There’s a verse in the Gospel of Matthew that - regardless of your religious beliefs - we would do well to remember when we find our feet getting a little too big for our boots:
The Royal Marines description of me as happy-go-lucky is good for many things, but somehow it doesn’t wash with university applications.And with my mediocre A level results I was getting a hefty numbe...
Sometimes you have just got to tackle these mountains head-on.
Since we were on Everest, many other climbers have succeeded on the big one as well. She has now been scaled by a blind man, a guy with prosthetic legs, and even by a young Nepalese teenager.Don’t be...
Shara met me at the airport in London, dressed in her old familiar blue woolen overcoat that I loved so much. She was bouncing like a little girl with excitement.Everest was nothing compared to seeing...
People always value others who really listen to them. Quiet, considered and genuine listening is such a gift to give someone, and you will become recognized and loved for this skill.It is always empow...
My Everest story would be incomplete if I didn’t give final credit to the Sherpas who had risked their lives alongside us every day.Pasang and Ang-Sering still climb together as best friends, under th...
Life has taught me to be very cautious of a man with a dream, especially a man who has teetered on the edge of life. It gives a fire and recklessness inside that is hard to quantify. It can also make...
Just before my accident, I had met a great girl who was a student at Cambridge.With my newly found wheels, I used to ride like a lunatic up the motorway to see her after our final evening parade at th...
It’s not rocket science: the rewards go to the dogged.
If the person you’re speaking to will think worse or less of the person you’re speaking about, then it’s gossip, so cut it out!
If people ask me today what I love about climbing mountains, the real answer isn’t adrenaline or personal achievement. Mountains are all about experiencing a shared bond that is hard to find in normal...
I remember once in the Arctic, when we were attempting to cross the frozen North Atlantic in a small, open rigid inflatable boat (RIB), that I heard that voice very clearly.We had been caught out in a...
I love the quote she once gave me: When supply seems to have dried up, look around you quickly for something to give away. It is a law of the universe: to get good things you must first give away good...
I also believe strongly in the powerful words: I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference. They are good ones to live by.The big, final motivator was that I really wasn’t enjo...
Give to friends who do amazing jobs but who earn very little, give to charities that move you, give to those the world overlooks, give as your heart tells you - and learn to listen to it.And by all me...
Eton’s great strength is that it does encourage interests--however wacky. From stamp collecting to a cheese-and-wine club, mountaineering to juggling, if the will is there than the school will help yo...
And if you give your heart to a goal, it will repay you. It's the law of the universe.
Among these have been an unhealthy number of near-death moments, many of which I look back on now and wince. But I guess our training in life never really ends--and experience is always the best tutor...
Well, obviously the £1,000,000 one is 10,000 times faster than the £100 one. Right? That’s clearly ridiculous. Is it even ten times faster? No way. Twice as fast? Unlikely. At best, the difference is...