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Channel / Source:
TEDx Talks
Published: 2017-07-11
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo_lZiytsMw
I'm here today to talk to you about overcoming the biggest obstacle you'll ever face let me take you on a journey was the middle of the night almost a year ago I struggled to brief each step taking longer than the last I fought my way upward at the cruising altitude of a commercial airliner focus I thought keep pushing forward the combination of a hundred thirty days
of consecutive climbing the negative sixty degree wind chill the actual physiological state of my body fighting back at twenty eight thousand feet on Mount Everest summit ridge was pushing me to my breaking point get a hold of yourself Colin I desperately tried to regain control of my mind doubts fear and pain swirled in my thoughts one step at a time I thought in apparent days a
chair appeared in the snow in front of me blaring in and out of my vision one step at a time I thought these labored steps reminded me of steps I'd taken before steps they'd given me a new lease on life steps that would bring me to my knees yet simultaneously each me life's greatest lesson my mind flashed back ten years ago I had just graduated from
college it was time to let loose see the world took my life savings from three summers painting houses the backpack in a surfboard and set off to the world for an adventure with no itinerary afterall adventures just bad planning right three months of the journey I found myself on a beach in rural Thailand it was a beautiful evening I was watching fire dancers in amazement and
I decided to partake in the fun jumping a flaming jump rope because you know I was twenty two years old and invincible in an instant my life changed the rope wrapped around my legs and ignited my body completely on fire survival mode kicked in when I needed it most and with one last breath an ounce of courage I dove into the ocean a few steps away
extinguish the flames then darkness silence I work in a one room nursing station to look down finding my body completely bandaged what if I'd done I thought I had been severely burned well must've been at least twenty four hours later I awoke leaving a surgery room in a small ice you were there was a cat running across my chest and around my bed hammering home the
fact that I was far from home in a dire set of circumstances being it's unsanitary hospital can kill me and the pain searing pain was unimaginable if the morphing they kept giving it giving me made it feel like there was insects calling over my skin I couldn't tell which was worse I just wanted to give up I was downward spiraling faxed ready to quit thankfully five
days in this ordeal my mother arrived three my protector I know now she's just as afraid as I was but she chose never show me her fear instead she came in a hospital room every single day with a smile on her face and air of positivity daring to dream about the future she kept asking me questions like Cohen well you want to do to get out
of here set a goal my immediate response mom I'm screwed the doctor said I might never walk again normal what hope do I have life as I know it is over but her positivity was unrelenting and infectious and three days after she arrived she was sitting on my bedside and I announced my goal mom when I get out of here no one day compete in a
triathlon not something I'd ever done before and looking down at my legs it seemed rather unrealistic both the tear in her eyes she nodded and wrapped me in her arms as only a mother can it was many more weeks until I was released from that high hospital I still hadn't taken a single step I was carried on and off the plane and place no wheelchair when
I got back here to Portland the next morning I was in my mother's kitchen my mom said to me are calling no no you've got this big truffle uncle today your goal is to take your first she then grabbed a chair from our kitchen table and placed it one step in front of my wheelchair you need to figure out how to get out of your wheelchair
step in that chair it took me three hours that day to work up the courage and strength take that first step but I did the next issue move the chair five steps away and the next day ten each day I could take a few more steps until finally after many weeks I regain my ability to walk and then one day chock chalking felt like flying Johnny
was a far cry from running a truffle so for the next eighteen months I grinded with my goal in mind and finally a year and a half after my accident it was time for me to take a shot my dream I showed up in Chicago to compete in a triathlon I dove into Lake Michigan to swim the first mile I got on my bike for a
twenty five miles put my shoes on and ran six point two miles to the finish crossing the finish line I had done it I had achieved my goal and there was one more surprise in store for me that day I have just finished the race I had one thank you placing first of more than four thousand apart the first thing I thought about what those months
in the hospital imagining what would have my mom not forced me to set a measurable goal through this tragedy had learned invaluable lesson I had learned that life will test this was set backs but the situations are permanent we have full control of our choices to keep moving forward one step at a time I had learned that we all have reservoirs of untapped potential we can
achieve great things the biggest thing standing in our way our own minds for the next six years I competed as a professional triathlete in twenty five countries and then in the fall of twenty fourteen I found myself at the summit of Ecuador's third tallest mountain with a diamond ring in my pocket asking my longtime girlfriend Jenna to marry me I don't know if it was the
lack of oxygen to bring to the altitude but %HESITATION she said yes autumn inspired by the mountains around us and wanting to set a goal larger than ourselves we set a goal together I would attempt to set a world record for the explores grand slam with the larger purpose of inspiring kids everywhere to dream big to set goals to live active healthy lives we clean up
project beyond seven to it explores grand slam includes climbing the seven summits which is the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents as well as completing expeditions to both the north and south poles fewer than fifty people in history had ever completed the grand slam and I would aim to be the fastest it took over a year of hard work for both Jen and I
