Is It Good To Know Your Limits ft. Andrew Paddison | Ep 153 | Self-Belief Chief

People seem to forget if you change today, today will change your life. Hello, Andrew, how are you doing?

I am fine, thank you, David.

Good stuff, good stuff. Well, I'm very happy to have you here and we've just been speaking for a few minutes off air, but it's a pleasure to have you. So just for the people listening in, tell us a little bit more about yourself, Andrew. So we've got a bit of context and people can get to know who you are.

Right. My name is Andrew and in fact this year I managed to hand cycle from Land's End to John o' Groats and I think that's my biggest kind of sporting achievement to date, I would say. But I haven't finished with my challenges. But that's my main thing, I suppose, that I've done in the, in the last year.

I mean, so that it's an. It's an incredible achievement once to be able to hand cycle as well. But. So my, my dad having done into John o', Groats, what's the distance like for that? I forget what the number is in terms of how far that actually is.

Well, it varies depending on what route you take, but we went onto some of the back lanes to avoid all the kind of the major trunk roads and it ended up 992 miles.

Oh, my God.

And we did that in 13 days. So, yeah, it wasn't too. In fact, I thought it was going to be quite a stretch, but it ended up not being too bad, actually. It averaged out at about 80 miles a day, I suppose. And when you kind of cut that down into chunks like 25 miles and a rest, then another 25, it kind of breaks the day up. Therefore, mentally it's not that difficult.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that is a. You say it's not that difficult, but I think for the average person listening in there now thinking, oh my God, I'm really not up to scratch if it's, if it's not that difficult, but I know what you mean. So talk a bit about what that preparation actually looks like for you.

Well, the preparation. Quite a bit of training involved, but the point was, which surprised quite a few people, I suppose, the first day, I think we had to do about 65, 70 miles on the first day. And I'd only ever hand cycled a maximum of about 55 miles in a day. And that was all my training. I never did any more than that. And the person who helped me run this, Emma, she was absolutely amazed that when I told, I didn't tell her beforehand that because I don't think she'd have taken up the challenge with me. I told her after the first day, which was very much of a surprise to her, but I said that's the way that I've trained, really. I haven't actually done the distances, but I did a lot of kind of back to back day training rides. But the whole point is that you've got to fit in your life as well around training. Therefore it isn't like you're just riding the bike for a day. You've also got to go and walk the dog. You've got to do your work, then walk the dog again, then put your training ride in, in between. Therefore all that amounts of burning quite a lot of energy during the day. Whereas when you're doing the Land's End to John and Groats ride, all that you're doing basically is riding a bike. So all your energy is put into that.

Yeah. And I mean from an energy point of view. Yeah. When you've got that sort of freedom or spare time to actually commit to it, as you say, to be able to work around your schedul. I mean, there are so many people in life who, whether it's, they might regard it as work, life balance or whatever it might be to find that level of energy and. But just, I guess, commitment and motivation to actually find the time. Because I speak to enough people who they say, oh, I don't have the time to do this and I don't have the time to do that and yeah, I really want to do this, but I just don't have enough time. And you ask them, well, what does he do on Saturday? And they're oh, I, you know, I binge watch Game of Thrones or whatever. And they just, they haven't got that level of commitment and motivation and drive, which clearly you do. So Andrew, where does that drive come from in you?

I suppose it's through my life experiences, I suppose, because I've always been kind of driven to do things, you know, I've never been one really, to sit down and just kind of laze around. My father was always extremely energetic and I think a lot of it does stem from, from your parents. If your parents are energetic and always on the go, I think you actually learn a lot from them and you kind of, as a child, you don't really think about it too much because you're just so free. But you do imitate what your parents do. And if they're always up and about and doing things, I think you just follow suit. And I think it doesn't matter what abilities you have or what limitations you are, you still get up and try different things. And that's what I've done all through, through my life, I suppose, is that I've always kind of got up and tried things. I've never. I've never found. I've always been curious about kind of activities, I suppose. And if you don't give something a go, you'll never know whether you're good at it.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I used to be. Well, my parents probably still would say I am. You look come across a fussy eater who won't try something where they don't know if they're going to like it or not. They've never tried it before, but they actually just make the decision that they don't want to have it. You know, try that and something as simple as that. If you're not willing to. To try something, even something to eat or a piece of food, what are the. What are the thousand other things that we're not also willing to try where if we actually put ourselves out there to do such a thing?

Well, that's very true. And also you've got to appreciate, I think I'm slightly older than you. I'm 57, therefore, when I grew up, you know, we didn't have social media or mobile phones or anything like that. There's only like three or four, well, three stations on the TV and the TV only came on like at 6 o' clock at night, you know, and went off at like, you know, 11, 12 o'. Clock. You had the test card, didn't you? Kind of displayed. There wasn't data on tv, therefore there weren't as many distractions as there are now, I suppose. Therefore you had to go outside and make your own kind of interest, you know, kind of activities, you know, that sort of thing, really. So, yeah. And also you got involved with sport more because that, that was the way you kind of engage with people.

