Introduction

Human beings are capable of some truly astonishing feats.

On 30th April 2008, David Blaine held his breath underwater for a world record breaking 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds, live on the Oprah Show. Wow!

In 2007, Lewis Pugh swam a kilometre in the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole. It took him 18 minutes and 50 seconds. Conventional wisdom tells us that hypothermia takes effect when our body temperature drops below 35 degrees Celsius. The water temperature at the North Pole for Lewis' swim was 1.7 degrees below zero! That's impossible, right?

If you think that sounds bizarre, John Evans balanced a car (yes, a real, live 159 kg Mini Cooper) on his head for 33 seconds; no hands. Amazingly, it's a Guinness world record, not an April Fool (Guinness World Records, 2012).

It's tempting to think of these things as “impossible”, or that the people who have achieved these incredible feats are “superhuman”. How long can you hold your breath? One minute? Two? Three? I think I'd be surprised if I managed 60 seconds. Are these people made of “different stuff”? Do they have magical powers? I guess that depends on your definition of “magic”.

Illusionist, David Blaine (2010), said…

“I think magic, whether holding my breath or shuffling a deck of cards, is pretty simple; it's practice, it's training and it's experimenting while pushing through the pain to be the best I can be. That's what magic is to me”.

Have you ever said the words, “I wonder if I could do something like that”?

Even if you haven't said them out loud, have you said them to yourself? Have they been a part of the conversation in your mind? When I look around me, I see more and more people attempting, and achieving, incredible things. Did you know that there were 127 new Guinness world records established in the London 2012 Olympic Games alone (Guinness World Records, 2013)? Of course, world records are not confined to athletic events. In 2009, Dean Gould broke the world record by flipping 71 beer mats whilst blindfolded. As I sit here typing this, there is a radio station in Doncaster, UK, that is attempting to break the world record for the longest ever show. At 4 pm this afternoon they will have been broadcasting for 80 hours non-stop. Whilst I have never had an urge to flip beer mats or be on the radio for 80 hours, I have definitely thought of taking on a real challenge. As I look on, I can't help asking myself if I could do something exceptional as well. What's stopping me?

Do you get that nagging feeling that you're not completely fulfilling your potential? Do you suspect that you have more to give? Would you also like to close that gap between what you've achieved so far and your true potential?

As a sport psychology consultant, I have always been interested in elite performance. I have been intrigued to know what differentiates exceptional performers from the rest. For several years I have been studying world class performers, to understand what sets them apart and what common characteristics bind them all. I've been rubbing shoulders with some incredible people, who have achieved some pretty extraordinary feats; such as climbing all of the world's 8000-metre mountains, completing unsupported polar expeditions, running back-to-back ultra-marathons and winning mammoth adventure races. I had the great pleasure of getting to know them as I wrote How To Shine; the book in which I share the eight common characteristics that I found.

In fact, writing How To Shine was a mission for me. For many years, I've been fascinated by world class performance. I've been on a quest to find out how world class performers think, what they've experienced, how they've approached their challenges and what makes them tick. However, it seems that somehow I've become infected by them as well. Time after time I have heard world-class performers describe themselves as “ordinary people”. They all seem to have a very modest start point. They don't seem to have been imparted with any innate talent from birth.

Their achievements don't appear to be the result of luck or simply because they were in the right place at the right time either. If they can do it, surely we can too.

The Inspiration

As I wrote How To Shine I found myself typing the words, “Where is the limit?”, “Where are the boundaries anyway?” and “Do you know where your limit is?” As I wrote the words, and read them back to myself, I felt an uneasy realization starting to dawn. I suspect that I am very similar to many people. I have no idea where my limits are. I don't know where the boundaries of my potential lie.

It struck me that most of us have no concept of where our limits are. We know where discomfort starts, sure. But do we know where our ceiling is? Do we have any idea of what we are capable of? Although I've pushed myself, I also know that I've spent my life working well within my potential. If I'm honest, I have no idea where my limit is! It is unexplored territory and it's time I started to understand it.

The same is true of most people; even those of us who are on a quest for perpetual self-improvement are unsure where their limitations are. Even if we feel that some things are beyond us, we often do so instinctively rather than through evidence. Do you know where your true limits are?

And so, I have set myself a challenge. Powered by the question, “Could I Do That?”, I am going to embark upon a rather ridiculous endurance challenge. I'll explain exactly how ridiculous it is shortly. However, this book is not really about my challenge. In fact, the challenge itself is largely irrelevant. It is about how to take on challenges. In particular, it is about how to tackle those challenges that seem huge … daunting … impossible.

“I'd rather regret the things I've done than the things I haven't done.”

Lucille Ball, American comedienne and actress

Your Challenges

When you uttered those words, “I wonder if I could do that” (even if they were just to yourself), what challenge were you contemplating? Did you also say, almost in the same breath, “I'd love to do it, but there is no way I could” or “well, I wouldn't know where to start”?

Have you seen performers on stage, or on TV, or watched people running marathons, and thought, “I'd love to be able to do that”? Have you watched Masterchef, Britain's Got Talent or Great British Bake Off and thought “I'd love to do something like that”? Have you ever dreamed of turning your business idea into reality, or releasing your creative flair by writing the book that's been incubating in your mind or making a short film? Do you often hear the words, “I really ought to …?” or “one day I'll …” echoing through your mind?

If we're honest with ourselves, I'll bet we all have challenges that we would love to take on. But, for some reason, there is a gap between us and what we'd love to achieve. The question is … how can we bridge that gap? How do we overcome the “stuff” that currently stands between us and our potential?

In this book, I'd like to explore how our minds work when we engage in challenges. What actually goes on in those “little grey cells”? What does it think like and feel like? I'm going to learn about how to take on a significant challenge from the inside, and I'd like to share this first-hand experience with you as I go. We can learn those universal and transferable lessons, which can be applied to any challenge.

Do You Fancy a Journey?

Do you fancy a journey into a slightly warm, damp, dark and squishy place?

I'll bet you don't get invitations like that every day. Are you excited? Have I sold this to you yet?

The place I'm referring to is my brain. More specifically, I'd like to invite you into my mind and my thoughts. I'll walk you through the “challenges within the challenge” that I've experienced in my own endurance event, and help illustrate how they translate to any challenge – whether they are physical, mental, entrepreneurial or habitual. I know that my daft endurance event is going to throw up a host of challenges of its own. And yours will too – regardless of what your own challenge might actually be. Most of these “challenges within the challenge” will be mental wrestles. There is going to be a conversation going on between your ears; a battle for supremacy between your desires and your fears. There will be a tug of war between your dreams and your doubts, and probably a voice shouting “okay, stop now, I've had enough”. Part of this mission, then, is to conquer this internal mental territory.

Along the way, we'll reflect on how the mental attributes required for such a challenge are developed. In How To Shine, I noticed the toughness that many world-class performers display. Andy McMenemy ran ultra-marathons with a torn Achilles tendon. Bruce Duncan injured his leg two hours into “The Epic Tri” and still pushed himself for the next six days to complete the...