Why'd You Think You Could Do That?

This short, punchy episode isn’t a checklist—it’s a rally. Drawing on John Williamson’s story of hitting rock bottom twice and rebuilding with discipline and quiet courage, Sam lays out the mindset that makes weekends count. With echoes from history—Mawson on the ice, Violet Jessop returning to sea, Farnsworth sketching TV from ploughed rows, Hubert Wilkins under polar ice, Jessica Watson one knot at a time—this is the lift you take into Saturday to move your real work forward.

What You’ll Hear

  • Courage as a calendar entry, not a mood
  • Why structure beats story when things feel messy
  • Making fear smaller than the next step
  • The power of subtraction—closing the wrong things to let the right things live
  • Borrowing belief: “You can take more load than that”

Anchor Quotes

  • “Even though I’m afraid of failing again, I will keep turning up anyway.”
  • “Courage is a calendar entry, not a mood.”
  • “Make fear smaller than the next step.”
  • “Subtraction can be growth.”
  • “You can take more load than that.”

Timeline

  • 00:00 – Why this isn’t tactics—it’s a reminder you carry into the weekend
  • 01:00 – What John really taught us: breath, structure, consistency
  • 03:00 – History’s quiet cousins: Mawson, Jessop, Farnsworth, Wilkins, Watson
  • 04:40 – What this weekend is for: momentum over perfection
  • 05:30 – The lines to carry with you into Monday

Why It Matters

Weekends are where your future sneaks in. When the inbox goes quiet, your real work taps you on the shoulder. This episode helps you choose courage over comfort and progress over perfection—so by Sunday night you feel earned pride, not regret.

Light Reflection Prompts

  • Where can I choose structure over story this weekend?
  • What’s one fear I can make smaller than the next step?
  • What can I subtract so the important thing can breathe?

Listen

Explore the Guest Hub

Show notes, quotes and links: https://sampenny.com/john-williamson

Credits

Host: Sam Penny
 Series: Why’d You Think You Could Do That?

Creators and Guests

Host
Sam Penny
Sam Penny is an adventurer, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker who lives by the mantra “Say YES! to the Impossible.” From swimming the English Channel in winter to building and selling multi-million-dollar companies, Sam thrives on pushing boundaries in both business and life. As host of Why’d You Think You Could Do That?, he sits down with ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, uncovering the mindset, resilience, and bold decisions that made it possible — and showing listeners why their own impossible is closer than they think.

What is Why'd You Think You Could Do That??

They’ve swum oceans, scaled mountains, launched empires, and shattered expectations. But before they did any of it, someone, maybe even themselves, thought: “You can’t do that.”

Hosted by Sam Penny, Why’d You Think You Could Do That? dives into the minds of people who said “screw it” and went for it anyway. From adventurers and elite athletes to wildcard entrepreneurs and creative renegades, each episode unpacks the one question they all have in common:

“Why'd you think you could do that?”

If you’re wired for more, haunted by big ideas, or just sick of playing it safe, this is your show.

Sam Penny (00:00)
I'm Sam Penny and this is why do you think you could do that? Yesterday you heard how John Williamson hit rock bottom twice and didn't flinch. He breathed, he structured, he showed up. Not because he felt brave, but because he decided to be. Today isn't about tactics. It's a reminder, a rally, something to carry with you into Saturday morning when the doona feels heavy and the world is quite enough to hear your own excuses. So what

did John really show us? When the banking app went red and payroll loomed, John didn't get a lightning strike of courage. He got a sentence. Even though I'm afraid of failing again, I'll keep turning up anyway. That's not a slogan. That's a way of moving through the world. He builds rhythm that could carry weight. A weekly look at the numbers, breathe before reaction, early mornings that steadied the mind. He closed things that weren't working so the parts that mattered could live.