I mean, what's your. I mean, I've got sort of a fairly rich background in terms of sport. So what's your sporting background like?

I've always had a very good eye for the ball, therefore I played a lot of table tennis. My father was a lot into tennis, therefore I started off on a tennis court with my father and also mother was into swimming, therefore every day after school I used to swim and that would be, you know, kind of like a mile after, you know, kind of every day, basically, which we had A full length outdoor pool where I grew up, therefore, that was a great pleasure. So. Yes, so it was that, that was my kind of background really, from a sporting side with ball sports and a lot of swimming.

I mean, I want to ask you what sport teaches you. What I want to talk a bit, a little bit about as well is a bit more about what the people actually listening wouldn't know about you as well. And actually some of the things that other people might regard as limitations. And I know certainly from your point of view, you don't but to talk about that in a second as well, but from a sporting background, I mean, what do you think sport has taught you? I mean when you have that find that drive and commitment and motivation where you have to push yourselves in a athletic environment, I know the many benefits of that. But tell me what else sport gave you confidence?

I would say, you know, because you are, you're normally doing it with other people. You kind of, there is quite kind of a unique bond that you have with other people when you kind of do, you know, you've got that same interest and you're swimming together or you play tennis together or you know, anything like that really. And also it does give you a bit of a drive. It doesn't matter when people say, oh, I'm not competitive, oh, I'm not competitive. You know, that's, to me that's a load of rubbish really because when you start doing something you are competitive, it doesn't matter what your brain is telling you, you want to do the best that you can, you may not win, but that doesn't mean you're not competitive, you know, so that's another thing. It means that you can, that you, that you don't mind striving for something, you know, and if you, if you realize that if you just go that extra mile, I know that's a cliche, but an extra mile, then you can always achieve something a bit more, you know, put the time into it again, you'll always achieve, you know, so. And also, you know, the health benefits as well, you know, motivate you as well, I suppose, to keep yourself as fit as possible. Yeah, yeah. So that's what I've got out of sport. I suppose I end.

And I very much understand the. You mentioned competitiveness. And my mum got very good at ducking. I must have thrown many a table tennis bat at her head after her beating me when I was younger. I mean, obviously I stopped, you know, maybe at the age of, maybe the ripe age of 14, which is maybe a bit too old, but. But yes, they're very, very competitive on the sports side. But it does, it does give you a hell of a lot. And it also gives you just, you know, sport for me was very much a respite at different points in my life from actually maybe either how you felt from yourself about yourself, or respite from things that were going on or whatever. But it was also, it was also your identity in many ways. It was part of who. Very much part of who you are. And you realize that you had these sort of either capabilities or this capacity to. Because you have good coordination or you're athletic or whatever, but also you kind of reap the benefits from a very much a health point of view. And it's when you find that, I guess, bug for health and fitness, you start to, as you get older, really feel the amazing benefits of having lived your life that way. I mentioned golf.

Play golf now as well. And golf, I find, kind of teaches you patience, you know, because you cannot play golf if you're frustrated or if you're really stressed out. You've got to relax. When you're playing golf, you cannot think, oh, right, I'm going to thrash that ball. It won't go anywhere. You know, you've got to control yourself. Therefore, golf is a very, you know, people say it's a good walk spoiled, but it does teaches you, teach yourself mental patience, I suppose, you know, and you've just got to calm yourself down. Therefore, it's a good way to unwind if you've had a really busy week. Sometimes from, you know, from a mental point of view, is to get out on the golf course. You know, you got fresh air, you've got to relax. Also, you've got to kind of interact with other people on a social level, you know, which also helps as well.

