Endurance Part 1

                In reading Part 1 of Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, I understand why it was chosen for a Motivation class. It is the story of Ernest Shackleton and his goal to cross Antarctica by foot. There have been men who have tried to accomplish this goal before Shackleton, but have failed. Shackleton is a leader and a survivor, and was very motivated to cross Antarctica by foot. Some would say that he was in it for financial rewards and social positions. Shackleton’s life dream, after all, “was to achieve a status of economic well- being that would last a lifetime.”

                Not only is Shackleton motivated to achieve his goal, but his crew is also very motivated. Many men have come out to be a part of Shackleton’s crew and only twenty eight were selected. Once on the ship, they realized they would have to face hardships, such as trying to get the Endurance freed when it got stuck in the ice. They were motivated in doing so because they knew the ocean was a big place and the chance of anyone coming to rescue them was unlikely. It was a do or die situation; they either tried breaking free or slowly froze to death.

                Shackleton and his crew kept their spirits up though through the hard times by playing pranks on one another. Some nights they dressed up and had karaoke, other times they had fake court trials where the judge was easily convinced by alcohol. They also had hockey games and every Saturday night they did a toast, to lift their spirits up and unwind from being stuck in the Arctic.

                At first, I didn’t really understand what was going on in the book, because I don’t know that many boating terms. However, I tried to relate it to my brother who is a commercial fisherman, because I took a tour of his boat and know his living arrangements are tight on the ship and he tells us he started reading to keep himself entertained while on the boat.