Karl Bushby was 29 when he left his home city of Hull, England and took off for the adventure of a lifetime. With $500 in his pocket and some survival gear, he went on a mission that no one else in history had ever completed: walking an unbroken path around the world.

Bushby’s journey, called the “Goliath Expedition,” began in 1998 in Punta Arenas, Chile, a city near the southern tip of South America. It’s brought him across continents including the Americas, Asia and Europe, and ultimately ends with the goal of arriving back in the United Kingdom.

“The objective was simply to get home unassisted by any form of transport,” Bushby told CNBC Make It.

Throughout the journey, Bushby has followed two rules: He can only walk or swim, unassisted by any form of transportation, and he cannot return home to Hull, England, until he arrives entirely on foot.

“These sounded like two simple rules from the early days, but you know, once those two rules meet the reality of the real world, things can get mighty complicated, especially [with] visas and difficult governments and regimes and some of the controversial borders that [I’ve] had to cross,” he said.

After walking about 30 kilometers a day, along with some unexpected setbacks, Bushby has now made his way into Europe and expects to complete his journey and return home to England next year, he told CNBC Make It.

Bushby has always been an adventurer. He says he used to go explore all day with his brother before returning home for dinner.

Growing up in a military family, he was inspired by his father who served in the British army. Bushby also joined the army at age 16 and served as a parachute regiment for about 12 years before taking off on his expedition.

At a certain point during his tenure in the British army, Bushby got bored.

“I spent my 12 years in the British army waiting to go somewhere we never really went, other than Northern Ireland,” he said. “We happened to be living through one of the most peaceful times in history,” he said.

“So we got bored and tired and became wondrous and mischievous,” he said. “At some point, I started drawing lines on maps and daydreaming about great distances and distant horizons, and one thing led to another.”

One day, Bushby drew a line from the United Kingdom over Europe and Asia, through Siberia, over the Bering Strait, into North America and through to the bottom of South America.

“Once I got that on a map, there was kind of no going back … The old hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” he said.

So, in 1998, Bushby left the British army to begin the long journey. He took a military flight from the United Kingdom to the Falkland Islands, then a civilian flight to Punta Arenas, Chile, which was the starting point of his expedition.

“That first day you step onto the road [is] a memorable one, because at that point, you’re a long way from home. You’ve burned all the bridges. You told everyone you’d rather die than come home,” said Bushby.

“You got like 500 U.S. dollars in your pocket, no support, no idea how it is going to work out, just absolute faith that you can somehow make it work. And you’re on a road that is about 36,000 miles long, with very little idea of what’s coming. I mean … you’re further than a man mission to Jupiter at that point,” he said.

Bushby’s journey over the last 27 years has brought him through many close encounters.

He has famously crossed the Darien Gap, been detained by Russian authorities, jailed in Panama, nearly frozen to death in Alaska and swam across the Caspian Sea over a 31-day-period.

On top of all of this, he’s gone days without food after walking for many miles, relied on strangers for medical help and ended many nights by himself in a tent he pitched on the side of the road.

“The psychology of hunger is interesting. It’s not something that most of us are really used to. When you have no idea where your next meal will come in, you just become obsessed with finding things to eat,” said Bushby.

“You’ll see food everywhere, every shadow, every rock, looks like something you can eat. You’ll end up running around, chasing hallucinations most of the time,” he said.

Despite all of the challenges he’s overcome, one of the biggest lessons he discovered throughout his journey didn’t have much to do with physical pain or endurance. Rather, it was about happiness and how it ultimately comes from your relationships.

“If you would ask me, what was the hardest thing you’ve done over the last 27 years – that is losing the women that you fall in love with hands down. That’s the toughest thing you will deal with… The physical stuff – pain is easy, suffering is different,” said Bushby.

On the other hand, he said: “The happiest of times was when I [was in] those relationships. When you’re with somebody.”

He’s also learned that people are generally very kind, across all cultures and regions in the world. Many times throughout his journey, he says he’s been taken in, fed and cared for by strangers who ask for nothing in return.

“You don’t even speak the same language, so it’s just about smiles and nods and then they send you on your way … It’s just one story after another, and it’s across every culture, across every country,” he said.

“This world is hell of a lot friendlier and nicer than it might appear.”

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Many people think that getting someone to say “yes” is about persuasion, making the perfect argument, choosing the right words, or asking nicely.

But decades of research suggest something counterintuitive: One of the most reliable ways to get to a “yes,” is to give the other person permission to say “no.”

Studies have shown that across all kinds of situations, from marketing to negotiations to everyday requests, simply adding a line like, “but you are free to accept or refuse,” makes people far more likely to comply.

