← The Everyday Millionaire and Mindset Matters Podcast
The Everyday Millionaire and Mindset Matters Podcast
Mindset Matters - Episode #225 - The Champions Journey - To the Olympic Podium
00:42:19
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to this episode of the Everyday Millionaire Mindset Matters podcast, where I'm joined by my wife, Olympic mental performance coach Stephanie Hanlon. Francie. In these episodes, Stephanie and I have a conversation about the different aspects of what we refer to as Mindset Matters because we believe that for those who are awake, we are living in and through the most impactful time in history. Your view of the world is the filter for how you will experience the evolution and changing dynamics of it. Our intention is to provide you with ideas, nutritious food for thought, and some tools that you can use to help you in being your greatest self and living your best life. Listen in. Enjoy. Hey there, and welcome to the Everyday Millionaire Mindset Matters podcast. Stephanie.
- [00:56]
B
Hey. Honestly.
- [00:58]
A
Okay, so if you allow me a little bit of freedom again, as usual, you don't know all the details of what we're doing here, but that's part of the fun.
- [01:07]
B
Fun? You're hilarious.
- [01:09]
A
Okay, here we go. So we see the medals, we see the podium. We see the end result. What we don't see is the grind, the 5am mornings, the repetition, the injuries, the mental and emotional toll, the travel, the travel logistics, the financial cost. You go to Olympics. Team USA brings home gold and silver. France takes gold in a dramatic finish. As fans, we get the highlight reels, but behind every medal is a decade or more of discipline. Lifetime, really. Michelangelo said he didn't create David. He simply removed everything that wasn't David. I love that, by the way, that kind of thought process. So champions are the same. The medal isn't created at the Olympics. The winner gets revealed. Now, what most people don't understand is that sculpting doesn't just happen physically and technically, it happens mentally, emotionally, psychologically. Now, you have spent 25 years, 30 years alongside, coaching teams and not just building skaters, but we'll use the analogy or the metaphor. Chiseling away doubt, fear, ego, distractions, shaping mindset, self mastery, resilience. Which is all to say that podiums arguably are earned long before the competition. But this podcast isn't just about medals. It's about you ready? The champion's journey. It's about the champion's journey.
- [02:51]
B
Here we go again. Right over my shoulder.
- [02:56]
A
So here we go. You know, there is the visible versus the invisible. So I want to really pull back the curtain on this. You know, there's what we see and there's all those things that we don't see. And I will want to pull back the curtain now, depending on where we go with this conversation, which I really don't know. We don't have to use names, but of course we don't want to use names. It's not, would not necessarily be appropriate. But share with me, what did the world see at Olympics, for example, that they did not see over the past eight or 10 years? Where did for example, resilience show up in this cycle? Now because the teams that you've been working with, you've been either working with the teams or at least with the individuals on the teams because there's been some shuffling. So give us some background. We know what we saw. We saw France, we saw Guillaume and Laurence win gold, we saw Madison and Evan win a gold in the team event on ice dance and then individually they won silver. You were there working with Great Britain, they didn't podium and there was other teams that you were kind of working with. But so give us a little bit of background of, you know, you think about the champions journey, think about what we saw, think about and share with us what we didn't see, what didn't we see.
- [04:26]
B
Yeah, that's a great entry point. And you know, I really appreciate how you opened this conversation, hun, because I'm still barely jet lagged. I just got home like last night, you know, and I got body slammed by two giant Bernese mountain dogs and then you know, slept for 24 hours. And you know, I really appreciate that. When I got home I pulled up to the gate and there was the most amazing neighbors had put together a welcoming committee with signs and balloons and they're so excited and you know, they're really supportive. And I look at, you know what the kind of support that I'm getting, for example, from you. I mean, hon, I couldn't do any of this without you. You are my rock. But you're also my biggest fan and I really appreciate that. So when we have these conversations, I'm trusting you to pull some of this out of me because I don't ever want to normalize what the athletes went through in Milano. These last two weeks for me it's been life changing. It's been really values affirming. But what you just asked me was what about the athletes? What about them did we see or did you see on television and what did I see backstage and day to day at 2 in the morning, you know, in, in piles of tears and, and laughter and, and confusion and anger and upset and elation. I mean the level of emotional resilience and you use the word resilience where I'm going to enter the Ca enter the conversation is in their ability to be emotionally resilient. And that's the work that, that I've done over the last two decades and the work that the athletes have allowed me to guide them because, you know, I can't do it for them. It's just like the technical coaches can't do their push ups for them, the trainers can't. You know, it is a collaborative relationship on every level and every athlete has a team around them. And I'm just part of the team behind the team behind the team on their champions journey. So all that being said is what was seen on television was just a snippet. You know, there's a lot of controversy right now, you think about the ice dance controversy. The US should have won and the France judge was cheating and the French team had a mistake and yada yada, yada. But those are the comments from people that really only pay attention to figure skating or the Olympics every four years.
