The Freedom Project

Does your scarcity mindset create a life you secretly despise? I used to have a horrendous scarcity mentality. There was never enough time. There was never enough money. There was never enough X, Y or Z for me to really live the life I want. This royally fucked me for years. It’s not like I wasted those years. But I certainly didn’t make the most of them. I dragged myself out of that hole over the course of years and now understand how to obliterate that mentality. Now, I see the same pattern in potential clients day in, day out. They have excuses that sound like logic but are really just traps. On one hand they call themselves an adventurer or an ultra runner or an alpinist. And they may have been that person one day. But their current reality tells a different story. If you took a snapshot of their past 12 months, all you’d see is someone yearning for adventure, but establishing their own road blocks. They don’t show up as their best self consistently. They fail to book the trips. They fail to live the life of an adventurepreneur. They settle for mediocrity and the status quo. Scarcity creates a mediocre life for extraordinary people.   Today, I’m going to describe the 3 golden rules I teach my adventurepreneur clients to take. Then I’m going to explain the single most effective tool to overcome a scarcity mentality.  

The conventional path never was for Willis Morris. Willis sought another kind of freedom. He moved from indoor climbing to alpinism, and became world class at it. Then from alpinism to speedriding. He wanted, in his words, “the toughest way up, and the gnarliest way down.” What’s more, he chose to teach himself how to speedride. This podcast is an exploration of: How to learn any skill What you learn from climbing the hardest pitches on The Eiger How to climb hard alone, without dying And much more

I’ve seen countless people massively shift their levels of performance. And I’ve seen countless fail to change anything at all. The latter end up mediocre, miserable and resentful. The former ends up free, successful, and satisfied. Which camp you fall into is not down to luck. It’s down to your choices. There are five choices adventurepreneurs make time and time again which ensure mediocrity. Today, I will help you identify which you make.  

Adventure comes to us in many different forms. For some of us, the mountains, the sea, or the sky reveals itself to us as our path. For others, our call to adventure is a literal call to arms. A signal reveals itself to us and whispers “this is your journey, this is your gauntlet”. The price of admission is mighty, and the potential cost is your life. The adventure of a military career is rewarding in a way that civilians will only guess at. Camaraderie, danger, fulfilment, humour, and misery beyond anything the civilian world can offer. For James Malone, his deployment to Afghanistan in 2018 came with all of the above. He returned with the onset of PTSD which morphed to alcoholism to cover the pain. For years, he turned away from the decision to confront his problems, but then he found a more authentic way of living, stopped drinking, and bought a camera with the money he saved. When we’ve created a persona which serves a purpose but betrays our authentic self, the juxtaposition creates pain. James’ journey is one of rediscovering authenticity, and through that, discovering true satisfaction for the first time in his life. In this podcast you too will discover what discovering authenticity looks like. James’ current venture is creating a feature length documentary Once We Were Warriors - an exploration of what it means to be a veteran, and why the labels of “bad, sad, or mad” are lazy stereotypes. Once We Were Warriors shows the journey of a handful of veterans exploring the slopes of Chamonix and using the mountains as a tool for growth. You can support this incredible project by visiting: www.oncewewerewarriorsfilm.com

Two months back, I had a “fuck it” moment. It’s not every day you get the chance to go on a ski mountaineering trip of this kind. I no longer live 45 minutes away from the best skiing in the world. I live at least 5 hours, a plane journey, and multiple countries away. Because of this, big trips: Cost a lot more money Take a lot more time Are a big interruption to my family and my business   For many, this is a dead end. But if you cut open my soul, it still bleeds adventure. So there’s no way I’m turning down a trip like this. I’ve helped clients plan trips like this, and I’ve made it happen for myself before. But this trip will be a whole new beast. Today, I’m going to show you exactly what I’m going to do to ensure I have the trip of a lifetime, but - and this is an important but - ensure my family life and my business thrive whilst doing so.