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I'm good at most sports. Golf I'm absolutely shocking at, absolutely terrible. And just I use the analogy that, you know, with golf it's just. Is frustrating because really when you strike that ball, you can be one degree off the mid, you know, where the middle of the ball and it goes 300, 300ft or. Right. And I think that's true of a lot of. With most things in life, to be honest, where people feel like sometimes they're miles off and actually sometimes it's just they just need to correct something by one degree and they'll be right back in the middle, they'll really be able to metaphorically strike through the middle of the ball. Whatever it is that they're trying to do in their life, sometimes we're only a degree off and it makes us feel like we're far away. But actually, it's a very tiny adjustment we need to make. But no, it's good to hear that you've got, I guess, the patience for golf as well. I don't think I've got the patience for it, having done a few rounds in my life. But you're right, I think the kind of. The mental freedom aspect of it, as well as sport is very important as well. None more true than golf. And as I said, I wanted to talk a little bit about sport was a huge part of my identity growing up. And as very much a footballer. And that's the sort of career which had started but then got cut short. And actually with that, but with some other difficult things in my life, how they can start to define you in certain ways or at least define you in the eyes of other people. And what I wanted to talk only a little bit about, and as you were kind enough to say, we could touch on the subject, is that you're a child of thalidomide. Correct. So, not that we need to go much detail, but what I was curious of, having come across people, you know, you go across people all walks of life, who define themselves in different ways. But then there's also how other people look at them and define them as well. And there's. There's the balance between the two things. And so what I was a little bit curious to ask about was from your perspective, I know that's very much not who you are. And, and also that whatever anyone I've ever spoken to, the difficult moments that they have in their life, difficult experiences or whatever, is that they don't define that person either. We all go through some. Some tough moments and tough things, and we do our best to not let that be who we are. That's just something that happened or something that occurred. I was curious to ask you from that point of view, you building your own identity going forward. I mean, how was that for you when, with other people who maybe wanted to talk to you about thalidomide or people that were curious about it or whatever growing up, were you able to separate very much from, you know, people being curious about thalidomide, but also say, well, that's not who I am. That's just something that happened. And how easy was that for you growing up?

Oh, very easy, really, because people, to be honest with you, didn't really understand what thalidomide was okay, you know, even today, I think, today I think it. Not many, well, I say not many people. But it isn't readily recognized, is it? You know, you can talk to people and you say, you know, you define yourself as a thalidomide, so to speak. They'll say, well, what's that? You know, but just for those people or in your podcast who may not be aware, it was a drug that pregnant mother stuck in the late 50s and 60s. And unfortunately, one of the side effects was that your bones were deformed and spotty fetus. So it's. I was just born like it. And it's just, you know, you've got, you've got two options in life, haven't you? To get on with it or to moan about it. Yeah, and I just got on with it. And you know, obviously, you know, when you're growing up as a child, you know, other children will ask questions, but they're just innocent, you know, and you're innocent as well. Therefore, you know, they'll just kind of say, oh, look, look at your hands. Why are they shaped like that? You know, and you just come up with a joke or something like that, you know, you may be, you know, you might say, oh, been naughty, therefore someone bent the hand or something like that, you know, but, you know, you just kind of laugh it off, I suppose. And when they realize that you can do exactly what they're doing, you know, they kind of accept you. Therefore, you know, I went to a normal school, a normal primary school, I went to a grammar school, you know, and I went to university. And at no point did anyone kind of, kind of put any barriers in the way or kind of keep asking questions as to, you know, why do you look like you do? You know. And again, for your podcast, just to give a bit of an explanation, I've only got one leg. My right leg is a full length artificial leg and I've got two shortish arms with no elbows. And my hands are kind of, what they say, crooked. They're right at right angles and I can't, and I can hardly bend my fingers. So. But that's me, you know, I just, you know, I don't think about it. I never do.

That's just what, you know, it's just.

What I know, you know, it's far harder if a person's been in an accident, say, and had a spinal injury and then they're paralyzed, you know, because they knew what it was like before, right? Yeah, they were paralyzed, you know, therefore, that they could have great mental strength to overcome that and start a new life. Whereas for myself, it's just something like, you know, I don't know anything else. Therefore, you just kind of get on with it, I suppose. Yeah, so. So how it was perceived by the people, I can't really answer that. But, you know, I think in any kind of society, if you kind of try to mix. And that's why sport was a very good kind of level, really, because you weren't sidelined. You kind of mixed in with the lads and the girls, you know, with whatever sport you played and. And you kind of. You were then immediately accepted.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. No, and, yeah, you're right. You're absolutely right. Sport is a very good leveler where it's. It certainly brings people together. And so.

And in those days, there was no parasport as such. You know, there were, you know, whereas now there's a lot of, you know, kind of parasport. You know, there are clubs, you know, to it. To it, to help people with limitations, etc. And to encourage them to get in. Whereas when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, you know, if you didn't kind of play the normal games, so to speak, there was no alternative as such.

Yeah, no, it's. Yeah, sport has made a real effort, but even in the last 10 years, but 20 years, it certainly has expanded in a lot of ways to be a lot more inclusive. Absolutely. And so the thing I was really curious of asking about, knowing that stuff, but also knowing that the huge challenge of landing to John o' Groats and also the other many challenges that you've taken up in some ways. And one of the things I noticed you had on your Twitter page or in the bio was you put, in fact, I can't even read my own writing now. What have I put here? You know, you basically put, we can't control, or we can't sort of control. We can't do it their way, is what you put. We can't do things.

What I said, if you can't do it their way, you can do it your way.

