How to Complete the Biggest Project of Your Life: An interview with Dave Cornthwaite

dave-cornthwaite-celebration

Fellow Riskologists,

What does it take to make a big project happen? What do you do when you want to start something that’s going to require a lot of planning, focus, and even team building?

These are questions I ask myself all the time as I think about some of the projects I want to take on, and there are few people I know who are better at answer them than my friend, Dave Cornthwaite.

Dave is on a journey to complete 25 1,000 mile expeditions across the world. In his most recent challenge, Swim 1000, he—you guessed it—swam 1,000 miles down the Missouri River in 58 consecutive days. Quite the feat!

To do it, it took a lot of planning, a lot of courage, and a lot of support from others.

I called Dave the other day to get some insight into this question that I think Riskologists the world over confront every day:

What does it really take to succeed in the biggest project of my life?

Some questions Dave answered in our talk:

  • What risks exist in a big project like this, and how do you plan for them?
  • How do you get started with a project of this scale if you’ve never had the courage before? (Dave was a depressed graphic designer in a previous life.)
  • What do you do when your project is too big to complete alone?
  • How do you build a support team that will carry you through the tough times?
  • Do you have to know what you’re doing before you start a project like this, or can you learn along the way?
  • What does it feel like to finish something this big?
  • What’s the most important thing to do to keep yourself motivated during a big project?

And my favorite quote from Dave:

We’re the only ones who can decide on our own successes or failures. No one else can do that for us.

I hope you enjoy this talk and put Dave’s lessons to use in your own big project.

Your homework today:

In the comments below, tell us what your big project is. And share the next step you’re going to take to complete it.