Most of what he had to say was biographical. He talked about some of the more memorable expeditions he has undertaken during his decades-long career, as well as his time serving in the British Army.
Having read his autobiography, I was already familiar with the stories, but it was still fantastic to hear them from his mouth.
However, it was his answer to a question from the audience in the final few minutes of his talk that really caught my attention. That question was perhaps the one I would’ve most liked to ask him: “How did you motivate yourself, and stay motivated, in order to undertake and complete your expeditions?”
In this post I want to share his answer, as I think it holds the key to near-limitless motivation for many of us.
But First…
It would serve us well to put Fiennes’ answer into context by understanding the kind of expeditions he was motivated to undertake. Below are excerpts from his Wikipedia page:
[Fiennes] led expeditions up the White Nile on a hovercraft in 1969 and on Norway’s Jostedalsbreen Glacier in 1970. One notable trek was the Transglobe Expedition he undertook between 1979 and 1982 when he and two fellow members of 21 SAS, Oliver Shepard and Charles R. Burton, journeyed around the world on its polar axis, using surface transport only. Nobody else has ever done so by any route before or since.
In 1992 Fiennes led an expedition that discovered what may be an outpost of the lost city of Iram in Oman. The following year he joined nutrition specialist Dr. Mike Stroud to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent unsupported; they took 93 days.
Despite suffering from a heart attack and undergoing a double heart bypass operation just four months before, Fiennes joined Stroud again in 2003 to complete seven marathons in seven days on seven continents in the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge for the British Heart Foundation.
On 20 May 2009, Fiennes reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the oldest British person to achieve this.
The above doesn’t do Fiennes’ achievements justice. The amount of willpower and motivation he must have had to draw from to complete such incredibly arduous expeditions is way beyond my level of comprehension.
To put it another way, this is the guy who sawed his own frostbite-ridden fingertips off. Can you imagine being so dedicated to a cause to be willing to risk the loss of appendages?
If we can learn to cultivate just a fraction of the motivation that Fiennes has been able to generate throughout his illustrious careers, we’ll be able to achieve so much. We just need to know how.
Motivation
So you’re probably wondering what Fiennes’ answer was to the question regarding motivation.
The answer is simple – perhaps disappointingly so, on the face of it – but if you are willing to truly embrace his method and practice it deliberately, you will be blessed with more motivation than you’ve ever managed to generate before.
So how does the world’s greatest living explorer generate the necessary motivation to risk life and limb on a daily basis?
Simple – he turns to the people that he respects the most: his father and his grandfather.
He never met either of them (his father was killed in the Second World War), but he heard enough stories when growing up to cultivate a level of respect for them that is unmatched to this day.
Whenever he finds himself in a situation in which his dedication or motivation is weakening, he would picture how his father and grandfather would react to his actions. He has used his perception of their opinion of his actions to drive himself through decades of grueling expeditions.
I firmly believe in this method. It is the same reason why you can push yourself farther when exercising with a personal trainer than you can when you’re alone. You don’t want to be seen to be weak (psychologically or physically). You don’t want to let them down. You don’t want them to think that you are not capable. You want to please them.
It is these strong emotions that you must play upon when it comes to motivating yourself. If you are struggling for motivation, think of someone you respect and how they would encourage you. Think of how they would be willing you to succeed; to have your back, to offer you support. Or conversely, think of how disappointed they would be if you weren’t to at least try.
Doing so, in my humble opinion, is perhaps the key to motivation.
But That’s Not All
I’ve heard a parable before – perhaps intended as joke, but no less thought-provoking for that fact.
In brief, the parable tells the story of two hikers who come across a mountain bear. The moral of the story is that you only need to be the quicker of the two hikers in order to save yourself.
Fiennes alluded to something similar in his talk. His expeditions were typically undertaken with one or more partners, and he knew that he only needed to have slightly more willpower than the next person in order to succeed.
In other words, there was no way in hell that he was going to be the first person to give up. So long as everyone held themselves up to that same simple standard, giving in was not an option.
That’s why mastermind groups are so powerful. Not only can you form relationships with people you respect and have them ‘watching over’ your actions, but you can force yourself not to be ‘that guy’ (or girl) – the one who says, “I just couldn’t get it done this week.”
No one wants to be that guy.
So What Now?
My suggestion to you is straightforward: from now on, whenever you sense yourself lacking in motivation, think of that person (or those people) who you most respect, and how they would react to your inaction.
They might encourage you or they might be disappointed. What is important is that you absorb their reaction and treat it as real; as existing in the moment that you occupy. Then use their reaction to fuel your motivation.
This shouldn’t be a negative thing. You shouldn’t feel pressured into doing things out of guilt. Instead, you should want to take positive action because you know it’s ultimately best for you; even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
Life is made up of such scenarios; times where you feel that you are lacking the necessary motivation to carry out something that will ultimately benefit you. So stop relying on yourself alone for motivation, and look to those who can give it to you – even if it is all in your head.
Photo Credit: FreezeFrame