How I survived 48 hours alone in the wilderness.
And what it taught me about asking for help.
👋🏼 Hey, I’m Anna! I’m a founder and operator in an ongoing relationship with writing. Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share business, career and life lessons that I’ve learned over years of trying hard, failing often, and on occasion, succeeding too.
When I was fourteen I spent 48 hours in the wilderness completely and utterly alone.
It happened during a five weeklong school camp called ‘Trek’, where fifteen friends, two camp leaders and I fought our way to the tops of mountains, soaked our blistered feet in bubbling streams and spoke about every topic under the sun as we pounded our boots into endless dirt tracks.
Halfway through the trip, we were individually dropped off at random locations in the bush with no instruction other than to stay put and survive. My campsite was eerie, the branches of the surrounding Eucalyptus trees hugged each other tightly, blocking out most of the fading afternoon light. As soon as I arrived I ripped opened my bag of supplies. In it were a box of BBQ Shapes, a tube of sweetened condensed milk, a sleeping bag, a rope, and a faded fluoro orange tarp whose colour reminded me of a boiler suit worn by jail inmates. As the sun set I got to work hoisting up my tarp; a shelter for my two days of solitary confinement.
That night, rain pelted down viciously as sticks and leaves pummelled the tarp above, but despite its ferociousness I managed to stay warm and dry. I was grateful for my shelter, and looking up, it struck me how many people across time and space had contributed to my tarp’s existence. I saw the scientists who’d discovered the plastic compounds it was made from. I saw the industrial designers who’d come up with its specs. I saw the hands of the factory workers who’d made it, and the captain of the cargo ship who’d navigated its container to Australian shores. I saw the hundreds of miles it had travelled. The thousands of hours in its creation. The unmeasurable innovation and invention and effort that led to me sitting alone in the wilderness, sheltered by the rain.
That night almost two decades ago I had a revelation: that even in our most isolated moments we’re never really alone. We’re always cradled by the collective efforts of others.
There’s no such thing as self made.
I mistakenly thought my survival in the bush rested solely on my shoulders, but I was wrong. In life too, it’s easy to think that those around us are wholly self-sufficient, successful because of their work ethic, natural talents and grit. But everyone has a team of supporters who exist in the shadows, and we all stand on the shoulders of the inventors and innovators who’ve come before us.
Take this newsletter: I’m able to write it thanks to Steve Jobs who created the Apple Mac, and Bob Cahn who invented the internet, and Samuel Johnson who collated the first edition of the English Dictionary, and the thousands of people I’ve met whose insights and ideas are now enmeshed with my own. Their legacies, and millions more, are the threads woven through every word on the page.
The truth is that every business that’s ever been created, every book that’s been written, every artwork that’s been painted, every governmental policy that’s been inked, every peace deal that’s been brokered, every song that’s been sung, every image that’s been captured - they’re only made possible through the contributions of us all.
Ask for help, loudly.
If human progress is the result of collaboration and connection and if our most basic needs - like food, water and shelter - are met via the contribution of others, then why do we (and by we, I mean me) think that it’s possible to do hard things alone?
How can we build businesses or create art or enact change by ourselves?
The answer’s simple. We can’t.
We need great people to do great things. We need their input and influence. We need their ideas. Their guidance. Their skills. Their experience.
We need their help.
My toxic trait is that I know this deeply, yet find it hard to ask. I wear my independence like a badge, I’m a goddamn martyr of my own making. But I’m trying my best to stop being my worst enemy, and these prompts help me when I struggle to reach out:
I’ve always been impressed with how you approach XYZ. Do you mind if we jam on this problem together?
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, can we talk this over?
You’re experienced in this area, do you mind sharing your thoughts on where to go next?
And the good ol’ classic…
For the love of God, help me!
Human progress relies on us being able to ask for help. Your progress in life depends on it too. So ask for help daily. Ask for it loudly. Ask for it proudly.
Because we’re designed to rely on the hands and minds of others.
Just like all those years ago, that faded fluoro orange tarp was designed to shelter me from the storm.
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'But everyone has a team of supporters who exist in the shadows, and we all stand on the shoulders of the inventors and innovators who’ve come before us.' A great insight, and one that is truly humbling. It makes us realise the folly of genuine originality.
But I'm not too sure the camp organiser would pass a WHS check 😂
What a great way to rethink "self made", "self taught" and all its iterations, which we toss around way too often. We stand on the shoulders of giants... and occasionally, an Australian campsite.