What is a Good Life? #6 (Podcast)
Building an Expedition Mindset with Paul Gleeson
On the sixth episode of the “What is a Good Life?” podcast, I am joined by Paul Gleeson.
In his lifetime, Paul has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, cycled across Australia, rowed the Northwest passage in Canada, participated in an expedition to the Artic, amongst many more adventures.
Paul runs his own coaching and consulting practice, Turas Consulting, he has authored a book about his experience of rowing across the Atlantic, Crossing the Swell, and is currently writing a book about building an expedition mindset.
What’s more, Paul is a great mate of mine who I find to be one of the most effortlessly inspiring people I know, with no airs, graces, or pretences about him.
In this podcast we discuss his experiences of fearing for his life and handling uncertainty while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, finishing his ride across Australia despite being knocked down twice, and what he has learned about himself, his mind, performance, and life, through his adventures.
The structure for the newsletter is:
Short video clip from the podcast (1.5 mins)
My weekly reflection related to the weekly video clip (1 min)
Full podcast episode - both video and audio (72 mins)
Two content related questions to prompt your own reflections on life
1. Weekly Clip from the Podcast
2. My weekly reflection
There is something innate within us which calls us to adventure.
Our childhood and adult lives are littered with tales of expeditions and adventures in the movies, books, and TV shows we consume.
While this is a part of who we are, we also have a desire for stability and security.
There is no hard and fast rule as to what the right mix is, we all have different tolerances and desires for adventure and stability. However, presently society is prescribing stability, while many of us lament an absence of aliveness in our lives.
In today’s podcast, Paul discusses quitting his job and going €40,000 into debt to fund his rowing excursion across the Atlantic Ocean, with no plans in place thereafter.
While this may be an extreme example of embracing uncertainty in life, Paul is clear about who he is and what he values in his life, and he periodically pays attention to how he feels if he hasn’t engaged that call for adventure.
The trade-off for him is worth it, in terms of risk and stability, so that he gets to give an expression to an important part of who he is.
In a world where we often measure the opportunity cost of our choices solely in terms of money, it’s important to regularly recognise how our choices are making us feel, in addition to addressing our necessary responsibilities and obligations. It’s a continuous balancing act with a perpetually moving point of balance.
How are you presently feeling in your relationships with both adventure and stability? Are you leaning too far into either one?
3. Full Episode - Building an Expedition Mindset with Paul Gleeson - What is a Good Life? Ep. #6
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4. This week’s Questions
How often do you experience a strong sense of aliveness in your life? What makes you feel most alive?
Is there an adventure, a trip, or an activity, that you’ve been thinking about for years but have yet to take a step towards starting?
About Me
I am a Coach based in Berlin, via Dublin, Ireland. I left behind a 15-year career in Capital Markets after I became extremely curious around what life, myself, and existence are all about.
I work with high-performing, individual clients who have hit their material goals and are trying to understand what comes after performance. I also create corporate programs for teams to foster greater trust, connection and purpose (click here for reference).
If you would like to work with me, or you simply want to get in touch, here’s my email and LinkedIn.