“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”
- Nicola Shelley
- Feb 1, 2016
- 2 min read
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” said T. S Eliot
As I write this blog, my brother is attempting to row the Atlantic Ocean from Gran Canaria to Barbados in a record time of just under 32 days. Total distance 2598.6 nautical miles. It is one heck of a gruelling challenge. 2 hours on, 2 hours off, all day, every day. Sleep takes place in a 'coffin' cabin which is, as you may expect - small. Apart from training before hand one of the the other things he had to prepare for was not being able to consume enough calories for the duration of the trip. The load is limited on the boat and food is dried and reconstituted with filtered sea water. Christmas was therefore a time when he could happily indulge and even be happy about adding at least an extra 6 - 8 kilos because it would come in handy later.
Looking at the picture above you'll see the crew is quite mixed; one woman, and an age range of 21 to 68.
From a coaching perspective several things come to mind about the challenge.
What motivates someone to want to do something that is so hard?
How do you keep going?
What do you learn about yourself along the way?
Does it make life better in any way?
And what next?
Realisitically the only people who can answer these questions are the crew.
However if you were to think of your own challenge - and really it does not have to be as hard as this - how would you answer? Coaching is a great way to help you define a challenge that is right for you and find techniques that can help you achieve it.
Looking for a challenge? Would like some help defining it? Do get in touch!
T 07501817739
e: nicolashelleycoach@gmail.com
If you'd like to follow the progress of The Toby Wallace Atlantic Row
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