Ken Bradshaw might be used to big wave surfing, but the skills required to survive in a surfing situation are not the same skills needed to survive in the Australian desert. His mentor/guide teaches Ken Bradshaw some basics about what he needs to do to survive, and one of the most important features for survival is attitude. As the mentor states, people sometimes give up, feeling frustrated or fearful that they do not have the tools or resources they need to survive. Ken Bradshaw starts out slightly cavalier about his experience, but the first full day is when he needs to walk his ten miles. The psychologist notes that many people like Ken make the error of over-reliance on their technological resources. Instead of using the simplest tool (boiling water) first, he relies on the chemical tablets. Yet he has only a limited number of chemical tablets. Ken should be saving those for when he absolutely cannot build a fire to boil the water. The number one cause of death in the desert is dehydration. The laboratory test showed how difficult it can be for the body to endure extreme heat for any length of time. During the second laboratory test, he pushes his body during the limit and experiences heat exhaustion.

From the Aboriginal guides, Ken also learns key survival skills but ones he often fails to incorporate into his course. One of the things he learns is how to find water. The methods of finding water include paying attention to the birds. Wherever birds are flying and congregating, there is likely to be water....

Also he learns how to sweat the leaves of the eucalyptus tree by sealing them in a plastic bag. Yet at no time on the route does he rely on what he learns. This is particularly true with regards to food: Ken does not forage. As the psychologist indicates, Ken’s main source of reluctance is a lack of familiarity. He is afraid of eating witchitty grubs because they seem strange to him, and he is also fearful of foraging for the desert plants the Aboriginals told him about. His already overbearing anxiety causes his appetite to diminish, even if his body needs nutrients. As a result, Ken is overly exhausted by the time he reaches the finish. Ken’s lack of familiarity with the desert environment compounds the anxiety he has about simply making it through each day with enough water and without getting lost.
Anxiety and lack of familiarity can lead to costly errors, errors that can spiral out of control. Luckily for Ken, his only wrong turn was quickly corrected. He also managed to make it through with enough water. Ken also transferred his psychological prowess in surviving the waves to being determined to never give up. The psychologist mentions the problem many people have with discouragement, noting that setting smaller goals reduces the potential for discouragement over the long haul. Undoubtedly Ken has endured situations in the water where most people would have been discouraged. His skills and success as a surfer did transfer over to his psychological determination in the desert.

Ken is…