There are no clear reports as to what caused her death, only that she felt dizzy one day into the trek and then passed away. I heard something about dehydration  too. We can’t speculate and until there is further news, there is no point.

The Nine MSN source says that Sam was on the trek with her father aged 62, her brother and a family friend. They were trekking Kokoda to honour her grandfather who had fought for Australia during the one of the toughest WWII battles.

Trekking Kokoda

The preparation involved before taking on the trek is arduous and then actually being there is even more so. I was completely out of my comfort zone. It was my greatest personal challenge to choose to do this. I’ve said it before that mud and me just don’t mix.

The article I read said that Sam trained every morning for 12 months. My hat goes off to her. I wasn’t that diligent. My training only started 4 months before the due time. It was a sudden decision that I chose to go.  However, I did train with my personal trainer and he was the one who arranged the trek for a group of 12 of us. We also had two nurses and our guide David, a fireman in his day job, who had already trekked Kokoda 7 times before leading our group. There was so much experience in medical and first aid which I was tres happy about. Even with all the training, nothing can prepare you for the actual track itself.

Besides the fact that I had to be medivac’d out because I slipped and broke my wrist (and needed surgery) 6 days in, missing the last day and a half of the trek, another member of our group had rolled his ankle on the first day into the trek and managed to walk 4 days on it before he was also medivac’d out, our group were quite fit and made the trek in record times (according to our guide).

Hype about Trekking Kokoda

The thing that upsets me the most is when there is so much hype about trekking Kokoda. Seriously folks. Get a grip on L-I-F-E!

We live in a fast paced world. Crossing the street can cause death. Driving a car can cause death. Stress can cause death. We are born, and one day, we die. Where and when that happens is not up to us. There are incidences where people die in their sleep even and sometimes, not just elderly people. Like Kurek Ashley says, If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Trekking Kokoda is perhaps perceived to be more dangerous than crossing the street in your local shopping centre. I slipped and fell many times while on the trek. I climbed the rugged edge of the mountain with only enough room for one at a time. Was I scared? Yes, in fact. Every time I lost concentration and thought about my kids and WHAT WAS I THINKING TREKKING KOKODA, I became weak and filled with emotion. Couldn’t this happen in any circumstance in our everyday lives? While we’re driving our cars maybe?

Life is a Challenge

The point I want to get across is that if we don’t challenge ourselves in life, when it’s time to go, we could be filled with regret at not having taken risks or enough risks while we had the chance to. Hearing people say that no-one should trek Kokoda and leave the local villagers to be invaded by mining company’s in my humble opinion is BS. It’s way too beautiful a landscape and also very historic to be dredged up by mines. When I am asked about the trek, I encourage everyone to do it. If not Kokoda, then another challenge which they will be proud of achieving.

Rest in Peace Samantha Killen and may your children grow to be proud of their mum who chose to take a risk and challenge herself to go and trek Kokoda.

God Bless

 Around the middle of last year, you may remember I wrote about Kurek Ashley’s book, How Would Love Respond which went on to be a best seller.

I’m reading it now for the second time and getting so much more out of it.

Kurek Ashley is a Peak Performance Coach. He coached our Aussie Girls Beach Volleyball team to win Gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. 

He has mentored thousands of people through his program Life Success Club which comes in the form of a CD per month. In this program, he tells how to change dis-empowering habits to empowering habits making our life experiences richer.

Kurek Ashley Challenge

The rules for the Kurek Ashley Challenge are as follows and anyone can join in:

1. Publish a blog post about Kurek Ashley
2. Attempt to rank your blog post as high as possible on Google for the keyword: Kurek Ashley
3. Use Twitter to assist in building a trend for the tag #KurekAshley. Tweet a message with your blog URL and include the tag #KurekAshley
4. Encourage others to Re-Tweet this tag on Twitter
5. Include a link in your blog post linking to Kurek’s Twitter account as such: Kurek Ashley

So go ahead and join in. Whitehat techniques only please. There are 5 days left so I dare you to beat me to the top!  Will I see you on the front page of google?

