Monday, January 6, 2014

My mind-shifting Everest swim:Lewis Pugh

Rating: ***** After finishing a swim in the North Pole, Lewis Pugh thought he would never do anything like it again. Then, he heard of a lake in the Himalayas created by the melting of the glaciers from climate change. This swim made him realize that speed and aggression may not only be the way to conquer things. He finished the swim of the North Pole successfully, with speed, controlled aggression and listening to his iPod right before the swim. Right below the summit of Mt.Everest, he had planned to do the same. He dove into the water, but after the first 100 meters, he could not breathe and started to vomit. After trying to continue with a few more strokes, he sunk to the bottom of the lake. Somehow, he was able to push off the shallow bottom towards the edge of the lake where his team helped him and took him back to camp. He had learnt in the debrief with his team, that he needs to forget everything he knows about swimming, speed and aggression. Instead of swimming fast, swim as slow as possible. Instead of swimming crawl, swim breast stroke, and instead of swimming with aggression, swim with humility. He had to make a radical tactical shift to complete this swim. He completed the swim slowly, but successfully. His team of sherpas taught him two lessons. First, just because something has worked in the past, doesn't mean it will always work in the future. Secondly,to always ask yourself what type of mind set you need to complete a task. He related this to climate change. We have been living the way we have for so long, but that doesn't mean we can't change the way we treat our environment. He ends with asking the audience what radical tactical shift we can make to ensure that generations ahead have a safe environment to live in. Overall, this TED Talk has affected me very much in a positive way. It has made me think of what radical tactical shift I can make for the environment or even other things in life. Before going head first into a situation, making sure I have the right mind set to be successful. It made me realize that sometimes you have to rethink what you are doing for order to make things work. Pugh, Lewis. "Lewis Pugh: My mind-shifting Everest swim." TED: Ideas worth spreading. TEDGlobal2010, n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.

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