In this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, I sit down with a man who is one of the most inspiring people I know. He's a man of many talents, but his story is the most incredible. He grew up in Nepal and went on to become a Gurkha, an elite Nepali military mountaineer. He was a member of the elite elite elite Nepalese elite mountain climbing team, the elite British elite mountain rescue team, and he was a part of the first generation of elite mountain climbers to ever climb Mount Everest. And he did it all while living in poverty. He talks about how he got to where he is now, and how he's been able to do it in spite of not even having a high school education. It's a truly inspiring story, and I hope you enjoy it. Check it out! The Joe Rogans Experience is a podcast by day, on the pod by night, all day long. All day all day, by night. -Joe Rogan Podcast by day and all day by night -By night, by day - by night - by day by night! by day! By day, Joe talks about his life, and talks about what it's like to be a mountain climber. By night, he talks about mountain climbing. And talks about life in Nepal, and what it s like to grow up in the Himalaya mountains of Nepal. In this episode, we talk about his childhood and growing up in Nepali, and the hardships he had to go through as a kid in Nepal. And how he ended up in America. This is an incredible story of how he went from a poor, poor and poor family growing up, to becoming a professional climber and climbing a mountain, and climbing to become the man he became the man that he is today, and now he s doing what he does in the highest mountain in the world. I hope this inspires you to do what he dreams of doing what you love. by becoming the best you can. Thank you for listening to this podcast! -Nimshan podcast, thank you so much, Joe - Thank you, for listening and supporting this podcast, and for supporting the podcast, you're amazing. XOXO, Joe, for supporting me, and thank you for being a good friend of mine, I really appreciate it, I appreciate you, I love you.
00:01:13.000There is a big thing called the Kayakas.
00:01:16.000Going back into 206 years ago, the British, when they were trying to run over the world, take over the world, the British umpire was in India.
00:01:27.000And when they were in India, they were trying to take over Nepal as well because it's a neighboring country.
00:01:46.000Is there any chance we can have, you know, all these, you know, brave guys, you know, fighting for us?
00:01:51.000And at that point, the Prime Minister, the government of Nepal were really, you know, sick of, you know, this heavy force coming with the artilleries, you know, the big guns and...
00:04:41.000So in this school, we are not allowed to leave the compound.
00:04:46.000But I really wanted to be in the Gurkha.
00:04:49.000So when I was 15, 16 years old, I used to wake up at 1 o'clock at night.
00:04:55.000And I used to go, like, you know, without permission.
00:04:57.000I used to run 30 kilometers in the morning before, like, anybody finds out.
00:05:02.000And I come and pretend like I'm waking from my bed and I still, you know, walk with toothbrush and toothpaste pretending I have never left the compound.
00:05:11.000But I had to make it work because I knew that the selection is so tough.
00:05:15.000How old were you when you were doing this?
00:05:17.000I was 16. I started when I was 15, so a year of training like that.
00:05:20.000And so you just had it in your head like, listen, I'm going to be in a Gurkha.
00:05:29.000Because, you know, if the teacher would find out that I have left the compound, mate, they in Nepal, they beat like, you know, they beat the hell out of you.
00:05:43.000Look, not really, because, you know, you start your, like, you know, school, like, if you stay in the hostel, you know, from 7 o'clock in the morning, and you have to have your presence over there, and then you finish around 4 o'clock in the evening, So it's a really tight schedule.
00:06:00.000You study about 14 different subjects.
00:06:02.000So, yeah, there wasn't really a way and many of my friends wouldn't know and many of my friends wouldn't probably do that.
00:06:09.000But I knew that I had to push extra and I had to break that rules and that normal rules and regulation of school.
00:07:27.000And then I found about, you know, the special boat service, which is, I mentioned, you know, like equivalent to your SEAL Team 6. So they operate from air, water, you know, underwater and land, everything.
00:07:40.000So I was like, yes, I want to be part of that cool group.
00:07:43.000And when I first talk about it, you know, all my friends, including my seniors, including captains and even some of the...
00:07:54.000The senior rank that I look up to, like, you know, where I was like, you know what, I want to be like those guys, you know, some inspiring figures.
00:08:01.000And they were saying, Nims is impossible, because no one has ever made this, you know, in the history of the Gurkhas.
00:10:07.000The only big thing that the friends were saying was like, Nims, you know, it's not only about physical.
00:10:12.000You need to have, you know, a great sense of humor.
00:10:14.000You need to have, you know, common sense and all that.
00:10:17.000So I was like, okay, then I start looking into English sense of humor.
00:10:22.000And I was like, you know, so when you go in the selection, they will just like, the instructor, the DS we call it, directing staff would call it, hey, come here, fucking tell me a joke.
00:10:33.000And the Nepalese joke is completely different to English sense of humor.
00:10:38.000So every day I used to prepare different jokes.