- [06:57]
A
Well, I think. But just to interrupt here a little bit, you know, I think at every Olympics, and so I want to go a little bit more behind the scenes because at every Olympics there's a drama. I mean that's, that just seemed to be the world of Olympics. Go back, you know, whether it's Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, whatever the story is, there's always some drama unfolding at the Olympics because it's international stage, it's global in scope, there's countries from all over the world. And so it's a big deal in that regard. You know, I think that what I look at and what we've actually is part of our life over this many years is you working with athletes, me at a different, in a different context, working with athletes, changing your point, it becomes very normal. And what people see on television is they see the competition, they see the highlight reels. That's all good, by the way, but that's not what we're here for. You know, part of this podcast is to provide people the insights and listeners the insights of what is it about the champion's journey. Because that was a phrase. And you know, I mean, we've owned the URL Champions journey for, I don't know, 30 years. But the point is, is that in our mind, we take that and we extrapolated into business. And whether it be small business, big business, real estate, it doesn't matter. The point is, is that it's all a champion's journey. If you're, whatever your podium is. In the case of athletes, the podium is Olympics, gold, silver, Bronze business, it's financial, it's growth, it's all those things, whatever it might be. So we see all of that. My kind of, what I want to get with you is think about the athletes. They're competing now, they know what they have to do, but they've got stuff going on day to day. I mean all the things that lead up to that, they've got, they don't have an idealistic life. These are not multi million dollar professional athletes in that context. They're professional and they're every bit that quality, but they're not, they don't have unlimited budgets and no, that'd be the
- [08:58]
B
NHL in the winter and the basketball in the summer.
- [09:01]
A
Sure. So my point is, is that when you're, you know, these young athletes, most of them are young and certainly they have years in it, so they don't, you know, they shift from young to younger or older, but marginally, I don't know where I'm going with that. The point is what goes on behind? So what do you do? What the hell do you do? Like you just show up and you know, pat them on the back. Like what is, what are some of the things that you're dealing with? Because you're busy, you, you've got however many athletes that you're working with, you've got technical coaches, they've got technical coaches and at that point all they're doing is being reminded or fine tuned or something along that line, their physicalness. They're trained for all of this from a physical aspect, their diet, all the rest of it. So you're there. And now they're in the competition, they're behind the scenes, they're in the bowels of the arena, they're talking to each other, they're warming up, they're dealing with all the things that they're dealing with. You know, their mom and dad are texting them, go, hey, we arrived. Like they got a life going on. So what are, what, what do you do?
