Have you heard of Damian Browne? He has a lesson to can teach us about motivation.

    He first crossed my radar screen a few months ago when I learnt he was planning to row with his friend from New York to Galway. 

    Yep – “row”.  No engine.  No sail.

    Their aim was to do it in 55 days I think. 

    But sadly, his friend fell ill and needed to be extracted from the boat.

    So for the past 2 months Damian hasn’t seen a human being and is still on his journey.

    The time taken has exceeded their original aim.  The idea had been for them to row separately in 2-hour bursts and now the rowing occupies a much smaller portion of each day because Damian needs to sleep.

    I’ve been following the voyage because Damian posts daily to LinkedIn. 

    This is an epic effort as he strains every sinew – physical, mentally & emotionally.

    As of today’s date, September 7th, Damian is within 2 weeks of reaching his destination – his hometown of Galway on our west coast of Ireland.  Fingers crossed he’ll make it and return safely to his family and friends.

    The challenges he is presented with vary daily – pressure sores on his arse, loneliness, being capsized.  You name it.  And sometimes he gets bad news, for example when he puts immense effort into the rowing but finds, because of wind & current, that he has gone backwards.

    But I reckon that nothing is going to stop this man except serious illness or the loss of his oars.

    One bit of bad news recently prompted him to say:

    “This news doesn’t exactly stir my motivational juices but thankfully I’ve never had a reliance on motivation to get things done.“

    A wise man is that Damian! 

If you’ve read my book about getting off the hamster wheel you might remember the following:

    ” The stuff, distasteful or not, still needs doing!

    You might be tempted to wait till you’re motivated. But what if that doesn’t happen? You can’t exactly wish motivation into existence can you?

    The “trick”? Don’t wait to be motivated! Resolve to take action – with or without motivation. It’s not easy – but it is possible.”

PS: If you want to track Damian’s progress, his LinkedIn profile is here.

PPS:  If you want to receive content like this blog in my twice-weekly email, sign up here and you’ll also get the ebook I mentioned above – “Get Off The Hamster Wheel: The Smart Small Business Owner’s Productivity Bible“.  You’ll read it in less than 15 minutes.  And, if you don’t have 15 minutes, then you really need to read it.