Yeah, yeah. And I liked that. And it's a real. It's a very sort of biological, natural instinct to compare, because it's a survival trait for us to compare, you know, ourselves to other people, because at the beginning of time, you needed a community or tribe around you or to be top of the, you know, top of the herd in order to survive. Obviously, that's not the case anymore, but we still have that instinct to to be compatible, you know, to compare and see what other people are doing and we can't often help that. But it is a good, I just thought it was a very good reminder actually, just because, you know, there's stuff around the science of achievement where, you know, if you look at something someone else has done and you model that then you, you've got a good chance of actually finding a route to success. Success leads, clues. But at the same time we might not be able to do things the same way. We might not have the same resources or the same talents or the same skills or whatever and that it's actually okay that the, the way we go about things and to be, be accepting of the way that we're willing to go about things is good and it's, and it's the right thing to do. Because if we do it through our, I guess, our own filter rather than try and do it through what someone else's filter might have been, then you're more likely to have success in that way. I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about that, a little bit to that.

Well, all I was trying to get at was when I kind of said that was just through life really. You know, I started off, you know, I used to have a three wheeler bike when I was young and I used to go all over the place with that. Now again, in those days that was a virtually unheard of one legged cyclist, I suppose. But my father had geared it up, therefore it just had a fixed pedal and there was no right pedal to it. And there was a stanchion for my artificial leg and you know, when the pedal was at the bottom, you just kind of rocked the bike to one side and kind of, and got the pedal to the top if you were, you know, a station or something like that. Therefore again, you know, it was, you know, it was adapted. You know, I did it my way instead of the normal way, so to speak. And if I hadn't got that adapted, then I wouldn't have been able to cycle. And again, it's going to go through life, I suppose. And if you relate it to sport, I played quite a lot of squash at quite a competitive level. And again, people think how on earth can you get around a squash court, you know, to a certain level on one leg. But again, I played in the Shropshire League and the Shropshire League were very fortunate in the sense that they allowed me to play to slightly different rules, which I don't know if you ever played squash, but the courts divided into quarters and a half and they allowed me just to kind of play in one half. Therefore, the opponent always had to get the ball back into my kind of half. And that was accepted by all the teams. And, you know, which was great. Again, it's allowing you to play sport your way, but not necessarily the correct way. And then when you bring it up to modern day, that is my hand cycling, which I'm into now, you know, I've adapted a normal hand bike to my way. It's slightly different to others, but it has to be because I've got no elbows, you know, I've got very short arms. Therefore it's all adapted. But it means I can get out and do things, you know, so it's just basically, you know, there aren't any limitations, really. The limitations shouldn't be a barrier. You know, you should just. There's normally a way around something if you've got the drive and you want to do it. Does that help?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned, you mentioned the word adaptability a few times there. And you know, I think in life a lot of people, they have an idea of how things should go or how to tackle a challenge or how to overcome this or conquer this or whatever. And they find that when the approach that they thought up or when they first had the idea or whatever, when they realized that the approach that they were going to take or the process they thought was required isn't right, they become easily disheartened or easily frustrated. And so what I want to ask you was based on the amount of times you mentioned adaptability, there is a lot of the people I work with, I tell them that when we think back to a memory, when we think back to an event in our life, we're not looking back at the event itself. We're looking back at how we saw the event at the time, how we perceived it. And that's the memory. And therefore how we perceive a moment at any time, you know, if we perceive it in a negative or a positive way, that's going to impact how we remember it in the future. So actually, how we perceive how we interpret something there and then in the first place is incredibly important to actually keeping up momentum in our life. And so the capacity or the ability for people to stay positive when something doesn't go the way that they thought it was going to go, and that they can keep that positive mindset so they can be adaptable, so they can be flexible, so that they don't lose momentum and they can try something else really, really important. And so I Wanted to ask about when it comes to keeping a positive mindset. When we've got, you know, you've got to be adaptable to make something work, how do you. How do you keep yourself positive? How do you think other people can keep themselves more positive when they are initially disheartened or frustrated that they can't do things one way, but they need to stay positive so that they can learn how to do it a different way?

That's a very good question. I don't know how I keep myself positive. You know, it's just that I really don't know, David, in the sense that I always think there's always a solution. Therefore, if you always believe there's a solution to something, then it just means sitting down, contemplating it and trying to find a way around that issue that you're trying to work out. Therefore, it might not come to you straight away, but, you know, there's normally a way around something. You know, if you want it that badly, you will find a solution. But I've never really thought, how do you keep yourself positive? You know, it's just me, I suppose. People say I'm. Well, some people say I'm extremely stubborn. I don't give in to.