- [10:04]
B
Well, that's funny, you know, that's the question of the day. Because my work isn't as obvious as the technical coaches. For example, you know, I'm not there to, as a physiotherapist, I'm not dealing with injuries. What I am doing is helping prepare them in advance for adversity. So the work that you see at the Olympic Games, for example, and you never know what's going to happen, something always happens at the Olympic games and you know, positive or negative, that's what I always say is that My job is to prepare you for whatever it is that happens. Positive, negative, dramatic, you know, neutral, boring, whatever. How do you become prepared? So that starts four to eight years before. So for example, you mentioned Great Britain. I've been working with them since 2018, for example, and now it's 2026 as we just finish off this Winter Olympics. And some of them I've been working with longer now in order for them to prepare and uncover who it is that they have to become, sometimes I have to manufacture adversity. Sometimes I take them through exercises similar to what we do in mind shui or in some of the mindset matters conversations that we've had over time in different coaching programs. So I take them very similar exercises. I meet them where they're at. And I think this is what's really, really cool about the dynamic that my role creates with the athletes is I don't, I still don't think there's any other person. I'm not a sports psychologist. I don't play one on tv. I'm not a nutritionist. I'm not a technical coach anymore. I'm not a choreographer. But what I am is I'm like the glue. So I'm the person that they come to when they're going through things at home, with their family, with their, with things that are, are in the way of them being able to, to their training. For example, you know, I've had athletes call me from the car, from, from the roadside when their car's been broken into and they don't know what to do. So it's about helping them build skills to respond to whatever adversity or whatever's going on in the moment. And because we're working backwards from a very clear goal. And what I always say to them doesn't matter what happens, the goal doesn't change. It doesn't matter what happens today. Shit's always going to happen. The goal doesn't change. And when they have a clear outcome and there's a difference between goals and outcomes, obviously, but when they have something that they really want and they're focusing on the Olympic Games, it's up to me and my job to make sure that I wrap enough life skills around that they can actually enjoy being present. They're just not their laser being focused on. The only way that I'm going to have an identity is if I win a gold medal. Right. I want them to be more holistic and more and a little deeper than that.
- [12:48]
A
Well, that goes back to, you know, that's a Good point. I think that's a. It's a really big one, which is if their identity is attached to that outcome, that medal, for example, that would really set them up, that could shut them down. So, you know, at the end of the day, you have to be a competitor and you have to step up and you have to compete and you're going to show up and be the best you can be on that given period of time, which for the Olympics is always like, I mean, so many years to get there and you've got one shot at it. You know, that's a big deal, Right? So let's talk about resilience. And I can think of a couple of examples to the degree that we can talk about them. You know, think about how Guillaume and Laurence ended up as a team. The. What do we call it, the adversity that they faced, the resilience that they had to have to get through that period of time. So for those who don't know the story, recap. It was actually, if you want to watch a great Netflix series called Glitter and Gold.
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B
Yes.
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A
And it really is a behind the scenes of things. And this is one of the. They did talk about this. And that was with Nick being falsely accused, as it turns out, of a sexual misconduct from 20 years ago, or whatever the time frame was. Long story short, in that moment, not only was his career shut down with this accusation, his partner, Laurence, her career, it ended at the same time like, it was like, holy cow, big deal. Now, all to say they came through that Nick was exonerated or whatever the phrases he's found, like, it's all not guilty, it's bullshit, it's whatever. But in the meantime, his whole career is over. It's done through a chain of events. Guillaume, who was skating for France, who is a gold medalist with France, he's looking for a new partner because he had lost his partner. Laurence and Nick and Guillaume happen to be good friends. They've trained together, they know each other. And through whatever series of events that happens, Laurence says, okay, I'll skate with Guillaume. And there's lots in behind all that. So the story is, is that they come and for 10 months later, they win a gold medal at Olympics, which is only to say that they pivoted. They were already world class, Olympic class athletes. They had the track record and the credentials to prove that. But to think about going through that, know Lawrence, your significant other, they were not only partners on the ice, they were, they're partners in real life. And your, your man is accused Falsely accused of something, some story that somebody had from however many years ago it was all to say wasn't the case, but total devastation, career ending, all of the rest of it. Think about the challenges that went through now. You were a big part of going through that with them. So I guess I want to kind of hit on the resilience. How do you, how would you, how would you. Kind of the mental state, the mental fortitude.
