NLP Weekly: Comfort Is Killing Your Potential

Elise Wortley is an explorer who retraces the journeys of history’s greatest female adventurers, recreating their treks using only the same equipment and clothing available to them at the time.

Her mission is more than adventure; it’s about honouring forgotten female explorers, proving resilience isn’t bound by time, and inspiring others—especially women—to embrace bold challenges, rewrite limitations, and redefine what’s possible.

Performance: The Power of Voluntarily Challenging Yourself

Elise Wortley doesn't have to trek across mountains in wool coats, hobnailed boots, and without modern gear. But she does—by choice. She recreates historic female expeditions using only the same equipment available to the original explorers, stripping away the comfort and security of modern technology.

Why? Because true growth comes from voluntary challenge.

Most people wish they could avoid difficulty when it finds them. The highest performers seek it out. We put themselves in uncomfortable situations, push our own limits, and test our capabilities.

Wortley’s recreation of Alexandra David-Néel’s 1924 journey to Lhasa wasn’t about proving toughness—it was about stepping fully into an experience that demanded resilience, adaptation, and inner strength.

It’s in those moments—when you have every reason to quit but choose to continue—that you discover who you really are. Self-imposed challenges build the grit, awareness, and skills necessary to persevere when faced with uninvited obstacles.

This week, ask yourself:

• Am I intentionally challenging myself enough?
• Or am I staying comfortable, reacting ineffectively to challenges the world puts in front of me?

Leadership: The Power of Setting Goals That Feel Too Big

Most leaders focus on setting achievable goals. It feels practical, realistic, safe. But true leaders—those who inspire and drive change—set goals that seem too big.

Wortley doesn't attempt easy hikes. She takes on legendary treks, like Henriette d’Angeville’s historic 1838 ascent of Mont Blanc, wearing 19th-century clothing. These ambitious goals don't just test her—they inspire others. They connect her to history. They pushed the boundaries of what people assume is possible.

As a leader, your goals should do the same. They should stretch expectations, create connection, and challenge people to rise to something greater by your example. A big goal forces creativity, resilience, and growth in ways a “realistic” goal never will.

This week, look at your goals for 2025:

• Are they ambitious enough?
• Or are they “achievable”?

Nature: Perception vs. Reality

When people see Wortley trekking through rugged landscapes in vintage gear, many doubt her. They assume she isn't strong enough, prepared enough, or capable enough. Their perception is shaped by their own biases, not by reality.

With time and patience, Elise's true nature is revealed. She endures. She succeeds. She proves that first impressions mean little compared to actual perseverance and capability.

On her journey across the Valleys of the Assassins (a 145km trek with a mule in remote Iranian mountains), following the footsteps of explorer Freya Stark, Wortley relied on patience, adaptability, and respect for the environment. The landscape was harsh, the terrain unpredictable, and yet, by trusting in the process rather than assumptions, she completed a journey few would dare attempt.

Nature teaches us this every day. What we assume at first glance is often incomplete—or entirely wrong. The strongest leaders and performers don’t judge quickly. They observe. They master the context with curiosity before deciding what’s true.

This week, ask yourself:

• Where in my life am I making assumptions?
• Where do I need demonstrate greater curiosity?
• Where might I be misjudging a person, a challenge, or even myself?

Challenge, Ambition, and Patience

Elise Wortley’s journeys remind us that:

• Growth is a choice,
• Ambition is a tool for transformation, and
• Patience is the key to seeing things as they really are.

The people who make the greatest impact are those who seek challenge, set bold goals, and allow truth—not perception—to define them.