Mud, Sweat, and Tears

Both faith and fear may sail into your harbor, but allow only faith to drop anchor.

possible to go, and in my mind that meant flying over the height of Mount Everest. This in turn meant we needed to build a machine capable of flying to over 29,000 feet (8,840 metres).
Most of the people we spoke to about this thought a) we were crazy, and b) it was technically impossible. What those naysayers hadn’t factored in was the power of yes, and specifically the ability to build a team capable of such a mission. This meant harnessing the brilliance of my good friend Gilo Cardozo, a paramotor engineer, a born enthusiast, and a man who loves to break the rules — and to say yes.
Gilo was — and is — an absolute genius aviation engineer who spends all his time in his factory, designing and testing crazy bits of machinery.
When people told us that our oxygen would freeze up in minus 70°, or that at extreme altitudes we would need such a heavy engine to power the machine that it would be impossible to take off, or that even if we managed to do it, we would break our legs landing at such speed, Gilo’s response was: ‘Oh, it’ll be great. Leave it with me.’
No matter what the obstacle, no matter what the ‘problem’, Gilo always said, ‘We can do this.’ And after months in his workshop, he did eventually build the machine that took us above the height of Everest. He beat the naysayers, he built the impossible and by the Grace of God we pulled it off — oh, and in the process we raised over $2.5 million for children’s charities around the world.
You see, dreams can come true if you stick to them and think big.
So say yes — you never know where it will lead. And there are few limits to how high you just might soar.

6. SAY YES
A big part of getting ahead in life is a willingness to say ‘Why not?’ when others just say ‘Why?’
In my experience, many people cross their arms, sit back and say ‘Why should I?’, and then let great possibilities slip by them.
A champion in life always goes against the grain and takes the path less trodden. And that means learning to say ‘Why not?’ instead of ‘Why?’
This is especially important in the early days of building a career or following a dream. You have got to get out there and get busy opening up lots of oysters in search of that pearl. You have got to try different things, meet loads of people, take people up on crazy offers and generally get busy living!
It’s almost always better, especially in the early stages, to say yes and to try something, rather than saying no because you fear where a yes will take you.
More often than not, saying no means that nothing will change in your life. A yes, however, has the power to create change. And change is where we create room for success.
And, by the way, the only person who likes change is a baby with a wet nappy! Change is scary and often uncomfortable, but life begins outside our comfort zone, so learn to embrace it and get used to it. Champions have to do that every single day.
A few years ago, I led an expedition to return to Mount Everest, the mountain I had climbed aged 23, a mountain where I had risked everything and survived — just. I had always held a secret dream to return and attempt to fly over the mountain in a small one-man paramotor — like a paraglider, only with a backpack engine strapped to your body.
At the time, the highest altitude that one had been flown was around 17,000 feet (5,180 metres). But being an enthusiast (and an optimist!), I reckoned we shouldn’t just aim to break the record by a few feet, I thought we should go as high as it was