You’re Not Broken: My System To Win In Every Situation

What do you tie your values to?

What gives you your sense of worth?

For Cory Richards, it was his constant proximity to death that gave him his sense of notoriety and worth.

25 years as one of National Geographic's most acclaimed photographers, climbing the world's highest peaks, documenting everything from conflict zones to disappearing cultures…

Only to then step away from it all.

Now, he’s a best-selling author and speaker - having reframed his worth. But what drove him to make that change?

And what lessons can you learn from such a daredevil career?

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YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM IS SENDING YOU SIGNALS

Cory spent a year and a half training for a new route on Everest.

Even though he'd visualise success, his brain kept showing him dying in avalanches, getting hit by rockfall, falling down the face.

Most people ignore these signals until their body forces them to stop.

→ Notice when anticipating something generates dread instead of excitement (your body knows the difference)

→ Track your sleep quality and recovery before big commitments (chronic stress shows up here first)

→ Ask yourself: is my value tied to how much I'm willing to risk?

MENTAL HEALTH ISN'T SOMETHING TO CURE?

Cory was diagnosed bipolar at 14. For years, he carried it as proof something was fundamentally broken.

Then he reframed it:

• He stopped viewing struggles as things to fix and started seeing them as things to manage
  

• Recognised that what makes you difficult also makes you exceptional
  

• And focused on minimising negative impacts, rather than erasing the trait entirely

ALL LOVE IS SELF-SOURCED

Cory's take on relationships is this:

You're not actually receiving love from another person.

You're generating it yourself in a container where you feel safe enough to express it.

You don't need the relationship to generate love. You need to learn how to create it independently.

→ Practice generating gratitude and love without external triggers (sit quietly, recall the feeling, amplify it)

→ Stop believing another person "makes you" feel anything (all emotions are self-sourced)

→ Walk through the world in love with it, not waiting for someone to unlock that feeling

Cory survived an avalanche in Pakistan, made the cover of National Geographic, and climbed mountains most people will never see.

But his life began for real when he stopped tying his worth to how close he could get to dying, and started building a life around what actually matters.

The extremes make good stories, sure. But the quiet goals make good lives.

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