Ideas in the Wild: How Michele Graglia is Helping People Return to Nature and Discover Their Best Selves

Michele Graglia left Italy for Miami in 2007 to expand the family business. Caught in a thunderstorm, he ducked into a Johnny Rockets, got scouted by a renowned agent, and walked out a professional model. An elite modeling career brought expensive cars, penthouses, parties, and celebrities, but his accidental “American Dream” was never his own.

Feeling the emptiness of a shallow, dark lifestyle, Michele set out for adventure and fulfillment, finding it in the unlikeliest place: a book about ultramarathon running.

Within a few short years, his passion and dedication for ultrarunning placed him among the top endurance athletes in the world. Running hundreds of miles in the extremes of the frozen Yukon and the scorching heat of Death Valley, he pushed his body and mind beyond every limit imaginable. His new book, Ultra, is not about winning. It’s not about running.

It’s a means to return to Nature and a journey to find your purpose, giving your all on the quest for your best self. I recently caught up with Michele to learn more about what inspired him to write the book, the biggest lesson he learned, and how he’s now applying that lesson.

What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment when you realized these ideas needed to get out there?

There are countless reasons that brought me to open up and share my story in this book though the focal point is about the necessity to live an intentional life, pushing past our perceived limitations in order to discover our true strengths and abilities!

In fact, the lessons I have learned throughout my journey in Ultra running are formulas that can easily be applied to everyday life. What fascinated me most about this discipline is that it is an absolute and stimulating concept that brings into question all the social patterns and limitations which we grew up with and that allows us to redefine our understanding of what is truly possible. Indeed, limitations are only the ones we give ourselves and with the right amount of will and dedication we can overcome the impossible.

At the base of my choice there was this burning need to get in touch with myself and feel truly alive. We often tend to follow certain patterns to become more “rich and famous” though what I discovered is that this pursuit doesn’t have any real value if you cannot find fulfillment and purpose in what you do. It’s about personal growth in pursuit of our best selves.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned going through the journey you share in the book?

Thoreau said, “Many men live a life of quiet despair.” The modern lifestyle gives us everything but it never makes us happy. The reason is perhaps given by the fact that preferring a lifestyle made of comfort and false securities, we disconnect from what matters the most: pushing beyond ourselves, taking risks in order to always learn and grow.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is perhaps that sometimes it takes a big challenge that brings us outside our comfort zone to teach us how strong and courageous we are. We all have hidden strengths that we do not always know, and it is only by measuring ourselves that we discover our true potential. After all, if we simply stick to our daily routine, never challenging ourselves in trying something new, how will we ever discover our true value?

How will you apply this lesson in your life moving forward?

We all have ambitions but too often we are afraid to take risks. We’re all afraid of not being good enough, strong enough, smart enough… we feel trapped by the limits we perceive, inexorably losing ourselves in the fear of failure, and that is where we tend to lose our self-confidence.

But what I discovered is that it is absolutely necessary to take the risk, err and rise again, overcoming those fears and allow ourselves to live fully. In every step I made in the unknown I discovered my strength and perseverance to reach my own dreams.

It is in that process of growth that we realize that we are all much more capable of what we have always believed. Only this way we evolve and push towards an always better version of ourselves. A more conscious, purposeful and grateful self.