How important is it to be part of a team?

The mindset of a team.

Is there ever the right time to post something personal about a team challenge? Is it before, to get people engaged, during to bring people along the journey with you or after to include everyone in the whole journey?

I thought many a time to post. I was filling other social media platforms with so much noise. Follow us, support us, look how amazing we are doing, what we are achieving. Why not save it, see how I feel after, see what impact it made, if any at all.

Here is what we did and how it has affected me.

When you take on a challenge to travel to the Arctic, walk 140 miles across part of Baffin Island, in sub 30 conditions, you are crazy excited, no nerves at this point, no worries from the family, just excitement. You and your two team mates set out with a plan, you train over a year and it is postponed in 2019. You are a little disappointed, you think big, this is an opportunity, we can do more, train harder and achieve it faster in 2020. When you have no choice but delay again in 2020, after being packed and ready travel, you take a mental hit.

For me, the disappointment, mixed with isolation resulted in the undoing of all the work i had put in. I stopped training, I ate bad food, at one point eating a 1kg bar of Dairy Milk in one sitting. It was here that I knew I needed to make a change.

Rather than sitting back, eating your body weight in chocolate and lounging round the house in arctic clothes, just so they get some use; you get up and get on your bike.

We couldn’t carry out the challenge as planned, making everyone that has supported us proud, we couldn’t just sit there either. We could challenge ourselves to achieve something that would not only focus us, but keep the interest in the challenge alive.

We thought of putting on boots, attaching ourselves to sleds and walking the 140 miles over 13 days around the UK countryside. Given the restrictions this was also not possible. What was possible, was to travel the distance to Baffin Island in the 13 day time frame. If we could do this, we could go there and back, make it a real challenge. So it was agreed in 13 days we would travel the 5,144 miles round trip to Baffin Island.

A little over 131 miles each a day. With responsibility, we were clearly not doing this alone, we assembled a team of foundation avengers, to make the journey with us.

Supporting two charities in the local area, our team of 29 troopers committed to covering the 5,144 miles any way they could. Walking, cycling, rowing or running we would get to Baffin Island and back.

This had not only given me the motivation to get off my fat one, but others too. People were covering the miles, they were excited, the endorphins were flowing through the bodies and the group chat was AMAZING. Everyone was doing so well, achieving so much, I was so proud to be apart of it. This alone motivated me to want to do more, start early, do an extra 15 minutes here and there.

No matter how motivating it was, we were not hitting the daily target, in fact we were extremely short each day, to the point that it would not be possible.

With 3 days to go our team were smashing it, covering more miles every day, in the rain the wind and the storms they have battled through. But we still had 1,600 miles to cover.

After a solid day on the Friday, something out of this world happened on the Saturday. Now with a little over 1,200 miles to go, the team pulled out a 826 mile day, leaving us with our lowest daily target since the challenge had begun. We could actually do this.

The buzz over the chat on Saturday night was incredible, the team had pulled together more than we already had. The motivation, the caring support, the want to do better from everyone drove us to achieving not only an amazing day, but a chance to cover the distance.

By 14:00 on the Sunday we were back, the miles were covered, we had achieved our goal. We got people active, motivated and working together without a high 5, a hug or a an incentive other than to do something good.

But why tell you all of this, why wait until after the event rather than get your support during. It's simple.

Something different happened during this challenge, I saw something I have never seen before, I felt something that was completely new to me. I have done challenges before, yes I have felt good doing it, yes I am proud that I have helped by raising some money.

This challenge was different, I felt responsible to everyone taking part, I felt proud and determined every time I sat in that saddle. Most importantly I felt joy for every single one of those individuals, who put themselves out of their comfort zone, ran, walked cycled, in the rain, early in the morning and late at night, all to help us achieve something for two amazing local charities.

Post event, I sit on the bike for my daily exercise. At the start I felt lost, empty, I wanted to message the group, share my miles, my little win, I wanted to hear their stories, see the pictures they had taken. I wanted the team back, that excitement, the responsibility to others to achieve something great.

This has not eased, i have realised that i need a challenge, a driver, something to strive for. It doesn't matter if this is in my business or personal life. Setting goals, striving for something just out of your reach is what drives me, if i can do this as part of a team be it my family, or colleagues, it will make it more enjoyable and rewarding.

Don’t underestimate the power of a team, no matter how big or small, they will pull you through, guide you and make you a better you.

Challenge yourself, find something to do as a team, feel the exultation I felt and most importantly spread and share that joy with others.