Polar explorer, adventurer and author Adrian Hayes has learnt many lessons through the years, most of them from the school of life – but he always values the lessons he can learn from reading a good book. A double-Guinness World Record holder, the former British Army Gurkha officer has climbed Mount Everest and K2, crossed the North and South poles, travelled the length of Greenland by kite-ski, crossed the Arabian Desert by camel, written a book – Footsteps of Thesiger, about Wilfred Thesiger, who was famed for his explorations of Arabia – and produced two documentaries. You might be wondering when he finds the time to read. "It tends to be on an aircraft or time away, rather than daily – a symptom of our information-overloaded and technology-gone-crazy world," Hayes says. "When I read, it is 90 per cent personal-development, human body, science or adventure books. I never read fiction – my opinion being that if I'm going to read a book, I may as well learn something at the same time. Reading broadens the mind, and helps our linguistic and writing skills – but, frankly, I read to learn something about the world and to escape the stress of the world. There's something about a book that takes you into another dimension."
Adrian Hayes’s five favourite books:
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
“A [self-help book] that encapsulates a deeper meaning on all that is wrong with our crazy, information-overloaded, stress-filled working lives, and rediscovers mission and purpose.”
Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
“One of the best personal-development books from a master of the business. Robbins is a benchmark to which our industry holds itself, and I still get great value reading and listening to him.”
Living Dangerously by Ranulph Fiennes
“It was like reading my own story – army officer, SAS, serving in Dhofar, Oman, polar expeditions, desert expeditions, mountaineering expeditions – a classic.”
It Doesn't Take a Hero by General H Norman Schwarzkopf
“As good a lesson in leadership as I’ve ever read. The general was a master of assertiveness, decisiveness and true leadership.”
Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
“I have huge respect for Branson and his ability to continually step out of his comfort zone and launch new ventures, most of which succeed, but also comprising some that fail. His autobiography is an encouragement to anyone born in less-than affluent circumstances.”
atomlinson@thenational.ae
