the very top of a mountain called labu
Chi I 6119 meters it’s a big mountain
and I am naked huh oh but why would I
climb a mountain that no one’s ever
heard of quite simply because behind me
you get the best views of Mount Everest
best views better than anywhere else on
the planet over there Mount Everest oh
so there I was on top of a 20,000 foot
mountain a couple of years ago the funny
thing is I’m not a mountaineer I’m a guy
that wanted to climb a mountain before I
set off on that expedition I didn’t have
even the minimum mountaineering
experience to even be allowed on the
trip and I was about two stone
overweight but it’s amazing what happens
when you set your mind to something
because within three months I’ve been
and got all the training I needed up in
Scotland in winter winter mountaineering
skills that means rock climbing with
ropes ice axe crampons in women cold
weather so I’d got that and I’d set
myself a fitness regime which I hoped
was going to be good enough that
consisted of walking into work every day
and going up and down the multi-storey
car park a few times each day anyway
three months later I was getting off the
plane in Katmandu now it took 10 days
hiking just to get to the mountain it
took 10 days just to get there and two
days to climb the mountain
took two days to climb the mountain and
I want to tell you about just one moment
of that climb because I was about 20,000
feet high the air was thin I could
hardly breathe I took a rest I took a
rest and I looked out across the valley
and I saw that there was nothing between
me and Mount Everest you saw up there
sort of there was nothing between me and
Mount Everest and as I looked across it
dawned on me that I was no longer
looking up I was actually looking at
cross because when you’re walking
towards Mount Everest you can see it for
days way up in the in the distance but
as you get closer it gets higher and
higher and when you get closer you can
hardly even see it because it’s right up
there but here I am on the other side of
the valley just looking across and as I
stood there I watched the sunrise I
watched the Sun rise up behind Mount
Everest now that moment will stay with
me forever funny thing is I’ve always
been interested in the world what’s
going on around the world and I think it
stems from programs like the world about
us did anyone see that as a child all
those years ago that world about us
would show his animals from around the
world that the jungles the deserts the
mountains from far-flung places and what
about the underwater sea world of
Jacques Cousteau yet get lots of nods
there I dreamed of working with Jack
Cousteau on that boat they called the
Calypso as I dreamed of that is it okay
if I share with you some of my just
little stories of a few of my adventures
that’s okay yeah thank you that was a
little bit delayed there and so um yeah
the first time I cross the Sahara Desert
as a young man we took the tannersville
true true which is an ancient route
across the Sahara Desert to Timbuktu and
then down into Africa further on on that
same trip I once hitchhiked across the
Kalahari Desert I hitchhiked across the
Kalahari Desert from vindel to the
Okavango at one point I was three days
waiting for the first vehicle to come
through and you might ask why on earth
would you want to hitchhike across the
Kalahari Desert you idiot were the
sentiments of my father but I knew where
there were tracks I knew where I was
going and I knew that I could get to the
Okavango if I just had the time now the
Okavango is this huge water area in the
center of the desert it’s a swampland
come marshland and most rivers most
rivers flow into the sea in fact almost
every River in the world flows into an
ocean or into a sea but this one flows
in to the center of a desert and
sometimes even now as an adult I have to
pinch myself and think did that really
happen because there i was at 23 years
old in the middle of Africa in the
middle of the Okavango in a wooden
dugout canoe exploring to my heart’s
content I think how did that really
happen and there was some time around
about that time I reckoned I hadn’t
slept in a bed for more than four months
such was my desire to see the world I
remember climbing a volcano a 10,000
foot volcano just to look inside that
molten lava and I went in search of
those mountain gorillas that David
Attenborough showed us did he know and
see those I went in search but I didn’t
have David Attenborough with me and I
didn’t have a film crew fact I went on
my own and I went on the bus and I went
on the bus as far as the bus would go in
then I walked to the mountains till I
found the village with a
I’d called Zachariah who took me 45 days
into these mountains in search of these
