“Take a leap of faith”

Anja Blacha: It was a training trip to learn how to navigate the Arctic environment – rough ice, open waters, polar bear defense – to test new equipment, and manage cold temperatures. Within the first few days, my body was already suffering significantly from the cold, and I had a couple of gear failures.

Well, when you go on a serious polar expedition, you cannot afford to have such issues arise. You need to be well prepared and have contingency plans. However, instead of figuring it all out in theory, it helps to put things into practice and learn from mistakes to get your system tuned. Even so, circumstances can change, so you need to adapt your response to them, and be creative in how you solve problems with limited means. I never think that nature is against me, even when it’s below 40 degrees Celsius or when I’m trapped in a snowstorm. While I can‘t know in advance exactly what will hit me, I need to count on the fact that I know, or know how to figure out, what to do if something does.

It‘s a combination of curiosity and the desire to learn more, both about myself and the environment around me. It is also about achieving something new, something I cannot be sure I am actually capable of until I try. Confidence follows courage.

To be a pioneer you need to follow a broader vision that takes you beyond, into the unknown. Just as I break trail in new terrain, you might open a different line of thought in your daily life, develop a better approach to a persistent problem, or work on something entirely new. Pioneers not only dream of their vision at night, but also put it into practice during the day. Hence, progress in unfamiliar terrain requires constant adjustment, persistence and creative problem-solving. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s the way to lead forward into the future. Identify your goal, prepare well and then take the leap of faith and follow through.