The Toughest Scientist Alive Ross Edgley

I have read his books 3 times and met him after his world-record swim around Great Britain.

Here are 7 lessons you can use to become unbreakable:

Who is Ross Edgley?

• Pulled a car for 26.2miles

• Swam for 48hrs straight in a pool

• Climbed a rope for 8,848m = height of Everest

• Swam around Great Britain (1,792miles in 157 days)

• Completed Olympic distance triathlon carrying a 100lb tree

Here the lessons:

1. Surround yourself with people who push you

Sitting in a London restaurant Ross’s evening turned from a pleasant meal to the kick-off of the world’s first tree-athlon (a triathlon carrying a 100lb log!)

Ross shared the meal with an Ironman world champion and owner of a sports marketing agency. She needed Ross to take on a new challenge to raise awareness for a good cause.

Are the people around you pushing you out of your comfort zone?

2. Set micro goals to conquer the impossible

Ross swam around Great Britain for 157 days straight. He did so in 6-hour blocks. 6 hours swimming, 6 hours rest. No matter the weather or how many jellyfish were in the water.

Thinking about all the miles ahead was too much to bear, so Ross only focused on one stroke at a time.

Break down your big scary goals into the smallest next action.

3. Progressive overload

Ross has trained numerous times with the Royal Marines. Crawling through frozen mud, climbing slippery obstacles and learning their mindset tools.

The instructors don’t even break a sweat demonstrating the exercises, because they’ve accustomed their bodies over time.

Push past your old limits, then rest to recover. Next time push a little more. Always chasing excellence.

4. Train hard

Running a marathon is hard. Pulling a car over 26.2miles on the Silverstone racetrack is exponentially harder.

To prepare for this crucible, Ross had to get much stronger. How? By pulling a tractor in training.

Your goals should scare you, but you can achieve them if you put the work in to make the outcome inevitable.

5. Lean into failure

Ross attempted to swim between two islands (40km) in the Caribbean dragging a 100lb log. But the current was against him. Ross ended up swimming 100km never reaching the other island.

Heartbroken at first, Ross used this failure to come up with a bigger challenge: The Great British Swim (no tree though this time).

How do you cope with failure, does it squash you or fuel you?

6. Know yourself

Ross is obsessed with finding the perfect training methodology and fuel for his endeavours. He seeks out experts and then applies their knowledge on himself.

To test how to best fuel his body, he ran 31 marathons over 31 days on a treadmill in his kitchen, trying different recipes each time.

If you want to perform at your peak, study yourself and tune into your body and mind.

7. Pursue a bigger purpose

Ross is passionate about marine conservation, but protecting sea kelp around Scotland isn’t on anyone's agenda. So he is attempting to break a couple of records to raise awareness.

Ross is swimming Loch Ness (right now!) to set the record for the world’s longest non-stop swim. His goal: 72hrs and 100miles.

What are you passionate about and how can you push yourself to support it?