00:10:41.000And I used to go in front and I used to say like different jokes.
00:11:58.000You know, what I mean by self-discipline and equally with that, the self-motivation thing that I really believe was key in my part is being able to wake up when no one is looking at me, when no one is waking me up.
00:12:11.000Being able to go and train when no one is looking at me.
00:12:15.000So the self-motivation and that self-discipline is where I really started looking into and believing that NIMS, if you really want to do something in terms of breaking the boundaries and in terms of reaching your full potential,
00:12:33.000And I started kind of planting that into my brain and this is how I have been where I am today.
00:12:39.000So you just sort of willed yourself into the state of discipline, knowing that if you were going to achieve great things, you had to be able to work when no one was looking.
00:12:54.000I think it was a kind of a development as a kid.
00:12:58.000So when I was a kid, I wanted to be a GACA and then obviously that wasn't the same level of training as I did for when I went for the Special Forces selection.
00:13:08.000But it's a like build up as I grew up through the age.
00:15:02.000So when you were young and you were running, when you were 16 years old, you'd get up at 1 o'clock in the morning, that was all just self-motivation?
00:15:35.000That's right, he's standing in front of you, brother.
00:15:40.000That's a lot of weight to run 20 kilometers with.
00:15:44.000I think what it got me or what it balanced the whole thing was my swimming element because I used to swim, right?
00:15:50.000And then even though my training was super intense and it's like, you know, the gravity, the friction part, but unknowingly I was doing, you know, 100 laps.
00:16:00.000And I think because, you know, that is more for like flexibility and all this stuff.
00:16:04.000So I think that just happened naturally.
00:17:16.000The first one was Look, it doesn't matter where you come from, what your background is, whatever that is, you can literally show the world nothing is impossible, no excuses.
00:17:28.000And the second one was, look, the Nepalese climbing community, the Seripas, are the king of a thousand years, but we never had the right, you know, like, credits.
00:17:40.000And I wanted to raise the name of the Nepalese climbers.
00:21:20.000I used to wake up at like four o'clock, write the email, take early train to London, meet all the entrepreneurs, corporate organizers, and peace them, repeat the same thing, come back home, quick food.
00:21:35.000Then I write again in the follow-up email, hey, nice to meet you today, and follow-up email.
00:23:17.000And I write that in a very long letter, full hand written, and I cover that and put those in his stamp so that it will get his attention and nothing came.
00:23:31.000So I was just going after everything, anything, from outdoor companies Outdoor clothing.
00:23:38.000And this is already after you'd already quit your job.
00:26:21.000So going back into that one, Joe, what I really believed in was...
00:26:26.000Okay, people don't believe now, but if I start climbing this mountain in the manner and in the style that I said I would do it, it's going to be possible.
00:26:36.000So I took the flight to Nepal with 15% of the funding.
00:26:40.000Then there were a bit of like a small, like, you know, I would say sponsorship came in, a few money from GoFundMe.
00:26:48.000And at that point, when I fly to Nepal, I had 15% of the total funding.
00:26:52.000So the first mountain I choose was Annapurna.
00:26:54.000So in Annapurna is like where every four climbers who try to climb, three dies trying.
00:28:23.000Because I changed that statistics in 2019. When I went there and set the fixed lines with my team, more than, I think, 50 people submitted in 2019. Right, but here's the stat.
00:28:35.000Every three people reach the top, one person dies.
00:29:59.000I think it's that muscle memory, you know, where I have been training, you know, since I was a kid and, you know, like non-stop.
00:30:08.000And obviously, which, you know, we discussed earlier.
00:30:10.000I think that's what it made me who I am today.
00:30:14.000You know, the hard work, the training and training and training.
00:30:18.000But Joe, you know, like, a lot of people think probably, you know, like, oh, yeah, Nims is from Nepal, he's from the mountains, and he climbed all this peak.
00:30:25.000You know, I grew up in the most flat and the hottest part of Nepal.
00:31:21.000They were saying it's literally had an effect on their DNA. Like living there and doing that and that this expression of being in that place, being in that environment has just made them just incredible specimens.
00:31:35.000Yeah, I think that makes sense because it's like you're adapting, right?
00:31:59.000I think there was like a big rock that had something to do with that, but it's still extraordinary that, you know, like there was this thing about these Sherpas where they were able to do things with no oxygen, that where the people that had tried to go there, that's like,
00:32:14.000there's so much recreational climbing, particularly in Everest, and you documented that in that crazy photo.
00:32:20.000We actually showed that photo the other day on the podcast.
00:33:34.000The human beings, we are so, so negative.
00:33:38.000And I think even in the workspace, nowadays, specifically because of that picture, if some of the work colleagues summit Everest, we'll say, oh, now you know what Everest is like, you know, every turist going summit.
00:33:49.000But let me give you this example, everyone who's listening to this, you know, podcast.
