Most people will never step foot in Antarctica. Even fewer will ski across it. And almost no one will spend longer alone on that continent than Aaron Linsdau.
Eighty-two days. Just one man, two sleds, and the endless white stretching to the South Pole.
In this Guest Hub, we’re diving into one line from Aaron that has the power to change how you see your own life:
“As long as you keep chipping away at it, you always have a chance. Quitting simply isn’t an option.”
And here’s how this will unfold:
First, Spark: We’ll start by capturing your spark — the thing you want, the thing you’re going after.
Second, Struggle: We’ll face the voice that tells you to stop, the mental battles that nearly broke Aaron in Antarctica, and the ones you fight every day.
Fourth, Breakthrough: You’ll discover how persistence compounds, and why the breakthrough always comes after the hardest moments.
The Big Interview: You’ll hear Aaron’s full story — the record-breaking South Pole expedition, the hallucinations, the hunger, the isolation — and what it taught him about life.
Fourth, Action: We’ll turn it back on you. A simple, practical step so you can chip away at your own impossible.
Because you’re better than you think you are. Most people underestimate their strength. They believe bravery belongs to “other people.” But ordinary people do extraordinary things all the time — not by being superhuman, but by refusing to quit.
Aaron didn’t reach the South Pole with one giant leap. He got there step by step, ski by ski, chipping away, refusing to give in.
And that’s your Spark right now.
Write it down. Complete the sentence:
“I want to…”
“I am going to…”
Then say it out loud. Declare it. Because the moment you give words to your spark, you start giving it weight.
You don’t need Antarctica to prove it. You just need to take the first step — and remember that quitting isn’t an option.
Tuesday — Struggle
🧭 Name the Fear
Write it plainly — no euphemisms:
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What if the thing standing between you and your dream isn’t the world outside you — but the voice inside your own head?
You just named your spark. You wrote it down. You said it out loud. Now, we face the struggle that always follows: the moment your own mind tries to talk you out of it.
For Aaron Linsdau, that voice was relentless. In Antarctica, he faced 82 days of silence, hunger, and endless white. He hallucinated. He heard things that weren’t there. His subconscious even made his body ache in ways that weren’t real — anything to convince him to quit.
And isn’t that what happens to us? You set a big goal, and almost immediately your mind starts inventing reasons why it’s too hard, too risky, too late, too impossible. It doesn’t matter if it’s launching a business, running a marathon, or changing your life — the excuses show up.
But here’s the truth: those voices aren’t proof you should stop. They’re proof you’re moving into territory that matters.
Aaron kept skiing because he knew those thoughts were temporary. They weren’t reality. They were his brain trying to protect him by pulling him back to comfort. And if he could endure them, the storm in his mind would eventually pass.
And that’s your Struggle today: to recognise that voice, to hear it for what it is, and to keep moving anyway.
So here’s your Power Move:
Take the spark you wrote yesterday.
Now write the fear that stands beside it. Start with: “I am afraid that…” and finish the sentence.
Then say it out loud. Because struggles grow in silence. But when you name them, they begin to shrink.
Right now, your job is this: don’t bury the struggle. Name it. Speak it. Own it.
Because the difference between those who stop and those who succeed isn’t that the struggle disappears. It’s that the brave ones keep moving through it.
Wednesday — Breakthrough
🚀 Move While Afraid
Complete this reframing:
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What if the very thing holding you back could become the thing that carries you forward?
You've named your spark — the dream you want, the thing you’re going after. You faced your struggle — the fear that tries to shut you down. And right now is about the breakthrough: the moment persistence shifts the game.
For Aaron Linsdau, that breakthrough came not in a single flash of triumph, but in the quiet, relentless choice to keep going. Antarctica tested him in ways most of us can’t imagine. He skied through storms so violent he couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the ground began. He dragged sleds weighing more than 160 kilos over ridges and through drifts that swallowed them whole. His butter — half his calories — went rancid, leaving him starving and weak. And in the silence, he began to hallucinate. He heard things that weren’t there. He saw things that didn’t exist. His own mind was trying to betray him.
Most people would have turned back. But Aaron discovered something powerful: the mind screams loudest just before the progress shows. The hardest days, the darkest moments, often sit right on the edge of the breakthrough.
And here’s the key: breakthroughs don’t come when fear disappears. They come when you decide to move forward with the fear. Aaron didn’t wait for courage to arrive. He didn’t wait until it felt easy. He chose to ski anyway. That choice — to keep chipping away, to not quit — is what carried him all the way to the South Pole.
And that’s your breakthrough right now. Fear, struggle, setbacks — they aren’t signs you’re failing. They’re signs you’re close.
So here’s the Power Move:
Take the fear you wrote yesterday.
Now write this sentence: “Even though I am afraid of ____, I will ____ anyway.”
Then say it out loud. Let yourself hear your own voice commit to moving forward.
Next, you’ll hear Aaron’s full story — the record-breaking solo South Pole expedition. But today, remember this: breakthroughs don’t arrive when the fear vanishes. They arrive the moment you refuse to let fear stop you.
Set the record for the longest solo South Pole expedition: 82 days alone in Antarctica
Former engineer who left a stable career to pursue extreme exploration
Faced whiteouts, hallucinations, starvation, and gear failures on the ice
Author of 40+ books, filmmaker, keynote speaker, and Amazon Prime show host
Shares powerful lessons on resilience, incremental progress, and everyday bravery
Friday — Action
✅ This Weekend I Will…
Pick something small, real, doable:
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Making progress on your dream doesn’t begin with giant leaps. It begins with one undeniable step — the choice to keep chipping away.
We’ve been walking with Aaron Linsdau across the ice of Antarctica.
First, you named your spark: the dream, the thing you want.
Then you faced your struggle: the fear that tries to shut you down.
Third, you claimed your breakthrough: the decision to keep moving anyway.
And you heard Aaron’s full story — 82 days alone, hauling sleds across the South Pole, hallucinating in whiteouts, starving as his food spoiled, and still refusing to quit.
And now we arrive here. The day where the spotlight shifts from Aaron to you.
Because his words weren’t just about Antarctica. They were about life: “As long as you keep chipping away at it, you always have a chance. Quitting simply isn’t an option.”
The truth is, your impossible doesn’t demand 82 days of isolation. It demands one act of bravery today. One step. One swing of the hammer against the rock.
So here’s the Power Move:
Write this sentence: “One thing I will do to make a difference…” and finish it.
Keep it simple. Maybe it’s one email you’ve been avoiding. One conversation you know you need to have. One workout. One journal entry. One step toward the dream you wrote down as your Spark.
Then say it out loud. Commit to it. And this weekend, act on it.
Because action creates momentum. Momentum builds belief. And belief is contagious.
Aaron’s difference wasn’t skiing to the South Pole. His difference was refusing to quit when everything in him screamed to stop. That’s the example he leaves for us.
And now it’s your turn.
Don’t let this weekend slip past like all the others. Make it the weekend you stopped waiting. The weekend you acted. The weekend you proved that quitting isn’t an option.
Because impossible doesn’t start with Antarctica. It starts with one small, undeniable act — and that act might just be the thing the world is waiting for.
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