What Broke Him, Built Him: Paul Watkins on being an Ordinary Guy with Unordinary Grit

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 piece, until you have enough to take on something you once thought was impossible.

🧭 Inside This Episode

• How burnout sent Paul from the pharmacy to the Himalayas
• The moment he collapsed… and what came next
• Why failure in his first Arctic race was his greatest teacher
• What it really takes to finish when your body shuts down
• The mindset shift from “just finish” to “I can win this”
• How to train courage the same way you train your body
• Why ordinary people are more capable than they think
• Redefining discipline as self-love (not self-punishment)
• The role of tiny daily habits in doing impossible things

🔥 One Big Takeaway

“Bravery isn’t being fearless. It’s choosing to move forward even when the outcome is uncertain.”

Paul’s story will shift your perspective on what it means to be ‘qualified’ to do hard things. Spoiler: you probably already are; you just haven’t stacked the evidence yet.

👇 Links + Resources

📚 Paul’s book: Lost and Found
🌏 Paul online: paulwatkins.com.au
📸 Follow Paul on Instagram | LinkedIn

🧠 For more show notes: sampenny.com/brave