Channel your inner Shackleton....
This is perhaps one of the greatest feats of endurance ever
In December 1914, Shackleton set off to cross the south pole
Which at the time was about as well explored as Mars is in present day
Their ship ‘The Endurance’ (apt name, right) became trapped in ice
Then crushed in between the ice thus ensuring no chance of escape…. (As they were
hoping to boat back home once the ice loosened in summer)
No emails, no phones, no communication, limited supplies… what do you do? Panic?
Here, in simple terms, is how it unfolded;
As a result of their boat getting trapped
They camped on floating ice for 9 months - through the Antarctic winter (with no modern day clothing or luxuries, no hi tech tents, no goretex)
They then used their life boats to head for Elephant Island, an uninhabited Island, which they reached 14 months after first becoming stuck in the South Pole
They left most of the crew here, and from there, Shackleton and a few others sailed a little life boat over 800miles to South Georgia
A small open boat, with no modern wet weather gear, navigation via stars, in the Weddell Sea off of Antarctica, with waves up to 10 meters, and sub zero temperatures - the journey itself taking over two weeks - again, minimal food, and clothing that was not waterproof
They reached South Georgia, and then climbed over the mountains there (up until this point unexplored/unmapped) - with no climbing gear, in order to reach a whaling station on the other side - around 40kms away
From here they sent boats to Elephant Island to pick up the others
The whole experience took around 18 months
Can you imagine one day in Antarctica wearing clothes from 1914
Or, having no way of communicating with anyone and having to find your way back?
Or, after 14 days in some of the worst seas imaginable, and after 18 months on a low
calorie diet, in sub zero temperature, having to do a marathon over ice covered mountains?
Am not sure I could manage it
But, Shackleton managed it, and he managed to bring home every single member of the
crew from Endurance, 28 people
It was calmness in the face of adversity and an unshakable ‘can do’ attitude that bought
Shackleton and all his men home - a long term vision that he held onto
I often remind myself of stories like this when times get ‘tough’
Why tough?
There is a lot of negative press in the media at the moment, wars, uncertainty in markets,
changes to property (renters reform bill coming in on 1st May), interest rates looking like
they may rise again, and a simple lack of clarity around the future
As humans we crave clarity and certainty
Should you continue with your plans?
Put them on hold?
Pivot all together?
Which reminded me of a few quotes from a book I read recently on “time horizons”
Saying “im in it for the long run” is a bit like standing at the base of mount everest, pointing to the top, and saying, “thats where im heading”. Well, that’s nice, but the true test comes when you start
Can you channel your inner Shackleton and find the ‘endurance’ to reach the top of the
mountain?
Or continue pursuing your goals?
When things get hard?
Now we all know that the majority of the benefits of any wealth building exercise (or any
endeavour, really) come from ‘time in’ the market and long term compounding - ETFs,
property, building a business, relationships, building fitness or strength in the gym - it’s all
long term
Which, is easy to think about (i.e. pointing to the top of everest), but harder to do (getting
home from Antarctica)
Shackleton was in it for the long run
Are you in it for the long run?
Resources below;
Thanks
Callum