Posts by Alex
How do we keep going when we can’t see the top?
How do we keep going when we can’t see the top of the mountain? I wish I had the answer. Perhaps the scariest thing is that nobody really does. Even as a motivational speaker, my own positivity levels have dwindled like the supermarket stocks of loo roll and flour recently. As an adventurer, I wrongly…
Read MoreFinding Your Reason to Change in 2020
Most of us are trying to change something. Get better at that. Move there. Earn more. Drive less. Give up that habit (…again). And so on. Then, at the end of the year we scoop up all the energy we have left, fuelled by our frustrations, and sketch a shiny new list of things we’re…
Read MoreHow to Get Started in Public Speaking
So, you want to get started in public speaking? Well done on embracing the most common phobia in America – with over 25% of us estimated to have a fear of public speaking, or glossophobia. It’s even estimated that fear of public speaking can even cut wages by 10%! As a professional speaker I often…
Read MoreThe endless pursuit of more – why are millennials burning out?
Being busy seems to be a badge of honour nowadays. It’s the automatic excuse for our daily routine of spinning so many plates, rushing around and over-committed. Sound familiar? This routine might seem average to many, and cries of “snowflake” spring to mind – but these expectations are exactly the problem. It’s often assumed that…
Read MoreRe-homed, Relapsed, and Running in the Right Direction
In seven days 40,000 people will hit the streets for London Marathon 2019; from the elites and record-breakers, to novices, first-timers and the Sunday plodders; the lifelong athletes and those who swapped pints and cigarettes for isotonic drinks and heart rate monitors. It will be my third marathon and I can’t wait. Lots has changed…
Read MoreWhy hitting the wall might be a wake-up call
Firstly, a happy new year to my followers, old and new. I hope 2019 is as good as you choose it to be. Whether you’ve ran a marathon or not, you’ve probably heard the phrase: “hitting the wall”. Wait! Don’t go… my first blog of 2019 isn’t all about running. Stop! Come back! … I’ve…
Read MoreFundraising Tips for a Sponsored Charity Challenge
Be it a marathon, cycle, hike, mountain, skydive, team challenge, volunteering project, or a sponsored silence (which my family are still encouraging) – the list goes on – more people than ever are taking on personal sponsored challenges as a means of raising money for charity. With so many issues in our world, these everyday…
Read MoreThe Mountains are Calling
In November last year, I received a message from Jonny Muir, an Edinburgh-based author and hill runner, asking if I would consider writing the foreword for his upcoming book, The Mountains are Calling. Jonny Muir was well known to me. We are the two members of a very exclusive club – only we know what…
Read MoreHow I Took on Mental Illness in a Marathon – and Won
Whether it’s London, Boston, Manchester or another, they say you can’t run a marathon without telling everyone. Each April brings a sudden spike in those joining the 26.2 mile club, where entry involves weeks and months on end, the heart-ache of injuries, ballot rejections and other setbacks. It’s a Marmite affair of physical endurance that…
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