That's a helpful trey.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. You know, I've always looked after myself as well. I live by myself. I always have done. You know, I live with my dogs. My dogs are great company for me. And therefore, I just kind of get on with things, I suppose. You know, I don't. I don't. I'm not a deep thinker. I. You know, I really am not. I just kind of. And also, you've got to be happy with whatever you're doing. You know, if you're happy doing something, then you'll always do it to the best of your ability. You know, if you're not happy in something, don't do it, you know, why. Why put yourself through something that isn't making you feel kind of valued and happy, really. You know, I was very, very fortunate in the sense that when I was working full time, I really enjoyed the work I was doing. Therefore, at no stage in my working life did I find or feel that, oh, I shouldn't be doing this. I looked forward each day to going into work, you know, and I kind of was. Again, I tried to be very enthusiastic with the team that was working around us to try and make it a fun place to work, really, because I always find that if you're having a. You can still do your Work if you're having a bit of fun, you know, people who are. Who are kind of negative and don't kind of have a kind of a happy outlook, then sometimes they struggle, especially in life and with work, really. So, you know, that's. That's how I've just treated everything I kind of face, I suppose.

And you touched on something that I'm. Oh, so I'm. I am, or I have had in the past the tendency to overthink and be a deep thinker. Like anything, it's. It's a gift and a curse. I guess certain behaviors that they help you in this way and they don't help you in this way. And, you know, same with parenting. You know, if you get parented one way, it helps you with this, but it doesn't help you so much with this. And if you get parented another way, it helps you with this, but less with this. And so, you know, it's everything is a sort of a gift and a curse in some ways. I think what you touched on there, though, is actually is very important where you say, I don't really think about it or that you don't think about it too much. And sometimes people have the temptation that if they spend more time thinking that it's going to help the situation when actually a lot of the time is, you know, the only thing that complicates things in life is humans or are humans. And it's the way we go about it and the way we think about things.

And actually when we learn detrimental, can't it.

Yes, absolutely. And when we learn to step out our own way, things, then things strangely too tend to be a little bit better in that way.

Way.

And so in terms of challenges going forward for you, Andrew, what other challenges are you looking forward to trying to take on?

Right. I've got a challenge coming up this year. I'm taking on another hand, cycling challenge in May. I haven't actually launched it yet. So it all bends when this podcast goes out, when people get to know. Because at the moment I'm in the process of trying to get sponsorship for it, therefore it might be a good idea to actually mention it.

Yeah, please. Yeah, take the opportunity.

Don't know who might be listening to this podcast. David?

Absolutely.

What I'm trying to do, because I inadvertently admitted on live TV when they kindly had me on Good Morning Britain for the second time because I was on it prior to my challenge and then they asked me back afterwards and Ben Sheppard said, had I found my limitation, because that's what I went on in the first place and said I hadn't found my limitations in life. And unfortunately I replied, no, I hadn't found my limitations to lands, ends, dunk boats. And also it whetted my appetite to try and do another challenge to see whether I can find that limitation, so to speak, really put myself physically and mentally through a real tough challenge and to see whether I can actually come out the other end of it. So I've decided whether this is good or not. I've decided to attempt to become the first ever hand cyclist to cycle around Ireland.

Okay.

There is a designated route called Race around island, and it's a race that happens in August time. But I'm not entering the route, I'm not entering the race. Sorry. I'm going to attempt the actual route itself. And yeah, no other hand cyclist has ever done it. And it's 1300 miles and I aim to do it in 12 days.

Wow, cool.

Okay, so that's over miles a day. And the thing is you. You've got to throw in the Irish weather.

Yes.

And also the Irish roads and also the terrain. So, yeah, I've upped the challenge that.

Well, that. Yes. Up to it. You certainly have. And yeah, look, I'll invite you to. Absolutely. Andrew, that. So this podcast, this is just for people listening. This is February 29, 2019. February 2020. And so if they do want to sponsor you, Andrew, where can they go to do that?

Well, the actual sponsor or where will.

They be able to do that?

And that most probably I'll be setting up a just giving page under Team Patterson again, like you did last year. But when I meant sponsorship, I mean kind of I'm in the process of trying to get firms.

Absolutely, yeah.

To actually fund the actual challenge. It will still go ahead, but it's so much better if you can get firms to actually help the funding because it isn't cheap. These challenges aren't cheap. Last year we were extremely fortunate. Well, I was extremely fortunate that a local firm, well, two local firms actually funded the actual challenge. So that helped no end with the expenses. So this year at the moment, I'm still kind of. I'm sending out a lot of emails, knocking on a lot of doors, trying to persuade businesses that they will get some, well, quite good media kind of traction out of the event.

Absolutely.

So. And also it's to raise money again for charity, because last year we managed to raise just under 28,000 for cancer charities. So this year, obviously, I'd like again to raise money for Charity, because I always think it's important, you know, for me, in itself, the challenge is for myself. But if you can give something as well back to society while you're doing it, then I think that that's really helpful.

