May 21, 2018
What dream or cause is big enough to compel you to do the extraordinary?
On August 1, 1999, Polly Letofsky left her Colorado home and headed west. She traveled across 4 continents, 22 countries, and over 14,000 miles – by foot – to become the first woman to walk around the world.
It was a childhood dream coupled with an awareness campaign for breast cancer, dedicated to all the women in the world. Breast cancer survivors and well-wishers came out to walk with her on every continent and in every country. Strangers welcomed her into their homes and shared meals. She had dinner conversations with poets, politicians, country singers, olive growers, pig farmers and even a female bomb maker in Australia. The world had embraced her.
But in the middle of Polly’s five-year journey, on September 11, 2001, the world suddenly shifted us all into a crossroads in world history. Today, in her interview with us, Polly tells her story. From birthing her vision to finding herself in foreign lands, inspiring people with a unified cause, she describes the highs and the lows, and the valuable lessons she learned along the way.
Polly’s GlobalWalk has been featured in over 2,000 newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations around the world including Good Housekeeping, CNN International, The CBS Early Show, NBC’s Your Total Health, and Fine Living Channel’s Radical Sabbatical. A documentary on Polly’s GlobalWalk has been aired on PBS around the country. Her book, 3mph: The Adventures of One Woman’s Walk Around the World has been awarded 6 national awards, including Best Memoir at the 2011 Writer’s Digest Best Book Awards. She is now a motivational speaker, award-winning author, and the founder of My Word Publishing.
Key Takeaways
- Follow your dream and satisfy your inner compass.
- You can’t expect other people to have the same focus and commitment to the vision you have when they haven’t visualized it like you.
- When you have passion and you want to do a good job, you are prepared to stretch and lean into it.
- Expect and accept the tough times that inevitably go with following your dream. Remind yourself that it’s just part of the journey; it’s not the beginning of a trend.
- Take calculated risks, but also take every single opportunity you can, to not be stupid.
- It’s important to have your vision, clear goals, and a short-term plan, and to visualize them every day.
- Learn how to turn negative situations into positive opportunities.
Episode Show Notes: https://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast/leadership/183-polly-letofsky-the-first-woman-to-walk-around-the-world
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