Conquering the world’s greatest expeditions with “The Adventure Psychologist” Paula Reid #9
Amassing a wealth of life experiences is important to equip you with the tools to face the next challenge that life throws at you. Having achieved feats that most will never consider attempting, few people know this better than “The Adventure Psychologist” Paula Reid.
From camping in India among tigers at the mere age of 15 to completing the 1000km trek to the South Pole, with every challenge Paula faces she continues to live her life to the full. In this truly awesome episode of Extrology, Paula joins Lee Cooper to recall some of her most gruelling expeditions, how they taught her to live her life to the fullest, and what to expect from her next philanthropic endeavour.
Lee & Paula discuss:
Learning cultural differences on international travels
The difference between surviving, coping, and thriving
How pressure brings the best out of us
Preparing for an unknown challenge
Advice for people wanting to achieve something incredible
Links & references:
Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/
Paula Reid: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepaulareid/
The Adventure Psychologist: www.theadventurephychologist.com
Paula Reid’s Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paula-Reid/e/B009T9B7GO/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Get in touch: lee@extrology.com
Episode highlights:
“There was also a girl at school when I was about 13, who influenced me in what many parents would say would be the wrong way. So I went from being a goody-two-shoes to a rebel at school, and started to smoke and skive and wear stilettos with her, so I think she was quite an influence on me and took me off that very beaten path” - 4:34 - Paula Reid
“There was a lot that went wrong, there were even tigers around where we were camping, but I quite calmly became a bit of a leader during it. And that's when I realised that I had the capacity somehow to cope with all the strangeness and the ‘foreignness’ of this exotic land, and all the challenges and uncertainties that came with it, which is how I define adventure.” - 9:16 - Paula Reid
“I think with some of the challenges or expeditions that people do, just knowing that you can is huge. So rather than thinking you can't, or being limited by a smaller world, I think it was an early door opener for me, both mentally and physically.” - 11:24 - Paula Reid
“I believe in living life to the full. I'm not sure if there is life after death, but I do want there to be life before death. The more extreme and enriching and different the experiences are that I can have, the more I think I'm living life and learning and growing and developing.” - 18:29 - Paula Reid
“When they asked me at first, I was just doing it for the experience. My aim was to survive and not kill anybody to be honest! Not having sailed and taking off in a 45 tonne boat in a force 10 gale is pretty dangerous. So actually, my aim initially was just to survive. But really, it was for the experience.” - 22:38 - Paula Reid
“So suddenly, you're in the Southern Ocean, near Cape Horn, with 22m waves in the freezing conditions, 4 crew down, 3000 miles behind, and it's Christmas. It couldn't get much worse, as they say worse things happen at sea, right. However, I wouldn't have missed that for the world. Because it was such a rich experience.” - 26:04 - Paula Reid
“Although I do a lot of physical challenges, I quite like the mental challenges too. So that's why I've done a couple of degrees. And when you write a book, it's a lovely mental challenge, rather than a physical one.” - 36:14 - Paula Reid
“If you're taking on a venture or a challenge or an expedition, you should go knowingly, otherwise you've been reckless. So going knowingly into the unknown, you do your best to prepare beforehand, and then you leap off into that challenging situation.” - 45:24 - Paula Reid
“If you've achieved something in another event or country or trip, you can generally transfer similar approaches or skills or kit to the next trip.” - 49:19 - Paula Reid
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