gorillas and for four days we couldn’t
see them for four days we climbed up and
down some of the steepest terrain I’ve
ever been in and for four days we hacked
through some of the sickest jungle I’ve
ever seen but for four days we never saw
them but on the fifth day hey we found
gorilla poo yes we found gorilla
and we saw where they slept last night
and that’s as close as I came to seeing
the gorillas but it didn’t matter
because I’d found myself in one of the
most beautiful and spectacular places in
the world and I was having the time of
my life from there I followed the River
Nile from start to finish I was a
journey of three months and that was a
journey if you know that area you know
that is a journey and of course in Egypt
I was able to explore the Valley of the
Kings the Karnak temple and the Pyramids
at Giza didn’t just see the pyramids of
giza able to go inside them and sit in
that chamber inside the Great Pyramid at
Giza and for those of you who are
wondering what on earth is he talking
about where is this going just bear with
work with Jacques Cousteau on his boat
the Calypso but I did go on a beautiful
yacht in some beautiful tropical waters
it was a sailing boat and the the sale
was full of wind we were going good
speed and we had dolphins all around us
dolphins all around they were at the
front the side and at the back and it
was just glorious and it was at that
point I thought I would take this rope
that we had on the boat about a 25-foot
rope on the boat and making sure that
one end was fashioned to the boat the
other end tied around my arm held onto
it tight like that and jumped off the
back of the boat with a big splash
I landed in the water so now I’m being
dragged behind the boat a great speed
like this but with the dolphins all
around me it was wonderful it was a
wonderful moment I say moment because
after about 30 seconds they all swam
away they all swam away but those 30
seconds have lasted a lifetime now there
is a point what I’m going to talk about
because I want to share something with
you I want to share something that is
hugely embarrassing I want to share
something that I had kept a secret for
most of my life from most of the world
because by the age of 25 I had already
set up my first business growing orchids
on a tropical island I’d already visited
more than 40 countries by the age of 30
it was more like 60 countries but by the
age of 30 I still couldn’t read or write
I couldn’t write a letter I couldn’t
even write a postcard and I’d like to
ask all of you hear that managed to
learn to read and write like most people
as a child how would your life be
different i’d like you to contemplate
how would your life be different if you
didn’t learn to read and write as a
child how would your life be different
if a book was as interesting as a brick
how would your life be different if
you’d never passed a single exam in your
life except for art how would your life
be different if you couldn’t fill out a
bank form to open a bank account let
alone a job application and there will
be people in this room who have
statistically there will be and they
will probably be keeping this a secret
for most of the world
because it’s embarrassing you feel
ashamed my message to you is do not give
up keep at it just because you’re
dyslexic doesn’t mean you should stop
trying it took me 35 to 40 years to
learn to read and write and I’m not
William Shakespeare how but it took me
35 to 40 years and my message to you is
don’t give up it’s worth it I remember
as an adult trying to read some novels
and it would take me something like two
hours to read a page something like four
to five months to read a book but of
course of course I didn’t finish a book
for ages because I’m a patient guy I’m
not that patient you know I tried loads
of books and I’d get about that far
through before I managed to read a book
in its entirety and then I did a Robert
Ludman novel thank you Robert for
creating such wonderful script that kept
my attention that kept me interested in
intrigue to be able to finish but I have
to tell you that finishing that book
completing that book was probably a
bigger challenge than it was climbing
that six thousand meter mountain and I
was being interviewed recently and the
interviewer asked me how has your
dyslexia held you back and all my life I
thought that my dyslexia had held me
back all my life but as I contemplated
it and I thought about it before I
answered and I thought well I’ve got a
beautiful wife I’ve got a wonderful
family to businesses I coach royalty I
coach politicians in the houses of
parliament I coach CEOs
I’ve come to think I’ve had all those
experiences and I’ve come to realize
that my dyslexia far from holding me back has actually set me free thank