All posts filed under: Adventure

I’m leaving my position tomorrow

Published by Colin Nanka

  …to start a new journey. Fatherhood. Feeling really grateful and fingers crossed everything goes as planned we’ll have a bouncing baby girl Nanka join the world this weekend. I truly appreciate Salesforce’s support of taking time off to fully immerse in the experience. I turn 44 in July and have been on many rewarding adventures across the globe over the last decade. This will the most rewarding yet. I’ll be offline from work for three weeks, so if you want to keep up with our going’s on, FB and IG will the place to be. I may pop a blog in here or there or just queue them up for when I return! Have a great weekend. Colin  

Three Pieces of Wisdom From Kyle Maynard That Will Make You Better

Published by Colin Nanka

Kyle Maynard is the best selling author, entrepreneur and ESPY award-winning mixed martial artist athlete and the first quadruple amputee to climb Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua. On failure:   “The best way I can describe the feeling of overcoming failure is the Finnish word – SISU – the mental strength to continue to try even after you have reached the limits of your abilities.”   Advice for new professionals:   “Follow your bliss.  Happiness is just above status quo, bliss is your feeling of freedom standing on top of a mountain or laying back in a catamaran halfway around the world.”   On saying no:   A CEO friend of his asks his people to rate candidates for hire as 1-10 on potential and they cannot choose 7.  That lesson has helped him make better decisions on incoming projects and requests.   Excerpt from Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferris    Advice to live by.   Colin  

Three reasons to stress test the system

Published by Colin Nanka

Eighteen months ago I sprained my ankle before a big race in Antarctica.  I healed it enough to make it through the race.  It took a bunch of rehab through 2017 and was aggravated again in Patagonia in the fall and this spring in Vancouver.   As I start my 2018 journey in less than a week…Baby girl Nanka joining the world, I am focused on long-term rehab and healing this nagging injury.   As I gingerly and proactively stretch the tendons, my trainer explained to me when you went over on it last year you applied at least 2-3 times your body weight of force.    You need to build it back up to withstand competitive stress.   Is there something in your game that needs stress testing?   Three things I am focused on:   Strengthen the tendons Stretch and stress the tendons  Rest and let the body repair Always be strengthening the foundation.   Colin   

You are the pilot of your own life

Published by Colin Nanka

“Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve jobs I like to sleep! I am about to get a lot less of it with baby (insert name) Nanka joining the world on or before June 8th! We could not be more excited. The average person lives 78 years! We spend 28.3 years sleeping!! That could mean over half of my life is behind me, however, I plan to live to 100! I have been waking up earlier, every year I am alive. I have too much to get done! In my role of enabling the success of other people, I constantly hear: I don’t have enough time I am overloaded I am sooooo busy I feel like I am always climbing I have lost balance in my life I have said all those things myself! I highly recommend this video by former Monk Jay Shetty as he beautifully outlines the value of time. Time is more valuable than money. Chart your own course today. Colin

One thing I learned walking through Antarctica

Published by Colin Nanka

Sometimes it can take awhile for appreciation deep down to set in. In November 2016 four weeks before a trip of the lifetime sailing 1,000 miles from the southern tip of Argentina to Antarctica for an adventure race I sprained my ankle.    Story here What I may not have appreciated at the time is how much I filled up the resiliency bucket.    The most I could manage was running a total of 20 minutes prior to leaving to run 200KM + in deep snow and ice.    I did, however, do some of the best rehab of my life in the 10 days after the injury. I also controlled what I could control and was laser-focused on staying in shape and pushing mentally through barriers every minute of every day.    I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in 18 months later what that Antarctica trip will mean to me 20 years from now.    What I learned walking through Antarctica is that life is a gift. I appreciated every sunrise, and sunset every glimmer of …

A big adventure deserves a big dinner

Published by Colin Nanka

Almost a decade ago I sat along the Nile river in Egypt celebrating a big adventure. My friends were celebrating the completion, I was celebrating the attempt. Since then, I’ve put a celebration dinner on the day of or after, for any big hairy audacious goal, not only to celebrate the effort but to honor the journey. I’m in Vancouver this weekend running a 50 KM race with a friend. I’ll get to celebrate the journey with him and his wife and another lifelong friend who I ran my first marathon with! Good things come together when you rally the right people about a worthy endeavor. I can’t wait to enjoy the moment during the race and after! Colin

How To Gamify Your Way Through Your Toughest Challenges

Published by Colin Nanka

  I spent my Sunday training for the DiazVista race in Vancouver, Canada two weeks from now! As part of my training, I planned on taking a long run four-hour run.   I decided to run over the George Washington Bridge and make my way through Fort Lee Historic Park, hitting the trails. A bit of greenery near our concrete jungle of Manhattan.   What I didn’t anticipate was going a bit too far into the park, and making my way out and back over the bridge close to dinner time. I knew I had a long slog from 178th street back home to Battery Park (all the way at the bottom of Manhattan near the freedom tower). I knew I was staring down a 1.45 hour run home after putting in over 3 hours.   The last half-hour was brutal. I must admit, I thought about calling an UBER but I thought better to challenge myself to a bit of a mind game to get to my goal.   And it worked!   I decided to run for an entire song. …

Episode 249: Colin Nanka – Success Starts With A Choice: Salesforce.com Leader, Adventure Racer

Published by Colin Nanka

The Learning Leader Show – Guest Colin Nanka I want to thank one of my mentors Mike Wolff for connecting me to Ryan Hawk who runs the Learning Leader Show.   What I loved about doing this episode is being on the other side of really good discovery.   Ryan and I got to know each other pretty well over the last couple months and he does really good research. He also breaks down larger ideas into actionable insights.   You’ll hear my thoughts on:   Building trust Mistakes first line managers make Mentorship Accountability Anxiety Mantras and more! I highly recommend the recent episodes with Maria Taylor from ESPN, James Clear (Author and speaker on habits and decision making) and Jim Collins (Author –  Good to Great) and of course mine!   Colin  

The ONE thing to focus on when times get tough

Published by Colin Nanka

  When you look back on the accomplishments you are most proud of, what were the most challenging moments when you had to find that extra gear in order to overcome?   Here is an example for me.  Night sky Patagonia Argentina – November.  After running four marathons back to back over four days and operating on little sleep and temperatures dropping we had 75 Km ahead of us in one day to complete the race. Sleeping was uncomfortable, it was cold and getting out of your sleeping bag in the middle of the night to water the flowers was not ideal.    Sometimes when you least expect it you find the motivation and opportunity for gratitude – in the middle of the night.    The most incredible stars and night sky over Tronador in the Andes mountain range.    How did I capture this essence going forward?  NOTHING YOU FACE TODAY WILL BE TOUGHER THAN THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ANGUISH OF DAY 5 IN PATAGONIA.   NOTHING.   What is your leverage moment you can focus …