One of the things that holds people back from pursuing their dreams is fear of failure and the lack of self-confidence that is needed to overcome that fear.

It’s something everyone faces, to some degree. The key question: how do you overcome that fear? By working on self-confidence and self-esteem. And that’s what helps in overcome fears, and pursuing dreams. After leaving school, Bear Grylls briefly considered joining the Indian Army and hiked in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim and West Bengal. Eventually, he joined the Territorial Army and, after passing selection, served as a reservist with the SAS in 21 SAS Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), for three years until 1997.

In 1996, he suffered a free-fall parachuting accident in Zambia. His canopy ripped at 16,000 ft, partially opening, causing him to fall and land on his parachute pack on his back, which partially crushed three vertebrae. According to his surgeon, he came “within a whisker” of being paralyzed for life and at first it was questionable whether he would ever walk again. He spent the next 12 months in and out of military rehabilitation.

In a showcase of what pure determination, self-confidence and hard work can do, on 16 May 1998 he achieved his childhood dream-climbed to the summit of Mount Everest, 18 months after breaking three vertebrae in a parachuting accident. At 23, he was at the time among the youngest people to have achieved this feat. He is known to the world as a television presenter for the Discovery Channel, with his own show called Man Vs. Wild.