Have you ever felt inspired to randomly do something you have never done before, just to see how it goes? That is what happened for Mike when he heard about the idea of a 12-hour walk in a webinar by Colin O’ Brady. Colin is the author of the book Impossible First, and he completed the amazing feat of trekking across Antarctica alone, pulling a 375-pound sled for 51 days in -40 degree weather. Colin created the 12 Hour Walk Challenge so that other people could overcome their limiting beliefs and cultivate what he calls, a Possible Mindset.
For this challenge, there are no distractions allowed, so no podcasts, no music, and no social media. The idea is to be alone with your thoughts and embrace whatever pops up for you. What is asking for your attention? Tune in to hear about Mike’s experience with the 12-Hour Walk Challenge.
Key Highlights:
- Why Mike felt inspired to do the 12-Hour Walk Challenge
- Background on the creator of the challenge: Colin O’Brady
- The purpose of the 12-Hour Walk Challenge
- Mike’s experience of completing the challenge
- What is something out there that you might not think to do but can easily do?
Links mentioned in the episode:
Get Colin’s book: The Impossible First
Check out the 12 Hour Walk Challenge
Thanks for tuning in!
Full transcript below.
Watch the video version of this episode:
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Transcript
Mike Malatesta (00:00):
On today’s episode of the How It Happened Podcast, I am talking about the 12 hour walk that I recently did something that I’d never thought about doing, but I was inspired to do it by, uh, a webinar featuring Colin O’Brady, uh, the Amazing Adventure and author of The Impossible. First, check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. Here it is.
(00:36):
Hey everybody, welcome back to the How To Happen Podcast. I’m Mike, and thank you for joining me for this solo episode that I’m calling 12 Hours of Me Time. Uh, I’ll be honest with you right off the bat, I am, uh, I like my me time. I like to have time by myself, and I’m very comfortable, uh, being, uh, alone with myself and doing things I like reading or writing or thinking. Um, it’s not that I’m, and I’m not saying I’m antisocial, so it’s not that I’m antisocial, but I’m not, I’m not an extraverted social person either. I am, like I say, I like my me time, but this, um, this is, this is this 12 hours of me time thing was a, was a weird thing that creeped up on me very quickly, had no idea I was going to do this. I heard about it, um, maybe a week or 10 days before I ended up doing it through, uh, this organization that I belonged to called Y P O, young President’s Organization.
(01:38):
So they had a webinar about this thing called a 12 hour Walk. And I was like, oh, that sounds kind of interesting. And when I looked into it, I said, oh, this, the guy who’s hosting it is Colin O’ Brady. And I’m not sure how I first heard about Colin O’ Brady, but during the pandemic, I did hear about Colin O’ Brady, and I bought, and I found his book, which is called The Impossible First, or one of his books. I grabbed it and I read it in a few days. So I remember, I remember the guy’s name, Colin O’ Brady, and the book, you should read it by the way, uh, it’s a New York Times bestseller, and, and it’s, it’s really, it really is, uh, is is a good book. It’s about his solo unsupported, uh, trek across Antarctica.
(02:25):
Uh, just him, uh, pulling, uh, at the beginning, at least a 375 pound sled for 51 days in minus 40 degree weather. So he, you know, landed in a helicopter or plane, I can’t remember. And then he alone, uh, he had a satellite phone, but otherwise, uh, alone, you know, made this, it’s a, it’s a, you know, you go to one point and then you come back and everything that you bring in, you have to take out. So every, you know, all of his bodily fluids, functions, they all have to come out so that the, the place is preserved and he is gotta, every night he’s gotta set up a, a tent and it takes hours and it’s, it’s just an amazing book. You should read it. And one thing I will say about it, cuz I need this too, but his wife was, you know, on the satellite phone and he could talk to her, uh, in the evening.
(03:17):
And she really, uh, did a great job of keeping him going. She not only helped him plan this and planned many of his adventures, but she kept him going. So, uh, I just wanted to make a shout out to her. I wish I remembered her name right now, but, and this solo trek across Antarctica, that’s this, just the tip of the iceberg for this guy’s, uh, achievements. Colin O’ Brady, uh, for example, he’s a 10 time world record holder in stuff like this, climbing the world’s highest peaks in rapid succession, uh, like faster than anyone else, and other, you know, simple stuff like that. Stuff that I will likely, um, never do. And the reason I think I won’t ever do it is cuz I have never run a marathon. I’ve never climbed a, you know, a big mountain. I’ve never swam across a channel.
(04:05):
I’ve never done anything that you would call a, a big adventure. And this guy’s done well, all of ’em, <laugh>, um, it seems like. So when I heard about his 12 hour walk idea, and by the way, he’s got a book on that and a, um, and an app too, A 12 hour walk, I believe it’s called. I was like, finally, you know, something I could do, uh, and I could do it in like right away. Because like I said, when I first heard about this, it was something that was occurring because it was an organized thing. Like the point of it was try to encourage the Y p O community to do this on a particular day, uh, a Saturday. So within a week of or so of hearing this, uh, at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning, I was out, uh, beginning my 12 hour walk.
(04:56):
And this 12 hour walk isn’t a race. And there there aren’t any rules. So it’s not like dogmatic in terms of, you know, start walking in, don’t stop for 12 hours. In fact, you’re encouraged to walk, um, not run, not speed, walk, uh, rest as often as you need to, um, eat, you know, stop, relax. Um, it’s really about the time, not about the miles. And Colin strongly encouraged you to walk without any distractions. So no phone calls, no texts, no emails, no music, no podcasts, no audio books, just you and silence or the sounds of whatever it is that’s populating the area that you are walking as simple as that. You just listen. You take in the sounds, you pay attention to what’s asking for your attention. Pay attention to what’s asking for your attention, gain some clarity. Have an epiphany maybe. And I thought it would be easy.