I totally agree. And I think this will feed into the next question I was going to ask, really, but that people always want to sort of maximize their potential. They want to see how far they can go. And I often say to people that we'll always do more for other people than we'll do for ourselves in a lot of ways. And so to maximize your potential, one way to do. To really do that is actually, well, how are you contributing? How are you giving what you have, your skills, abilities, talents, time, whatever it might be, to a greater cause or to other people. So I totally agree with you in what you're saying about charity. That is, you know, yes, we want to absolutely support causes. We want to really be able to help make a difference. But also for people listening in, it's actually the opportunity to see, well, actually, how far will I push myself when it's for something else, when it's not just for me? And people do find they actually go a little bit further at that point. And that sort of feeds into the next question, which was based on something you said you kind of asked when you spoke to Ben Shepard. The question is, do you want to find your limit?

I think everyone should find their limit in some form, shouldn't they? And it would be. That's why I'm doing it, I suppose, to see where my limit is, you know, because I think you can go beyond it, you know, But I think you've got to find it first off, haven't you? And so hence the reason why I've upped the challenge, really. And to actually, from my perspective, I do think it is going to be quite a tough challenge. Therefore, I've decided also this year that I'm going to video the whole challenge, which I didn't do last year. I just took photographs, and people just along the way took a few kind of off their phone, you know, some videos off the phone. But I'm going to employ a videographer who's going to. So we can film every day, basically, and put a webcast out every night, and they can see how I've done during the day.

Yeah, it's brilliant.

And also maybe then at the end, if we get some funding for it, is to put a documentary together, you know, to actually. So, because last year, what I did on the Team Patterson, Facebook Page. I wrote a blog every night. Now that was quite tiring. You know, after you've done the writing and then you've kind of got the relaxation. But every night I did actually do a blog and I missed one night because of the Internet connection and the next day I had so many people on Facebook. Oh, you alright, you know what happened to it? You know, I had to do the blog again before I went off cycling that day. So people kind of realized I was okay and they kind of, they kind of enjoyed reading the blog because I kind of tried to do it in a very light hearted way. But this year I don't think enough time for the blog. Therefore, if I've got someone filming it then they can condense it into say a two, three minute video of the day and that will explain everything that's happened, you know, of any significance during, during that day's writing.

Yeah. And you can obviously gives you more focus as well to crack on and not have to worry about how you're updating or how you interpret it. But no, I think a videographer is a.

And also you've got a wider audience that let down, you know, from a, from a psychological point of view, you, you most probably will drive yourself a bit further because you realize that people might be watching.

Yeah. And I've no doubt whatever your next challenge might be after that, half a.

Dozen people viewing it every night, so to speak.

Yeah, it's, you know, for the next challenge that's after that, you'll obviously no doubt have grown your, your audience grown your, your sort of raving fans or whatever it might be that one that want to be part of your journey with the next thing and the next thing, which is a fantastic thing but all very inspiring. And what you said about. Yeah, you know, you want to find your limit.

It's.

I guess you're right in the sense that you find that limit and then you find it so that you can overcome it. And sometimes I guess part of my French. But there's some people who will kind of bullshit themselves about where they actually are in a particular area of life. And because they don't actually believe they're quite there or they, or they, they're not actually entirely sure what that looks like. And they kind of have a rough idea and they say I'm, I'm actually up at this level or whatever it might be. When you, when you're vague in that way, it actually just leads to it making it difficult to know, well, what's the next level? Because if we don't create. If we don't really know where we are, what level we're at, then actually how do we know what the next level looks like? And sometimes I just have to help people accept where they are.

You've got to be honest to yourself.

Exactly.

That's what I'm saying. You've got to be honest to yourself. And you also, which some people find great difficulty. You've got to be honest to everyone else. You know, you should not kind of gild the lily, so to speak. You know, I've got no time for people who gild the lily. Just. Just be honest and admit, you know, that that's what you're doing. You know, there's no point in gilding it because you'll be found out.

The people who support you on your journey, whether it's sponsors, whether it's family, whether it's friends, whether it's people who support what you do, whatever it might be, who sort of, I guess maybe talking more actually to do the businesses and sponsorships, the people you talk to, do you find them to be kind of genuine, authentic people who care? Obviously they need to do it from a business interest point of view, which is absolutely fine. But the people you come across on your journey, who are the most genuine, authentic people you've come across.

The general and the general public, I suppose, you know, they're very, very supportive. Wherever you stop and wherever you go, you know, they're very, very supportive. And the businesses that last year helped were genuinely interested, you know, in the challenge, you know, and that's why they sponsored us, I suppose.

Yeah.

So I rarely have negativity, you know. You know, people kind of generally, I find, are very, kind of helpful and enthusiastic, you know, so, no, I don't kind of, you know, if people are negative, I just ignore them, you know, thing to say. But these are.

