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Damian Browne Clips

@damianbrowneclips

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Suffering is a choice.

Does this statement trigger you?

I would feel it fair if it did.

But let me explain.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is inevitable.

We all suffer. It is an ineradicable component of life. Part of the gig. Dukkha.

However, when it comes it does not have to stay.

Its appearance might be unavoidable but its presence thereafter does not have to be permanent.

If, and it’s a significant if, you become aware of its presence, you can change things.

Awareness is key. Fundamental. Without it you are powerless to your suffering but if you can flag your suffering state to yourself, you can change things.

Your experience of what you are experiencing is not fixed.
Your experience of what you are experiencing can always be changed.
Your experience of what you are experiencing is within your control.

So the truth is - suffering is a choice if you let it be.

That’s why through my work with @ironmindinstitute the fundamental focus of our training is self awareness. That’s right - we put individuals through extraordinary challenges to deepen their self awareness. Why? Because there is no greater ally in the fight against the human condition, than self awareness.

#sufferwithintegrity #enduretotranscend #ironmind taken in Connemara, Ireland by @damianbrowneclips

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a year ago

Want to live a fulfilled life?

Integrate this mindset -

Be the person who demands more from themselves that anyone else could imagine demanding of you.

I completed my first ocean row in 2018. After 63 days alone at sea I arrived into Antigua. I was 28 kilos lighter.

From day 1 the challenge had been everything I hoped for & more.

1 million oar strokes, 500,000+ kcals eaten, 2 capsizes - one of which split my head open, making eye contact with a whale, a torturous case of pressure sores & catastrophic steering system failure with over 2000 miles to row - it was an experience that forced me to find strength I didn’t know I had.

I often get asked, ‘At what point did you start questioning your decision to do it?’

The answer is always “never”. It never comes up for me. Ever.

I know it’s going to be hard.
I want it to be as hard as it can possibly be.
This is my mindset.

The more difficult the experience, the more enriching, empowering & enlightening.

This is why I rowed the Atlantic again. But this time I chose a harder route - West to East across the North Atlantic. Why? Because it had to be harder.

Otherwise why bother? What strength will I find by it being easier?

I could have left from St Johns, Nova Scotia. I chose not to. I left from New York City, 1000 miles further from my final destination.

I could have left from the mouth of New York Harbour. I chose not to. We left from Manhattan; therefore having to deal with significant challenges of the Hudson River.

I could have chosen a faster boat with an autopilot. I chose not to. I rowed a traditional shaped ocean rowing boat with foot steering only - adding much more difficulty to the undertaking.

I’m not interested in making it easier. The challenge is the point. The harder the better.
What interests me is that feeling at the end, where you know, deep in your soul, that you did everything in your power to not make that challenge easier. Not only through your choices but you got down on your knees and prayed for it to be as hard as it can possibly be.

That is the most glorious of all feelings and something that carries profound rewards.

#sufferwithintegrity #enduretotranscend #modernwarriorship taken in Dublin, Ireland by @damianbrowneclips

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a year ago

Why are you here?

My life - my responsibility.

Precious grains of time slip through my hands every day. The clock is ticking…

And if I want to make the most out of the extraordinary experience of life that is available to me (& you), I am completely sure of one thing -

I must explore.

Now tell me this; can you picture an explorer who never faced resistance on their path? Livingstone cutting through the jungles of Central Africa hardly had it his own way? It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Shackelton and Endurance.

Resistance is part of the journey to explore life and make the most out of it.

Nothing experientially good comes through comfort, convenience or consumerism.

Action is demanded. Risk. Discomfort.

The most transformative experiences, the ones that enrich, enlighten and expand the human, live on the far side of heavy resistance.

You will never stumble into them on the street.

You have to fight for them.

-——

P.S: The documentary of our @ironmindinstitute Marathon des Sables race is now live on YouTube. Link in bio & story to watch taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @damianbrowneclips

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a year ago

If you say you are going to do something, go fucking do it.

I’ve disappointed myself. No excuses. Just the truth.

Also - fuck the algorithm #postsover3minuteswillnotbeshowntonewaudiences
Here’s 6 minutes that might actually help someone - not the usual vapid trash you promote taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @damianbrowneclips

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a year ago

Day 3 of the Marathon des Sables - the day I broke.

It’s important to me that I am honest with myself. For years I wasn’t.

My dishonesty inflicted plenty of pain on me and others close to me.

Honesty, I find, has the opposite effect and counterintuitively, the more brutal and confronting the information uncovered, the deeper its properties to bring goodness into the world.

The truth is enlightening and empowering despite its often ugly facade.

Although the act of being honest with myself is often an internal wrestle, I’ve fought hard and engrained a meaningful practice within. So if I am honest with myself - The night of Day 2 and morning of Day 3 was where I lost the internal battle to keep pushing myself.

I can have all sorts of reasonable excuses; discomfort, pain, injury, team to lead, etc but they are still excuses. The truth is - I let my mind and its admirable powers to recruit whatever it is that amplifies my fears, doubts and insecurities onto its team, win the battle.

Note: This is not the first battle of the mind I have lost and it will not be the last. What is ultimately important here is that I face the consequences with honesty, respond with integrity and try again with a wholeheartedness.

You can hear the full dispatch from Day 3 in the desert on @deep_roots_podcast

Strength, courage & integrity,

Damian taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @damianbrowneclips

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a year ago

@auld_stock talks about the power of concentrating on an action that is within your control = accessing the present moment; a mental state insulated from emotion manipulation.

The 4 Controllables

1) Body Position & Technique
2) Breath
3) Effort
4) Self Talk

#mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #the4controllables taken in St.Gallen,Switzerland by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

Damian talks about how beliefs, mindset & focus must be aligned into action to realise one’s potential.

Follow @auld_stock for more.

#extremeadventure #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

What comes up for you during difficult training sessions.

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#extremeadventure #everythingisachoice #choosewisely #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

Damian talks about capsizing twice inside 6 hours in a ferocious storm during his 2018 ocean row from The Canary Islands to Antigua.

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#extremeadventure #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

Great visualisation method I picked up from @kazmanaught that I implemented in my rowing conditioning to great effect.

#extremeadventure #visualisation #mentalprep #peakperformance #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

Damian talks how the total responsibility for every component of an expedition forces his mind into connecting with deeply wired instinctual states.

Follow @auld_stock for more.

#extremeadventure #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize #instinctualstates by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago

@auld_stock talks about accessing better a perspective of our reality despite our mind’s default wiring bringing our thinking firstly to an unhelpful focus.

#extremeadventure #gratefulforthehardship #gratefulforthesuck #extremechallenge #mentalstrength #mentaltoughness #resilience #ironmind #damianbrowne #mentalresilience #selfrealisation #selfmastery #mentalcontrol #selfactualize by @damianbrowneclips

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3 years ago