and bring value to your life through the lessons I learn from the extremes of the human experience.
My journey has new context, but that core mystery remains delightfully unsolvable. Thank you for following along with both my journey and the thoughts I’m sharing.
It means more than you know!
Stay safe.
And don’t forget to be awesome.