Well, it's one of the. Yeah, it's one of those things where, you know, yes, you have to. We have to accept to be honest with how we feel, where we are, all of that stuff. But there's also stuff where, yes, sometimes we have to share or let things out or talk to people about how we feel and all of that stuff, but it doesn't mean that we have to let everything in either. And exactly what you said about negativity, where there's some things where you can just. If it doesn't have to. Not everything has to break the surface. Not everything has to frustrate you, and you just kind of let it wash past you and there's often with people who I find crave certainty in life, some people have a higher or lower threshold in terms of the amount of certainty that they need in their life. People that need a bit more certainty, which often means a little bit more control. I guess that those people tend to possibly get a little bit more frustrated when obviously things don't quite go the way they want them to or get a bit more agitated, or when people don't deliver and do this and do that, they find it a little bit more difficult for that to wash past because they want to. It just creates more uncertainty sometimes. And when people aren't either doing their job or whatever it might be. And so your outlook and attitude is admirable, but because I think a lot of people don't have that attitude that everyone. You can see people's positive sides all the time because that's not always what's presented. And so, I mean, I can imagine there'll be people listening in, asking, sort of thinking, well, what. Surely Andrew gets frustrated or gets, you know, agitated by this or this annoys him or whatever. So what are the things. I'll ask the question for everyone else. What are the things that would. Would rile you up?

Oh, if Chelsea lose. Oh, yeah, that's. That was very, very frustrating. If. Yeah, that's one of my passions is Chelsea Football Club.

Okay.

Therefore, yeah, if they lose, that gets very frustrating. And yeah, especially kind of one nil up and five minutes to go. We always seem at the moment to kind of let that last minute go.

That's a season, isn't it?

Frustrating, you know, so. Yeah, it's just. So it's something like that, I suppose. No, no. Joking apart, no, I try not let things get to me. I suppose it's how I've been. You know, I'm an oldish fellow, not oldish fellow, but I've been here for 57 years and I've seen everything. Therefore, you know, you can understand the younger people getting more frustrated over certain things, I expect, because they haven't got the life experience behind them, you know, so. And also I do sympathize tremendously with the young today because they've got so many things that are in their lives that were never in our lives. And what I'm talking about is social media, you know, and the harmful effects of social media can have. It can have positive effects. And you can reach out to people like this podcast most probably is, you know, but there is a lot of trouble that social media can cause to people. And also to vulnerable people who are not strong yet in their own mindset, you know, and take offense and kind of are hurt by unsolicited comments from people, you know, trolls and all that sort of stuff, you know, that never used to be, you know, So I try and put myself sometimes into their position and think, well, how on earth would have I coped, you know, in today's society if you kind of had people who hide behind a mobile phone and send awful tweets or Facebook comments to you? You know, it's a different world. It really is. You know, so it's, you know, so I've seen a lot of. I've done a lot. But I do appreciate that life today is totally different than what it was when I was growing up. And I think when you get older, I think you learn and I think you can accept far more. But it's growing up and, you know, I think people do have a lot more insecurity because of social media side.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even from my point of view, it's a lot of my business will come via social media. And for people listening in, I totally agree with what you said. And I got to a point a while back where you check so many stats and this and that with your business, which you have to do, of course, but when you, when you find yourself checking that stuff daily, it really does impact you. It really does play with your mind. And now all I realized I can still run my business. I only check all of that stuff twice a week and the amount of difference that makes in terms of the freedom of your mind. But actually what's quite sad is remembering what it was like before social media in some ways and remembering that it was just fine, it was good before that social media stuff happened the lot. The world kept spinning and everyone. People were still happy and all of that stuff. And I really. Just to add on to what you're saying and actually use it as a suggestion piece of advice that really have a think about how you condense or filter the amount of time. Social media is a fantastic thing for lots of different reasons.

Absolutely. I've got no qualms about it. It's got tremendous positive things you can do with social media and it's brilliant, you know, and you can reach out to so many people, but you've just got to have that proviso.

Absolutely.

That realize that also it can be extremely harmful, you know, and especially to the young. It really can.

And.

And unfortunately it can taint a lot of the youngsters today. Yes. You know, Whereas we never had that previously.

Yeah, I taste. And I'm glad that social media wasn't really up and running when I was younger. I think I sort of, I kind of just missed the boat on that. I think so. And I absolutely write. It's sort of forming a question you mentioned about, you know, when people are a bit younger, they haven't yet built that kind of, I guess, strength of mind, I think is the phrase you use. And I totally agree. And the question I want to ask is, I'm sure it's possibly not something you've necessarily thought about before, but at what point do you think people do start to build that strength of mind? Do you think there's an age or a period in life where people typically start to be a little bit more structured, a little bit more realistic, a little bit more trying to think of a better word, a little bit more sharp in the mind and a bit more resilient? Do you think there's an age in period or period?

No, I really don't think so. And I think that is such a generic question. Everyone's an individual.

Yeah.

