5 Pieces of advice, with Ian Walsh

From Stab issue 72: Five pieces of advice with Ian Walsh, 30, Maui.

Story by Derek Rielly

What is it about advice? It’s thrown at us from every angle and yet it’s rare that we actually take a piece in and follow its wisdom. Still, every now and again, and usually years apart, a piece of counsel sticks with us. Hawaiian Ian Walsh, yeah the guy who paddles mountains, has kept five pieces close to his heart.

1. Be smart, Enjoy. Help Others. This is a simple piece of advice my Dad gave me at a very young age and I still take a lot out of this sentence. Each piece has it’s own meaning and can be taken whatever way you choose. But what I took out of this was “Be Smart” meant applying myself as much as possible to every single situation and learning something from every experience, good or bad. “Enjoy” meant have fun with your life and take advantage of all the opportunities that can create a smile. “Help Others” is self-explanatory but what I take out of this is to stop thinking about yourself now and again to think of how to better the people close to you.

2. Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful. I had this told to me by my financial adviser when I was 20 years old. It carried a lot of weight then, and still does, with any business venture I am thinking of dropping into. It has a stern meaning with what the state of the economy is and makes a lot of sense if you pay attention to the people that ride out the bad times and come out ahead when the economy catches up. It can be used for every day life as well as big surf.

3. The only easy day was yesterday. This was told to me after I hurt my knee really bad and realised I had to hike 36 miles (57 clicks) through horrible terrain with 65 pounds (30 kilos) on my back, by Pete Naschak a very elite Navy SEAL that I was doing a mountaineering expedition with in Patagonia (the region not the brand). It is a saying that is very common in their teams and everyone has they’re own take on what this means to them but I find myself returning to that quote for a lot of situations in and out of the water. What Pete and some of the SEALs take out of this for their battles is that it stands for preparation and attitude. Know that you have to be ready for tomorrow because it will be hard, it will be important and it will take everything you have. So get your head straight, accept it, and get ready to own it. Never plan on taking it easy because that is when you get your ass handed to you. And those same thoughts can transcend into things in our lives away from war. It helps with attitude because if you never expect it to let up and get easy then you are never disappointed, you just do so.

4. You don’t need to have every doughnut that is offered to you.This was my Dad’s way of going over the birds and the bees conversation with me as a little boy. He said, “You are going to be offered a lot of doughnuts (girls) and you don’t need to have everyone that comes your way.” For a long time, I slightly understood this but completely disregarded it and had a very fun few years, but now the meaning has really resonated for me. I am a big advocate in quality over quantity as well as finding the importance in a solid girl rather than 15 that only care about their hair.

5. Be yourself. Told to me by my Mom and is very self-explanatory. Take it as you will.