00:33:56.000There are more than 2,000 people running London Marathon.
00:34:01.000But just because that number is high, will that marathon be easy?
00:39:50.000And after the summit of Daulagri, we got back to Kathmandu, and there was one Chinese billionaire who said, Nims, I might go and climb Kanchanjangha, which is my third mountain.
00:41:12.000So just to put into the science here, Normally you climb without oxygen when you are acclimatized.
00:41:20.000I was never acclimatized to that altitude.
00:41:23.000So let's say on Everest or even in K2, you have to sleep at CAMFO without oxygen so that your body is acclimatized, you are building more red blood cells.
00:41:46.000So we started bringing these two people down.
00:41:49.000And then there were people at CAM4, more than I think 60 people at CAM4, who went to like Summit Pus, like going from CAM1 they sleep, CAM2 they sleep, CAM3 they sleep, CAM4 they sleep, Summit and then back to CAM4. And they were not in the situation like us at all.
00:42:05.000You know, our story is completely different.
00:42:07.000It's like fast track, we haven't slept for six days and all that.
00:42:11.000I went onto the radio and I begged for help.
00:42:14.000Is there any chance can somebody bring us the oxygen?
00:42:35.000Look, I'm not here to blame anybody, but, you know, a lot of people say, you know, like, yeah, they're badass and all that.
00:42:41.000They can talk in the social media, but they all were at CAMFO. You know, they were earlier, they were well-rested, and they could come and help in another sense.
00:43:58.000Literally 15 minutes later he died and that was terrible because we put so much energy and it wreaked our life to bring him down and he passed away.
00:44:06.000He passed away and then here's you, no oxygen.
00:44:10.000No oxygen for like almost now 11 hours and then and then now I got this guy and this is when you know like I started seeing things, like, you know, like, you know, in the book, Beyond Possible, I have mentioned, like, you know, I thought he was a yeti.
00:45:29.000And then, yeah, I went to Everest and then...
00:45:32.000Did you ever think of doing it with like less people so that you don't have to be involved with other people that could trip you up like that?
00:45:39.000But you can't stop people going on the mountain, right?
00:46:31.000Every time, you know, I go to OnePig, we summit, and then there's a GoFundMe page, and then people are sharing, and, you know, a good friend of mine, you know, who was in a program called SES Who Does Win, he started posting and supporting, and then people giving £20,
00:46:47.000£30, and eventually, as soon as I climb one mountain, there will be money for her to climb the second mountain.
00:48:30.000So when I come with a hard drive, I was in different parts of the table, and we did a big, I would say, kind of like oxen who would come and produce this movie.
00:48:43.000Out of, you know, four or five people, I decided to go with Noah because I felt like they were the right partners.
00:49:59.000It was really hard work when you are climbing in this like vertical slope and you are flying the drone and you know like climbing at the same point but I knew that I had to do this.
00:50:09.000Even another tough thing was like you know the the sort with my mom when she was in hospital.
00:50:15.000It was crazy because you are like saying hey guys we need to have the camera okay because but you don't feel natural because It's like acting, right?
00:50:34.000Yeah, that's a real problem with like, anytime you're trying to document reality and you have a camera, the camera just naturally changes the way people behave because they're aware that someone's watching.
00:50:48.000Yeah, and you know, for me, like, you know, we had that and there's no cut and all that.
00:50:52.000It's just, you just film the whole thing.
00:51:02.000If I did it just once, I would be thinking, how do I act natural?
00:51:08.000You know, when you get accustomed to it.
00:51:10.000So do you think you were accustomed to the filming after a while?
00:51:13.000Or you could just be yourself because the cameras were on you so often?
00:51:16.000No, look, the big thing was I knew that this has to be documented and I knew it has to have its authenticity.
00:51:23.000And that's why, you know, like from speaking with the sponsors, putting GoPro over there, to like, you know, filming all my tour.
00:51:32.000And honestly, Joe, we haven't even used, like, most of the footage because it's very, like, full-on, 109 minutes of, like, punchy, like, in a movie.
00:54:09.000There's a lot of motivational people online, but they don't necessarily do much.
00:54:16.000The real motivation comes from watching people do the impossible, like you, or watching Alex Honnold in Free Solo, or watching David Goggins.
00:54:28.000Someone who's actually doing something is what really motivates people.
00:54:36.000Sometimes enthusiastic and energetic people can motivate people just by words.
00:54:41.000But the real motivation comes from watching other people do things and knowing that it's possible to push beyond the boundaries that you think exist.
00:54:51.000Because David Goggins has a great quote.
00:55:30.000And that's the difference between, I mean, I don't want to call anybody out, but certain motivational speakers that they give these big tours and they talk in front of large groups of people, you can accomplish your goals, you can follow your dreams, but what are they doing?
