Developing Your Momentum Superpower & Survival Against Impossible Odds

WHAT'S INSPIRING ME

As an engineer working in Indonesia, Stanley Aryanto couldn’t have imagined traveling the world as a nomadic photographer. Now, he lives his life jumping from adventure to adventure.

A serendipitous chain of events led Aryanto to his most recent adventure: photographing treacherous ice caves in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He says, “We're capable of so much if we put our time, mind, and effort into chasing our dreams.” I couldn’t agree more.

Read the full article at My Modern Met.

THE MARK DIVINE SHOW

Jessica Buchanan’s Extraordinary Hostage Survival Story

Episode 368: Jessica Buchanan: Survival Against Impossible Odds

This week on the podcast, I sat down with Jessica Buchanan, a humanitarian worker and activist who was kidnapped and held hostage for 93 days in Somalia. Jessica miraculously survived to tell the tale in her memoir, Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team VI. In this episode, Jessica recounts her experience in captivity, how she coped and healed after survival, and how her kidnapping ultimately led her to a greater purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• Finding strength in the unthinkable. As a teacher from Ohio, Jessica never thought such an extraordinary event could ever happen to her. But her experience taught her that not only was she not immune to having bad things happen to her, but she also learned she’s a whole lot tougher than she ever gave herself credit for. She says that she can now look back on her story as a reminder of her inner strength in moments of imposter syndrome.
• Trust your gut. The night before her kidnapping, Jessica’s intuition was screaming at her not to travel to southern Somalia as she was instructed to do for work. In fact, she tried to cancel the work engagement twice, but was pressured by her colleague to go. The whole night before her kidnapping, she had nightmares that she was being kidnapped by pirates. She says her decision to go anyway was the biggest self-abandonment moment of her life. She has since vowed to always go with her gut, no matter what.
• Finding humor in a hopeless place. Jessica says she relied on her “warped sense of humor” to keep her hopeful and strong over the course of her 93-day kidnapping. At one point, when her captors locked the keys inside all three getaway vehicles, she turned to her co-hostage and said, “It's official, we’ve been kidnapped by the world's dumbest pirates.” Humor is a hope-builder.
• Healing trauma is not a linear process. Jessica says that overcoming her trauma has been two steps forward and 10 steps back. Whether you’ve experienced large or small traumas, you just don't know what's going to trigger you from day to day, so be gentle with yourself.
• When life gives you lemons... Jessica made use of her 93 days in captivity examining every memory she could remember from her life. During this healing process, she reflected, analyzed, and deeply forgave others and herself. (This is actually very similar to an ancient practice called “recapitulation” from the ancient Toltec warriors.) From the ashes of her traumatic kidnapping, Jessica has now built a daily spiritual practice of meditation and journaling, which has become crucially supportive in her business working with women.

LISTEN HERE

WHAT I'M READING

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

I will never stop re-reading this classic story. On the surface, it looks like a fable about an Andalusian shepherd boy traveling in search of treasure. But this easy-to-read book reflects upon so many deeper truths about the meaning of life, the importance of following our hearts, and the magic that happens when we seize the opportunities that are meant for us.

WHAT I'M WRITING ABOUT THIS WEEK

Develop Your Momentum Superpower

SpaceX rockets require gargantuan effort and massive amounts of energy to launch – 37 million horsepower, to be precise. But once that rocket is in flight, it requires a fraction of the energy to keep moving. That’s because what is called the “rolling resistance” is tiny compared to the starting resistance.

This power of momentum can be put to beneficial use by you, too, when you adopt and sharpen new patterns. In this piece, I talk about how to build your own momentum muscle to help you achieve your most important goals.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest opportunities.”

Peter Diamindis

PRACTICE OR HABIT TO TRY

What adventure would you go on if you had no other obligations or worries? Spend some time journaling about it today, and don’t censor yourself – you might be surprised by the insights you uncover.

That’s all for now! See you next week. 

Hooyah!

Mark

P.S. An inside look at the toughest US Army Special Forces course