Tuk R Bust - 15,000 km in a 58-Year-Old British Sports Car

What could possibly go wrong?

I recently drove to Tuktoyaktuk and back.

That’s about 15,000 km.

In a 58-year-old British sports car.

There was some crazy driving. Some “interesting” hotels, inns and B&Bs. Wonderful people. And scenery that was, quite simply, mind blowing.

And Canada.

I am incredibly fortunate to live in this huge, beautiful country, full of really nice people.Most of us live in a relatively thin strip along the southern edge — Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver.

It’s easy to think that’s Canada - It isn’t.

Here’s something that puts the size of the country into perspective.

As the crow flies, Tuktoyaktuk is about as far from the southern US border as Vancouver is from Toronto. Think about that for a second.

We think of Vancouver to Toronto as crossing the country. Yet when you reach the US border coming south from Tuk, you’ve travelled roughly that same distance — and you’re only just entering the United States.  Edmonton? That’s only about halfway to Tuk.

There is a LOT of Canada up there.  The Yukon. The Northwest Territories. Northern BC.Go see it.

But there was something else I brought back from the trip.

When I first started thinking about doing this, it scared me a little.

Could I actually drive 15,000 km through some very remote country in a 58-year-old British sports car? Would the car make it? Would I?

There were lots of reasons not to do it.

And there were certainly challenges along the way (mud, snow, breakdowns, potholes, bison, bears…)

But now that it’s done, would I do something like it again?

Sure.

Just as I’ll do another 3 km open-water swim. And probably some other slightly ridiculous thing that I haven’t thought of yet.

Because I’ve discovered that stepping outside your comfort zone does something interesting.

The thing you were worried about is usually nowhere near as bad as you imagined. You figure things out. You learn stuff. You adapt.

And your comfort zone gets a little bigger.

As owners and CEOs, we naturally gravitate toward things we know we can do. Markets we understand. Customers we know. Problems we’ve solved before.

That’s comfortable.

But growth — personal or business — tends to happen just outside that comfortable space.You don’t have to drive to the Arctic Ocean in an antique British car.

But you probably should do something that makes you a little uncomfortable.

Hire someone better than you.

Enter a new market.

Make the acquisition.

Hand over something you’ve always controlled.

Stand up in front of 500 people.T

ry something you might fail at.

Apple famously told us to Think Different.

Maybe we should also Do Different.

You are capable of much more than you think you are.

So, what are you going to do this year that takes you outside your comfort zone?

And how will you be different when you get back?

Drive to Tuk? 

See you next time,

Andrew