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Embracing Life’s Full Spectrum: Lessons From Rowing the Drake Passage
Colin O’Brady is an 11-time world record-holding explorer who has endured some of the harshest conditions on the planet, from a solo 54-day world first crossing of Antarctica to the summit of Mount Everest (twice) and beyond. Throughout his expeditions, O’Brady has developed a framework for understanding life’s experiences on a spectrum of 1 to 10. In this article, he shares insights on unlocking your highest potential by leaning into the worst of it.
The Drake Passage is the most dangerous stretch of ocean in the world, where the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans converge in a furious clash of currents and weather. In 2019, I attempted what no one had ever accomplished: crossing these treacherous waters in a rowboat powered solely by human strength.
Our vessel, named Ohana, was just 28 feet long and 3 feet wide, with an open hull. Six of us shared this tiny space, working in shifts of 90 minutes on, 90 minutes off, to keep the boat moving through swells that could reach 40 feet high. The water was just above freezing, with icebergs regularly floating past us as the massive swells crashed over our heads and soaked us to the bone. My rest periods were spent in a cramped and windowless stern cabin the size of a Honda Civic’s trunk, shared with a large Icelandic teammate. I would huddle in the fetal position, trying to get a little food and a few winks of sleep before heading out on my next shift.
This is where my concept of life’s full spectrum – on a scale from 1 to 10 – came into sharp focus; “ones” being life’s worst moments and “tens” being our highest highs. The “ones” were abundant on the Drake Passage: violent seasickness in a confined space, 40-foot swells crashing over our boat, and 40-mile-per-hour headwinds forcing us to huddle in survival suits while our tiny vessel was tossed around like a toy. Six people crammed into two small holds, sleep-deprived, hungry, cold, and miserable – about as far from comfort as we could get.
But here’s the key insight: these brutal “ones” set the stage for an extraordinary “ten.” After 13 days of battling these harsh conditions, the cry of “Land ho!” rang out. We were greeted by a scene that seemed almost mythical – massive icebergs, playful penguins diving into the waters, and humpback whales breaching near our boat. As we approached the Antarctic shore and lit our flares in celebration of becoming the first and only humans in history to row across the Drake Passage, I experienced one of the greatest moments of my life.
This journey crystallized a profound truth: our “ones” and our “tens” are intrinsically connected. Those peak moments of triumph and joy don’t come despite the struggles — they come because of them. While someone could have experienced Antarctica’s beauty from the comfort of a cruise ship or private jet, achieving a comfortable “seven” or “eight,” the transcendent “ten” was only possible through embracing the full spectrum of human experience, including the darkest moments.
Yet too many of us live our lives in what I call “the zone of comfortable complacency” — the four-to-six range. We all know people who spend decades in jobs they neither love nor hate, or relationships where they’re simply coexisting. We do this because we’re hedging against the fear of experiencing those “ones.” But in doing so, we inadvertently cap our potential for “tens.”
Think of it like a pendulum: when you remove the ones and twos from the equation, you lose the momentum needed to swing back to those nines and tens. The very act of avoiding life’s lowest moments paradoxically prevents us from reaching its highest peaks.
The message isn’t to unnecessarily seek out suffering, but rather to smile when we find ourselves in those “one” moments, recognizing them as doorways to potential “tens.” Whether in business, relationships, or personal growth, the willingness to embrace discomfort and challenge is often what separates an ordinary experience from an extraordinary one.
This is the essence of going beyond, understanding that life’s richest experiences often require us to move through, rather than around, our greatest challenges. The path to our highest moments frequently leads through our lowest valleys, and that’s not just okay – it’s essential to the human experience.
“Colin O’Brady’s story of triumph over unbelievable adversity shows the power of the human spirit. I was deeply inspired by his courage and persistence. After hearing him speak, I wanted to be better.
George Lucas, Creator of Star Wars
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