00:55:46.000For it to really resonate with a person, it takes someone like you that's actually done something spectacular.
00:55:53.000Man, that means a lot coming from you, Joe.
00:55:58.000So, over the course of the many months that you did this film, when you were close, was there ever a moment where you had to realize, like, we're almost there.
00:56:13.000Because what you set out to do, if you brought that, I'm not in the climbing world, but from what I've read, if you brought that idea to anybody, they'd tell you to go fuck yourself.
00:56:24.000They'd be like, that is the craziest idea ever.
00:57:35.000And, you know, like, to answer your question, you know, I climb Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, the world's first, fourth, and fifth highest mountain in 48 hours.
00:57:47.000How many mountains did you climb in 48 hours?
00:57:49.000Everest, Lodze, Makalu, the world's first, fourth, and fifth highest mountain in 48 hours.
00:58:59.000And when I summit and get back down, I would only drink half a liter of that thermos.
00:59:04.000I always stay reserved, but I think it's the mindset, it's the training.
00:59:08.000You know, you don't go so fast as well, so you are like super out of breath and you are dehydrating.
00:59:13.000You know, every my pace is calculated.
00:59:15.000And we know with the hot water, what I used to do is going into very basic, I scoop the cold snow, put the hot water and that, you know, that one liter can be like three liters, right?
00:59:25.000I drink that and I always like preserve, you know, because in mountains, anything could happen.
00:59:31.000You may be stuck for three days and if you just don't plan and start rustling and all those having that You know, survival kind of mentality, you will just be dead.
00:59:42.000Do you carry anything with you, like a burner stove so you could melt ice or something to drink?
01:01:34.000And how do you know whether you're dehydrated?
01:01:38.000Because that's one of the things they say about people when they're at high altitude is they don't recognize that they're dehydrated and it becomes an issue.
01:01:45.000I think many people who are probably at that survival stage wouldn't know, but I'm in full control, so I kind of know if I'm dehydrated and all that, and I kind of look into very details.
01:01:58.000Hence why I keep saying, a small thing matters on the big mountains.
01:02:02.000It's looking into really smaller things, and there's a saying like, It's not the rock that wears you out.
01:02:45.000There was a big competition between Netflix and Disney+.
01:02:50.000I don't know if I'm allowed to see it, I'm going to see it anyway.
01:02:53.000But for me, money has never been my priority in my life.
01:02:58.000Otherwise, I would never be able to quit my Special Forces career, sell my house, and go and do this.
01:03:05.000And even though the money offered by Disney was way higher, we decided to go with Netflix because I really felt like the movie 14 Peaks would change so many people's lives in a positive way.
01:04:43.000I think, again, at the end of the movie, you have seen if this was done by any European, Western climbers, or even American, look, I'm not racist, but then this would have been 10 times bigger.
01:08:06.000I think they might be in that survival situation where they didn't have the option and when it comes into the stage of survival, Again, I give example of drowning in the sea because a lot of people understand.
01:08:21.000It doesn't matter if your girlfriend or wife, you know, drowning next to you, you'll grab them and try to survive.
01:09:25.000But, if you are not that, if you don't have time to do that, and, you know, if you have been working hard in your own world, in your work, and you have saved that money, you can go and climb with the support.
01:09:37.000So, I take things completely in a different way, because even now people will say, oh, if I had the money, I would have climbed 14 peaks.
01:09:50.000So I think everything in life, whatever you want to do, has got two angles.
01:09:56.000Either you invest your career in that, you build up, you become so good, so you can do without bare minimum, or you're working in some industry, but you're saving up to do.
01:10:09.000For me, let's say, for example, if Albert Einstein wanted to go and climb Everest, I would say, of course, because he can experience that.
01:11:14.000Okay, if I want to go to space, well, either, you know, I be a scientist by myself, or I have the money, I use other people to the advantage and I go.
01:11:25.000And I think we humans should be more open to be helping each other and then cut all this negative away and try to see from their perspective before making the judgment or before making any calls.
01:11:39.000Well, you're saying that because you're a winner.
01:11:42.000And see, you gotta realize that haters are all losers.
01:11:45.000And the people that are negative and they're constantly looking for a negative angle, most of them are failures.
01:11:53.000But they find a reason to disparage people's success.
01:11:57.000So if it's a bunch of rich people that are climbing Mount Everest, They decide to just shit on these rich people that are climbing Mount Everest.
01:12:03.000Because it's an easy way to find a negative angle on what's a positive accomplishment.
01:12:10.000But from their perspective, one thing that I do agree with them is that it is...
01:12:16.000It's very unfortunate that the amount of human waste that's left behind this disgusting amount of human shit is left up there because they just leave it up there and they leave a lot of their trash up there they leave the bodies up there so from their perspective there is There's value to the fact that even though they write these articles shitting on these people,
01:12:37.000no pun intended, it at least brings attention to the fact that that is an issue.
