The reason we all either do or don’t do things depends on whether our reasons ‘why’ are stronger than our excuses. 

I believe this is the case for everything in our lives, from the career we choose to the money we make to the lifestyle we live… when something is important enough, which means we have a strong enough reason why it’s a must for us, then we will find a way. 

Eleven months ago Claire and I had a baby girl called Zara. She is awesome and has changed our lives in ways we had no idea she would. 

One way for me is with a goal I felt compelled to set. 

Before I started work as a doctor I was a pro skier. I competed in Extreme Skiing competitions and when I last competed full time in 2003 I was the national champion. After I started working as a doctor I put the skiing aside “just for a while”. In 2006 I started MedRecruit and the skiing was once again put aside.  

With children we always say to them they can be anything they want, and they can pursue any dream they want. I believe that as parents it’s important to not only say this to our kids, but it’s equally important that we make our lives examples of this ethos. Our actions speak louder than the words we say.

 So when we had Zara I realised that I had to pursue my Olympic dream, otherwise I couldn’t in all congruence tell Zara that she could go after any dream she wanted.  

So I’ve been doing all that I can to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Skier Cross. It’s been a real challenge fitting the training into family time and running MedRecruit, but the reason why is stronger than the excuses about why it’s too tough.  

In the weekend I competed in a Peak to Peak race in Queenstown in a team, I did the ski leg. We won the race but I tore my medial meniscus. I’ve got races in two weeks so it’s now all on to get fit and ready. 

I can live with myself if I don’t make the Olympics, but I can’t live with myself if I don’t give it 100% to be there. 

I can live with being able to tell Zara to not be afraid to go after her dreams. 

In this blog we can explore this, I hope you find it interesting and what I really hope is that it might inspire you to go after a dream that you’ve been putting off. 

A mentor of mine called Keith Cunningham said something profound to me once: “Hell on earth would be to meet the person you could have been.” 

Something to think about.