It taps into one of our deepest psychological needs: autonomy. When people feel pressured, they resist. But when they feel they have a choice, they tend to engage more willingly and push back less.

I’ve spent the past decade advising Fortune 500 companies as an educator and behavioral researcher, and I’ve seen this principle outperform the hard-sell. Here are four simple phrases you can use to put this principle into practice.

When you explicitly tell someone they don’t have to agree, it immediately lowers defensiveness. Their nervous system relaxes, and the decision shifts from compliance under pressure to a choice made voluntarily.

When to use it at work:

• Asking for time from a busy senior leader
• Requesting help from a colleague
• Asking for participation

When to use it at home:

• Asking for emotional availability
• Raising a sensitive topic
• Making plans when the other person is stretched

Examples:

• “Would you be open to reviewing this for me today? You’re free to say no.”
• “You’re totally free to say no — would you be open to talking later tonight?”

This phrase reduces social pressure, which is a hidden driver of resentment and avoidance. Research shows that people push back when they feel expected or pressured to do something. Even cooperative people can resist when a request feels like an obligation.

When to use it at work:

• Asking for favors across teams
• Asking someone to do more than what’s in their job description 
• Following up on something that isn’t mandatory

When to use it at home:

• Asking for support
• Making requests that could inconvenience the other person
• Discussing emotional needs

Examples:

• “I’d really appreciate it if you could help with the report I need to prepare by tomorrow, but please don’t feel obliged.”
• “I could use your support this weekend, but please don’t feel obliged.”

This phrase is particularly effective in moments when you are on a clock, or a performance evaluation is a factor. 

When people feel they are being rushed into agreement, they make worse decisions, then regret them more afterwards. Removing that pressure improves satisfaction with the outcome.

When to use it at work:

• Setting deadlines that are flexible
• Making decisions that require some reflection
• Having sensitive career conversations

When to use it at home:

• Having relationship discussions
• Making parenting decisions
• Making big financial or life choices

Examples:

• “No pressure at all. Take your time thinking about it, and we can talk whenever you’re ready.”
• “If you’re open to it, I’d love your input this week, but no pressure.”

This phrase protects both the mental and emotional bandwidth of the recipient. Feeling obligated to respond, even to small messages, creates low-level stress. Removing that expectation reduces avoidance and increases genuine engagement.

When to use it at work:

• Sharing optional resources
• Sending reflections instead of action items
• Providing information without requiring feedback

When to use it at home:

• Checking in on someone going through a hard time 
• Sharing thoughts without requiring immediate dialogue
• Giving someone space

For example:

• “I wanted to share this just in case it’s useful. No need to reply!”
• “No need to reply. I was just thinking of you.”

These phrases all offer a sense of autonomy the exact moment it is most likely to feel threatened. In return, the people you engage with will follow through more reliably, feel more respected, and respond with more honesty.

Shadé Zahrai is an award-winning peak performance educator, behavioral researcher, and leadership strategist to Fortune 500 companies. She is the author of “Big Trust: Rewire Self-Doubt, Find Your Confidence, and Fuel Success.” She earned her doctorate from Monash University. Follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

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If Tubi CEO Anjali Sud could tell her younger self one thing, it would be that “nobody’s got it figured out,” she said in a CNBC Changemakers interview that aired on May 1.

“I would always look up at people and be like, ‘They have all the answers and I don’t,’” Sud, 42, said. “Now, I just realize everybody’s trying their best based on the information they have, and nobody’s perfect and everybody has impostor syndrome.”

Sud learned to navigate that discomfort to achieve success, she said. A former Amazon and Vimeo executive, she took the helm of Fox Corp’s Tubi in 2023. The no-cost streaming app has since grown to more than 100 million monthly active users, according to the company.  

Despite her accomplishments, Sud still feels impostor syndrome — the fear that people are overestimating your abilities — daily, she said. She’s far from alone: Nearly three-quarters of U.S. CEOs say they experience impostor syndrome, according to a Korn Ferry survey of about 400 executives, published in June 2024.

Feeling like a fraud can lead to crippling, unproductive self-doubt, some experts say — but in measured doses, impostor syndrome can be an asset to your success and a sign you’re destined for greatness, according to organizational psychologist Adam Grant.

“Impostor syndrome isn’t a disease. It’s a normal response to internalizing impossibly high standards” Grant, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, posted on X in Sept. 2022. “Doubting yourself doesn’t mean you’re going to fail. It usually means you’re facing a new challenge and you’re going to learn.”

“Feeling uncertainty is a precursor to growth,” he added.

