Today’s guest is Dean Stott on how to become relentless in your life!
Dean is a former British Special Forces Soldier, 2x World Record Holder, Adventurer, Philanthropist, Author and International Speaker.
After making it through the Special Forces gruelling 6-month selection process, Dean became one of the very first army members to join the SBS (Special Boat Service). Throughout his esteemed military career, he has conducted deployments to overseas hostile environments and been involved in Counter-Terrorism operations; he has travelled to some of the toughest places in the world.
Dean left the military in 2011, after 16 honourable years of service but continues to live by the Special Forces’ ethos of ‘the unrelenting pursuit of excellence’. The determination required throughout his career has become an integral part of Dean’s character.
He then established a distinguished career in the private security sector; he was renowned for his willing to take on any job, no matter how dangerous. The man who went, when others won’t. He has faced extortion, kidnapping, civil war, pirates, military coups and was single-handedly responsible for the evacuation of the Canadian embassy in 2014 rescuing 4 diplomats and 18 military personnel.
However, in 2016 Dean was ready for a new project and wanted to use this to help others. He began training to cycle the longest motorable road in the world – The Pan American Highway. Dean completed the 14,000 miles route from Argentina to Alaska in May 2018, gaining two world records and raising an incredible amount of money for charity in the process. Dean passed through 14 countries on his expedition, crossing some of the most dangerous passages in the world.
Prior to his training, Dean had never cycled more than a few miles. In the final stretch, Dean continued for 17 hours and driven by his determination, covered 340 miles on his longest day.
Dean is now a renowed international speaker, presenting to FTSE 100 companies, sporting bodies, military departments, schools and businesses. Dean has presented inspiring talks to 10,000 people at the O2 Arena through to 25 local children in impoverished areas.
Dean firmly believes, with the right mind set and plan, nothing you truly desire is out of reach. To him, impossible simple means, its hasn’t been done…..yet.
In this interview, we discuss:
Benefits of the Military lifestyle How he went cycling 14,000 miles after only doing 20 miles at the most The protocols and hacks you need to build to achieve your goals. Building resilience in your own life And so much more!Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on
Your history is not your destiny - just because you start somewhere does not mean you need to stay there. It can be a tough journey to do, but it can be the making of you and your life. People will alway criticize and badmouth others - the best way to prove it wrong is action, is to go for it. Why avoid chasing your dreams because of what someone else thinks? Yep, it's stupid! Ignore them and level up! Instead of thinking of challenges are a bad thing, look at them as a chance to build your resilience skill, your ability to take on challenges and succeed. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Know your worth but don't bad mouth others - be confident in your skills, practice, train and build up your skills. Then keep quiet and get the work done to achieve your goals. Resilience is born in childhood, let your children play, go on adventures and learn their limits and abilities. Their future self will thank them. What gets measured, gets managed and achieved - set goals for yourself and go for them! A task with no deadline is just a dream. Pick a target, deadline, gather resources and go for it. Your body is like a river, it needs to keep flowing, moving and being challenged. You need an objective in your life, something to look forward to and challenge yourself with. Routine is important in life- adopt a military lifestyle and build routines into your life. ?Keep yourself busy, challenged and progressing daily. You can find a tribe of like-minded people, a community that can support and benefit people with friendships, motivation and assurance and accountability. Meetup.com, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and sports clubs are great places to find such people. A great team, like a special forces team, have a range of operators, with differing skills and abilities that benefit the other members of the team. You can't control the uncontrollable - organise, rehearse, plan and action on what you can control, and forget the uncontrollable. Action and affect what you can control, let the other parts go. Top performers will do the basics at world class level, build a strong base of fundamentals in your life and skills. Use a hot debrief when you are finished - before you clean up and shut off, look at what happened, what went well and how things could be improved. Then use this learning to keep building, evolving and adapt your approach for the next time to be better the next time. Be prepared, always have a contiguency plan in case things go wrong - hopefully you will never need it, but a well-rehearsed, organised and controlled fall-back plan can be the difference between your mission success or failure. Every challenge is a chance to grow. Each time you pick the easy way, you are going backwards. Every time you go for the challenge, you are growing, adapting and going forward towards your goals. Hard skills can be taught, but soft skills such as people skills and influencing others, can be what lets you hit that next level in life, access new resources, learn and everything in between. No man can be the best at everything. Build a network or friendships, relationships and connections to help each other achieve what you are going for. Break down large goals into smaller, manageable challenges. This way, the challenge won't be too overpowering and you will have an exact requirement in front of you, and you know what you need to achieve. You keep ticking them off, and you chip a bit off the iceberg each time until its gone. Action is important, but you need to rest too. Build a rest protocol and recovery periods into your life to avoid burning out. Find a mindfulness practice that can let you rest and recoup when needed and switch on your killer ability as its needed to perform at the top level.