ABSURD HOPE: Making High Performance Contagious and Wellbeing Infectious

At 31, Mo Haque was handed a death sentence: Stage 4 cancer, inoperable. He was given a small chance.

A year later, even that was gone. The diagnosis was terminal. He was told there was nothing more that could be done. In the silence that followed, he refused to accept "nothing" as an answer. Instead, he asked a different question: So what can we do?

What followed was improbable. A £200,000 crowdfunding campaign for experimental treatment. One unshakeable conviction: I'll raise the money, or die trying.

More than a decade later, Mo is not only alive. He has taken the principles forged in that crisis to TEDx stages, global conferences, and the leadership teams of companies navigating their own high-stakes moments, and distilled them into a repeatable system for performing under pressure.

In Absurd Hope, he reveals the framework.

ABSURD. The Doing engine. Six action principles for executing when it matters most.

HOPE. The Being fuel. Four pillars that sustain high performance without burnout.

But even the most capable people hit walls. Mo names the 6 B's - the hidden barriers that stall determined people beneath the surface - and shows leaders exactly how to dismantle them.

For audiences facing pressure, change, or uncertainty, Absurd Hope is more than a book. It's a keynote, a framework, and a permission slip to act.

Mo Haque is a keynote speaker, coach, and author specialising in resilience, high performance, and personal transformation. In his early thirties, Mo was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. When conventional treatment failed and his prognosis became terminal, he refused to accept the verdict. He led a public fundraising campaign to raise £200,000 to access life-saving immunotherapy and survived. More than a decade later, he remains cancer-free, and continues to thrive. That experience didn't just save his life. It reshaped his understanding of performance, adversity, and what human beings are truly capable of under sustained pressure. Mo now works with leaders, teams, and organisations who need to perform when it matters most. Drawing on his own story and training as a depth psychology coach, he helps people close the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it: under pressure, in uncertainty, and without burning out. His ABSURD HOPE framework, forged through cancer, a crowdfunding campaign, and a decade of rebuilding, translates lived adversity into practical tools for belief, resilience, execution, and sustainable high performance. Beyond the stage, Mo is co-founder of the Founders Running Club in London and hosts retreats for leaders seeking the balance between high performance and sustainable wellbeing. At 43, he's also learning to swim and salsa dance, because growth, in his view, is a lifelong devotion. Choosing To Stay, his first book, tells the story of staying alive. ABSURD HOPE is about what to do with the life you're given. For resources and bonus material to accompany this book, visit mohaque.com/absurdhope For speaking enquiries, visit mohaque.com/keynoteConnect with Mo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mo-haque Follow on Instagram: @mrmohaque