I met Kurek a little over 18 months ago and listened as he told his story of how he went from acting the bad guy in Hollywood movies to becoming one of the most sort after speakers around the globe in his role as a Peak Performance Life Success Coach.

My good friend and mentor Sean Rasmussen met with Kurek for an interview where they discuss some very valid points in how to manage your thoughts and change some habits that could be holding you back from achieving your goals.

Here is part 1 of that interview.

Peak Perfomance Motivational Legend

Kurek also holds the record for the longest fire walk which took 4 minutes walking over 81 metres of hot coals! This is not to impress you, but to impress upon you that anything is achievable and I am taking Kurek’s words with me over the next 10 days while I trek the Kokoda Trail. Mindset is what will get me through each day. It’s about Personal Development and where I want to go with my life.

Where do you want to go with your life? Kurek Ashley’s book may be just the thing that helps you decide.

Today I listened to Sarah Wilson from Adventure Coaching interview Kurek live and his story is amazing. During his acting career, while working in Asia on the movie Delta Force 2 with Chuck Norris, there was a helicopter crash in which five of his friends were killed. His best friend died in his arms on the way to hospital. Just prior to the tragic loss of lives, Kurek himself had been in that same helicopter as 20 takes were rehearsed and filmed. You can maybe only begin to imagine how that made him feel.

After that incident, Kurek turned to using recreational drugs, drinking alcohol, violence and multiple attempts at suicide. Every day he held a .38 claibre revolver to his head in order to end the pain he was feeling until three years later, he made a decision. A decision where he chose to put an end to the destructive lifestyle he was living. He turned his life around by quitting the drugs and alcohol and reading self-help books, using affirmations with purpose and not long after this, he was running seminars in the US.


Life Success Coach

Today, Kurek is a Peak Performance Coach and holds the world record for the longest fire walk ever being 81 metres in length. In his interview, Kurek said that he is very efficient and that he fits everything in. The powerful tool with which he uses to manage this is his brain.

If your brain picks up that you are happy with your life, you will achieve more results. Feeling grateful for what you already have in your life is equal to love, and feeling the love attracts more love to you.

He also says,

Once you have a thought, put it into action immediately as once you put things on the back-burner, it loses it’s urgency. You must also be willing to DO what the average person is not willing to do and even though today could be the worst day in your life, for someone else, it may be the best day in their lives, if they happen to be having the same kind of day as you!

Kurek uses affirmations like

I am Fortunate

I am Successful

I am Grateful

These are very simple to remember and you could use these easily throughout your day. Say them out loud like you mean it and notice the difference it makes to the way you feel.

Kurek also coached the Australian Womens Volleyball team to win Gold in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. At one seminar he ran, Natalie Cook was sitting in his audience and Kurek suggested that nobody would buy a book from the athlete that won the bronze medal. So after the seminar was over, Natalie walked up to him and said…

I stood on the third box… and I know you have the tools to help me win Gold.

So with that, Kurek coached Natalie Cook and Kerri Ann Pottharst for two and a half years to go on and win that Gold Medal here in Australia on their home soil.

Moral of the Story

With this little knowledge I have given you here, my wish is for you to see that anything is possible. You do not need to go through a state of depression like Kurek did and lead a self destructive lifestyle in order to find the answers within which will give your life’s purpose. Rather, we each have our own little demons and voices in our heads which pop up from time to time and if we listen to these voices and let them take control of our lives, we end up down in the dumps.

Brainstorming to find the things you are passionate about and and writing down a list of goals you want to achieve, broken down into baby steps will give you the desire to do the things that need to be done and once you can work efficiently, you will achieve the results you want to achieve.

Tell me how you deal with the voices in your head. Do you listen to them? Do you let them take over? If not, what steps have you taken to take control of your life? Feel free to share.

Dedicated to Success