Bear Grylls has achieved worldwide fame as one of the most recognised faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former SAS soldier, he has climbed Everest, circumnavigated the British Isles on a jet ski, rowed naked in a bathtub along the Thames and once broke his back in a parachuting accident.
But he's most famous for his TV career. He starred in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated Man vs. Wild TV series and hosted Running Wild, which has featured Bear taking President Obama, Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Will Ferrell, C...
Bear Grylls has achieved worldwide fame as one of the most recognised faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former SAS soldier, he has climbed Everest, circumnavigated the British Isles on a jet ski, rowed naked in a bathtub along the Thames and once broke his back in a parachuting accident.
But he's most famous for his TV career. He starred in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated Man vs. Wild TV series and hosted Running Wild, which has featured Bear taking President Obama, Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, and Kate Winslet on extreme adventures.
Bear is thoughtful, open and surprisingly gentle. This conversation will make you reflect on resilience, bravery and what it really means to keep moving forward when things fall apart.
✨ IN THIS EPISODE:
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Living with nerves and self-doubt
07:12 Public success versus private fear
13:45 Losing his father and learning to live with grief
18:10 Breaking his back and rebuilding confidence
23:40 Faith, inner voices and self-belief
29:05 Courage, fear and moving towards the difficult things
35:20 Failing SAS selection and earning confidence
41:00 TV failure, risk and starting again
46:40 Why giving up is the only real failure
💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:
The only real failure is when we give up.
You can't be a brave person without the fear... just not having fear and doing it mindlessly is- that's just stupidity. That's not courage.
Those failures are the stepping stones. They’re the scars I’m proud of.
The truth is we tend to stand on the shoulders of many. Beautiful people and giants who've helped us and been kind to us and encouraged us, and supported us and elevated us over themselves.
🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:
Never Give Up by Bear Grylls
Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content
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📚 WANT MORE?
Mo Gawdat - on grief, resilience and rebuilding life after loss https://link.chtbl.com/fnA5IzTi
Tom Daley - the Olympic diver talks about pressure, fear and public failure, alongside the discipline and mental strength it takes to keep showing up at the highest level. https://play.megaphone.fm/deiztbmwsrw-vz5by9ajtw
Matt Haig - the bestselling author on mental health, survival and learning to keep going through periods of despair, anxiety and self-doubt https://link.chtbl.com/u2XVtjE7
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Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan
Engineer: Matias Torres
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali
Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Alex Lawless
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