For Ordinary People Everywhere.
Yesterday I was feeling a bit inspired. Alone in my office, the Fj?llr?ven Polar Trek campaign popped up in my Facebook newsfeed. So I quickly scribbled up a profile in order to enter. Then I discovered it actually went public, so I edited it a bit to make it more publicity friendly. Then, sat back and thought, how on earth am I going to get voted into this? What if I don't get voted on to this? Will they think I'm great enough? Ordinary enough? Never hiked a mountain before enough?
It dawned on my that I didn't actually know 4000 people who love me enough to vote me onto this trek without asking:
1. Why I wanted to go.
2. Why you should vote for me above anyone else.
3. What are you actually voting for?
Its worth mentioning here, that the reason Fj?llr?ven use Facebook as a means for voting is to make sure there is no cheating. So, I've got to drum up some fans sharpish if I want to get in- as I've 'only' got 908 friends on Facebook. Not all of whom will take kindly to pressing two or three clicks to elevate me to first place- or at least a few more notches up the rankings.
So can I get fans? Is anyone out there connected to my Linkedin profile who might go out on a wing to press vote on my profile? Because right now, 67 votes doesn't feel like I'm going to get in, so there is work to do, in order to win a few more clicks and there is only 21 days left.
So whats the answer to the questions above?
1. On my bucket list is the snow train- namely the Trans-Siberian railway. Or, as an alternative- visit the North Pole. As a tourist you understand, not a mountaineer or a hardened trekking guru, but as a reasonably hardly plant, with a bit of determination on board. Hence, when I saw the Fj?llr?ven Facebook post my thought was "This is a good chance. What if I did this?" And no more thinking took place before I filled out the entry and pressed submit.
The other key factor is, that although I'm scared, no okay terrified of flying, a fact which sends me across Europe to Denmark in my car, I'd have no choice here. And this is a deciding factor when it comes to actually getting in a plane. If I have to, I have to. See, and this is why I haven't done the snow train, because that is actually a choice. My fate here, with this Fj?llr?ven trek- is in the hands of others.
In the hands of you, reading this.
2. Because you can help make the decision either way, and all these other competitors (in the vote) look like they have no problem at all trotting the globe. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. I know I know, assumption is the mother and all that- maybe I'm wrong. The other thing is- I think I'll make really good TV. Someone who knows what the heck they are doing is slightly less compelling in their journey. In my opinion anyway. "What the heck is this for?" is exactly where Fj?llr?ven need the publicity material to be right?
3. You're voting for me to get into first place- so I can guarantee a position on this trek. I am not self centred enough to think I can rely on my vivacious personality to get me onto the Fj?llr?ven panel, where I am chosen for my debonair washing up style. Or relied on for it- because I wrote it on the entry form. You're voting for me, because you want to see someone do something they have seriously never come close to doing before. You are voting for me, because you want to make sure that ordinary people get lucky sometimes- and because its possible for ordinary people to trek across permafrost... even now I'm saying it... it sounds completely normal... for an ordinary person.
The last word as my mom taught me should always be thank you. So if you've decided to click the link here and vote. Thank you.