Paul Chatterton — Challenge by Choice
The Strathcona Circle is made up of six core values: More with less, Environmental Stewardship, Challenge by Choice, Living on the Edge, Generosity of Spirit and Happy Warrior. Today, we celebrate an individual with the willingness to accept challenge(s) by choice…
Words by Lynsey Burke
The best part about being a writer is picking people’s brains — tapping into the life experiences and wisdom of the storyteller … it’s like a free pass to go beyond small talk and delve into what lights a person’s soul on fire.
In any interaction I have witnessed, Paul Chatterton leads with respect and follows with a sense of calm and an impermeable demeanour.
As the Managing Director at the Lodge, Paul is as humble as they come.
While accepting a challenge and pushing past a boundary may look different to different individuals, Paul acknowledges that one’s inner voice is something to pay close attention to, but not be a barrier. “I think that it’s important to not be limited by it [your inner critic]. If you do, then you won’t progress.”
As a person who loves the outdoors, his ability to instill confidence in those who are lucky enough to be guided under his capable wings is infectious.
Showing and sharing in the love of personal pursuits
The outdoorsman and sailing enthusiast reminds us not to put pressure on ourselves to be perfect — because failure isn’t a defining moment but rather a way to grow.
The family man has found a way to nurture his love of outdoor adventure while simultaneously paying it forward. With a career that started out in guiding, the seasonal nature of outdoor tourism caused Paul to take a beat and shift gears.
With unwavering stoicism, Paul jokes that in his career of facilitating “People are learning the things that I want to be doing,” adding that “I got into this line of work because I loved the outdoor lifestyle, but now I administer that so I can be home with my family.”
Paul grew up in Vancouver and his wife Cheryl grew up in Calgary. The two landed in Campbell River and have created a community here that is a blend of blood relatives and Lodge family. With grandparents who live two doors down and several Lodgie homestay children who coexisted in their home while their two children were young, Paul jokes that “I’m a part of the furniture [in the Lodge community],” a sobering quip and one that has us seeing his value ranking slightly higher than a coffee table!
Paul and Cheryl lived at the Lodge for a short stint when his daughter Anna was only two months old. Anna, who is now 20, and their son Gavin, now 17 and a high level cross country skier, have both grown up in a home with parents who created a supportive environment where they encouraged their offspring to take the risk and push their limits. Anna, who has now flown the coop to university and Gavin, who could be seen riding his unicycle to school daily have been infused with the same ‘hard work pays off’ mentality.
A desire to improve to improve those around us
A real adventure involves an element of risk, a philosophy that has helped Paul to push his physical limits, and also one that he and his wife Cheryl have imparted onto their two children.
Paul tells me about a mountain bike crash he had in February. “It was wet and slippery,” he says of the conditions. Upon coming up to a rock roll, he stopped. “I thought, ‘no, I won’t do it.’” Moments later, a friend came cruising on by and went right over. With an instinct to step back, he pushed a boundary and decided to try it. He crashed, cracked a rib and had to take six weeks off.
The takeaway: A real adventure involves an element of risk … “but maybe not doing it in February when it’s wet and slippery,” he says in the lightness of hindsight.
This last year has been one of the most difficult terrain and high level riding Paul has attempted. In May he completed a 120-kilometre gravel race with his son. There was a pause in the race when he stopped at 110-kilometres, deciding that he was at his limit.
Calculated risk is a large part of one of Paul’s favourite sport, a skill that he continues to hone today
“I was physically done,” he said. “I fully pushed myself on that one. I was just beat. After stopping for a snack I decided to get back on and finish the ride.”
Additionally, reflecting on recent rides in Whistler, Paul admits that he’s still growing and pushing himself. When asked what drives him to push through, his answer is relatable.
“I think what I get out of those experiences is kind of a mental clarity. I get time to work things or totally put them out of mind. You get into that flow state and everything else is peripheral,” he says. “The physical exertion, tired muscles and getting out into nature to feel things is really visceral.”
Finding a balance and pushing and pulling back as necessary
The Chatterton family are avid cross country skiiers and are dedicated to the sport.
Like many athletes, ensuring that the sport they have honed remains fun is a key. On the contrary, spending time with his wife and family reminds him to slow it down and ride together for fun, or to stop for a swim and go exploring.
To not put pressure on ourselves to be perfect because failure isn’t a defining moment — a thought that was easily within reach for the riding enthusiast — reminds us to have fun with it.
It’s about checking in with yourself – ‘what level do you want to engage at today?’ It can shift, explains Paul. Riding, running, creating … it doesn’t always have to be about achievement, and setting a faster time or creating a masterpiece. There is value in the process as well.
Helping others to push through their personal limitations has been a big part of Paul’s career in guiding.
“You have to let people figure things out in a way that works for them,” he says, referencing a time when he was the Rock Climbing Specialist at the Lodge. When these kids got to the top of the climb Paul would provide them a safe space with a 9/10 success rate for encouraging participants to rappel down.
“It was just between me and them, I would ask them if they wanted to give it a try and provide them with that safety net,” he says. Because for challenge by choice what matters most is the outcome – it’s not getting trapped into one way of thinking. It’s about growing confidence and letting a person figure out a way that serves them better.
Prioritizing time … and timing priorities
The joy of accepting a challenge Paul says is an ever-moving target and one that changes based on what is going on in his life.
Do we just do things that we are good at? Are we taking time to reflect?
An important aspect to challenge by choice is reflection; if you simply experience things but don’t reflect, you don’t get all the learning.
“Oh, I didn’t get hurt, so I must have made good choices,” muses Paul, adding that “I think we just keep doing things until we stop getting away with it.”
Some days Paul admits that it’s a push to get on the bike, maybe it’s a low level of motivation, maybe the weather is bad or maybe it’s taking time away from the people or projects in his life.
“I’m happier when I ride my bike,” he says of his mood neutralizing velocipede.
He acknowledges the importance of maintaining sight of the bigger goal. There’s an idea that we’re always progressing, if you’ve had a best seller, there’s pressure to top that.The pressure to always improve is tremendous.
“Just because I’ve done it before, doesn’t mean I have to do it again,” he says. “A lot of the things I like doing are not based on a measurable goal. Maybe not the best I’ve ever done, but did I enjoy it? These elements can change from day to day, and year to year.”
Gaining perspective when caught up in the moment
Clear goal setting, being supportive and reflection are three principles that Paul says to incorporate when feeling frustrated with a certain challenge.
To put aside whatever frustrations you’re feeling and remember those principles: clear goal setting, being kind and supportive, and ask yourself what it is you can do when you come back to it.
When prodded for a personal mantra, Paul said he didn’t have one. I figured for a guy who could tackle a 120-kilometre bike race, there had to be a nugget of wisdom he rehearses … and I was right.
“The mountains aren’t going anywhere. I’ll use that when people are feeling pressure to achieve something,” he says. “Oh, and I often think of the song lyrics ‘nothings so bad it can’t get worse.’”
There you have it, Paul’s mantras.
So maybe you’ve made plans to climb, and the weather is bad. “The climb will still be here, come back on a day when you’re better prepared for it,” he suggests. “This is where physical injury can happen.”
The Strathcona Circle
The desire to improve and do better can positively influence those around us, an outlook in which Paul feels there is much value to be shared and gained.
Of the six core values, Paul feels as though all of them require a perspective that’s bigger than ourselves. Concepts that were derived from mountaineers and adventure educators before us. Challenge by choice as a term coined by nature educator Karl Rohnke, which is a programming tool stating that people have the choice to determine their own level of involvement in any given activity.
Whether that means observe, try, go half way or conquer the thing; no matter the outcome the goal is the same.
“To see a value in others and in the world around us … there’s a humility in that. It’s a desire to improve, to do better and to positively influence others.”
If you fail, if you miss the shot – there is no shame or ridicule. As individuals with different strengths, we are there to support each other and create a sense of value.
To push yourself outside of your comfort zone in a safe space, to allow yourself to fail without a sense of defeat, to try the hard thing, to practice, to reframe things as an opportunity and to embrace discomfort – this is challenge by choice.
“Just because you didn’t do something that time, it doesn’t mean you’re not capable of it,” explains Paul who asks …how many iterations of a song are there before you hear the one on the radio? How many paintings are created before one is hung up in an art gallery? Have patience in the process and recognize that there is commonality in that.
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