You know, people have totally different life experiences to one another. You know, we're all, we are all different in our way, you know, you know, in our own way, which is wonderful about human beings. But then again, it can be very frustrating for some people. But you cannot, you cannot dictate to people. When you say, oh, you're 30 now, you should know your own mind. That doesn't happen. You know, you can have a 70 year old who just still doesn't know their own mind, you know, and where they are and they may be insecure, you know, it's, you know, some people will never find it, unfortunately. You know, I don't psychoanalyze anything. I suppose I just kind of get, get on with it. And I think that's. If people start to psychoanalyze themselves, I think they're asking for trouble. I think, you know, just try and enjoy yourself. If you enjoy yourself, a lot of good will come to you.

Yeah, and I think that very much goes in line with people trying to make decisions about things. I think a lot of people spend maybe 90% of the time trying to make a decision and 10% trying to make it the right one. Whereas really it should be about 10% making a decision and then 90% trying to make it the right one. You're right in the sense that a bit of, a bit too much analysis or psychoanalysis or however one might want to phrase that when Actually if we just sort of have an idea and we attempt it and do it, then actually you'll learn much quicker than actually just trying to think things through all the time and second guess and hesitate and all of that stuff. But I totally agree. At any age, I guess no one ever feels like they've, they've got things worked out, do they? So it's, it's one of those things where it's a never ending process and your mind sharpens with the experiences that you have as well. So I do tend to agree very much so on, on that score as we sort of, I guess come towards the end of this, of this podcast, Andrew, and thank you very much for your time. It's very much appreciated for the people listening and we've got people you've mentioned a few times to just learn to enjoy yourself. I think a lot of people, whether it's in business or anything else, they sort of not, they'll be nodding to that into going, oh yeah, I know that, I know that they'll know it intellectually, but they don't actually do it in practice. And so when you've gone about in your life to find the things that you enjoy doing, and you've obviously been clearly been a very, I guess, adventurous individual, are very curious to find out what your limits are and curious to find out what you enjoy and don't enjoy. And I just wanted to ask really in terms of a message for people listening, how that they might, how they might go about finding more, more things that they enjoy doing? It might be a very straightforward answer for yourself, for yourself because the way you keep things very simple in terms of the approach and simplicity is, well, complexity is, that is kind of the, is the thing that makes things more and more difficult and simplicity really helps people actually take action. What sort of message would you have for people if they're not enjoying themselves, if they're not finding fulfillment, if they're not actually getting on with how their life is at the moment? What advice might you give them?

Advice? Oh, I'm not used to giving advice like that. I would never approach. Yeah, I'll never lecture anyone on how they lead their lives. It's entirely up to them. Because as I said previously, everyone's got different kind of responsibilities. You know, they've got families, they've got children, you know, that, you know, you really don't know. And they might be, you know, in a job that they have to do, they might not be enjoying it, but it's a job that they have to do to actually make ends pay, I suppose. So I really don't know. All I can say is work is a big part of your life. When you think about it. The majority of people, you know the old phrase, work nine to five, you know, five days a week. I know that doesn't happen as much these days, you know, as it used to, but you still spend the majority of your. Your life working. Therefore, I think it's very important that you do find a job that you can get, that you can get some enjoyment out of, you know, because otherwise that is going to drag you down massively. And I've been very lucky that I managed to find, you know, an enjoyable job, I suppose, over 30 years, and that that helps no end. And that's a good foundation, really. And if you were just getting by, then I would say then you should kind of compensate that by. By having enjoyable hobbies and really make the most of those hobbies. Therefore, you've got something to look forward to after work, you know, as well. And just do. Don't be forced into doing something that you're not enjoying. You know, you've got to enjoy it, really. And that's, that's the way I've been through all my life. You know, I'm kind of a happy go, lucky chap, really. I always see the funny side, you know, I will, I will take the mickey out of anyone and people can give it to me, and I will take it. You know, I don't mind that at all. I prefer banter than being serious, you know, and just kind of just enjoy yourself. That's my message then. Enjoy yourself. Good stuff.

Well, thank you very much, Andrew. And just so for people who are. Enjoy your enthusiasm, I guess, more than anything, where they can. They find you and where they can keep up to date with what you're doing. Is it Team Patterson that most. That's, you know, most important, that's the.

Facebook page where I'll be launching again this year's challenge. And also I'll be announcing on that page, I suppose, where a separate webcast will be set up for the May Irish challenge. So, yes, that's the best place to kind of find me, really.

Excellent. Okay, well, I. Well, firstly, I very much enjoyed the conversation and your enthusiasm does very much radiate through. I'm sure people listening will feel that as well. So if you, if you want to continue that, continue feeling that sensation, but keep up with what Andrew is doing with some of the, the amazing challenges that he's done, then as you know, certainly continue following what Andrew's doing, as will I. And, Andrew, I just want to finally say thank you very much for your time.

Well, thank you for having me, David.

You're welcome.

It's very kind of you.

Thank you.