Purpose: Lewis Pugh
Why having a clear purpose is key to success in sport and life with record breaking swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh. Lewis was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world, and was the first person to swim across the North Pole- to highlight the melting of the Arctic sea ice. He also swam across a glacial lake on Mount Everest to draw attention to the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas. More recently he swam the full length of the English Channel. Lewis does all his swims, even those in freezing temperatures- armed only with a pair of speedos, along with a cap and goggles- and his work has been dubbed ‘speedo diplomacy’. In 2013 the United Nations appointed him as the first UN Patron of the Oceans. The theme of our conversation is ‘purpose’, as Lewis swims to raise awareness of global warming and climate change. In this episode we talk about the importance of courage- and how it’s contagious. Lewis explains the power of visualisation and how to do it, as well as why it’s crucial not to entertain thoughts of victory and defeat in your head at the same time. We talk about the danger of self-limiting beliefs and why a closed door isn’t necessarily a locked one, as he found out when bumping into Roman Abramovic’s yacht. But the key message is about the power of having a purpose, which in Lewis’s case- is raising awareness of the climate emergency our planet is facing.