Yesterday, I had the chance to talk to Jonas Deichmann (https://jonasdeichmann.com), an extreme endurance cyclist and professional adventurer who holds five world records e.g. for the fastest crossing of the Panamericana from the Arctic Ocean in Alaska to Ushuaia, the most southern town in Argentina. He also holds the world record for the fastest trip from Cape North to Capetown. I reached Jonas in Vladivostok for an interview in our podcast Leaders Talk (https://anchor.fm/leadership-choices), where he got a little stuck during his current project, a triathlon around the world. He has completed swimming through the Adria and cycling through Turkey and all of Russia from West to East and is now looking for a ship to get him over to Mexico for 5.000km of running.
Cape to Cape
Foto: Philipp Hympendahl
Of course, Jonas has cycled through Sweden and Norway before and has been to the North Cape several times. He gave me some good tips regarding the route to choose “Stay away from the Baltic Sea … too much traffic and a lot of zig-zag for cyclists”. Well, when a guy like him gives you these hints, you better listen carefully. So, I have adapted my routing based on his recommendations, making it more scenic and remote.
About 30 years ago, two zis scholarships helped me to broaden my horizon, expand my understanding of what is possible, and develop more self-confidence. zis is a non-profit organization that has been awarding scholarships for study trips to young people between the ages of 16 and 20 for more than 60 years. Today, the word we use for tenacity and grit is resilience - and I've made it my profession, to help managers around the world to develop more of this inner power.
In retrospect, the experiences I've had on these trips to Scotland and Iceland have been priceless for my development. After having had a childhood with some challenges, I learned that I could cycle 1,700km on my own and get wet every day without despairing. I have learned that I was able to get along with only 300 € for 4 weeks and still had a good time. I have learned what it's like to be threatened with deportation and how to get an interview with the President from such a crisis. I have understood that limitations are primarily constructs in our heads, and I want to make these insights available to as many adolescents as possible.
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