At some point in life you’re going to have to drop the identity you’ve built up and change who you are. Sometimes, this comes at the end of a challenging career when you’ve realised you’re just not going to make it. Other times, this is when you’re doing incredibly exciting and daunting things. For example when you’re moving onto another stage in life. When Jackie Paaso decided to give up on her mogul skiing Olympic dream, she encountered the first identity shift. It sparked an incredibly difficult time for her. But the lessons she learned in that time ultimately made her one of the world’s greatest pro skiers. Jackie dominated many events of the freeride world tour and set the bar for the type of skiing that was possible. She built a career that many dream of but few achieve. Once more, her identity was built to support this life. But when Jackie and her husband got pregnant, once more a shift of identity was imminent. Jackie found herself asking questions around how her life would look post baby and what would happen to her career and also her way of life. Alongside Elyse Saugstad, Jackie featured in Here, Hold My Kid; a ski movie sharing this journey as they shred big mountains. Alongside the details of Here, Hold My Kid, we discuss: Dealing with mental health and how to approach challenges you face. Navigating the uncertainty of identity shifts. What kind of example Jackie intends to be for her kids. What Jackie wishes she could have known when going through her initial identity shift. And her process of skiing big lines.  

True: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But, that step must be in the direction of travel. Plus, it helps if each step covers as much ground as possible. Today, I’m going to show you how you cover as much ground as possible each and every day. Because if you fail to make the most of every single day, you’ll end up looking back at yet another year of stagnation. We’re going to cover: Thriving in the most challenging situations How to stop wasting time When positivity won’t help you Finding the right support  

What kind of person is compelled to travel from the lowest point in every continent to the highest through human power alone? Well, the same kind of person who is willing to walk the length of the world’s largest freshwater lake whilst it’s frozen over. And the same person who ends up in the hands of Uzbek interrogators accused of narcotic smuggling. This person is adventurer, explorer and expedition leader, Oli France. Through his journeys, Oli has learned a tonne. He’s learned the components of a great adventure, how to plan for success, and how to avoid failure. In this episode of The Freedom Project with Oli France, we discuss how to plan the expedition of a lifetime and how to give yourself the best chance of success. You will leave this with a thorough understanding of the planning process and how to execute successfully. Including… The stages of planning a life changing adventure. How to build a team that thrives in hardship. How to prepare your body and mind for robustness and performance. How to make the most of all these experiences. And how to get over post expedition blues`.

Why do you fail to commit to your goals? With my clients, I’m looking for four signs they’re actually committed to their goals. Not just engaging in mental masturbation… …a lot of people are doing the latter Here’s another way to put it (crass language upcoming): A client once said to me, “you know what’s different about your coaching compared to the rest of what’s available, Tom? It’s the difference between having a wank and the real thing.” And you can translate that analogy to committing/pretending that you’re committed too. Actually being committed to your growth has 4 distinct characteristics that I’ll show you today. Pleasuring yourself by pretending to be committed just won’t cut it.   Are you truly committed? Or just bullshitting yourself? Let’s find out…  

In a life of adventure, you’re going to have injuries. Some will be minor scrapes. Hopefully, you’ll avoid the life changing ones. But, in doing difficult things, life changing injuries are a real possibility. How do you cope with the initial injury? How do you adapt your life on the other side? And how do you maintain your identity when you have injuries such as these? These are all questions today’s guest, Bernt Marius Rørstad provides an illuminating answer to. After a speedriding accident where he fell 30-40m, Bernt Marius had his right foot amputated, and has been adapting to life with a prosthetic ever since. Despite this, he is still an adventurer and mountain sports enthusiast. He still shreds on skis, climbs mountains, and just as impressively, maintains an outlook on life that is admirable. Today, on this episode of the Freedom Project with Bernt Marius Rørstad, we cover… The camaraderie of being in the mountains The events that led up to Bernt Marius’ crash and what he learned from it Finding gratitude in the things you’d rather not have Managing risk and danger Finding the opportunities within terribly difficult circumstances How the psychological part of challenge is always harder than the physical component & how to master that psychological challenge   And much more...