What if the bravest thing you ever did wasn’t crossing a finish line, but starting again after falling short the first time?

In this gripping episode, Sam Penny sits down with Paul Watkins, pharmacist by day, ultra-endurance adventurer by choice. Paul shares how a career in retail pharmacy turned into a journey through the world’s most extreme environments, including a 614-kilometre footrace through the Canadian Arctic where most competitors quit before the halfway mark… and he came back to win.

This isn’t just a story about survival. It’s about building courage, piece by piece, until you have enough to take on something you once thought was impossible.

🧭 Inside This Episode

• How burnout sent Paul from the pharmacy to the Himalayas
• The moment he collapsed… and what came next
• Why failure in his first Arctic race was his greatest teacher
• What it really takes to finish when your body shuts down
• The mindset shift from “just finish” to “I can win this”
• How to train courage the same way you train your body
• Why ordinary people are more capable than they think
• Redefining discipline as self-love (not self-punishment)
• The role of tiny daily habits in doing impossible things

🔥 One Big Takeaway

Paul’s story will shift your perspective on what it means to be ‘qualified’ to do hard things. Spoiler: you probably already are; you just haven’t stacked the evidence yet.

👇 Links + Resources

📚 Paul’s book: Lost and Found
🌏 Paul online: paulwatkins.com.au
📸 Follow Paul on Instagram | LinkedIn

🧠 For more show notes: sampenny.com/brave