So I nearly chopped my finger off. This is what happened…

Don't worry, I can still type.

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It hurts when we damage ourselves accidentally. Sometimes, emotionally, too, because we feel like a fool.

There is always a solution to each problem, and when I looked at the bones in my little finger, with blood flooding out like a burst water balloon, I knew what to do.

So, I almost chopped my finger off. It was ironic because I had turned the light on to make it easier to see what I was doing.

This time of year is tough because I have to chop enough wood to keep the place warm.

There's also hardly any light, so solar power is scarce. It's a mixture of trying to anticipate how much energy you have and also trying to see in the dark to survive.

I've got a lovely set-up next to my rocket stove, where I have a taller log to sit down and chop wood without hurting my back.

It's much more comfortable than the previous squat stump.

You've always got to take care of your back in the wilderness. It's the one muscle group which is continually taking a beating day in and day out.

So there I was, reaching into my wood basket when I pulled out one particular piece.

This offcut from an ash tree branch held a bizarre angle. It had personality, I'll give it that.

I've often dealt with eccentric wood and turned it into excellent heat.

So I took my axe and came at a strange angle to match my wooden counterparts' flamboyant style. Suddenly, the wooden round jumped clean off the chopping block like a greyhound running after a rabbit.

The axe came down on my little finger and cut straight to the bone. The pain was electric and shot through my hand, making my other fingers catch fire with a slicing ache.

Fortunately, I have a fantastic amount of experience with challenging circumstances like this, which I share with you in some of my books on resilience.

I peered at my finger, and my heart dropped like a sack of bricks with the realisation of what had happened.

I could see right to the bone.

Fatty tissue, ligaments and, of course, a hell of a lot of blood poured out like a water pipe bursting on a summer's day.

In the wilderness, it's about a 20-minute trek from my car. So, a 20-minute trek then driving to A & E for help wasn't an option.

I couldn't just do nothing because I'd bleed till I passed out.

Before continuing, I recommend that everyone take a first-aid course. Along with that, make sure you have a first-aid kit nearby at all times.

Most people can do a first-aid course in a day or two, and they are easy to learn.

Do a quick search for a first-aid course near you, and also look up the essentials for a first-aid kit.

So there I was, a crazy amount of pain subsumed my whole hand just like it had caught fire, blood everywhere, and naturally, my nervous system went into overdrive.

Luckily, I’ve had a lot of experience with similar challenges. Funnily enough, I was chopping a mammoth chunk of beechwood almost this time last year. The mountain's incline and gravity against four trees growing from one stump twisted this knot like the barrel of a tidal wave.

Smashing it with my biggest axe got me somewhere. However, I had to jam the axe into the centre of the knot, then lift the axe and Goliath wood-chunk before smashing it against the O-G chopping block.

Then, on one particular smash, I got my whole body into the swing, and a shard of sharp wood shot me in the mouth like a take-down bow.

The impact, coupled with the knife-like shard, ripped my lip in two. Every time I moved it, the two sides of my upper lip wriggled independently from each other, like two blood-soaked caterpillars fighting over a leaf.

That situation taught me much about caring for wounds and field surgery. It's now in my scar hall of fame and a potent reminder of the most essential skill that got me through.

Back to my finger.

When your body is in shock, your mind plays out a cinematic experience of potential consequences, then goes blank leaving their hideous emotional flavour, and coupled with the fact that a part of you is physically damaged, it's easy to freak out.

Instead of freaking out, I acted from a place of calmness and resilience filled with laser-like precision.

After decades of training, dedication and consistent daily practice of strengthening my will and awareness and honing my emotional energy, my poor pinky's distress didn't destroy my inner peace.

With blood squirting out of my hand, I had one mantra, and it was a single word.

Okay.

Apparently, "OK" is short for "zero kills" and was used at war times between pilots, so I hear.

When you train your resilience, it becomes a reflex.

That reflex looked like a stable mind while my body was in emergency mode. Calmly, I acted fast, used my first-aid training with my kit, and compressed the two parts of my pinky with a low-adherent pad directly to the wound, then wrapped it all up in a self-adherent bandage stemming the blood flow and saving my finger.

Fortunately, through this fast action and decision-making, I saved my finger and stopped any infection, which is a risk out here, and thankfully, I can still type.

Now, there are parts of my pinky I can't feel yet. The nerves may grow back, but I'm not worried about that. I have another, and frankly, this story wasn't an event that ruined my day.

Resilience is a skill that we as a species have traded in for too much comfort. The wilderness has many lessons, and one of those lessons is that you never expect where danger will come from.

Safety from death is a complete illusion in reality. Death is an ever-present potential outcome, but that doesn't mean you should run around screaming or hide in bed for the rest of your life. It's an opportunity to enjoy life fully and to strengthen your resilience.

Resilience is the ability to endure difficult circumstances and progress towards your goals regardless. Everyone has it. Sometimes, it just needs to be jolted awake.

Throughout my existence, life has plunged me into chaos innumerable times. Each tour in the abyss has given me more rock-solid mental stability and relentless resilience.

All sorts of emotions can come up. Fear, anger, regret and the body may be screaming in pain. The phenomena of experience don't phase the true nature of the mind. It's like the ripples on a pond. The pond remains a pond regardless of what the ripples are doing. Resilience is a focus shift from the waves to the whole sea.

Resilience is the one skill that's made it possible to get through everything in life. It's more than just a mindset. It's a way of being and returning to who you are.

Who and what we are is unfazed by the chaos of our emotions, thoughts, experiences, and even physical pain and death.

There is a relentless, unstoppable force within each of us.

Your essential awareness is the gateway to opening up your life to the excellence you desire, and utilising that force regardless of what you face is resilience.

Resilience is the foundation for adaptive confidence. Adaptive confidence will get you through anything and means trusting your abilities to face difficult situations and achieve your goals regardless.

Resilience is one of the most critical skills I recommend to everyone. It's right up there with resourcefulness and basic survival.

There are endless free and simple ways to train your resilience. I unpack many of those different ways in my book 'Resilience.'

One thing I can tell you now, which you can do to train your resilience, that's very simple, free and has health benefits, is take cold showers.

I won't waffle on about how cold showers reverse your age or anything like that. If you want to understand the health benefits of cold showers, you can do your own research. From what I hear, it's good for the nerves, cardiovascular system and the brain.

The main reason for cold showering is that it makes you more resilient. The ancients used to meditate under ice-cold waterfalls.

The thing is...

If you can have a cold shower and relax, even if it's just for 30 seconds, you start to build your resilience to uncomfortable sensations.

The most important thing about resilience is you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable; otherwise, you'll always get pushed around by everyone all the time.

Being uncomfortable is just part of life. The quicker you can bypass uncomfortable states as ruining your day, the faster you reach an unstoppable level of momentum.

We all get old, and eventually, the body collapses. Aside from that, you will face rejection, and people will dislike you. If you're not resilient, you will cave at the first hurdle.

Instead of being consumed by the variety of life's challenges, be resilient and adapt because you have it within you, just as I have.

We have power within us. We don't have to surrender all our responsibility to anyone else to feel safe or have a ludicrously comfortable life. Living like that weakens the spirit.

The more you face adversity and challenge, the more significant your abilities to create a life worth living emerge.

So try it out.

Have that cold shower and see how powerful you can be.

Because you can be free, unchained and untamed.