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

🧠 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

In this short solo drop, host Sam Penny flips the script on fear.

We all feel it—whether you're leading a business, standing on the edge of a bold new move, or simply facing a tough personal decision. But waiting for fear to disappear? That’s not how brave people operate.

In this episode, Sam introduces his practical 3-step Fear to Fuel Framework—a tool designed to help you move through fear, not around it.

You’ll learn how to:

• 🔍 Label the fear – Get specific so it stops running the show.
• 🔁 Flip the frame – Understand what your fear is really trying to tell you.
• 🚀 Move anyway – Take a small, brave step (even with your knees shaking).

This isn’t weak motivation—it’s what high-performing leaders use when hesitation starts whispering “not yet.”

⚡ Challenge of the Week

Sam lays down a practical challenge:
Think of the thing you’ve been avoiding.
Run it through the Fear to Fuel Framework.
Then take one small, brave step forward—today.

Tag @90dayswithsam and let him know how it goes.

🎧 Coming Up This Thursday

Don’t miss the full interview with Paul Watkins—business leader, adventurer, and a man who has built an extraordinary life by asking himself one simple question:
"Why not me?"

From epic expeditions to bold business decisions, Paul brings a powerful blend of courage and clarity that will leave you asking bigger questions of your own.

🔗 Stay Connected

👤 Follow Sam Penny – @90dayswithsam
💬 Got a story about bravery? Drop Sam a DM or leave a comment.
📩 Join the Brave Digest – Weekly insights for those building bold lives.

Subscribe to the show and share this episode with someone who needs a nudge to act—especially when fear starts whispering “not yet.”

What were you doing at 17?

Brianna Thompson was swimming the English Channel; not once, but twice, in one go. In this epic episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, Sam Penny sits down with the second-youngest person in history to complete a double crossing of the Channel, and the youngest to do it three times in a single year.

But behind the headlines is a powerful story of grit, fear, identity, and resilience.

🎧 In this episode:

• The moment a teenage girl decided to swim 68km across freezing, jellyfish-filled waters
• What it really takes to train for a 22-hour endurance swim (while finishing Year 12)
• How she kept going when her shoulder seized up mid-Channel
• The mental collapse after the glory, and what it took to come back
• Why she’s setting her sights on New Zealand’s infamous Cook Strait

This isn’t just a story about swimming. It’s about choosing courage, losing momentum, and finding your way back.

If you've ever faced burnout, imposter syndrome, or that haunting question of “What next?”, this episode is for you.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• 💪 Follow Brianna’s journey: Brianna’s Channel Swims on Facebook
• 📷 Connect with Brianna on Instagram: @brianna.t17
• 🌊 Read the article at: sampenny.com/brave

🧠 Quotes to Remember:

🔔 Subscribe & Stay Brave:

New episodes every Thursday — conversations with extraordinary people who dared to say yes to the impossible.

🎧 Visit the Podcast Home Page at sampenny.com/brave
💬 Share this episode with someone who needs a dose of courage

#WhyDidYouThinkYouCouldDoThat #BriannaThompson #ChannelSwimmer #BraveryPodcast #SamPenny