- [16:02]
B
Oh, man. There's no way, no way to prepare for any of that with Nick or Lawrence is that, you know, he was never charged with anything. You know, it was an article that somebody wrote and nobody knows the truth. It was, you know, 20 years ago. They were teenagers or young, early 20s. You know, I don't know the story. I would hate to minimize whatever this girl's experience was, but ultimately they, there's no way to go back in time and either change that experience or prove anything. Part of that whole story is the point of the work that Nick had done and Laurence had done prior to that, prepared them for that. And to be really honest, I'm, you know, Nick is, he's Danish, you know, he's a Viking. He's, he's strong personality, he's great at everything he does. He's, he's a builder, he's a knife maker, he's a skater, he's an athlete. You know, Laurence is known as the best athlete in Canada in all sports, summer and winter, top of the heap, any sport. They've worked so hard. That's not where they started. They both started as, you know, let's try this thing called performance coaching and see what happens. And they both started to do the work and as they built the trust with me, I was able to take them on their own champions journey where they could look at their demons, their dark side, the shadow, the things that go on in your life that get in the way of having healthy relationships, of having positive experiences, of harnessing adversity to make sure that you can get up every time you fall down. And those were the skills that we were working on. You know, they ended up changing flags from Denmark to Canada and they competed in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022 together for Canada and did really well. And when this happened, this accusation happened, it came out of the blue at Christmas time, if you can believe it. I'm not sure the timing of it and I'm not going to accuse this person or minimize their experience, but the timing is very suspect. But had Nick and Laurence not been emotionally resilient or didn't have the co regulation and self regulation skills that they did have. Based on the work we'd done for a decade, I think it would have shut them down. Like, it's not that they rolled through it like, hey, no biggie. I mean, he's $100,000 in debt to lawyers. I'm sure Laurent's lost her ability to skate with the love of her life. In the Milan Games. Everything shut down on their side now in relation to that in for Guillaume. He and his partner Gabby were French champions, five time European champions, Olympic silver medalists in, in Pyeongchang, gold medalists in Beijing. And two years after that, if they had done shows, et cetera, they decided to retire. Now, a segue to that is that she recently released a book on Guillaume being abusive and all these stories. And I'm not going to again minimize her lived experience. I don't have that same experience with Guillaume. I mean, as a coach and of Gabby and Guillaume. I know some of the darkness that, that goes on in the background of, of being, being an athlete, you know, putting yourself out there, trying really, like always, you know, being judged.
- [19:26]
A
For example, he had profile. I mean, these, I mean, as much, as much as, you know, skating doesn't seem like a big deal in the world of figure skating, it's a big deal. And there's tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of fans. So, you know, there's a, there's a very public space that they, they're, they're exposed. Like they're out there, right?
- [19:45]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And I think I'm, you know, again, I love Gabby just as much today as I did the eight or 10 years that I work with her. I do, I understand what she's going through. I don't. I wish I did. I have huge compassion. But what I see on the outside is not the same of what Guillaume has experienced on the inside. I think Laurent and Guillaume, for example, her coming from Canada, losing her opportunity to skate with her boyfriend, husband, and then Guillaume trying coaching and he's a, he's also a fashion, he's a designer, he could be a supermodel. Like they were ready to step into the what's next of their life and they just slowed down for a minute and went, you know what? We're not done. We're going to have to lean in like the buffalo. We're going to have to lean into the headwinds because we want to skate together. They're best friends, you know, they've been best friends for 10 years and she's known as the best skater in the world. He's known as the best male skater in the world. And I said, what the hell? We've got nothing to lose. We've been through hell and we come back and we have nothing to lose.
- [20:46]
A
So let's go back to Michelangelo, you know, chiseling away, you know, it was, David was already in the stone marble. So, you know, when we think about, you know, what are you chiseling away, if you will, for them to really show up as, you know, that work of art, as the athletes that they potentially can be. So when I think about all of, again, all of the adversity that they face through that period of time, they still had to continue training, they still had to continue doing what they're doing. They're coming and you're having conversations with them. But what are you peeling away? Like, how would you, if you could use that same metaphor, right, what would you say? You're peeling away the angst, the self
- [21:33]
B
doubt, the questioning of self. You know, you go back 12, 15 years, however long ago that was for Nick, you know, the, the questioning of self, the self doubt, like, did I hurt somebody? Who was I? So my job was to, to help him get back in line with who is, who he is today and then go back and, and check in with, you know, yes, I'm the same, I, I'm, I, I'm the same person. But did I do something that I need to be ashamed of? Did I do something and, and then help him go through those doubts without, you know, rose colored glasses and go, you know, let's face the truth, let's go, you know, who am I today? Who was I back then? But more importantly, who do I want to become going forward? What do I want to be known for? What, what is the reputation? Because this is going to be a stain on my life, on his life for the rest of his life. You can't go on Google and, you know, if you wanted to coach, there's going to be people that will go and say, no, I don't want to have anything to do with them. So the resilience that he has to build, or had to build on top of everything, think about again, the David thing is that chipping away at someone to find out their core of who they truly are and allow that, to emerge under that deep, deep level of adversity, that light that's been shined on international sanctions and pending this and, you know, suspended, that and money just stopping like his whole life was destroyed. And we still don't have resolution because, you know, this story just keeps coming up over and over and over. So who he's had to become, the David that has been chiseled away is truly a raw, core human with no outside protection like he has. He's had to be raw. He's had to connect to a bigger purpose. And that purpose is fueling the resilience.