01:15:11.000with my upcoming project called the Big Mountain Cleanup Project where we'll be cleaning up all the mountains starting with Manasso in September, Everest in the spring next year that's 2022. I'm a Babylon Towards the end of autumn in 2022 again and K2 a year after.
01:15:34.000I absolutely believe that this decade is hugely important for us in order to protect our planet or our home.
01:15:43.000That's beautiful that you're doing this.
01:16:01.000But there's still a lot that's left up there.
01:16:03.000Isn't there, like, some of the first climbers that ever tried to do it, they're still up there?
01:16:07.000Yeah, but some of the bodies, you cannot find them because, you know, every year it's snowing and some of the body goes into crevasse like deep, you know, so you wouldn't find.
01:16:17.000But some of the bodies that you see, most of the body that you can see are brought down.
01:16:21.000I wrote a piece about this a long time ago because they had photos of the very first guy that died up there.
01:16:27.000And, you know, his face down, his skin is white, it looks like marble.
01:17:51.000I think at that point, if people want to have a shit, because it's not that really fast moving line, Joe, because people take one step and they wait for like three, four minutes to get another breath back.
01:18:36.000So, you know, obviously the Sherpa would carry the spare tank.
01:18:40.000And the Sherpa doesn't even need oxygen.
01:18:42.000Well, it all depends upon how we are climbing.
01:18:46.000If we are guiding and all we take the oxygen because we cannot jeopardize, you know, the client's life.
01:18:52.000Just, you know, you want to be a hero.
01:18:54.000But yeah, you know, we can climb without oxygen and few people can do it if they're trained for that.
01:19:00.000So, is Everest the most popular of all the summits?
01:19:06.000I think it's the most popular, but, you know, there's another mountain called K2. Yeah, I've heard of that.
01:19:12.000Which is, you know, quite hard mountain.
01:19:16.000They call that K2 as a savage mountain.
01:19:19.000And I think, though, if you heard that story or not, you know, last year we, you know, So K2 was the only mountain in the world above 8,000 meter peak.
01:19:43.000No, I think at that point, being brutally honest, I didn't even want to go on K2 that year because I knew that the movie was coming and I was planning, okay, you know, when the movie comes, I'll have more reach out, I'll get more sponsorship, that means more money,
01:20:15.000And the reason why I went and made that quick decision was, look, we as a Nepalese climbers, brother, we have got 8,000-meter peak in Nepal.
01:21:31.000We were like, you know, the base layer, then we'll wear like mid layer, then we were like another jacket, down jacket, then we were another down jacket, and then big summit suit.
01:21:41.000So your kit and equipment is probably around, I would say, 15 kg.
01:23:48.000It's like achieving my own new possible and again in extreme sport is where I live.
01:23:54.000So once you've accomplished something like this and then you get done with doing press for it and then it gets very popular, Do you then sit around and think about what your next goals are?
01:24:07.000Do you wait for your goals to just pop into your head and come to you?
01:24:11.000Yeah, I wait for it to pop and it just comes in.
01:24:14.000That's why I said when I first talk about this project, people say, okay, it's impossible.
01:24:51.000Yeah, and then at that point, what I said to my team members was like, guys, at that point, a lot of people were dying because of the pandemic and so many crises.
01:25:00.000I said to them, guys, we are from Nepal, very poor country, but let's send a message of unification.
01:25:07.000And what I said to them was like, Every time in the history of mountain, there's always one person summiting.
01:28:08.000Before 30 years old, you know, because, you know, going into Special Forces selection, carrying those big backpacks, running everywhere, I hated the hills.
01:31:50.000And not only that, when I say failed, as in like in terms of reaching to the summit and bringing everyone back down exactly where they left.
01:31:59.000No like toes missing, no fingers cutting down.
01:32:02.000Maybe a bit fitter and that's my track record.
01:32:46.000And in this expedition, they learn about how they feel, how they adapt with altitude, because different people adapt differently.
01:32:54.000Just to put into breaking down into perspective, for example, If you like, let's say you are reaching to the base camp, and for some people it can take let's say 12 days or 13 days.
01:33:06.000But if you just follow that crowd even though you are struggling, That could jeopardize the whole thing.
01:33:14.000But in another perspective, if you slow down by a day, you could be completely fine.
01:33:22.000So it's all about like different people is different.
01:33:24.000And then obviously, I take them to Manaslu, a thousand meter peak.
01:33:28.000That's where, you know, they learn a bit more and then they go in Everest.
01:33:32.000So it's with now like innovation, you know, technology and like with the science that, you know, how we know how the people, you know, adapt differently and all that is possible.
01:33:42.000So they don't even have to be necessarily very fit?
01:34:47.000So some people that are going to do that, they will go and what will they do to get prepared for something that's going to take two and a half months for them to acclimate?
