Why'd You Think You Could Do That?

At 8,000 metres, every breath burns. The wind cuts like knives, avalanches thunder past, and climbers face life-or-death decisions: push for the summit or stop to save a life.

Most of us will never stand on Everest, let alone all 14 of the world’s highest peaks without oxygen or Sherpa support. But today’s guest has done exactly that.

Andrew Lock is the only Australian to summit all fourteen 8,000-metre mountains. His story is one of resilience, risk, and relentless pursuit of the impossible.

In this episode of Why Do You Think You Could Do T...

Making progress on your dream doesn’t begin with giant leaps. It begins with one undeniable step — the choice to keep chipping away anyway

This week on Why’d You Think You Could Do That? we’ve walked with Aaron Linsdau across the ice of Antarctica:

And now, it’s Friday. The spotlight shifts from Aaron to you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Most of us will never see Antarctica. Even fewer will try to cross it. And almost no one will spend longer alone on that frozen continent than today’s guest.

In this episode, Sam Penny sits down with Aaron Linsdau, engineer turned polar adventurer, who became the second American to ski solo from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole, setting the record for the longest duration solo South Pole expedition: 82 days.

Aaron shares how an ordinary guy from San Diego transformed himself into one of the world’s most resilient explorers. From pulling sleds load...

What if the very thing holding you back could become the thing that carries you forward?

In this Breakthrough episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, host Sam Penny shares how Aaron Linsdau found progress in the middle of Antarctica’s brutal storms, starvation, and hallucinations. His lesson: the mind screams loudest just before progress shows

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

What if the thing standing between you and your dream isn’t the world outside you, but the voice inside your own head?

In this Struggle episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, host Sam Penny takes us inside Aaron Linsdau’s 82-day solo expedition across Antarctica — where silence, hunger, and hallucinations weren’t his biggest enemies. The real battle was with the voice inside his mind telling him to quit

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Most people will never step foot in Antarctica. Even fewer will ski across it. Almost no one will spend longer alone on that continent than Aaron Linsdau. For 82 days, it was just one man, two sleds, and the endless white stretching toward the South Pole

In this Spark episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, host Sam Penny draws from Aaron’s powerful mantra:

What You’ll Hear in This Spark

Making a difference doesn’t always mean changing the whole world overnight - it begins with one undeniable step.

In this short, powerful episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, Sam Penny takes inspiration from adventurer and conservationist Sacha Dench, whose decision to follow migrating swans turned into a 7,000km flight across continents. But more remarkable than the distance was the ripple effect of her action; hunters, fish farmers, kitesurfers, and even power companies changed their habits, leading to the first rise in swan numbers in 25 years.

Sam challenges you to t...

What does it take to face your deepest fear, strap a propeller to your back, and follow swans 7,000 kilometres from the Russian Arctic all the way to the wetlands of Britain?

In this inspiring episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, host Sam Penny sits down with Sacha Dench — biologist, conservationist, adventurer, and the woman known worldwide as the “Human Swan.”

Sacha once admitted she was terrified of flying. Yet instead of letting that fear define her, she leaned into it, learned to fly, and turned it into the backbone of one of the m...

What if the very thing holding you back could become the force that carries you forward?

For Sacha Dench, fear of flying nearly stopped her in her tracks. A storm in a small plane left her terrified of the skies. But instead of waiting for fear to vanish, she chose to work with it. She studied it, understood it, and turned it into a skill.

That shift made her swan migration journey possible — flying thousands of kilometres, influencing communities and industries, and proving that courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s moving forward in spi...

In this episode of "Why'd You Think You Could Do That?", host Sam Penny explores the power of confronting fears to unlock potential. Discover how Sacha Dench transformed her fear of flying into a bold conservation mission. Sam shares a powerful exercise to help you name and conquer your own fears.

Key Takeaways:

The importance of facing fears to fuel courage and achieve the impossible. Sacha Dench's journey from fear of flying to leading a conservation mission. A practical exercise to identify and diminish personal fears.

Call to Action: Don't...

Most people see a bird fly overhead and think nothing of it. But Sacha Dench saw swans migrating thousands of kilometres and asked herself: What if I could fly with them?

That one wild idea led to an extraordinary journey — 7,000 kilometres from the Russian Arctic to the UK, with nothing but a motor strapped to her back. But this wasn’t about glory. It was about impact.

Because she acted, hunters changed their practices. Kitesurfers gave up part of their lake. Fish farmers adjusted their cycles. A power company buried power lines that had been kill...

What makes someone believe they can row across oceans, cycle across continents, and spend more than five years completing the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the planet?

In this episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, Sam Penny sits down with Erden Eruc—adventurer, mountaineer, ocean rower, and Guinness World Record holder. Erden’s story is one of resilience, tragedy, and extraordinary determination.

From the death of his climbing partner that pushed him to honour a promise, to 312 days alone at sea battling rogue waves and isolation, Erden’s life is proof that ord...

Welcome back to Why’d You Think You Could Do That? and another Bravery Digest — your weekly shot of courage with Sam Penny.

In this episode, Sam unpacks a powerful idea: Discomfort Debt. It’s the hidden cost you pay every time you avoid a bold move, delay a hard decision, or put off the conversation you know you need to have.

Avoidance feels easier in the moment — like buying peace on a credit card. But the interest compounds. That weight shows up later as stress, second-guessing, and fatigue that doesn’t make sense.

You’ll l...

