Harness your inner Bear Grylls and discover how to turn life’s challenges into adventures
It can be hard to motivate ourselves when it feels like the world is stacked against us. When money’s tight, that might just mean making it through the week with a few quid left in our pockets. Or saying ‘enough’s enough, it’s time for a new job’. But what if we dig deep and treat life as an adventure to be explored and conquered?
If it’s grit we need to find, who better to turn to than TV survivalist, Bear Grylls?
As a former SAS trooper, TV adventurer, and the UK’s Chief Scout, Bear Grylls knows a bit about seizing the day. He’s climbed Everest and written over 90 books (and sold 20 million copies). His TV series ‘Man Vs Wild’ reached an estimated 1.2 billion viewers.
He doesn’t seem much like one of us. He’s not the sort to like to pull the duvet back over his head and let the day start without us. But he swears there’s one thing we have in common. The ability to make things happen.
BecomingX
His current challenge is possibly his biggest yet. BecomingX aims to create a world where everyone can reach their potential. He’s enlisted Hollywood A-listers, Olympians and business leaders. All with one message: We can do it.
“We are worried that most people do not realise what they are really capable of achieving,” reports the website, becomingx.com. “So we’ve set out to change that.” The idea is to inspire us all with stories and insights from “the world’s most inspiring and iconic people”.
BecomingX is accompanied by a TV series too, Becoming Xtraordinary. Julia Roberts is on board, as are Channing Tatum, Courteney Cox and tennis legend Roger Federer. It aims to offer something positive, an antidote to the negative influences many TV programmes serve up.
It’s not just the most famous of faces that are lined up to inspire us. Mark Ormrod is a veteran who lost three limbs serving for his country.
What most of us would call a tragedy, he describes as the best thing that ever happened to him. Change was forced upon him but he took it as an opportunity. It should make us think twice about pressing snooze on the alarm clock.
If they can do it…
Each programme profiling highly accomplished people, whether famous or not, aims to help us all understand what it takes to succeed. They want us to aspire to do better for ourselves and our families.
We need to build our skills but most important of all is growing our confidence. As Grylls told Hollywood Reporter: “If that guy can do it, we can all do it.”
Grylls acknowledges that, for many of us, it’s a tougher time now than it’s ever been. And he’s worried about young people the most. “There’s more anxiety, more pressure, more uncertainty than ever before.”
One of Grylls’ most-quoted comments is:
“Never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying.”
To learn more about the work of Bear Grylls and his course, check out his website www.beargrylls.com.
Finding Your Motivation – Quids In’s Top Five Tips
- Imagine your better life. How does it feel? Are you better off? What can you now afford?
- What changed? What did your future self (who is living your better life) do to make it happen?
- Break it down: Sometimes change is daunting because there are so many parts to it. Finding work, for example, means setting a goal. (Try our Job Readiness Quiz here)
- Find confidence in the things you know you can do and excitement in the few you might need to find help with. Work out who knows the answers and ask them for advice
- Put all the steps in order and make one thing happen. As Bear says, “Make a decision to just begin – press the button”.
Image: Flickr