(06:03):
Like, I’m, like I said, I’ve never done any of those adventures, but I’m, I’m in decent shape. I, I, I move a lot. I walk a lot. And I thought, well, what, you know, 12 hours of walking is just putting one foot in front of the other 12 hours. So that’s gotta be easy, right? And I like being alone, as I mentioned already. So being alone, just walking, it’s, eh, that’s gonna be easy. But <laugh>, I’m almost embarrassed to say that a few hours in my hips, they started talking to me f a little bit. And, uh, I wasn’t expecting that. And so I rested and they quieted down. They, they kind of stopped talking to me, but by hour six, my legs, uh, were getting heavy <laugh> and my feet were now the ones that were doing the talking. And so I rested again and I, I, I ate, I had some eggs and bacon, and then, uh, I got back on the road and my minds and my spears perked up too, um, after I had that rest.
(07:01):
And I, but I, but it, but, but, but my feet <laugh>, my feet were still hurting. And so I came across a Walgreens, uh, drugstore on the path that I was on, and I broke down and bought a bottle of I, uh, ibuprofen. And I was like, I shouldn’t do this. I should just grid it out. And, but then I realized, I remembered that it’s not the purp, this isn’t a race, this isn’t a kill yourself thing, it’s spend 12 hours walking and I could re, I really needed the, the ibuprofen to keep walking. So I bought some, it helped a ton. My legs light and my feet, literally, I think they said, thank you, Mike. Thank you for doing that. If you like what I’m doing with this podcast and wanna participate in more of the things I’m thinking about and exploring, subscribe to my newsletter today.
(07:49):
It’s super simple. Just go to mike malta.com right now, put in your email and you will get the very next issue. It’s short, thoughtful, and designed to inspire, activate, and maximize the greatness in you. So again, after that, my mind and my spirits perked up again. And they had both been down in dumps, you know, not just because of the, the pain, but because, you know, I was kind of like calling for a distraction, you know, like, uh, like listening to a podcast or, or listening to Green Day, which is one of my favorite bands. You know, they were used to getting that, one of those when I walked. But today they were, um, my mind was just deprived of that. My spirits were deprived of it, but it wasn’t really deprivation, of course, it was just different. And when I made my way back to my driveway a little after six, so I started at six and I walked till six Vince, 12 hours, my feet were complaining again.
(08:43):
And my shoes were my, these sketchers that I love to walk in, they just were totaled by the end of this. And even like the smallest pebble that normally you would never feel, it felt like, you know, I felt it. And I felt like every part of the road, I’m not gonna say almost like I didn’t have shoes on, but it was, they, I had to throw ’em away. They were done. And what was cool when I got back my, we have a really long driveway and my wife had been tracking me on the iPhone, which she tends to do. And she and the dog were there to meet me, and they, and she gave me a kiss, and the sunset and the leaves fall colors were amazing. And it just, I don’t know, it just made the whole experience feel like something that was special.
(09:25):
And I don’t know that it was special. Like, I, I, I mean, I did, I did walk, you know, I was out there for 12 hours and 15 minutes or so, and I was moving for at least 10 and a half of those hours and I covered 22 miles or so, and it’s 65,000 plus or minus steps, which is the most I think I’ve ever gotten in my whole life. Cuz I obviously never walked 12 hours. <laugh>. Well, maybe I’ve walked 12 hours in a day, but not like that. And so I had these great feelings, like I made it and I had thoughts, like plenty of thoughts. I had thought so many things during the day. Um, I don’t think I had like a real epiphany and I was, I was, I wasn’t really searching for one, but I was hoping that an epiphany of some sort would come up.
(10:07):
But you know what, it doesn’t matter because I’m sure that something I learned or thought about or heard during that walk, uh, has inspired or influenced me in some positive way, um, in my life. So epiphany standpoint, not sure I’m still processing that, but I tell you this story because I must have been like, when I heard about this, I must have been looking for something, right? Because why else would I jump on this in such a short of time? I must have been looking for something like, and this maybe, you know, hit all the hit, hit all the right buttons or whatever because it was time when I was available. It was something I thought I could do. The weather was pretty decent that day too, so it was, that made it nice. I could get a route right out of my front door, uh, that would take me 12 hours and never be more than, uh, five miles say from my house.
(10:58):
So maybe it was all of those things coming together and that my wife was, you know, that Jamie was fine with me going for the day when I could have been spending that time with her or more of it with her. But it was so, I, I do believe there was something there. And I’m telling you this story, not to say so much that I did it, but to say to you, you know, what’s something out there that you might not ever think about doing but could easily do? And this is one of ’em. So I encourage you to check it out. 12 hour walk. You can find it very easily. Uh, check out Colin O’ Brady. Uh, you can find him very easily. I do encourage you to read his book or books because they’re good and he’s got a great story and I hope to have him on the podcast at some point to share his story with all of you.
(11:43):
So thank you for investing your time and energy in my podcast today. I hope that that investment was worth it and that you got a positive return on it. If you did, please consider following or subscribing to the podcast so that every episode comes to you automatically. Until next time, please maximize your greatness and make your future, your property, something you design and are proud to own. Thanks for listening to this episode of the How Did Happened podcast, where we believe that success doesn’t happen unless you make it happen. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast, Google podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you like to listen. And while you’re there, please rate it and leave a comment as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the show, ideas for future guests or whatever you’d like to share. And of course, you can always find me at MikeMalatesta.com. See you next time. Thanks again for listening to the How It Happened Podcast.
