Like Mike

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Mike Horn says, we can all of our personal resilience

The Bbc , the weekly-in-chief-series-profiles of various executives from all over The World .>This Week , we speak with professional explorer and Motivational Speaker Mike Horn .

"I was bitten by a snake and lost the use of your eyes and The Feeling in my face. For the Five Days that I could not see. "

Mike Horn , 53, is talking about his first major solo expedition, in 1997, When he crossed South America , and partly by swimming the length of the Amazon.

The grueling six-month trip saw him bravely rapids, breaking his knee going over a waterfall, his equipment is stolen by the local tribe members, and you get shot at from The Banks of The River .

had The South African-born adventurer to hunt and forage for his food, and was to "host for the parasite" after a long time in The River . But he says that the snake was bite to the next shave.

Mike Horn started to go

"on his big solo adventure Back in 1997, I didn't know I was bitten until I have the whole world felt the turn, and I began to lose focus," says Mike, who in total travelled 7,000 km (4,350 km) from The Pacific coast of Peru to The Atlantic coast of Brazil.

"at the time, I was not able to call Back Home , all I had was a personal locator beacon with 16 pre-coded messages that I could send to My Wife . After Three Days it was so bad that I was going to send The Message " I'm going to die, but I fell unconscious before I could press The Button . "

The End of The Trip , Mike realized that he wanted to be a professional explorer, and since then, he has a series of increasingly gruelling adventure that pushed him to The Limit .

you are One of The First solo circumnavigation of The World around the equator without Motor-driven support in the year 1999, and always joint first for a trek to the North Pole on skis in 2006. He also built a successful side career as a TV presenter and Motivational Speaker .

Mike says, he tried his first expedition at the Age Of eight, When they say, without anyone, he tried with the wheel of his home in Johannesburg to his uncle's farm located 300km.

He can spend all but a couple of days in the year Away from home

"I knew it would take too long, I knew the distances I could cover, and I was afraid that my father would say no. But I wanted the freedom to try it. "

When his father, a successful rugby player, realized what had happened, he went and took Mike to the side of The Road .

father was not angry. "He just said," Tell me what you want to do and I can help you,'... He always gave me the support to try something out of the ordinary. "

After a year of military service in The South African army fighting in Angola, Mike is a Sports Science completed a degree at the University of Stellenbosch. Keen to Get Out of the apartheid era of South Africa , in the year 1989, at the Age Of 24, he moved to Switzerland, his home to This Day .

There, he was a ski instructor, but quickly tired, and so decided to embark on a series of mini-adventures in Peru. This included, in 1995, river boarding through the Colca Canyon - One of The World 's deepest gorges, where, in spite of the daily avalanches.

Mike's deceased wife and her daughters flying to see him When he is on his trips,

As his trips became more ambitious, the sponsors began to take note of it, and Mr Horn found a way to Finance his adventure. Today it is a global car brand and a luxury Swiss watch than the men behind.

His research has also led him to write 11 books, and the main role in several TV-shows. These include 2016 is A L'état Sauvage - the French version of the US series' Running Wild with Bear Grylls - The Adventurer takes celebrities on a journey with him.

Most of Mike's expeditions solo, but Some - such as the in 2002, his journey around the Arctic Circle by boat and Kayak - Lasting a year or more.

he says he "loves solitude", but that it was hard on his wife and manager of 20 years, Cathy, who died of breast cancer in the year 2015. It was also hard for her two daughters, who now run The Business , he in the year 2007 for the administration of his eponymous brand.

"There were years where I had to say home for More Than Five Days ," he, "although I, you will fly for parts of my trips. "

Mike has also risked his life More Than once. For example, When he once again to the North Pole Last Year with fellow explorer Boerge Ousland, they crossed the 1,800 km of treacherous ice on skis in the darkness of The Arctic winter there is no daylight.

Mike came frostbite in his hands, and the discoverer almost ran out of food. "I thought I would never come Back . "

Mike is not, from his job in the foreseeable future

He has channeled those experiences into his work as a motivational trainer and coach, training the likes of The German soccer squad and large companies on the resilience.

"We all have resistance, but we need it more, or less, depending on what we do in life, and our social status... You will have to grow. "

Additional features:

He is also many of us have too many options, which will allow us to "bail-out-of resilience" and not from our problems thinks.

"Get rid of all the possibilities, only decide to do One thing," says Mike. "If I know I to the North Pole , there is no rescue possible.

"There is No Other choice but to go and make it. I can't help you out of trouble. That is, if you get up to be more determined in the situation, if you fall. "

Mike says, he has slowed down, since Cathy died, but his company has five employees - down from 36 at its peak in the year 2012.

Alistair Gowling, which is Extremely International, a media company for adventure sports, says The South African adventurer, has built his brand well, and helped to "pave The Way " for a growing adventure tourism market.

"If [many] people Go On holiday, now you are on the search to try something that powers your adrenalin, and that's mainly thanks to people such as Mike and Bear Grylls . "

The Challenge For Today 's adventurers, adds Mr Gowling, is new feats of endurance, the people are swayable attention. "The World has been explored and it is becoming more and more difficult to move The Needle . "

Mike says he still has a few expeditions left in him, but he's worried he's part of a dying Breed .

apartheid, amazon rainforest, entrepreneurship, travel, south africa, arctic, snakes

Source of news: bbc.com