In this epic Talk, Colin O’Brady, explains his journey back from a tragic burn accident only to ascend to the 7 tallest mountains and two poles on earth – in world record time.
His idea is centered around mindfulness and how one can achieve anything no matter the circumstances.
Colin, a native of Portland, is a testament to mindfulness, setting audacious goals and achieving them despite overwhelming odds. Last year, Colin set two world records: He became the fastest person ever to complete both the Seven Summits (climbing the highest peak on every continent) and the Explorers Grand Slam (the Seven Summits + skiing to the last degree of the North and South Poles). He completed the challenges in 131 and 139 days, respectively. His nonprofit, Beyond 7/2, strives to inspire kids to lead active, healthy lives and pursue their biggest dreams.
Change Your Mindset and Achieve Anything | Colin O’Brady | TEDxPortland
Transcripts of the Video:
0:12
I’m here today to talk to you about
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overcoming the biggest obstacle you’ll
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ever face let me take you on a journey
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was the middle of the night almost a
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year ago I struggled to breathe each
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step taking longer than the last I
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fought my way upward at the cruising
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altitude of a commercial airliner focus
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I thought keep pushing forward the
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combination of a hundred and thirty days
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of consecutive climbing the negative
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60-degree windchill in the actual
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physiological state of my body fighting
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back at 28,000 feet on Mount Everest
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summit ridge was pushing me to my
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breaking point
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get ahold of yourself Colin I
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desperately tried to regain control of
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my mind but doubts fear and pain swirled
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in my thoughts one step at a time I
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thought in an apparent daze a chair
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appeared in the snow in front of me
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blurring in and out of my vision one
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step at a time I thought these labored
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steps reminded me of steps I had taken
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before steps that had given me a new
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lease on life steps that would bring me
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to my knees yet simultaneously teach me
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life’s greatest lesson my mind flashed
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back ten years ago I had just graduated
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from college it was time to let loose to
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see the world
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I took my life savings from three
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summers painting houses packed a
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backpack in a surfboard and set off into
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the world for an adventure with no
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itinerary after all adventure is just
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bad planning right three months into the
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journey I found myself on a beach in
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rural Thailand it was a beautiful
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evening
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I was watching fire dancers in amazement
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and I decided to partake in the fun
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jumping a flaming jump rope because you
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know I was 22 years old and invincible
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in an instant my life changed the rope
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wrapped around my legs and ignited my
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body completely on fire
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survival mode kicked in when I needed it
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most and with one last breath and ounce
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of courage I dove into the ocean a few
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steps away to extinguish the flames then
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darkness silence I awoke in a one-room
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nursing station to look down finding my
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body completely bandaged what have I
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done I thought I had been severely
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burned well must have been at least 24
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hours later I awoke leaving a surgery
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room in a small ICU where there was a
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cat running across my chest and around
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my bed hammering home the fact that I
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was far from home and in a dire set of
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circumstances being in this unsanitary
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hospital could kill me and the pain the
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searing pain was unimaginable yet the
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morphine they kept giving it and giving
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me made it feel like there was insects
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crawling over my skin I couldn’t tell
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which was worse I just wanted to give up
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I was downward spiraling fast ready to
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quit thankfully five days in this ordeal
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my mother arrived to be my protector I
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know now she was just as afraid as I was
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but she chose to never show me her fear
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instead she came into my hospital room
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every single day with a smile on her
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face and an air of positivity daring me
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to dream about the future she kept
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asking me questions like : what do you
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want to do and get out of here let’s set
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a goal my immediate response mom I’m
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screwed the doctors say I may never walk
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again normally what hope do I have life
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as I know it is over
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but her positivity was unrelenting and
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infectious in three days after she
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arrived she was sitting on my bedside
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and I announced my goal
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mom when I get out of here I’m gonna one
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day compete in a triathlon not something
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I never done before and looking down at
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my legs it seemed rather unrealistic but
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with a tear in her eyes she nodded and
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wrapped me in her arms as only a mother
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can it was many more weeks until I was
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released from that ty hospital I still
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hadn’t taken a single step I was carried
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on and off the plane and placed in a
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wheelchair when I got back here to
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Portland the next morning I was in my
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mother’s kitchen and mom said to me all
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right Collin now I know you’ve got this
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big triathlon goal but today your goal
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is to take your first step she then
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grabbed a chair from our kitchen table
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and placed it one step in front of my
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wheelchair you need to figure out how to
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get out of your wheelchair and step into
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that chair it took me three hours that
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day to work up the courage and strength
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to take that first step but I did it the
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next day she had moved the chair five
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steps away and the next day ten each day
