10.09.2014 Interview with Dee Caffari
What is the message you hope people take away from your presentations?
A message of inspiration and a feeling of self-belief. My life is a shining example of how everyone is able to overcome a challenge and ordinary people can achieve the extraordinary.
How are your keynotes unique?
My story is unique. Audiences appreciate that I’m the first woman to sail around the world against the prevailing winds and currents – a solo, non-stop voyage that took almost six months. So far, I’m the only woman in the world to have completed this tough challenge.
Following this, I became the only woman to sail non-stop in both directions around the world and the only woman to have successfully circumnavigated the globe three times non-stop. There are so many messages and lessons learnt from my voyages that I can tailor each presentation for clients.
How do you usually battle fear?
During a voyage, some things can feel too much to handle or even insurmountable. So it is important for me to break tasks down into much smaller chunks and reward myself each time. Rewards could be in the form of a cup of tea, a packet of sweets or even a short sleep.
A measure of success could even be surviving another half-hour in a storm or even just getting through a sail change in the depths of the Southern Ocean. Fear keeps my adrenaline flowing and makes me strive to face it head on. So many people believe in me and my team work extremely hard to get me to the start line so I am determined not to let them down and I strive to make them proud.
Who or what inspires you most?
I am inspired by people all around me. Seeing Olympic athletes prepare for competition that only occurs every four years, sailing with injured service personnel with the charity Toe in the Water, and even seeing my team work tirelessly to get me to the start line in the best possible position and condition is a true inspiration. Every day I meet or see someone or something that inspires me immensely and that all helps me continue training in the gym, or striving to find the next sponsorship for a future campaign.
Could you give 3 tips for achieving a healthy self-belief?
- A certain degree of self-determination. You need to know what you want to achieve and have the drive to get there. Sometimes this requires a certain level of focus (and even being stubborn at times).
- A partner to help keep you in a stable state is a huge help. They need to be able to keep you grounded and conversely they need to be able to bolster your confidence. They help drive you forward to keep going through the difficult times.
- You also need to make yourself a positive person. You need to make all your thoughts positive even when things are difficult. Learn to focus on things you can do something about, do not dwell on things beyond your control. That helps you focus and makes you get organised and productive.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
The world is such a huge place and I have barely scratched the surface. There are so many countries, cultures and traditions to experience and I would love to travel and see it all, so anywhere new and possible somewhere with some good weather as Britain has testing weather!