#129 Lessons from the Edge with Aldo Kane

What can we learn that’s relatable from a modern day action man, who trained as a marine commando and sniper, who runs into active volcanoes, risks his life interviewing Mexican Narcos, survived Ebola and broke the Guiness World record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean?

Well it turns out quite an incredible amount!

Aldo Kane is an Adventurer, Explorer, a Fellow at the Royal Geographic Society, Producer, Author & TV Presenter with a penchant for the world’s most dangerous, extreme and remote locations. Aldo was recently the on-screen Expedition Leader for National Geographic’s latest flag-ship feature length Natural History series One Strange Rock, hosted by Hollywood star, Will Smith. This saw Aldo lead a prominent American Scientist deep inside one of Africa’s most dangerous volcanoes whilst it was erupting and the description of this in his book “Lessons on the Edge” is absolutely riveting! 

Over the last 7 years Aldo has worked on many ground-breaking (and as he describes them “fairly tasty”) TV shows! He’s been held at gunpoint, charged by black Rhino, abseiled into an active volcano, escaped Ebola and dived on Captain Kidd’s pirate ship, and that’s just the last year or two. Aldo has appeared with Hollywood A-Listers like Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody & Henry Cavill in some of the most extreme environments on earth. 

We talk about so many themes today:

• Mental fitness
• Compartmentalising
• Flow states
• Consistency over Skill as the secret to success
• Stoicism
• Grounding

A bit of background if you haven’t seen him on one of his many TV shows. Aldo joined the Royal Marine Commandos at the age of just 16 and went on to become one of the youngest Elite Commando Reconnaissance Snipers in the UK armed forces.  No mean feat with the hardest, and longest infantry training in the world.   Aldo saw active military service from Northern Ireland to the Middle East and became a survival expert in many environments.

As you will hear today, he’s probably one of the humblest and nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing. Calm, collected, jovial, chatty and altogether ‘grounded’, as I would describe it. I could have chatted to him easily for hours, but instead I recommend you either read or listen to his book “Lessons from the Edge” that you can find in all good bookstores. A fantastic book for Christmas, it is perfect escapism. 

Just a bit of warning, the language is a bit salty on this episode. So just take care if any kids are listening in. And remember check out thedoctorskitchen.com newsletter where I share weekly mindset tips, many of which Aldo puts into practice when he’s in extreme environments, such as breathwork and reframing.

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