When you hear the name Jim’s Mowing, you probably think of the trailers, the uniforms, and the empire of small business owners mowing lawns across Australia. But behind the mower is a man whose true mission has always been far bigger than lawns.

In this episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, I sit down with Jim Penman, founder of Jim’s Group - a business that now spans over 5,000 franchisees in 50 industries. While most know him as the face of Australia’s most iconic franchise, few realise that mowing was never the endgame...

In this Bravery Digest, Sam Penny reminds us of a truth that stops far too many people from doing something extraordinary: you don’t need permission.

Most of us wait — for the right time, the right feeling, or someone else’s approval. But bravery isn’t about waiting. It’s about acting before you’re ready.

In this 2-minute burst of courage, you’ll discover:

And stick around until the end...

What if the bravest thing you ever did wasn’t crossing a finish line, but starting again after falling short the first time?

In this gripping episode, Sam Penny sits down with Paul Watkins, pharmacist by day, ultra-endurance adventurer by choice. Paul shares how a career in retail pharmacy turned into a journey through the world’s most extreme environments, including a 614-kilometre footrace through the Canadian Arctic where most competitors quit before the halfway mark… and he came back to win.

This isn’t just a story about survival. It’s about building courage, piece by p...

🧠 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

In this short solo drop, host Sam Penny flips the script on fear.

We all feel it—whether you're leading a business, standing on the edge of a bold new move, or simply facing a tough personal decision. But waiting for fear to disappear? That’s not how brave people operate.

In this episode, Sam introduces his practical 3-step Fear to Fuel Framework—a tool designed to help you move through fear, not around it.

You’ll learn how to:

What were you doing at 17?

Brianna Thompson was swimming the English Channel; not once, but twice, in one go. In this epic episode of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, Sam Penny sits down with the second-youngest person in history to complete a double crossing of the Channel, and the youngest to do it three times in a single year.

But behind the headlines is a powerful story of grit, fear, identity, and resilience.

🎧 In this episode:

In today’s Bravery Digest, Sam Penny throws down the gauntlet: Are you leading your life from courage, or coasting in your comfort zone?

This isn’t just another motivational pep talk. Sam introduces the Bravery Audit; a 5-question pulse check designed to help you spot the subtle ways comfort creeps in and quietly takes over.

If you’ve ever found yourself playing small, avoiding discomfort, or hesitating when it’s time to leap, this episode is your call to arms.

Sam doesn’t just talk theory. He offers a practical tool you can use ri...

What do you do when your mast snaps in the middle of the Southern Ocean, 1,000 miles from land, no engine, no sails, no rescue on the way? You fight. You survive. And then you go back and finish what you started.

In this gripping episode, Sam Penny sits down with Lisa Blair, world record-holding solo sailor, bestselling author of Facing Fear, and subject of the documentary Ice Maiden. Lisa recounts the harrowing night her boat was nearly torn in half during a solo Antarctica circumnavigation, and the moment she knew she might not make it out alive.<...

This week on the Bravery Digest, Sam Penny explores the real difference between people who move boldly and those who stay stuck: the speed of their decisions. Discover why acting before your fear takes hold is the single most powerful habit you can build, and get Sam’s practical “Two-Minute Rule” for making braver choices—starting now.

Key Takeaways:

Episode Summary
Gerrard Gosens has never seen the path ahead — literally. Born completely blind, Gerrard has defied every limitation the world tried to place on him. In this episode, Sam Penny dives deep into Gerrard’s extraordinary life of endurance, from running ultra-marathons and representing Australia at the Paralympics to climbing Mount Everest, dancing on national television, and launching a chocolate empire.

Whether he’s running 2,000 kilometres, flying a plane, swimming the English Channel, or raising a blind daughter to chase her own dreams, Gerrard shows us that bravery isn’t about the absence of fear — it’s about...

Most people wait to “feel” brave. But what if that’s the wrong game entirely?

In this Bravery Digest, Sam Penny breaks down why you don’t rise to the level of your motivation — you fall to the level of your environment. Motivation fades. Willpower runs dry. But if you build the right systems, routines and surroundings, bravery becomes inevitable.

This short, sharp solo episode gives you five tactical ways to build an environment where bold action becomes your default, not the exception. If you want to stop waiting and start showing up braver — even on the hard...

This Man Destroys People for Fun | Lazarus Lake on Endurance, Suffering & Why Most People Quit

📝 Episode Description / Show Notes:
In this episode, Sam Penny sits down with the legendary Lazarus Lake—the mysterious mastermind behind the Barkley Marathons and the man who’s redefined human limits through races that most never finish.

You’ll hear the raw and unfiltered philosophy of a man who builds races designed to break people. Laz opens up about the psychology of suffering, the myth of motivation, and why the finish line is always further than you think.

We talk...

Welcome to the Bravery Digest — your weekly 3-minute mindset reset from Why’d You Think You Could Do That?

In this first mini-episode, host Sam Penny reveals one of the most powerful habits for stepping up in business, life, and leadership: the 90-Second Courage Habit.

Bravery isn’t a personality trait — it’s a muscle. One you can train, daily, in just 90 seconds.

You’ll learn:

Welcome to Why’d You Think You Could Do That?
Hosted by Sam Penny: entrepreneur, endurance athlete, and Coach for the Brave.

This podcast is for anyone who’s ever had a bold idea… and wondered if they were crazy to try it.

Each week, we dive into the minds of people who’ve done the extraordinary, not because they had permission, but because they chose to start before they felt ready.

From founders and creators to athletes and adventurers, you’ll hear raw, honest conversations about the moments that changed everything.
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