We are still working on our why and will write it down here before we depart to Nepal.
Background
The concept of forming a strong why came to my attention while listening to ultracycling podcasts with Jana Kesenheimer and Christoph Strasser. Both describe that physical preparation alone does not determine whether an effort is successfully completed; rather, persistence depends on a clearly articulated personal purpose — a “why” — established before the event. Both emphasize that riders typically face moments of psychological collapse despite remaining physically capable of continuing. Their accounts suggested that success in multi-day events is less a function of peak performance than of a pre-decided meaning attached to the effort. This perspective is rooted in the culture of self-supported racing shaped by Mike Hall, founder of the Transcontinental Race, who framed ultra-distance riding as an exercise in autonomy, self-reliance, and personal discovery rather than competition alone (see https://www.lostdot.cc/mikehall).
A 50-day traverse like the Great Himalaya Trail is psychologically closer to a small expedition than to a long distance race. In ultra-races you suffer for hours. On long expeditions you suffer for weeks with no visible finish line. After about 10–14 days the “trip excitement” disappears and the brain stops treating it as adventure and starts treating it as unresolved hardship. That’s the exact moment people mentally collapse on long treks. And here is the important shift. The problem won’t be one brutal night. The problem will be: waking up on day 23, altitude headache, wet socks, bad sleep, and realizing we still have 17 days left. That is when a normal motivation system breaks. What your brain will actually do out there. Humans evolved as energy optimizers. After repeated exposure to discomfort with no obvious payoff, the brain begins a process psychologists call motivational disengagement:
The issue won’t be a dramatically quit. Instead you’ll start thinking:
- “We could shorten the route”
- “Maybe skip the next pass”
- “The experience is basically the same”
- “We already proved we can do it”
You will feel calm and rational while thinking this. But it’s not rational. It’s the survival system negotiating you out of prolonged stress. This is why mountaineers and polar explorers also prepare a “why” — not for heroism, but to prevent slow erosion of commitment.
A Himalaya-level “why” must satisfy 3 conditions:
- Still true in misery
- Independent of enjoyment
- Connected to who we are, not what we do
So it's not about preparing motivation. The essence is preparing for identity continuity. There are some recurring types of a strong why that you can map to research:
| Practical trek “why” | Scientific basis |
|---|---|
| Transition / life phase | narrative identity psychology |
| Proof-to-self | grit & self-efficacy (Bandura) |
| Relationship | SDT relatedness need |
| Curiosity / exploration | intrinsic motivation (autonomy + competence) |
Transition why
You are marking a life change. Examples:
- leaving a career phase
- entering adulthood
- post-burnout reset
- after finishing a big project
Psychological power: the trek becomes a threshold ritual. Stopping early would feel unfinished in a deep way.
Proof-to-self why
Not proving strength — proving reliability. Example formulation:
I want to know that I can commit to something very long and still be the same person at the end.
This is extremely strong because it’s about self-trust. Humans will endure a lot to stabilize identity.
Relationship why
Surprisingly the most durable.
- for a partner
- shared hardship bond
- honoring someone
- doing it for future memory (“I want to remember we did something truly difficult together”)
Why it works: the brain treats social meaning as survival-level important.
Curiosity why (the explorer’s why)
Used by many long-distance hikers and polar travelers:
I want to see who I become when comfort disappears.
This one is powerful because quitting prevents answering a question, not achieving a goal. The brain tolerates hardship much longer for unanswered questions.
Podcasts
Courtney Dauwalter
Rich Roll Podcast (Episode #618)
https://www.richroll.com/podcast/courtney-dauwalter-618/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOtSvYSnzNk
Topic: why suffering doesn’t scare her
Why you should listen to this first : This is probably the single clearest explanation of the “pain cave” concept you’ll ever hear. She explains that during ultrarunning she expects the mental crash and treats it as the place where the experience actually begins.
What to listen for:
- she does not try to avoid bad moments
- she does not use finishing as motivation
- she uses curiosity
This maps directly to week 3 of a long trek: you stop asking “is this fun?” and start asking “what is this teaching me?”
Lael Wilcox
The Adventure Stache Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/31udcRwEnRVfeGltg4g0ST
Ultra-cycling mindset (very transferable) on the topic Tour Divide psychology
This is the best direct comparison to a 40-day trek. Riders in the Tour Divide deal with:
- sleep deprivation
- weather swings
- isolation
- daily repetition
Pay attention to one specific idea she repeats: she reframes hard days as participation in the world, not a problem to solve. That single mental model is extremely protective during long expeditions.
Colin O'Brady
Finding Mastery Podcast
https://findingmastery.com/podcasts/colin-obrady-2/
Multi-week expedition psychology
Topic: solo Antarctica crossing
This is almost a one-to-one psychological rehearsal for a Himalayan traverse.
Important moment in the episode: He describes that after ~3 weeks the difficulty was no longer physical — it became existential monotony. That is the exact phase where trekkers either mentally adapt or start negotiating route shortcuts.
Jana Kesenheimer
There are several interviews and features on Jana Kesenheimer: Key points she describes there:
- she didn’t start as a competitive cyclist
- she was drawn to self-supported racing because of independence
- she values solving problems alone on the road
- the attraction is the experience, not just finishing position
She explains that unsupported racing means:
being responsible for everything yourself
That is almost textbook self-reliance motivation — very similar to what riders historically admired in Mike Hall (cyclist). In the same spirit she enjoys:
- autonomy
- problem-solving
- adapting to changing situations
- the mental journey over the athletic one
In particular, she frames the race not as speed competition but as a process you manage over many days. That directly supports the “why” concept — persistence comes from engagement with the experience, not the result.