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I could take a few more steps until
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finally after many weeks I regained my
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ability to walk and then one day jog
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jogging felt like flying
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but jogging was a far cry from running a
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triathlon so for the next 18 months I
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grinded with my goal in mind and finally
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a year and a half after my accident it
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was time for me to take a shot at my
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dream I showed up in Chicago to compete
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in the triathlon I dove into Lake
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Michigan to swim the first mile I got on
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my bike rode 25 miles put my shoes on
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and ran 6.2 miles to the finish crossing
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the finish line I had done it I had
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achieved my goal and there was one more
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surprise in store for me that day I
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hadn’t just finished the race I had won
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thank you placing first out of more than
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4,000 other participants the first thing
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I thought about were those months in the
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hospital imagining what would have
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happened had my mom not forced me to
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look towards the future and set a
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measurable goal through his tragedy I’d
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learned an invaluable lesson I had
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learned that life will test us with
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setbacks but these situations aren’t
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permanent we have full control of our
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choices to keep moving forwards one step
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at a time I had learned that we all have
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reservoirs of untapped potential it can
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achieve great things
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the biggest thing standing in our way
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our own minds for the next six years I
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competed as a professional triathlete in
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25 countries and then in the fall of
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2014 I found myself at the summit of
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Ecuador’s third tallest mountain with a
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diamond ring in my pocket asking my
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longtime girlfriend Jenna to marry me
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I don’t know if it was the lack of
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oxygen to her brain to the altitude but
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she said yes a lot and inspired by the
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mountains around us and wanting to set a
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goal larger than herself we set a goal
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together I would attempt to set a world
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record for the Explorers Grand Slam with
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the larger purpose of inspiring kids
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everywhere to dream big to set goals to
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live active healthy lives we coined our
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project beyond 7:00 – now the Explorers
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Grand Slam includes climbing the Seven
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Summits which is the tallest mountain on
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each of the seven continents as well as
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completing expeditions to both the North
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and South Poles fewer than 50 people in
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history had ever completed the Grand
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Slam and I would aim to be the fastest
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it took over a year of hard work for
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both Jenna and I to put our dream into
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reality but finally it was time for me
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to leave on the adventure Jenna ever
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steady at the helm of the expedition
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logistics and running our nonprofit I
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set off for the mountains first
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destination Antarctica a tiny little
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plane landed me onto the frozen
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continent the landscape was desolate and
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surreal it felt like standing inside the
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belly of a ping pong ball white in all
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directions and the cold the cold was
9:00
something I’d never experienced before
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average temperature negative 40 degrees
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it was so cold that I took a cup of
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boiling water and threw it into the air
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and it immediately turned into ice after
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battling these extreme conditions for
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the next week I arrived at the South
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Pole and from there the journey
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continued onwards next I climbed Mount
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Vinson then aconcagua and Kilimanjaro
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and finally after a hundred days I had
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completed seven of the nine expeditions
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to complete the explorers Grand Slam and
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I arrived at Mount Everest base camp
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after three weeks on Mount Everest
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I had slowly clawed my way up to the
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highest camp before the summit
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camp for the muscles in my legs felt
9:53
like ice cold and hard my head was
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pounding my eyes were bulging my face
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was swollen in any normal circumstance
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this would warrant a trip to the doctors
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but there were no doctors around and
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besides I knew exactly what was
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happening
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I had read all the literature on Mount
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Everest but nothing can truly prepare
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you for what is known as the death stone
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above 26,000 feet in altitude where the
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human body cannot survive for long as
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darkness fell and the wind kicked up I
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was exhausted and claustrophobic in my
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tent I was scheduled to leave for the
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summit at midnight and I was terrified
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doing the only thing I could think of to
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try to calm my mind down I reached for
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my satellite phone and I called Jenna
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and in an incredible moment of bravery
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Jenna set aside her own justifiable
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fears and told me exactly what I needed
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to hear she said Collin people are going
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to summit Mount Everest tonight and
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there’s no reason you can’t be one of
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them go inside your body and listen you
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face your fears I know you can do it and
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with her words in tow I set off for the
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summit bringing us back full circle to
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where I began this talk in the darkness
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my headlamp only illuminated the few
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steps in front of me focus one step at a
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time
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I began counting my steps one two
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ten steps could have fooled me
