or something appears to be out of
control, he maintains his calmness
and patience. Let's face it: getting
ready for a 6-month swim across the
Pacific Ocean takes a lot of planning
and coordinating. Sometimes, it feels
as though things are not moving at
all. Still, the checklist is huge and all
the "i's" must be dotted and the "t's"
crossed. With this kind of planning,
you do not really see much progress
up front. When I got involved with
The Longest Swim, I had no idea
that there was so much planning.
I kept hearing the producers talk
about things that needed to be done
first. To my surprise, I never saw any
sign of worry on Ben's face. Instead,
he tends to look at his watch to see
how much time he has until he starts
his next task. His focus is always
on what he can do now that he has
control of. By the way, dictionary.
com defines the word, "patient" as
"bearing provocation, annoyance,
misfortune, delay, hardship, and pain
with fortitude and calm and without
complaint, anger, or the like." It's easy
to say, "I think I can do that," but, the
key is to take action.
paSSionate.
more importantly, he has the desire
to help others realize their potential.
When we tell ourselves that we cannot
do something, we immediately fail.
When Ben talks about swimming
the Pacific Ocean 8-hours a day for
6 months, he understands that this
is a huge task that no human being
has successfully accomplished, but
that is not the first thing that comes
to his mind. He understands that it is
achievable when you train your mind
to look only at what is achievable
now and keep going. That kind of
mindset helps him realize his dream
we break the big piece into smaller
pieces, we are able to manage the
small pieces one at a time. It is a lot
easier to worry about the little pieces
than about the whole pie. Are you
passionate about anything? You could
follow Ben on twitter or Facebook
and learn how he does it.
when the time comes, he is ready
for the long-awaited, longest swim.
Because he cares, he has devoted
a great amount of time to training.
He wants the swim to be a success,
and that is important. Think about it.
His goal is to inspire you to not give
know that anything is possible if you
set your mind to it. So, it is safe to
assume that he does not want to fail,
but more importantly, he hopes that
you get his message of inspiration and
commitment. Ben has committed 6
months of his time to swimming
across the Pacific Ocean in order to
inspire. When was the last time you
cared about anything and committed
your effort to it? The key thing is to
not compare yourself to someone
but to focus on what it is you want
to accomplish. But, you have to care
enough and be passionate about it.
of importance to you. You have to
desire a change or improvement in
something. Swimming across the
Pacific Ocean matters to Ben because
it is something he has always wanted
to do. It matters to him that you not
get discouraged or give up because
you lost your job, your house, or your
loved one, or that you have come to
the end of the road. If he can give
you the courage to go on and keep
your head up, then he will swim and
hopefully put you back on track. Does
that matter to you?