Sitzfleisch Podcast with Christoph Strasser: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/266-jana-kesenheimer-die-schnellste-frau-beim-tcrno11/id1515299284?i=1000735566801
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/89-jana-kesenheimer-bei-straps-und-flo-teil-1-2/id1515299284?i=1000560858691 https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/91-jana-kesenheimer-bei-straps-und-flo-teil-2-2/id1515299284?i=1000564093255
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/266-jana-kesenheimer-die-schnellste-frau-beim-tcrno11/id1515299284?i=1000735566801 https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/267-ultracycling-masterclass-und-fragestunde-mit-jana/id1515299284?i=1000736602766
In this conversation she talks about:
- emotional highs and lows
- night riding
- moments she wanted to stop
- how she prepared mentally
A very telling point she mentions: long races become a series of small decisions rather than one heroic effort — which is exactly why riders pre-decide a reason to continue. Across interviews, a consistent pattern appears: Her motivation is not achievement-centered. It is experience-centered and agency-centered.
Recurring themes:
- autonomy (I manage my own race)
- competence (solving problems daily)
- self-trust (handling uncertainty)
- exploration
In psychology terms this aligns almost perfectly with intrinsic motivation in Self-determination theory:
- autonomy
- competence
- mastery
That’s why riders like her often cope better with long races than stronger but result-focused athletes
Christoph Strasser
Sitzfleisch (Strasser’s own podcast): “Mentale Stärke im Radsport, im Training und im Leben” (S5E4)
https://sitzfleisch.podigee.io/48-s5e4-mentale-starke-im-radsport-im-training-und-im-lebenSitzfleisch: “Mentale Stärke und Flow” (#220)
https://sitzfleisch.podigee.io/246-220-mentale-starke-und-flow
Christoph Strasser proposes three theses as a basis for discussion:
- Mental strength is not about extracting more from yourself than you developed in training. Mental strength is being able, on the decisive day, to access 100% of your performance potential and not be blocked by your mind.
- Mental strength is not naively believing that everything will somehow work out. Mental strength and positive thinking are possible when you stand at the start knowing: no matter what happens, nothing will break me — I am prepared for it all.
- Whether you quit or reach the finish is a matter of the mind. How fast you reach the finish depends on your fitness and preparation.
https://www.ultracycling.show/episode/49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtcdMDeWZd8 What happens at 3am (the famous ultra breakdown)
Topic: surviving the Race Across America
This episode explains the phenomenon you mentioned from podcasts: riders preparing their “why” beforehand.
He talks about:
- hallucination
- emotional collapse at night
- pre-deciding what quitting means
For trekking, the equivalent is not 3am — it’s the third consecutive hard morning.
Andrew Huberman
Huberman Lab Podcast
https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/essentials-how-to-increase-motivation-drive https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/controlling-your-dopamine-for-motivation-focus-and-satisfaction
The science explanation (tie everything together)
I discuss the key role dopamine plays in driving cravings and motivating action. I explain how dopamine regulates the balance between pleasure and pain, and what happens when this system becomes dysregulated, leading to addiction. I discuss the role of molecules like serotonin, which help enhance the enjoyment of the present, and explain how to balance the drive for more while staying focused in the present. I also discuss the causes of procrastination and describe strategies to boost dopamine levels through behavioral approaches or supplements.
Key takeaway:
The brain can sustain effort when it attaches effort to meaningful narrative.
Without narrative, the brain treats prolonged hardship as a mistake and pushes you to stop.
After listening to this one, the other episodes suddenly make sense.
BR Podcast: Ernest Shackleton - Führungskunst in Extremsituationen
Sir Ernest Shackleton survives with his crew for 635 days in the Antarctic ice — without a ship and without any prospect of rescue. He maintains a positive attitude, keeps morale high, inspires by example, and makes wise decisions: a lesson in crisis leadership. About Shackleton’s leadership strategy, this much can already be said: when Ernest Shackleton leaves the Endurance, he sets himself a new goal.
The moment his why changed
Originally his goal was prestige: the last major uncompleted geographic feat — crossing Antarctica. But in January 1915 the ship became trapped, and by October it was destroyed. The expedition was now, objectively, a failure. This is where something fascinating happened. He immediately abandoned the achievement goal and replaced it with a single new purpose:
every man returns alive
This wasn’t rhetoric. Multiple crew diaries record that he repeated this constantly. Frank Hurley (the photographer) wrote in his diary that Shackleton behaved as if the expedition had never been about the crossing anymore — only about bringing the men home. That shift is the key to understanding his psychology.
Additional Information
Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
This is the main academic explanation behind the “why” concept in endurance sport.
What it says (simplified):
Humans persist far longer when behavior is tied to identity and values (intrinsic motivation) rather than outcomes (extrinsic motivation like medals, summits, or finishing).The key finding is that behavior integrated with the self is maintained even under discomfort. This directly explains why a pre-written personal reason survives sleep deprivation and fatigue.
Edward Deci & Richard Ryan (2000)
“The What and Why of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior”
https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_DeciRyan_PIWhatWhy.pdf
Grit & long-term perseverance
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance — Angela Duckworth https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-book/
Duckworth’s research shows persistence depends not on toughness but on commitment to a personally meaningful narrative. This is basically the “proof-to-self” type why. Important finding: Long efforts are sustained by enduring interest, not momentary motivation.