01:34:57.000So what they do is, okay, they come to Nepal.
01:36:38.000And yeah, once you touch Camp 3, you come down to base camp, and now you wait for the weather window.
01:36:44.000And if there's a good weather window, this time now, you can go directly to Camp 2. And you'll be even quicker, because you're acclimatized.
01:36:50.000Then you go to Camp 3. From Camp 3, we put on oxygen.
01:36:54.000And then, obviously, you go to Camp 4. And Camp 4, on Everest, depending on how fast you are, I kind of decide who goes at what time.
01:37:03.000So if you're slower, we send it 9 o'clock.
01:37:05.000If you're faster, we send it like 1 a.m.
01:38:00.000Because some of the people who are coming are literally like billionaires and some are very busy people.
01:38:07.000Well, it's got to be a life goal for them, right?
01:38:10.000Yeah, it has to be something where, you know, they are doing that for a reason, either to get the experience to move on and take away from that experience to whatever they're going to achieve in life.
01:38:41.000One, I climb, you know, so that I'm alive because I love putting myself into the ricks where...
01:38:49.000I care about living and not just existing, right?
01:38:54.000And like in other normal terms, you know, why adventure like and I say why it heals everything is because when you get into those mountains, things are very simpler.
01:39:06.000You know, all these things that we worry about, you know, paying the mortgage or, you know, like entertaining this guy or making everybody happy, all those problems we have from the society, they all get dropped down because you are at that element of,
01:39:22.000I would say, not survival, but in that adventure field where nothing really matters.
01:39:27.000Like, you know, for example, if you are doing a A fast four miler.
01:39:32.000You're not going to think about all those things.
01:39:34.000You are thinking about how you keep up the pace to meet that mission.
01:39:42.000Well, I can imagine that the difficulty of it, the power of just being out there in that insanely beautiful environment, it's very hard to think about all the nonsense of the world.
01:39:54.000It kind of puts things into perspective.
01:39:58.000But you know why I first started climbing Zoo?
01:40:01.000You know, like being the first Gurkha in SBS, you know, passing it in the first time and serving around the world for 10 years, doing crazy shit, you know.
01:40:14.000You really think you're invincible, you know, from this stuff that you have done.
01:40:18.000And when I first went to the mountain, it really made me feel humble.
01:40:22.000The nature was like, you know what, it put me back into my shoes and elements.
01:40:28.000Then I really started loving that and I started finding the joy in putting myself into this self-voluntary torture.
01:40:38.000And then obviously with that I found the bigger purpose and this is where I am.
01:40:44.000And the key message in everything what I've done and what I say to people is, Look, whatever you do in life, follow your passion.
01:40:53.000Because if you follow your passion, like when I did in Gurkha, it was my passion.
01:40:57.000When I did in SBS, it's a passion because you put so much extra hours on this work.
01:41:04.000And then if that's a work that you don't love, it's not a passion, you will go mental, you will go crazy.
01:41:09.000So when you follow your passion, you know, extra work is not extra hours because you are enjoying it.
01:41:15.000And that extra hours is like extra training.
01:41:17.000And when you put so much extra training than the rest of the people, you, of course, become the best of who you are.
01:41:24.000And with that being the best means, you know, of course there's then different source of income because you are the elite of that thing and the money that all these things will follow.
01:41:35.000I know you're speaking to a lot of ultra performers out there.
01:41:38.000You're speaking to people that do have that mindset and they do want to accomplish things.
01:41:44.000For some people it's just hard to get those first few steps going to achieve a goal and to follow a dream.
01:41:51.000What you're saying, I 100% believe that If you find your passion, you're not working.
01:43:16.000Fraught with peril and there's no definite like what you did when you retired from the military you you had no safety net and for some people that's Terrifying they live for a safety net.
01:43:29.000They want a nice 401k retirement plan.
01:43:36.000You know, like with this, like in a movie, if I had to go through like, let's say, bigger production team, it would have never been signed because they were like, oh, it's such a huge risk.
01:43:46.000Because it's crazy, but you know, you make things happen and we all are different.
01:43:49.000And again, going into that perspective, what you said, you know, When I sold my house and gave up my prestige career in the Special Forces, all that pension, you know, my best thing was, you know what?
01:43:59.000The worst thing is, what could happen?
01:44:56.000And then even that is so, like, you are so tired that as soon as you stop, you'll fall asleep.
01:45:01.000And you're like, oh my god, I may fall down.
01:45:03.000And then you're like, start slapping in your face.
01:45:05.000And then, yeah, you know, it's just like, you know, funny things, what I used to think was like, yeah, Nims, you know, you feel like in downtown in a club.
01:45:12.000And you are like drinking and you are dancing and even it's like two o'clock in the morning you would still dance and you know and you are not even achieving anything but now you are here in the greatest mission and you want to sleep you know all these multi layers of like motivating factors you know and also like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel you know like I always knew like I had to finish this project and yeah.
