Sir Ranulph Fiennes, officially recognised as “the world’s greatest living explorer” in 1984, became the first person in history to circumnavigate the globe overland on its polar axis. To this day this feat has never been repeated. Beyond this, he was also the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means, and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot.
Despite all his incredible accomplishments, Fiennes remains incredibly humble. His journey to becoming an explorer emerged initially from a need to make money once he left the British Army. His late wife was the one to suggest breaking polar records, and together they worked unpaid for seven years, determined they would succeed. They made a living working in bars at weekends and over those seven years successfully acquired over 1,900 sponsors.
But perhaps one of the more unexpected challenges to overcome was persevering despite negative comments from onlookers. Despite the doubters who were taking bets on how far they’d make it. Fiennes had to be prepared. Research everything he could about why other people failed so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes. So they would prove the doubters wrong.
Fiennes places great value on teams and choosing the right people to be by your side. People with a positive attitude, not those who are going to bring you down. He talks about the inner voice inside his head on expeditions that tells him to give up. To stop. His ‘weak voice’ as he calls it. Fiennes fights this voice by imagining his dad and his grandad are watching, and so he pushes on to make them proud.
Fiennes’ achievements as an explorer serve as inspiration to adventurers and dreamers worldwide. He reminds us to follow those dreams and not let anyone else change that course. You are in charge, you choose your destination.
