Breaking his back and rebuilding confidence

Bear recounts his parachute accident, intense rehab, gratitude for a second chance, and how it fuelled his recovery drive.

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Episode notes

Bear Grylls has achieved worldwide fame as one of the most recognised faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former SAS soldier, he has climbed Everest, circumnavigated the British Isles on a jet ski, rowed naked in a bathtub along the Thames and once broke his back in a parachuting accident.

But he's most famous for his TV career. He starred in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated Man vs. Wild TV series and hosted Running Wild, which has featured Bear taking President Obama, Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, and Kate Winslet on extreme adventures.

Bear is thoughtful, open and surprisingly gentle. This conversation will make you reflect on resilience, bravery and what it really means to keep moving forward when things fall apart.

✨ IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Introduction

03:00 Living with nerves and self-doubt

07:12 Public success versus private fear

13:45 Losing his father and learning to live with grief

18:10 Breaking his back and rebuilding confidence

23:40 Faith, inner voices and self-belief

29:05 Courage, fear and moving towards the difficult things

35:20 Failing SAS selection and earning confidence

41:00 TV failure, risk and starting again

46:40 Why giving up is the only real failure

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

The only real failure is when we give up.

You can't be a brave person without the fear... just not having fear and doing it mindlessly is- that's just stupidity. That's not courage.

Those failures are the stepping stones. They’re the scars I’m proud of.

The truth is we tend to stand on the shoulders of many. Beautiful people and giants who've helped us and been kind to us and encouraged us, and supported us and elevated us over themselves.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Never Give Up by Bear Grylls

Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/

Join Elizabeth Day for a special How to Fail live show at Crossed Wires Festival in Sheffield! Tickets on sale now: https://crossedwires.live/podcast/how-to-fail

📚 WANT MORE?

Mo Gawdat - on grief, resilience and rebuilding life after loss https://link.chtbl.com/fnA5IzTi

Tom Daley - the Olympic diver talks about pressure, fear and public failure, alongside the discipline and mental strength it takes to keep showing up at the highest level. https://play.megaphone.fm/deiztbmwsrw-vz5by9ajtw

Matt Haig - the bestselling author on mental health, survival and learning to keep going through periods of despair, anxiety and self-doubt https://link.chtbl.com/u2XVtjE7

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Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Engineer: Matias Torres

Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali