Patrick Sweeney - Fear Guru

A world-class presentation that engages the audience with short activities to help prove the point that we have another default to our decision making other than fear. We can literally re-program our brains and change our lives because of it. Patrick strives to have "a moment a minute" during his 45-55 minute keynote speech so that today's short-attention span audiences are constantly thinking, learning and engaging. They will walk away with a new look on life and many for the first time tap into their tremendous power within.

-Author of bestseller "Fear is Fuel"
- World Record Holder
- 4x Technology Entrepreneur
- 17 Patents
- 2nd in US Olympic Trials
- Only person to cycle to Everest Base Camp, Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Elbrus and across Alaska.
- Invested in 32 start-ups from Y-Combinator to Slack

Patrick Sweeney is the son of a first generation Irish immigrant who paid his way through state college where he took up rowing. With just two years of experience he decided to take on the world and try out for the USA Olympic team. Five years later, he finished second in the Olympic trials and won national and international championships in the process. After the Olympics, Patrick attended a Top 5 business school where he would earn his MBA and go on to start three technology companies worth millions of dollars. Recognized by presidents and rock stars for his contributions to charity and business, Patrick left it all behind to pursue his passion for adventure and find the adventurer within. You can read his story below.

“There are times in your life when you have to make a change. Those times of change become milestone moments that alter everything. You get a glimpse of what life could be if you reached inside and altered things to become the person you want to be.

For years, I worked hard building technology companies that would earn me millions. I was working 75-hour weeks, pushing my body to the limits and feeling completely exhausted. Mostly, I just didn’t like who I was becoming and I didn't realize I had all these hidden fears. The day I stepped out of a hospital, having fought for my life on the operating table against a rare case of Leukaemia and almost losing it, I had one of those milestone moments. I felt the wind for the first time and took the opportunity to stop and think, “What the hell am I doing with my life?” I realized fear was only a movie we play in our head -
it was a farce. Things changed from that moment and today, I chase adventure for a living. Yes, that’s right. I’m a full time adventurer and I’m on a mission to help people around the world find their adventurer within and tame the most powerful force i our life - fear. The day I started taking steps to find my adventurer again, I unlocked a passion and energy for life that had been lost for a long time.

I’ve seen too many people spend a lifetime working for the weekend and saying, "I wish I could do this or that, but I can’t". We can change the story we tell ourselves and find adventure in our life again. In fact, we need to do it for ourselves, for our kids and for the people in our lives that matter the most. Every year, I speak to countless people longing to feel an energy and zeal for life again. I don’t believe that we need to give up things like money, career or business to find the joy that evades us but so many of us spend a lifetime chasing goals that won’t make us happy. We can still have it all but we need to face our fears, embrace the adventurer within again and become the truest representation of ourselves.

I’ve been an Olympic level athlete and best selling author. I’ve grown technology companies around the world and sold them for millions. But right now; this very day, I’m living my life to its fullest, exploring the adventurer within, breaking world records and embracing every day as if it were my last. I want to help others do the same, and become better partners, parents and people.

The way I see it – it takes courage and boldness. At times finding our adventurer within may feel weird and scary…but so does sex for the first time, and look how that turned out.

I’m Patrick Sweeney…and I’m a fear guru and full time adventurer.”