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I felt like 10 miles I felt my body
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giving up I was hopeful that the
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daylight might give me some strength
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after a long night of climbing but the
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sunrise only illuminated the two-mile
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drop-offs on either side of me I was
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again being tested by the biggest
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obstacle of all my mind but this time I
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wasn’t alone Jenna’s words filled my
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head my mom’s words filled my head
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remembering those labored steps after my
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accident filled my head strengthened by
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those thoughts my mindset shifted and my
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body forgot its weakness I felt the
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surge of energy each step taking me
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closer to the summit and after a few
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more hours of hard work I gazed out on
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the most magnificent view from the top
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of the world we got any Timbers fans out
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there
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[Music]
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of course I had to bring a little
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hometown love with me up there with the
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timber scarf on the summit of Everest
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after safely descending back down to
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camp four and crawling into my tent I
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reached my phone again to call Jenna how
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are you feeling she said poof I’m
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exhausted
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but I did it no frostbite no injuries
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I’m good
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she then said something I will never
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forget
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she said Colin I need you to put your
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boots back on what it had literally just
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taken me more than an hour to take my
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boots off and crawl back into my tent
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she explained she said you’ve been doing
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some calculations back home and it just
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so happened that if I get to the summit
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of Denali my last mountain in the next
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week I could set not one but two World
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Records
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[Laughter]
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she said I need you to put your boots
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back on now climb back down to base camp
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there’s a helicopter there that’s gonna
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take you to Katmandu there’s not enough
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time for a hotel room or take a shower
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but an evening flight will take you from
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Dubai to Seattle to Anchorage and you
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have about three days to climb to know
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it in that moment
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I could only laugh then right in that
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moment I was forced to wipe the slate
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clean and somehow just a hundred hours
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after standing on the summit of Mount
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Everest we executed Jenna’s plan and I
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arrived at the base of Denali my final
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mountain the next three days were quite
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honestly the hardest of the entire
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project I was battling extreme fatigue
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and to make matters worse Alaska dumped
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a huge windstorm on me 50 mile-per-hour
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winds minus 60 degree wind chills making
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me battle and earn each step but with
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one last step on the evening of May 27
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2016 I arrived to the summit of Denali
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setting to New World Records for the
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explorers Grand Slam in seven
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[Applause]
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thank you Jenna and I together had
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accomplished our seemingly impossible
15:01
goal and even better millions of kids
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were able to share it on the journey and
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the accomplishment with us via social
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media sharing with us their own goals
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and their own dreams for the future I
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carry this rock with me every day it’s a
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small rock from the summit of Mount
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Everest this rock stands for the moment
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I chose to keep pushing forward
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this rock stands for my untapped
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potential as I set new goals and
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ultimately encounter obstacles this rock
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reminds me that even Mount Everest can
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be broken down to its smallest parts a
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bunch of small rocks stacked on top of
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each other many steps leading to the
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summit maybe right now you’re struggling
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in your own day-to-day life feeling
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overwhelmed like it’s just too much or
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maybe you have a great idea for a
15:57
business you want to start or an
15:59
innovation at your current job but
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people keep telling you it’s not
16:02
possible or maybe you’ve been badly
16:05
injured in an accident and you’re not
16:08
sure that you can recover from it you
16:10
see tragedy and other great obstacles
16:13
befall all of us and in these moments
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our minds are flooded with doubt we ask
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ourselves questions like should I give
16:21
up is this even possible or why me
16:26
leading us to a negative mindset but we
16:29
don’t have to stay there the only
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question that we have when facing great
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obstacles is how will you respond you
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have a choice and when you shift your
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mindset towards the positive you will
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quickly realize that there is a
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reservoir of untapped potential waiting
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to be released by you look I’m just a
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regular guy from Portland but I can
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confidently tell you this achievement is
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not for the select few achievement is
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simply for those who never quit
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it is for those who set goals it is for
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those who put the most steps in front of
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the others
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achievement is for those who can
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overcome the greatest obstacle of all
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their mind so set a goal take the first
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steps the chair is right in front of you
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and when your steps get you there push
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the chair further when you feel like
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giving up put your boots back on let go
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of fear remember this story and remember
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this rock and watch as your rocks stack
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up to the summit of your Mount Everest
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thank you very much
18:01
you
