Alastair Humphreys is an English cyclist, adventurer, author, motivational speaker, blogger, film maker, photographer and a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. Whilst at University, he cycled from Pakistan to China, Land’s End to John O’Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. Since graduating, Alistair has cycled round the world for 4 years, raced a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River and walked the length of the holy Kaveri River in India.
The Difference Between good And Great for Alistair Humphreys | He believes being brave enough to take risks and risk ridicule and failure.
Perceiving medioc rity to be the worst possible thing, worse even than failing (which at least gives you the chance of closure and time to begin something new…)
My Key Talent | THE VITAL THING to say here is that I have no special talent or strength. I am a normal person. Anyone could do the adventures I have done. The only difference, perhaps, is that I persuaded myself to BEGIN even when I was nervous. Beginning and persevering are key.
The Principles I Live By | Work hard but not too hard. Have fun. Be original. Cajole yourself to do things you find difficult and daunting: you might well surprise yourself. Be kind. Read a lot. Look after your body – it’s the most important tool you have.
Lessons I’ve Learnt | BEGIN! Think Big, Dream Big, but then chase down the first tiny little steps on the road towards your big dream. Don’t think that because you are not an expert you cannot do X. Think about the first tiny step that you CAN manage right now that will set you slowly on the road to where you want to go.
Dealing With Doubt | When I set off to cycle round the world I was convinced I would fail. But I persuaded myself to at least begin. It is better to begin and then to fail than it is to not even begin due to nerves or uncertainty. You’ll never know unless you try. Give it a go! You might surprise yourself…
Performing At My Peak | I don’t! And I don’t think any real people do this. Try your best, but accept that there are ups and downs in life. Acknowledge it and accept it. Sleep when you are tired. Find time to run and get into the wild. Read books. Do nothing. Let your brain tick over. And then when you do work, work very hard and efficiently! It’s about quality of work not quantity.
Resources I’ve Used | TED talks online, Economist magazine, Banff Mountain Film Festival winners, Seth Godin’s blog.
On Building Wealth | Think hard about how you define ‘rich’ and ‘wealth’. Is it amount of happiness? Quantity of new experiences? Good deeds done? Good stuff left behind? Or is it fat piles of cash? There’s no right answer, but it’s important to be clear of your own right answer.
My Favourite Book | As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
Holmes is a co-founder of Fight for the Future. He also co-founded Miro, Open Congress, and Amara, and ran online campaigns for the Free Software Foundation. Fight for the Future is known for powerful and viral organizing campaigns that changed Internet history both nationally and globally. Faced with the passage of the Stop Online Piracy […]
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Jason is one of the leading thinkers, consultants, strategists and educators in the emerging world of social media marketing. Jason Falls is a leading digital strategist, author, speaker and thinker in the digital and social media marketing industry. He is an innovator in the conversation research segment of social analytics, having published the first-ever Conversation […]
Alan is a Chartered Accountant by profession. He joined the group in April 2012 as CEO, prior to which he was the CEO of Nolands (Cape Town and South Africa), where he served his articles and subsequently became a partner in 1998. During this time he served on several boards gaining experience in varied industries […]
Maria Popova is a reader, writer, interestingness hunter-gatherer, and curious mind at large. She has previously written for WiredUK, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, among others, and is an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow. I Am Driven By | The yearning to learn how to live, how to lead […]
Prof Saurabh Sinha cannot but leave an impression on those who encounter him. As one of South Africa’s great electronic engineers he has obtained his B. Eng, M. Eng and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pretoria (UP) having achieved both his B. Eng and M. Eng with distinction. As a published […]
With more than 10 years experience in the physiotherapy, hospital and medical field, Hayley Warren is a business and profit focused executive recognised as a technology pioneer in the evolution and implementation of specialised medical technology. Working from start-up phase through domestic and international market penetration, Hayley has secured a reputation for her ability to […]
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