And when fear felt bigger than him, he walked toward a harder environment. A hundred kilometer run, the bright shock of a boxing ring to prove to himself that load can be carried. And people think that courage is a roar. Most days it's actually a whisper. Not today. I'm still here. And if you need extra spine for the weekend, borrow it. History is full of people who kept going.

when every sensible nerve said stop. There's Douglas Mawson hauling himself across Antarctic ice after losing his team and most of his supplies. There was no audience, no medals waiting at the finish, just step, breathe, repeat. conquered Antarctica. He outlasted despair. And then there's Violet Jessup, a stewardess who survived the Olympic collision, the Titanic sinking and the Britannic sinking.

three times down, three times up. She kept going back to sea because work gave her meaning. Purpose can make even cold water feel survivable. And then there's Philo Farnsworth. He was a farm kid looking across plowed lines and seeing how an image could be scanned for television. An idea born in the everyday. Big futures often arrive wearing ordinary clothes.

And let's not forget about Sir Hubert Wilkins, the South Australian adventurer, so curious, he steered a submarine under polar ice just to see what was possible. No bravado, curiosity sharpened to a point. And let's not forget Jessica Watson, a teenager alone in the ocean, making momentum out of fear one knot at a time. Not perfect, but persistent. Different people,

Different eras, same shape, not drama, but direction, not noise, but the next inch forward. And weekends really are where your future sneaks in. It's when the inbox falls quiet, your real work taps you on the shoulder. you keep telling people you're going to do lives here, in the hours that don't have anyone else's name on them.

let this be your pattern for the next two days. Wake and take a breath before the world arrives. Think of John standing on the tarmac with numbers that didn't make sense, choosing calm over panic, structure over story. Think of Mawson and the simplest rhythm ever invented. Step, breathe, repeat. Think of Violet drying off and going back to the ship because

Meaning matters more than comfort. And then give yourself the smallest taste of momentum. Not a to-do list, but a feeling. That feeling you get when you keep a promise to yourself and no one else even knows. The quiet pride that sits straighter in a chair and looks Monday in the eye. And if you're carrying something heavy right now, I'm not asking you to lift the whole weight by Sunday night.

I'm asking you to believe what John's mentor told him. You can take more load than that. Maybe the load is uncertainty. Maybe it's the risk of looking foolish. Maybe it's the boredom that comes with doing the same right thing again and again. You can carry more than you think, not because you're special, but because humans are built for it. Your ancestors proved it every day just by getting you here.

If you're scared, fear is information. It's not destiny. John didn't wait for it to vanish. He stepped into spaces that made fear honest, a long run, a hard ring, and learned the shape of it. You don't need to run 100 kilometers this weekend, but you can choose something that reminds your nervous system.

who's in charge, a hill that makes the lungs burn, a conversation that clears the air, an hour alone with your craft where the only rule is that your phone stays away and your attention stays put. Not because the output will be perfect, but because the person who sits down and tries is different to the one who doesn't.

So what you'll take with you by Sunday evening, I want you to feel one thing, earned pride. The kind John felt paying out the last of the debt on a beach. Simple, steady, unglamorous pride. Not the sugar rush of a like or a comment. The quiet knowledge that you moved the story forward. Half a page in the notebook, a clear set of numbers, a

First call made, a jog done, something you can point to and say, that moved me. Because here's the secret, your big life won't arrive with trumpets. It will arrive disguised as weekends like this, ordinary hours arranged with care, repeated enough times to look like luck. So as you step into Saturday, carry a few lines with you.

Courage is a calendar entry, not a mood. Structure is a kindness to your future self. Make fear smaller than the next step. Subtraction can be growth. And lastly, you can take more load than that. John proved it, Mawson proved it, Violet proved it, Jessica proved it. Now it's your turn not to prove it to me or to the internet, but to yourself.

I'm Sam Penny and this is Why Do Think You Could Do That? Have a great weekend. Go do the thing. Even a tiny slice of it. And when the voice in your head asks, why do think you could do that? Smile. Because now you know. And remember, keep saying yes to the impossible.