ROdown Blog

Achieving my goals - Part 1 Moventure of a Gentleman

Steve Crombie, Mo Bro extraordinaire, has taken to the outback to learn the ways of a country gentleman, and to raise funds for Movember. ReachOut.com interviews him about his experiences.

What was the purpose of your Moventure?

The purpose was to create a fun and engaging way to encourage people to test the limitations of their own potential by stepping out of their comfort zone and into a whole new world. The Moventure is about learning to survive, transform and transcend barriers that stand in the way of your dreams. Being part of a Moventure encourages people to become personal activists – their own best cause – and be positively reinforced for doing so.

What did it take to achieve your goal, and what kept you on task?

It took a great deal of self-belief. I’d never dealt with Movember before this project. In order to connect with them about the Moventure idea I flew to Melbourne for a meeting with the global COO Jason Hincks. Thankfully he engaged with the idea and the process began. Within two weeks we pooled together an extraordinary team of about 20 passionate, dedicated and likeminded people to help complete the task. One person can make a difference but in order to bring about change you need to galvanise a community – and that is what we are aiming to do. This type of project would usually take 6 months to prepare. We did it in a few weeks. There is a lot to learn – and, given the opportunity we will do it again next year, bigger and better.

What kept me on task was making a promise and hoping we would make an impact on men’s mental health. I’m a stickler for sticking to my promises. In actually fact this project removed the next five years of holidays from my bank account. But it was worth it. There is nothing more rewarding that turning a dream into reality.

What advice would you give to other young people about achieving their goals?

The last 15 years of adventures have helped me recognise that it’s very important to understand your capabilities, assert your beliefs, stop chasing your tail, and instead — follow your heart. Survival is not only about food and shelter. It's about surviving at home, at school or in a relationship. It’s about identity, and belonging and staying true to yourself. Removing your blinkers, pursuing what you believe in and helping others to learn from your mistakes.

You don’t need to do something as drastic as the Moventure of a Gentleman. Enduring difficult circumstances, whether physical ones like a marathon or emotional ones like depression, will only make you stronger.

Life should be a daring Moventure, after all!