Her Adventure Psychology strapline is “Going knowingly into the unknown”. I’ve always found it a good metaphor for life after trauma, because often the very way you see, know, and understand the world, has been tilted over and many things feel unknown, new, strange and tricky.
There’s lots we can “know” though, and Paula takes us through how she worked it out in the 7 weeks (with near unbearable nerve and skin injury to her thighs) it took her to get to the Pole. Her Cope – Survive – Thrive model is used by leaders all over the world who train with her to navigate the tough mental and physical challenges of leading businesses to success in current times.
She also shares some insights from her time in April 2023 volunteering in Ukraine with Siobhan’s Trust. And she hits the nail on the head – tough times can sometimes bring out the best in everybody, the trick is learning how to manage our energy and resilience over the long term.
I’ve not picked out any time stamps as Paula is a master storyteller, the episode flows beautifully. We cover:
- Big Moments in Life (that boot you up the butt)
- What resilience really is
- Talking yourself through tough times
- Dark sense of humour (getting the fun back anyway)
- Moving Beyond Adversity
- When the everyday is also an adventure
You’ll absolutely want to check out her stuff online, she’s done a TED talk and is on YouTube, she’s published five books including BOAT to BOARDROOM which uses the Global Challenge as an extreme case study and The 7 Racing Rules – Lessons for Winning in Business and in Life contains her top seven performance principles. Her most recent publication is Adventure Psychology: Going Knowingly into the Unknown, a psychology reference book published by Routledge…. and she is just inspiring to vibe with!
