E116 - You're NOT Lazy: My System To Build Relentless Discipline & Toughness |Adam Radcliffe

Nov 13, 2025

Adam Radcliffe, an adventurer and online coach famous for extreme endurance challenges like rowing the North Atlantic, shares his journey from corporate life to full-time adventuring. He discusses the mental resilience required during isolation at sea, including coping with extreme weather and tight quarters. Adam reveals his training framework for staying fit while traveling, the importance of finding intrinsic motivation, and how adventure can be a test for personal relationships. His insights will inspire anyone looking to balance fitness with a life full of adventure!

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ANECDOTE

Leaving The Corporate Path

Adam left a corporate operations job at 25 because he feared a decade of unfulfilled life.
He saved money, risked half for travel and content, and accepted a fallback plan if it failed.

ANECDOTE

Close Calls In Solo Skydiving

Adam described two sketchy skydiving incidents including almost jamming a pilot chute and flipping unstable at low altitude.
Both moments required immediate calm, quick action, and later reflection on risk and survival.

ANECDOTE

How Small Risks Led To Bigger Adventures

Adam learned adventure by seeking progressively harder challenges starting with solo skydiving and trips to the Philippines.
A friend who rowed solo inspired him to try ocean rowing and repair a shipwrecked boat for new adventures.

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Adam Radcliffe sailed from the US to the UK in 56 days, and he's here to show you how to live a life of freedom and adventure while staying in shape, because most people think you have to choose between the two.

After spending weeks at sea with minimal resources and unpredictable conditions, Adam proves you can chase wild goals without sacrificing your fitness or health. You'll hear why the mental game matters more than physical preparation, the daily routines that kept him sane and fit during isolation, and what happens to your body when you're stripped of comfort for over a month. Tune in for his training framework for doing hard things you can't fully prepare for, how he maintains fitness while travelling and adventuring, and why living a life of freedom doesn't mean letting your body go.

00:00 Introduction
01:45 Leaving corporate life to pursue adventure full-time
06:47 Realising he was depressed and needed drastic change
09:49 Starting with solo skydiving and pushing personal limits
13:41 Sketchy skydiving jump and learning lessons in freefall
16:42 Using adventure to prove mental and physical toughness
19:34 56 days rowing across the North Atlantic begins
21:29 Mental lows of knowing you can’t escape the boat
23:29 Getting capsized by a rogue wave and surviving it
29:05 Solitary confinement in storm during 36-hour downpour
34:31 Testing resilience in relationships and partnership dynamics
41:33 Letting go of being perfect at everything
45:49 Facing fear and respecting dangerous ocean waves
47:42 Why knowing your why beats external motivation
54:05 Disordered eating habits and building better food systems
58:32 Upcoming challenges in Kyrgyzstan and Arabian deserts
59:49 Starting a new relationship while living a nomadic life
01:04:01 Capturing raw moments without ruining the experience

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