Introducing ‘The Adventure Capitalist’

Plus: #1 savage on my big board of men, 15 easy residencies anyone can get, how to hire CEOs...

Author

Austin Brawner
May 25, 2023

Welcome to the first issue of The Adventure Capitalist! Every Thursday, when you open this email, you’ll get a ‘jolt’ of inspiration to grab life by the balls.

Here’s what you can expect this week:

  • Notes From the Field

    • Where has all the adventure gone?

  • The Weekly Savage

    • The #1 most savage man on my big board of savage men.

  • The Lifestyle

    • An assortment of links that will get your blood flowing

Notes from the field:

“Most people tiptoe their way through life, hoping they make it safely to death.”

Earl Nightingale

We have a societal problem. Everywhere I look, I see men who are stuck in mediocrity, their childhood dreams buried deep. They've chosen comfort instead of chasing their passions.

Men used to walk outside and get smacked in the face with adventure. Hungry? Looks like it is time for you to kill a deer. Chilly? Well, my friend, it seems like you might need to trap some animals and make a coat.

As we’ve become more “civilized” these types of encounters are less frequent. It’s easy to go weeks at a time without facing anything that truly tests you. These days we must actively seek out more adventure in our lives.

I believe adventure is the cure for many of our ills, but many have become too comfortable to pursue it.

What's the point of having money if we don't have any good stories? Why work so hard if it leads to a failed marriage?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to die without a few scars. I’d rather look back at my life, saying ‘I can’t believe I did that’ instead of ‘If only I had’.

Adventure doesn't have to involve scaling Everest or seeking out uncontacted tribes in the Amazon. Adventure is something we can choose every day.

When you “choose adventure” you choose to do things that make you feel alive.

In this weekly newsletter, I'll share stories of men who live life on their own terms and embrace adventure. They're better businessmen, partners, and fathers because of it. I'll also offer tips for finding adventure in everyday life.

Let this inspire you to say 'yes' to more adventure in your life and business.

Onward,

Austin Brawner

The Weekly Savage:

Sir Ernst Shackelton

Sir Ernest Shackleton

If you know the name, you know you’re in for a wild ride. Ernest Shackleton was a British polar explorer best known for his leadership of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917), also known as the ill-fated Endurance Expedition.

The main goal of this expedition was to make the first land crossing of Antarctica, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea via the South Pole. At the time, nobody had ever done this.

Shackleton led the crew aboard the ship Endurance, but six weeks into the journey, the ship became trapped by pack ice in the Weddell Sea. The crew abandoned the Endurance and set up camp on the ice flows and waited for it to be released by the ice.

Summer turned into winter and the ship remained trapped. The men lived on meager supplies, always watching the ice, waiting for it to betray them. There were months of darkness during that winter when the sun never rose.

8 months after becoming trapped, and just as the winter started to fade and the men gained hope their vessel would be released from the Antarctic’s icy grip, the Endurance was crushed violently by the ice.

The men realized their only chance of survival was to drag lifeboats and supplies and search for open water. Once found, they crossed the cruel, stormy Southern Ocean, reaching Elephant Island – solid ground after 497 days on the ice.

Shackleton knew rescue would not come to Elephant Island. He decided to undertake a daring 800-mile journey to South Georgia Island in a tiny lifeboat, the James Caird, with just five of his men. The remaining men sheltered under a lifeboat on Elephant Island and prayed.

The men on Elephant Island after years on the ice

They set sail on April 24, 1916, and navigated through some of the most dangerous seas in the world, facing massive waves, gale-force winds, and freezing temperatures. Miraculously, they reached South Georgia Island after a harrowing 16-day voyage.

Once they reached South Georgia Island, it wasn’t exactly a Sunday picnic. They still had to cross mountains and glaciers, with barely any equipment, in extreme weather to reach a whaling station before they found help.

Rescue for the other men did not come easily. It took four attempts to bring the men back from Elephant Island, but Shackleton did not give up. On August 30, 1916, they were saved, with no lives lost. There were a million ways for them to die, yet every man survived.

That is why Sir Ernest Shackleton is at the top of my big board of savage men.

If you want to read more about his journey, I highly recommend Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

The Lifestyle:

🌎 Global Adventure

Escape the city and rent this house on the beach in the Azores for a couple of thousand bucks a month. (link)

Ready to explore a new passport? Here are 15 easy residencies anyone can get. (link)

This English madman is attempting to be the first person to run the entire length of Africa. You can follow along and be inspired. (link)

💰Business

Every writer should save these 2 screenshots on their desktop. Pixar’s 22 rules of Storytelling. (link)

Andrew Wilkinson has hired 60+ CEOs for his companies. Here is his process (link)

Neel runs a 7-figure home services company while traveling full-time. I thought it was impossible until I saw his systems. (link)

🚁 Gear

Meticulous Espresso looks like the King Kong of home espresso machines. Live now on Indiegogo (link)

Easily the cleanest Zoom camera setup I have seen. No wires, top-notch camera, $1k all in. (link)

Find me a better coffee break