2017 was a very good year, but...

At the end of each year I take some time to think about what I've accomplished over the last 12 months. The holidays are a great time for reflection. Besides bringing back some pleasant memories, doing it helps me learn from my mistakes. It helps me analyze situations where I could have done better. Some years I keep those notes to myself and others, like this time, I prefer to share them. 

2017 was a very good year in my personal and professional life. Although the outcome of every project and challenge was not the one I would have hoped for, when aiming big, the chance of failing is also significant. I often say that by definition an adventure has an uncertain outcome. But there's no way to succeed if you are not willing to take risks, even moderate ones. 

On the first half of this year I did an exceptional amount of running, from 5 km races to 250km multi-day ultra marathons and everything in between. I am very passionate about running and it's the physical activity I enjoy the most. For 10 years I wanted to take part in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. It's a very hilly 85+km ultra marathon and this year I finally made it to the start (and finish) line. I also ran the Geneva marathon and participated in Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert. There, I spent seven exciting days running in extreme heat and sleeping under the stars. Unfortunately, in June I injured my anterior tibial tendon and that haunted me for most of the second half of 2017. I had several setbacks in my recovery and, even now, I'm just I'm starting to run 12km and longer. It's been a long, slow process and from it I learned a few things:

-The injury came from doing too much over a short period of time. I have to be smarter when scheduling my races, giving myself enough time to recover.

-I have to be more patient and truly rest my body when I have an injury. And I have to get back to my training schedule in a more relaxed, intelligent way.

-As I age, my body will need more time to recover from injuries than it did years ago. I have to be conscious of this all the time. 

When it comes to paragliding and hike & fly races, I was selected to participate in Red Bull X-Alps 2017. What an experience it was! It took months of planning and training. The experience, although short, was absolutely worth it. Sadly, I started the race with my anterior tibial tendon injury. By the second day I could barely walk and even pushing my foot against the harness during flight was agonizing. When I  was eliminated, I focused on my recovery but it took me three months to be able to run again. Still, I competed in paragliding races in India, France and Mexico. The joy of flying is hard to explain to someone that hasn't experienced it. I'm grateful that I was able to spend so much time in the air. The things that I would do differently:

-Train smarter. All the running that I thought would get me ready for X-Alps ended up being too much and overtraining lead to a complicated and stubborn injury.

Another big challenge I had in 2017 was swimming across the English Channel. You can check my previous blog posts to read about this adventure. The most positive thing I got from it is that now I love swimming when, at the beginning, it was something I dreaded. I will head back to Dover in 2019 and try again. Some of the things I will change are:

-Dedicate even more time to building up speed while swimming, so the effects of the currents will be less significant.

-Go on a much better spot during the neap tide. I was 4th in line this year and now I'm scheduled for 2nd in line for September of 2019.

-Get a better coach, one that will be more involved in my training, and a much better boat pilot. I'm not blaming anyone other than myself not making it this year but I can see that my choices were poor.

As for mountaineering, after dedicating so much time to climbing over the last few years, I decided to give myself a break from big climbs during 2017. That's how I was able to spend so much time running, paragliding and swimming.  I was still able to go on a special climb in the Himalayas with Tshering Dorjee Sherpa last October. My lesson here is:

-It's ok to take a break and enjoy other things. To give life some balance. The mountains will be waiting and I will go back with much more energy and passion.

For 2018 I have the most ambitious mountaineering project I've ever set for myself and I will be talking about it very soon.

An area where everything went much better than planned: my philanthropic endeavors. I prefer not to go into details here but I'm very pleased with the time and resources I've put into helping others this year. 

 This may sound surprising to others but the most challenging side of 2017 was, as it has been over the years, the way I interact to other people. Because of Asperger's Syndrome, some interactions with other people are difficult for me. Social skills that are inherent in others are unnatural to me. For reasons that I can't understand, people come and go from my life. Even people that I would like to remain close to tend to drift away. Since I don't have those social skills, can't figure out a pattern of why it happens. In any case, I will continue trying to keep a close relationship with the exceptional people that come into my life from time to time. I will strive to build stronger, long-lasting personal relationships with them. 

No year is perfect. But they don't really have to be perfect. Things that are out of our control will derail our plans, but how we react is up to us. 2017 was a very good year for me and I hope it was for you too. Life still continues to be a great adventure. A very exciting and rewarding adventure.

About personal motivation and sponsorship

One of the questions I get asked most often is if I have sponsors to support me on my expeditions and travels. The answer is no. But then comes the essential follow up question, "Why not have some company pay you for doing all that?" and giving an answer that can please them is not as simple. Last weekend I read a book by motivational speaker Art Berg called "The Impossible Just Takes A Little Longer". There I found the perfect story to explain why I wouldn't take sponsorships:

I recall my father telling me the story of an older man who had trouble with some of the younger kids in his neighborhood. Every day, a group of teenagers would come by his home and throw rocks at it. The old man did everything he could to stop the mischievous boys from throwing those rocks. He called the police, called the boys’ parents, and shouted threats at the boys from his porch. Nothing he did seemed to stop their behavior. In contrast, the young men seemed more encouraged than ever to keep throwing.

In desperation, the old man met with the boys and struck a deal. “Boys, I want you to know I’ve changed my mind about how I’ve been feeling,” he said. “I have come to enjoy you throwing rocks at my home. For that reason, I am willing to pay each of you a dollar every day that you throw rocks at my house.” Although bewildered, the boys enthusiastically agreed and began to show up each day at the appointed time to throw the rocks. As understood, the old man happily paid them a dollar each. This went on for a few days, and then the old man approached the boys and said, “I have been having some financial troubles lately and I can no longer afford to pay you each a dollar. Would you be willing to consider fifty cents?” After conferring with each other, the boys reluctantly agreed to keep throwing rocks at his house for just fifty cents each. 

Then another few days went by before the old man approached the boys with more bad news. “Boys, I have really fallen on some financial hard times. I cannot afford to pay you fifty cents a day. However, I could still pay you each a dime for throwing the rocks.” The boys exchanged glances and then one of them abruptly said, “There is no way we are going to throw rocks at your house for only a dime apiece.” And with that, they left and never came back.

What happened? Before, the boys were willing to throw rocks for nothing. They were "internally" motivated by the sense of adventure, variety, bonding, element of risk, and desire to belong. When they began accepting money for throwing rocks, their motivation slowly shifted to external resources - financial reward. In a short time, they forgot why they ever did it to begin with. When the financial rewards were eliminated, their motivation was gone.

This little story explains exactly the way I feel. With sponsorships, there comes a time when even the simplest hobby becomes a job. The motivation changes from internal to external. I would never judge other athletes that do it but it's just not for me. 

Simply put, my motivation is to live a unique and exciting life full of meaningful experiences and sharing them with others. I'm grateful and proud to be able to do it by my own means.