01:45:34.000What was it like when you stepped foot on the top of the last summit?
01:45:40.000But as soon as I went there, I was like, okay, it's the last project, last mountain.
01:46:17.000Yeah, I think, look, let me put it this way.
01:46:21.000During the first phase, when I finished it, the big sponsors started coming in.
01:46:26.000A few hotels in Kathmandu and all they get in touch and they were like looking after my free stay and all that.
01:46:33.000In one of the hotels, I took my mom and I asked for the mineral water.
01:46:39.000And my mom told me, son, can you afford this?
01:46:41.000And I said, mom, you know, nowadays, for staying in this hotel, these people not only give me a free stay, they are supporting by paying a bit of money into the project.
01:47:35.000And the big thing here, what I really felt, where I was really upset was, I told you earlier, like, my dad was in Chitwan, my mom was in Kathmandu living in this small room, and I wanted to put them together.
01:47:50.000And after I finished the project, Honestly, the bank, they trust me and they give me like loan and everything and it was around 600k.
01:47:58.000I bought a really nice house in Kathmandu.
01:48:02.000It was all like made and I was trying to put my mom and dad together and I remember it was 26th of February when I went to move my both parents.
01:48:14.000My mom passed away two hours before I landed and that was when I really felt like Time, you know, it never waits for anybody.
01:48:24.000And that was when I felt like that's the only mission I felt in my life.
01:48:31.000You know, it's like, you know, but hey, hey, I hope, you know, you know, I still kind of like satisfy myself saying that, okay, at least you witnessed the airport stuff, the, you know, welcoming and all that, the positive experience.
01:48:54.000That's something that's, I think, the hardest for people to recognize, the people that are scared to take chances, that are scared to live a risky life and to do something outside of a boring job that they hate.
01:49:14.000While we are living every hour, every minute in that work or in that things that you are not loving, it's not good for your health, certainly for your mental health, and it's not good in terms of you living.
01:51:12.000And that's the whole thing, you know, what we are trying to say to all these people who are listening is simply follow your passion.
01:51:19.000Well, what I've gotten out of this podcast that I didn't necessarily think that I wanted in my life, it just sort of happened.
01:51:27.000Was an education in communicating with extraordinary people.
01:51:32.000And when someone like you, like when I reached out to you, it's like when we started setting this up, I was like, that is exactly the type of person I want to talk to.
01:51:42.000When Cam told me about you, and then when you reached out to me on Instagram, and then I reached out to you, and we started figuring out how to do this and coordinate and make it happen...
01:51:50.000I was like, this is exactly the type of person I want to talk to.
01:51:56.000There's so many interesting and extraordinary people out there in the world, and so few people have access to them.
01:52:02.000But through this podcast, I have been like an antenna for all these folks.
01:52:10.000I've been able to broadcast all the thoughts and ideas of extraordinary people, so so many people get to think the way a person like you thinks.
01:52:20.000Or all these other interesting people that I've had on.
01:52:22.000A lot of people even in Nepal listen to you.
01:52:42.000All I do is just still do what I've always done.
01:52:45.000I enjoy talking to interesting people.
01:52:48.000I'm fascinated by the way people live their lives and the way they think about things and the knowledge that they've acquired and the way they've developed their discipline and their intellect.
01:54:36.000Again, like you said, you know, my key messaging was there's no excuse in life, right?
01:54:44.000We all can make excuse and say, okay, wish I had that.
01:54:48.000Had I been that, these people have been like, no, you know, like, As I said, you know, coming from barefoot, not even having a 10p in my pocket, you know, forget all that.
01:54:59.000Today, you know, whatever angle you look, you know, I'm not only, you know, have this kind of, like, successful, like, career and documentary, you know.
01:55:08.000Today, if money is something that attracts to you, yes, I'm already a millionaire.
01:55:13.000So there's no excuse in anything in life.
01:55:15.000But the key here is follow your passion.
01:56:31.000And then like somebody from this angle, the sniper.
01:56:35.000Because, you know, like I asked my other colleagues, like, you know, the local special forces to come on this roof to have this all-around defense.
01:56:42.000But it was so hard, you know, the bullets were flying everywhere.
01:56:45.000So those guys got scared and I had to go up in order to pin that enemy position so that, you know, my other assault force can go and take over.
01:58:47.000Like, you know, the biggest painful was to me when your own people kind of, you know, like make the mickey out of you and they say negative things.
01:58:57.000So I was in this evolution of raising the funding, Joe, and I went there and then it's all the Gurkha community and some of them Just said, yeah, you know what?
01:59:08.000This guy is just doing for his fucking name and fame and he doesn't want to do it.
01:59:13.000He just want to climb a mountain and he's doing that.
01:59:14.000But they didn't really knew what I was really doing.