Other entrepreneurs have even dubbed impostor syndrome as an asset to their personal and their employees’ successes. Investor Barbara Corcoran seeks out people who can balance good ideas with self-doubt, because that insecurity pushes them to work harder and fill any gaps in their knowledge,

“The more successful someone is, the more self-doubt they have, because that’s what drives them,” Corcoran, 74, said at Fiverr’s Bridge the Gap webinar in March 2023. “I’ve never met a secure person who was a stellar star.”

Feeling like a fraud, in some ways, has worked to Sud’s advantage, too, she said in the CNBC Changemakers interview.

“I don’t think you can get over impostor syndrome,” she said. “I think the key is how do you take that piece of you that’s like, ‘This is hard, it’s challenging, it’s scary,’ and build a fearlessness around it and embrace that feeling and use it to push yourself forward.”

“Bet on yourself,” she added. You have just as much as a chance as anybody else to be able to make an impact.

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In 2015, Chris Broomfield, a 50-year-old carpenter contractor with decades of experience, and his wife bought a five-acre property in Remsen, New York for $27,000.

Broomfield grew up not too far away and the land was close to a property his brother owns nearby.

Shortly after closing on the property, Broomfield says he started commuting from his family’s home in Connecticut every weekend to work on an A-frame cabin he was building mostly by himself.

He hired outside help to drill a well, an electrician to wire the cabin and somebody to hang the sheetrock.

“I always knew it was going to be an Airbnb property. I knew I was going to put multiple cabins on it,” he says. “I chose this property because it was close to the lake. It was very wooded, and it had rolling hills. I saw its potential with multiple cabins.”

After three years, Broomfield finished building a one-bedroom, one-bathroom A-frame cabin for a total cost of about $90,000, he says.

When he opened the A-frame cabin for rentals via Airbnb, it went viral. It’s one of Airbnb’s “most-wishlisted” rentals the state of New York. It’s also a guest-favorite listing and earned Broomfield the title of “superhost,” according to an Airbnb representative.

“The process was amazing for me. I loved being up here. I loved being able to build anything that I wanted to build,” Broomfield says. “Something that came from my mind and not a blueprint. The free rein was really enjoyable.”

Seeing the impact that the A-frame cabin going viral had on his bookings inspired Broomfield to hire a team and start building a treehouse nearby. After 13 weeks, it was completed in November 2019 for a total cost of about $175,000.

The Treehouse has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a private pond with a small dock, a covered porch, and a fire pit. It’s 1,200 square feet across two stories. The living room and primary bedroom also offer views of a waterfall.

“I wanted to get the treehouse done as quickly as possible, so I hired some help. I knew the model was there and it worked by doing the A-frame, renting it out. The response from the guests was overwhelming,” he says. “I didn’t want to miss the window of opportunity to continue this wave of guests and potential guests’ interest.”

What makes this cabin particularly special is that it sits 14 feet in the air. To reach it, renters must cross a suspension bridge on the property.

“I wanted to create something that would bring in young families.”

In 2024, the treehouse cabin had a revenue of $151,966 and this year, Broomfield estimates that number will be $150,562, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The treehouse is one of the top 10% of homes on Airbnb based on ratings, reviews, and reliability, according to an Airbnb representative.

The treehouse cabin was an instant success, Broomfield says. It inspired him to complete another rental on the property: Birch Falls Spa Cabin, a studio with a king-sized bed, kitchenette and spa room for a total cost $160,000.

The spa room has an 18-foot-long indoor waterfall, a massage bed, and a soaker jet tub. The cabin also has a private deck with a fire pit, BBQ and picnic area.

Broomfield uses dynamic pricing, so the rate ranges between $380 and $700 a night for each of the cabins on the property.

As of September 2025, Broomfield’s business, Evergreen Cabins, has brought in $2.1 million since the very first property was listed for rent in 2018, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Broomfield says that monthly costs for operating Evergreen Cabins come in at $700 a month in utilities, $8,000 for operations costs, including payroll, and about $18,000 a year in property taxes.

He says that today he brings in about $400,000 a year with revenue from the rental properties. The revenue from the cabin rentals allowed him to retire from contracting fulltime in 2021.

Now, Broomfield’s day-to-day consists of overseeing his staff, designing new cabins, and developing future plans for the Evergreen Cabins.

“There’s always going to be something that is going to be pushing me to do the next thing. I can’t sit back and do nothing. My family is a huge part of my inspiration and my drive; eventually, they are going to be the ones owning this,” he says.

“The legacy of Evergreen is, I don’t really have a plan for it [but] I do know that it is going to inspire and help people. My kids are going to be a part of that.”

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If you were anywhere on social media this fall, you’ll probably remember getting a flood of posts about the Great Lock In of 2025.

