How the mindset makes the man with Award-Winning Adventurer, Jordan Wylie #17
Sir Ranulph Fiennes describes Jordan Wylie as a determined, fearless adventurer and an inspiring man. A former soldier, best selling author, extreme adventurer and one of the stars of the award-winning TV shows Hunted and Celebrity Hunted, his expeditions - including a staggering number of world firsts - have raised more than £1m for charity.
Having achieved two world records, 10 years of military service, one unfathomably difficult climb of Mount Kilimanjaro and years of tireless campaigning to remove the stigma around mental illness, this episode of Extrology uncovers the incredible mindset behind a man who truly lives by the mantra: Be the difference that makes a difference.
Lee & Jordan discuss:
The streetwise skills Jordan learned in his early years
Military service as a levelling experience
Disparity between military mentality and private sector businesses
Jordan’s entry point to maritime security and dealing with Somali pirates unarmed
Embarking on world record breaking expeditions as a charitable force of good
Raising awareness of the stigma around mental health and mental illness
Links & references:
Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/
Jordan Wylie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanwylie/
Get in touch: lee@extrology.com
Episode highlights:
“I grew up on a council estate, in quite a rough area in Lancashire. But whatever we lacked materially I was given in love from an awesome family.” - 2:55 - Jordan Wylie
“I wasn’t the best academically, but what I look back and think we were really good at was being streetwise - learning about people and about what motivates people, how people work, how people respond to different situations. I think that's something that is often lacking in society today.” - 5:00 - Jordan Wylie
“When you join an establishment like the British Army, you have to grow up very quickly, because within months or years you're going to be on the front line fighting for your country where lives depend on it. So the army is very good, I think, at turning young people into people with values, with substance, with a purpose in life.” - 8:45 - Jordan Wylie
“That's one of the challenges we've seen in society today - where lots of young people are stuck in these ruts they can't get out of them, because they've never been exposed to any type of opportunity that says ‘This door is open, why don't you go and have a look what's through it and see where it takes you’.” - 13:05 - Jordan Wylie
“I ended up leaving the army after about 5-6 years, came into civilian life, went back to Blackpool, and I knew quite quickly, within weeks that I'd made the wrong decision to leave the army. With great respect to anyone, I was in a very low paid minimum wage job back in Blackpool, and I couldn't even afford to put food in my fridge and pay my bills.” - 22:20 - Jordan Wylie
“Something that always stands out to me in the last decade that we don't see as much in civilian life is that team ethos, whereas in the military it doesn't matter who does what, as long as we all get the job done together. In the private sector, civilian companies, it’s much more about the individual.” - 26:30 - Jordan Wylie
“When you do internal courses in the military, one of the biggest things that gets you through a lot of situations is that you don't want to fail. As a soldier, you're a very highly motivated individual who always wants to give 110%, you want to succeed. I think that self induced pressure and fear of failure is what gets me through a lot of things in life.” - 30:08 - Jordan Wylie
“I left the camp that night, and then spent the next 2 weeks off the coast of Somalia, did a good job, got a good report, and then got offered a contract. I spent the next 4-5 years doing that job, and that was all because that Commanding Officer let me go early, because that was where the opportunity was.” - 37:24 - Jordan Wylie
“I guess I was exposed to a world of chasing what I thought was important: bigger pay packets, fancy cars, nice watches, bigger houses. I got sucked into this very shallow, materialistic world. If I'm honest, I probably lost touch with my moral compass for a year or two of what I believe is important in life.” - 47:32 - Jordan Wylie
“I always try to help people where I can because life's very reciprocal. If you go out of your way to help people, you don't have to worry about what you're going to get because life takes care of itself.” - 56:00 - Jordan Wylie
“The record we were going for was to paddle around Great Britain, but we only got three quarters of the way because of the COVID pandemic, and the Scottish Government stopped us. We did paddle further and longer than anyone else, although that wasn't our objective. But most importantly was that we raised just shy of £100k for charity.” - 58:53 - Jordan Wylie
“Sometimes you need to put a world record or a worldfirst on something to attract the attention you need for whatever the cause is, but they're not important in the big scheme of things. Family - that's what's important.” - 1:04:20 - Jordan Wylie
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