Ex-Google employee Tristan Miller completed the incredible feat of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks. The adventure saw him travel the world, from Mumbai to New York City, Antarctica to Melbourne including all seven continents.
Aside from the travel adventure, it is also a story of great personal discovery.
Tristan had lost his sales job when Google closed its Melbourne office during the global financial crisis. With the chance to start a new chapter, Tristan sold up everything he owned and leapt into the great unknown.
52 marathons in 52 weeks was Tristan's life. Tristan's keynote address of his story 'Everyone has at least one BIG adventure in them' is not only fascinating, but navigates the audience through a series of life lessons that are personally and professionally valuable.
Key messages include:
Leadership
Tristan believes it's important to show the team what you want to achieve and breakdown the steps to get there. Invite them to be involved in this path to success, then lead the way through example and encourage your team to follow suit, do their job well and then celebrate the wins as they achieve each goal. Always remind them what they're working towards, so the vision remains clear.
Motivation
Tristan's story is about taking hold of opportunity and making the most of your potential, whatever you do. It's about promoting a work life balance, knowing that taking some time to set personal goals (ie. run a marathon) inevitably feeds across into your work life. The lessons of breaking down each task into achievable steps and completing the entire goal are universal.
The confidence that comes from realising you can personally do what others only dream about is phenomenal.
Overcoming Adversity
I had to accept that many things would go wrong with my year. There was no precedent for my mission, so essentially I was flying blind. I focussed on getting on the next plane, finding the next bed and continuing to the next start line. I knew that the hard times would pass and I would soon be in a good space again, as long as I kept ticking the boxes and doing the basics. In the end, I continued on my long journey to success!
If your organisation needs a breath of fresh air, Tristan will have your staff re-assess their professional and personal goals and start to imagine themselves taking on bigger challenges in life.
Whether it's in life or at work, to be adventurous is to bring change into our lives, to strive for goals that we previously have believed are out of reach, or only the domain of others.
Tristan's speech makes people believe that they deserve more than an ordinary life and that they can achieve just about anything, by setting goals, laying out a plan and striving to deliver above all expectation.
Testimonials
The Google New York office had the opportunity to hear Tristan Miller speak. In front of over 200 employees, Tristan entertained and captivated the crowd with stories of his RunLikeCrazy adventures to date. He did a fantastic job engaging with the audience, who were both inspired and impressed with Tristan's background and achievements. His presentation was of very high quality and received nothing but positive feedback from all who attended. We were lucky to have someone of Tristan's calibre present to our employees and wish him all the best with future endeavours.
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