01:59:20.000But it touched me because I'm also human, right?
01:59:23.000And I was driving back on M3 motorway and I had tears in my eyes and I was like crying out loud.
01:59:30.000Because at this point I was bursting, you know, because I had given up this prestige career, I had given up my job, I have sold my house, pension, everything and I'm trying to do this good thing and people are like, my own people are saying that it's a bit too much.
01:59:45.000So I was like bursting in tears and I pulled my car in a lay-by off the motorway and And I was like, okay, now what can I think?
01:59:55.000And I was like, you know what, Nims, you said that this project is never about you.
02:00:01.000You said that you wanted to change the world for the better purpose.
02:00:04.000You said that you want to completely paradigm shift in perception of human potential.
02:00:08.000You said that you're going to give justice to the Nepalese climbing community.
02:00:11.000Come on, how you feel, it doesn't matter.
02:00:13.000So that's the centrality of the mission.
02:00:15.000And I wipe up my tears and I drop down.
02:00:22.00018 months later, I will tell you this.
02:00:25.000The Gurkhas didn't have equal rights, equal pension in the British military, even though we have served for so many years.
02:00:35.000So the Gurkhas have got more VC. Victoria Cross is the highest awarded bravery medal you can get.
02:00:42.000The Gurkha Regiment has got more than any other regiment.
02:00:45.000We still didn't have the Ecole pension.
02:00:48.000So then there was a campaign by our own people, the Gurkhas, the retired, you know, Gurkhas like fighting on number 10 on the parliament saying that, hey, we need the Ecole pension.
02:01:01.000And even to have the debate on Parliament, you need to have 100,000 of Paterson signed.
02:02:45.000If you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket, some crabs will try to get out of the bucket, and as they're trying to climb, the other crabs will pull them down.
02:03:12.000Some people get upset at other people's success.
02:03:14.000Other people celebrate other people's success.
02:03:16.000This is the difference in a lot of folks.
02:03:19.000Some people will try to find the negative in people.
02:03:22.000Other people will try to find the positive in people.
02:03:24.000Like what you did when someone stole your oxygen.
02:03:27.000Even though you were lying to yourself, you decided to frame it in a positive way that someone is going to go home to their family, save someone's life with that oxygen.
02:03:39.000There's patterns of thinking, and some people, they are a prisoner to their own pattern of thinking, and they don't even realize it.
02:03:48.000And maybe they do, maybe they know somewhere subconsciously that what they're doing is detrimental to their own existence.
02:03:55.000But they can't help themselves, and then they lash out at other folks.
02:03:59.000They try to find external reasons for why they're unhappy, external reasons why they're bitter.
02:04:06.000So they look to other people that are successful, and they try to find the worst aspects of those people.
02:04:10.000Oh, Nims is just doing it for himself.
02:04:15.000And now, now that you've already done it, and now that you're You have a gigantic documentary on Netflix, and now that you're here on this podcast, now that the world is getting to hear your story, now they must be very angry!
02:04:34.000There's a lesson in there for everyone else.
02:04:37.000Those people, whether they realize it or not, their failure to reason correctly, to think well in a positive manner, they're a lesson for other people.
02:04:50.000The observers on the outside get to look at these bitter fools and go, oh, I see what you're doing.
02:05:49.000There's some people that just can't help lash out at other people and what they fail to realize is the energy that they spend attacking another person is energy they could have spent elevating their own life.
02:06:10.000Why are you focusing on dragging other people It's spending so much of your energy, time and everything when you can actually do good thing for yourself and you can be that another happy person.
02:06:21.000Because they're trapped in a pattern of thinking where they feel that if someone is excelling past their own personal limitations or past their own personal success, they feel bad because they feel jealous and they feel envious.
02:06:35.000So what they do is they lash out at that person and they try to find something negative about them.
02:06:42.000It's so normal but it's really they're stealing from themselves because your time and your energy is so valuable and time that you spend worrying about what other people are accomplishing instead of what I like to do is I'm friends with a lot of these people like David Goggins and Cam Haynes and now I'm friends with you and people that do extraordinary things.
02:07:10.000By being around these people, you realize that so many accomplishments are possible that people never attempt because the human condition, the human spirit is limitless.
02:07:55.000There's value also for you as a person that you can put aside jealousy and your petty envy and recognize that other people's success does not equal your failure.
02:08:07.000And that you can benefit from other people's success because it elevates your own ideas of what's possible.
02:08:30.000Because those are the people who cannot be you but they think they can be you.
02:08:36.000And those people started dragging because they have been hanging around with you and they have known you and they don't realize like how much of hard work and the things that you have put together.
02:09:04.000You know, there's a very famous quote saying that if you are moving from A to B and there are loads of dogs who are barking at you, if you start throwing every dog that is barking at you, you'll never reach your destination.