Day 15 : Take a Lecture at Kings College London

I was invited to give a lecture at Kings College London, however it wasn't the University that invited me, it was a student. In fact the University didnt even know I was coming.

This 2 o clock lecture was filled with a mix of 1st year Medic and neuro science students. A class made up of roughly 400 people. You can imagine how petrified I was.

I hadn't prepared what I was going to say, that was all part of the challenge. Immediately after the lecturer of the previous lesson finished , I pounced. I jumped on stage and began. On that stage I experienced one of life's rare highs.

Fortunately it was all filmed otherwise no one would have ever believe what happened. As I began to teach on the intrinsic relationship between neuro-science and story telling, the real lecturer arrives!

What do you do? I told her she was late and to hurry up and sit down. What was I thinking?!

Lesson learnt; some of life's most precious events happen when you take the dive.

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” 
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Day 14 : Train Platform Announcement

I had no idea how easy or hard this challenge would be. I assumed if I was really nice to the staff member on the platform, they might just let me.

We managed to get hold of a GoPro for this one so we were able to get a point of view shot. I don't know how they didn't see it.

After several failed attempts at persuading the staff on a number of different platforms to let me, I cast my eyes on a bigger prize - Ride in the cabin of an underground train.

Crazily, this was far better received than the initial request. The drivers considered the request and reluctantly rejected it. If security wasn't called I think we could have succeeded.

Lesson Learnt: do not let your preconceived idea of a situation prevent you from going for it, you never know what response you might get back.

“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.”
― Alan Alda

Day 13 : Supermarket Announcement

Whenever you are in a supermarket you often here announcements made to staff or customers over the tannoy. I have always wanted to have a go at it myself.

This 40 Days gave me the perfect opportunity to make the request. I went down to my local Sainsbury's and asked if I could have a go. 

Now there is an argument that rejection only hurts when it means something to you, I would agree in part. I do believe if you are 100% committed to succeeding, whether it means something to you or not, failing does still disappoint.

I feel I have been going into these challenges with a 70% desire to succeed. This challenge taught me I need to be more committed to succeeding. Push harder and be more creative.

"If you're not willing to work hard, let someone else do it. I'd rather be with someone who does a horrible job, but gives 110% than with someone who does a good job and gives 60%." - Will Smith

Day 12 : Become a Radio host

My challenge for the day was to request to host a monthly programme on Premier Radio, a Christian radio station that reaches over 500,000 listeners weekly.

I wasn't sure what my show would entail, other than offering something positive I guess.

This wasn't a random challenge. I had been invited on to talk about this unique project. So I integrated a challenge into this wonderful opportunity.

I waited for my time to pounce. Within the ad break, I asked the host if I could make the request. He stated it wasn't up to him but the Programme Director. So he went and got the Programme Director, David.

As we resumed, I made the request, catching him off guard. He gracefully responded with a 'not really'. I then felt very, very awkward. I had no idea about what else to say. The show will air in two weeks time.

Lesson Learnt; It is important to think about your response to either being accepted or rejected, or else you begin to sweat profusely. Once again the importance of preparation shines through.

"Luck is where opportunity meets preparation." - Denzel Washington 

Day 11 : Overcome Stupidity

The fear of looking stupid is a fear of failure. It is a result of the common habit to place heavy emphasis on what people think of us.

The reason I'm honing in on this one is because I would argue the fear of looking stupid, is one of my biggest weaknesses. Even leading up to this project, a number of people thought it was a silly idea. If I had listened to them and had not done it, I would have never have gained some of these life changing experiences let alone inspired the countless people who have already emailed in to tell me how much this blog has impacted them.

Pessimists will always be with us. We can't change them but we can change ourselves and our response to them. Whether critics end up being right in the end or not, if you believe you have a winning idea, you have to go for it! The lessons learnt along the way will outweigh the end result- I'm certain of it.

Today's challenge was all about looking stupid. I walked around the streets asking people if I could go home with them, dressed as a giant bear. Oh yeh, and I wasn't aloud to put the bears head on to avoid being recognised.

Lesson learnt; when you look stupid and approach people they are much more likely to listen to you with a smile on their face.

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." - Henry Ford 

Day 10 : Get Sponsorship

On the Facebook Page, I threw out a proposition; when the page hits 1,000 Likes, I would phone up a few of the UK's largest organisations to ask whether they would be up for sponsoring this project. Well, within a few hours we hit the 1,000 mark and today I fulfilled my promise.

I collated a list of the top entrepreneurial organisations and began phoning them up, one by one. I started with Milkround, the graduate recruitment firm and the wonderful woman on the other end of the line responded so positively. 

Funnily enough, out of the 10 companies I phoned up, Ben & Jerry's and Rapha were the only two to explicitly reject the request. The rest, including Nike, Barclays and Ernst & Young suggested I email in to the relevant people.

I'm holding on to hope. I found that it was easier to do than I thought and the individuals who answered the phone call loved the idea. I will phone and email again in the next few days.

I learnt that getting in touch with these massive organisations is easier to do than you think. Once again, I run with the motto 'whats the worst that could happen?'.

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." - Bill Cosby

Day 9 : Lie down in a busy place

It could be argued that this was not really a rejection challenge. I would argue it was. Have you ever tried doing anything that isn't socially acceptable? The look on people's faces alone is rejection.

Whether we know it or not, we are constrained by what is believed to be 'socially acceptable'. This isn't always a bad thing, however I do believe caring too much about what people think can stop us from taking risks, thinking outside the box and chasing our dreams.

I did this challenge with the intention of eradicating my fear of what people think. Who cares what people think (to an extent). After-all, the likelihood I will ever see any those passengers that walked by me on the platform at Waterloo station today is slim and even if I do, so what?! They probably just thought, 'he must be tired'.

I found it to be wonderfully liberating. I recommend you pluck up the courage and give this one a go yourself. It will shock you how liberating it actually is. I'm learning, the harder the challenge the greater the sense of achievement and the freer you feel.

"Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy