We Will Never Be This Age Again

In the lead up to my 1400km run through Thailand, I spoke with my Dad to tell him what I was taking on, and even in my late 50’s, I was still looking for his encouragement and approval. I guess I wanted to know that he was proud of me. “What the bloody hell are you doing that for? You realise you’re not young anymore”, and that was as good as it got when it came to his support. I was hoping for more, but not surprised by the response.

To be fair, taking on a 1400km run, without a history of running at the age of 57, probably wasn’t the best time to start, but it was the only time I could start. I couldn’t wind back the clock and give myself five or ten years of building endurance running into my legs. It was either start then or not at all.

I would run 60kms a day for 26 days in the heat and humidity of Thailand. There was no certainty of success, there was no certainty I would make it through the first week, or even the first couple of days. My coach, Matty Abel, had said to me, “the highest failure rate of these multi day events occurs within the first 3 days”. The one certainty that did exist before I started the run was that I couldn’t succeed, I couldn’t cross the finish line if I didn’t start. Was 57 too old to start ultra endurance running? We would find out.

Perhaps if I had taken the run on years or decades earlier, I mightn’t have had the resilience that we build over time facing challenges and hard times. I doubt I would have had the commitment and purpose that drove me to the finish line.

You will never be this age again, so we should do what makes us happy. Don’t wait for permission, don’t wait for the time to be right to do the things you want to do, and don’t wait until you have all of the answers to all of the questions. The uncertainty, the discovery along the journey, it is all part of the magic.

When is the right time to -

• Toe the line for the marathon you’ve dreamt of running;

• Ride the mountains of the Dolomites; or

• Shop in the boutiques under the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe

It might not be now, yet there is no certainty that waiting will present us with the opportunity to do the things we want to do. I spent decades dealing in my professional career with death, destruction and the worst of humanity. What I took from that was each day we have is a gift. The friends, the family, even the challenges we face, they too are a gift.

In my keynote Together We Can, I talk about the growth we experience from taking action without waiting for permission.

For me, that is where leadership becomes real.

Not in what we intend to do one day.

But in what we choose to do now.