The challenge, which encouraged people to “lock in” and commit to achieving new goals from September through the end of December, led thousands of Instagram and TikTok users to post their own self improvement commitments online, from losing weight to saving money to crushing it at work.

Like the “winter arc,” “75 hard” and “75 soft” challenges that came before it, many users said The Great Lock In provided a motivational push to reach focused goals in a shortened window of time, in a way where New Year’s resolutions fall short.

Now, just about 120 days later, here’s how four women made good on their year-end aspirations.

In L.A., 37-year-old Kristal Rominiyi says her improved morning routine has made the biggest difference.

Rominiyi, a travel advisor, decided in September she could use an extra hour every morning to herself and spent about a week moving her wakeup time to 6:15 a.m.

As she sees it, ”[How] you spend the first hour of your day sets the tone for the day. Do you wake up? Do you work out? Do you meditate, pray, eat a hearty breakfast? Or do you snooze?”

During her morning power hour, Rominiyi says she goes on a walk for at least 3 miles, or around 7,000 steps toward her 10,000 daily step count, then returns home to have a protein-rich breakfast before starting her workday.

Her quiet morning affords her a “peace and quiet where you can get things done without your phone ringing, without people asking you questions,” she says. Plus, an earlier start means “I’ve already checked off two main things off of my to do list before 8 a.m.,” which energizes her to tackle her workday and personal to-dos as a mom to a teenage son.

The Great Lock In challenge prompted Janey Park to save money on her beauty routine.

Park, 42, is the founder of a digital media brand in Washington, D.C. After spending 15 years in the beauty space, Park says she stopped thinking twice about dropping thousands of dollars on her luxury beauty regimen.

The social media challenge prompted her to try something new, Park says: She used ChatGPT to plug in each product she used and prompted it to find find cheaper alternatives, often from Korean beauty lines, based on her skin-care needs and goals.

As a result, she swapped her $2,800 routine of SK-II, La Mer and La Prairie to a new beauty lineup that costs just about $200 with products from Anua, Numbuzin, Biodance and the like.

Park says her winning ChatGPT prompt included four main components, including:

1. Context, as in your skin type, lifestyle and environment
2. Specifics around your goals, preferences and budget
3. Assigning ChatGPT the role of a skin-care expert
4. And thinking about what format you want the information in, like a structured comparison or ingredient breakdown

“Honestly, I think my skin looks better at 42 than it has ever in my life,” she says, adding that she now funnels the money saved from her skin-care swap to invest in stocks and crypto.

Deidre Henry, 39, has done her own version of a “winter arc” for the last three years and was inspired by The Great Lock In to set new goals in the fall.

The New York City-based tech founder focused on setting goals in two areas of her life: her career and her health.

For work, she committed to posting on LinkedIn three times a week, Instagram twice a week and TikTok twice a day while keeping Instagram Threads as her leisure platform.

By day 60, Henry says she hit her stride. She says her consistent posting on LinkedIn led her to bring on four new clients, two speaking engagements and her first major brand deal.

Henry also set a weekly gym schedule to work out every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday before 9 a.m. The routine gave her structure and made her practice setting boundaries. If someone wanted to schedule a morning work meeting or friends wanted to plan a Saturday breakfast, Henry learned to decline or propose alternatives to protect her gym time.

Henry says the shorter time frame of The Great Lock In and similar social media challenges make her set more achievable goals, rather than having a year-long resolution that can be put off each month. It also makes it easier to track weekly progress.

“That just gave me this unexplainable amount of motivation and validation of what I am doing locking in,” Henry says.

Bella Jones, 44, in New York, publicly committed to getting more rest. It sounds easy enough, and yet only 42% of Americans say they get enough sleep, according to Gallup.

Jones, the owner of a personal finance company and business consultancy, says she’s spent years logging just four to five hours per night due to a demanding career in corporate finance.

Beginning in September, she began moving her bedtime from midnight to around 10 p.m. and established a routine to help her wind down, which includes drinking tea, reading a book and using a heated eye massager before bed.

The new habit makes getting ready for bed “more enjoyable” and something to look forward to, she says.

She’s also cut down on doom scrolling before bed—but doesn’t deny herself completely. (She now limits it to two nights per week.)

Jones says her new ritual wasn’t a “flip of the switch,” and she still struggles to wind down on time during busy work periods. But she doesn’t let a bad night derail her for the next. “Be gentle with yourself,” she says. “It’s not all or nothing. Slow progress is still progress.”

Want to give your kids the ultimate advantage? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course, How to Raise Financially Smart Kids. Learn how to build healthy financial habits today to set your children up for greater success in the future.