I am happy that Leader Decision can be part of Milan’s journey. Milan is a Czech guy, currently living in the US, who is going to attempt to be the first-person rowing from New York to St. Mary’s Harbor, Isles of Scilly in UK. There have only been 16 solo rows completed across North Atlantic from West to East, none of them from New York to England.

I am very honored that Milan approached me and asked me for help. We have been working with Milan on an amazing psychological study about his trip. We are going to look at many different aspects during his journey such as resilience, motivation, determination, self-control, thought control ability, dealing with emotions, pushing yourself forward and much more. The aim is to bring you the best insights that can help you to stay resilient and continue going no matter how hard your life gets.

Let me tell you something about Milan’s mission. He will spend around 4 months in the open ocean alone rowing and rowing every day. The total distance is approximately 3280.54 miles (5,279.51km) straight line, but Milan will have to row much longer distance than that due to the strong ocean currents that can take him back even 2 weeks of rowing. He will be in constant life threat caused by harsh weather conditions, high waves, whales, or big cargo ships. He is taking all his food with him; it will be mostly dried food upsetting his stomach. He will have a special water filter to create drinkable water from the sea. As he has told me a couple of times, his biggest fear is actually that this filter breaks down. In that case, he has a manual filter and will need to spend some time repairing the main one. His only contact with civilization will be using emails and text messages, however, there will be times when no reception is available. His goal is 12 hours of rowing every day, therefore, blisters, cramps and pain will be part of his daily life for the next 4 months.

This is how his typical day will look like:​

  • 6:00AM – 7:00AM:   Wake up, start day with a quick breakfast
  • 7:00AM – 12:00PM: Row
  • 12:00PM – 1:00PM: Eat lunch
  • 1:00PM – 7:00PM:  Resume rowing
  • 7:00PM – 8:00PM:      Eat dinner
  • 8:00PM – 9:00PM:   Prepare water supply for next day’s rowing
  • 9:00PM – 10:00PM:      Write in journal, run through daily hygiene
  • 10:00PM      Get some rest, hopefully

His performance is 80% about his mind. He needs to be prepared physically of course, however, his mental preparation is 80% of his success. He doesn’t seem to be worried about failing mentally though. He reminds himself of what his dad used to say:

“Son, if you really want something, you’ll make it happen; you can do anything you set your mind to. It’s as simple as that.”

Imagine being in the middle of the ocean alone in one small rowing boat for 4 months all wet and tired, feeling constant pain, and risking your life. Why would anybody voluntarily do that? Milan hopes to inspire people that anything you set your mind to is possible. He would like to create a movie and a book seeing his difficulties during this extreme journey as metaphors of difficulties in lives of  people and show them that we are stronger than we think and we can overcome any obstacles that appear ahead of us.  That’s what our study is aiming for.

You can read more about his expectations and way of thinking when facing difficulties in life in upcoming exclusive interview. I am sure you will get inspired by this brave man as much as I did.

You can follow Milan’s journey at www.milanrows.com, where you can see his exact position and you can also follow him on instagram @milanrows.

Pavla Belostikova, MSc, coach and founder of Leader Decision