to put our dream to reality but finally was time for me to leave on the adventure Jenna ever steady at the home of the expedition logistics and running a nonprofit I set off for the mountains first destination Antarctica a tiny little plane landed me on the frozen continent the landscape was desolate and surreal it felt like standing inside the belly of a ping pong ball white
in all directions in the cold the cold was something I'd never experienced before average temperature negative forty degrees it was so cold they took a Cup of boiling water and threw it into the air and it immediately turned into ice after battling is extreme conditions for the next week I arrived at the South Pole and from there the journey continued onwards next I climbs Mount Vinson
then Aconcagua they Kilimanjaro and finally after a Hundred Days I'd completed seven of the nine expeditions to complete the explores grand slam and I arrived at Mount Everest base camp after three weeks on Mount Everest I had slowly clawed my way up to the highest camp before the summit camp for the muscles in my legs felt like ice cold and hard my head was pounding my
eyes were bulging my face was swollen in any normal circumstance this worn a trip to the doctors but there were no doctors around besides I knew exactly what was happening I have read all the literature on Mount Everest but nothing can truly prepare you for what is known as the death so of of twenty six thousand feet an altitude with the human body cannot survive for
long as darkness fell the wind kicked up I was exhausted and claustrophobic in my tent I was scheduled to leave for the summit at midnight I was terrified doing the only thing I could think of to try to calm my mind down I reach for my satellite phone and I called Jena and in incredible moment of bravery Jenna set aside her own justifiable fears and told
me exactly what I needed to hear she said calling people are going to summon on Everest tonight and there's no reason you can't be one of them go inside your body listen face your fears I know you can do it and with her words in tow I set off for the summit bring us back full circle to where I began this talk in the darkness my
headlamp only illuminated the few steps in front of me focus one step at a time I begin counting my steps one to ten steps could've fooled me Philip ten mile I felt my body giving up I was hopeful that the daylight might give me some strength after a long night of climbing the sunrise only illuminated the two mile drop off on either side of me I
was again being tested by the biggest obstacle of all my mind but this time I wasn't alone Janice worse filled my head my mom's words filled my head remembering those labored steps after my accident filled my head strengthened by those thoughts my mind set shifted and my body for got its weakness I felt the surge of energy each step taken the close of the summit after
a few more hours of hard work I teased out on the most magnificent view from the top of the world we only timbers fans out there who is going to bring a little hometown love with me up there with the two scar from the summit of Everest after safely descending back down to camp for crawling into my tent I reach my phone again to call John
how you feeling she said who exhausted but I did it no frostbite no injuries I'm good she then said something I will never forget she said Collin I need you to put your boots back on life it had literally just taken me more than an hour take my boots off and crawl back into my tent explain since you been doing some calculations back home and it
just so happened that I get to the summit of Denali my last mountain next week I guess that not one but two world records he said I need you to put your boots back on now climb back down to base camp there's a helicopter that it's gonna take you to Katmandu there's not enough time for a hotel room or take a shower but %HESITATION evening flight
will take you from Dubai to Seattle to encourage you about three days to come to know in that moment I could only laugh and right in that moment I was forced to wipe the slate clean and somehow just a hundred hours after standing on the summit of Mount Everest we executed Jenna's plan and I arrived at the base of the knowledge my final mounted the next
three days were quite honestly the hardest of the entire project I spelling extreme fatigue and make matters worse Alaska dumped a huge windstorm on me fifty mile per hour winds minus sixty degree wind chill making the battle and earn each step but with one last step on the evening of may twenty seventh twenty sixteen I arrive to the summit of Denali setting to New World records
for the explores grand slam Jen and I together compass seemingly and local and even better millions of kids were able to share on the journey in the accomplishment with us the social media sharing with us their own goals in their own dreams for the few I carry this rock with me every day a small rock from the summit of Mount Everest this rock since the moment
I chose to keep pushing forward this rock stands for my untapped potential as I set new goals and ultimately encounter obstacles this rock reminds me that even Mount Everest can be broken down to its smallest parts a bunch of small rocks stacked on top of each other many steps leading to the summit maybe right now you're struggling in your own day to day life doing over
wound like it's just too much or maybe you have a great idea for a business you want to start or innovation at your current job but people keep telling you it's not possible or maybe you've been badly injured in an accident you're not sure that you can recover from you see tragedy and other great obstacles before all of us in these moments our minds are flooded
with doubt we ask ourselves questions like should I give up is this even possible or why me leading us to a negative mindset but we don't have to stay there the only question that we have when facing great obstacles is how do you respond you have a choice and when you shift your mind set towards a positive you will quickly realize that there is a reservoir
of untapped potential waiting to be released by you look I'm just a regular guy from Portland but I can confidently tell you this achievement is not for the select few achievement is simply for those who never quit it is for those who set goals it is for those who put the most steps in front of the other achievement as for those who can overcome the greatest
obstacle of all the mind so set a goal take the first steps chairs right in front of you and when your steps get you there push the chair further we feel like giving up put your boots back on let go of fear remember the story remember this rock and watch is your rocks stack up to the summit of your Mount Everest thank you very much
