I have had this thought so many times throughout life. What makes me so special? Who do you think you are Jen? How on earth do you think you will be able to stand out enough to get people interested in this event?

I sometimes feel surrounded by other people doing amazing and incredible things and wonder if the market for crazy, ‘wow factor’ fundraising activity isn’t already saturated. What difference could I make? These people often appear to me more experienced, better connected or just much more successful. And there it is, imposter syndrome, the unconscious habit of comparing oneself to other people, leading to self-doubt. This self-doubt can be crippling and, if listened to, would have me throw in the towel right now. But, I have learnt over the last few years to catch myself, to stop comparing myself to friends. Some of whom might have completed the 7 Summits, crossed Antarctica, built a business from scratch or completed arduous military courses as the first women to do so. I have friends who have done these things! And they are incredible people. But rather than compare myself to them I now try to take from their achievements the elements that inspire me. Don’t get me wrong, I still compare myself often but I am aware of it and consciously try to evolve my mindset to see what I can gain positively from following and supporting these super heroes.

In coming up with this challenge I found myself working quite hard not to be disheartened by the amount of fundraising activity and adventure challenges that I saw and heard about on a daily basis. I am well aware this sounds totally ridiculous because I should be happy that people are doing these things right?! And I am, of course, but there is a part of me that feared that my idea wouldn’t somehow be good enough, and occasionally I still have these thoughts. In the end I’ve had to remind myself that I was seeing, and continue to see, all of these amazing endeavours because I have chosen to follow and engage with likeminded people. I am not lost in a sea of high achievers, I am being buoyed up and inspired by them. (And obviously there is no harm in a little friendly competition…)

No matter what happens, or how successful this endeavour ends up being, I intend to pursue it until the end. Besides, what does success actually look like anyway…