- [23:34]
A
Yeah, it's an interesting kind of. When we talk about the champion's journey, this was a lifetime of training. So in the context of the champion's journey, when you think about it, I mean, we talk about you being at Olympics and what are you doing kind of in behind the scenes that people aren't seeing. But the journey is a long journey. These skaters have been a lifetime. Some of them started skating when they're four. Now they're 30, you know, and. Or they. And they've been ongoing. This has been a lifetime of training and being and growing and kind of finding themselves and competing at that level. And so the champions journey, you know, we talk about, and we often. Well, I think many coaches in business coaching, they will often share, you know, stories about athletes and teams. And because there's always a direct. What would we call it? A direct correlation of the same thought process in business as in. As in athletics and on teams. So I want to. What I'm trying to guess, I get. Get to. Is that along the way, what we would call the champions journey is a long journey. It is a way of being all of the time. It is a way of having those goals and those outcomes, and we take it right to world and Olympic class, which is what this discussion is about. But what people see and the outcome is great. We get to be entertained and enjoyed, and we're there with the athletes and we're hoping for them or not. It's like. Or maybe they're. No, we don't want you to win. We want our team to win. Whatever the story is, my point is that it is a journey. And along that journey, they have all of life's things coming at them. So we see the gold. What is the glitter and gold, right? Which is the Netflix special Glitter and Gold, we see that, but what's behind that is what people. I don't know, that they don't think about it, and it's probably not their job to think about. But in the context of how do you use this as a way to anchor yourself to your own champions journey? You know, the grind, the resilience, the doing it, that moment in time, I mean, Olympics, you're there for, what is it, 10 days or something? 12, 14 days.
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B
14 days.
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A
But your moment in time is very short in that window of 14 days. So it is a lifetime of journey, of the champion's journey, of all of the things that go with it. The highs, the lows, the pre competitions, all the events that you qualify to get to the Olympics. And amongst all that, you have a life. And you are really rolling the dice in a lot of ways because you are trying to win, you're trying to be funded, you're trying to live a life, you're trying to still go, okay, well, I can't do this forever. What's my career afterwards? What else am I developing as I go along? And that's the primary message that we. Food for thought is that we look at that. It's like the individual who is a billionaire or a hundred millionaire or whatever scale of success we measure somebody at and we see the result. We don't see what it took to get there. That is the champion's journey.
- [26:52]
B
It is truly. And I think about it when people ask me what I do, back to the initial question that you asked me is, what is it you do? And I think what's so interesting is what I do is not. It's not public, it's not glamorous, it's not Netflix show worthy. I think I had like a little mini, you know, piece of it. But at the beginning of that show, you know, the producer was there and they were saying, yeah, but what happens when this happens and the drama and this. Well, we have Stephanie. We have a Stephanie. We have a Stephanie. And they're like, well, what's a Stephanie? Right? And so I'm kind of not know, technically the team behind the team behind the team. So. But there's not a lot of coaches that do what I do. And plus, I also, when I think about the adversity and the ability to help the athletes build resilience, to re. To respond and elevate themselves through the adversity, that is where. That's my gold medal. That's. That's truly what matters to me. I don't need to be on a Netflix show. But when I look at the clients that I work with, the skaters, the athletes, the coaches, and they look at me and they. They nod their heads and they know the work that has gone in to help these athletes not just be skaters, not just be hockey players, not just be, you know, the person that shows up every four years, but people that have a life Afterwards that can go through, you know, an accusation of sexual misconduct and lose their entire career and still show up on the other side supporting his girlfriend to become an Olympic champion from behind. Like, think about that for a second. They were partners at the last Olympics and now she's a gold medalist and he's not. So think about who he has to become and what he has to face in order to then now support his girlfriend in his maybe future wife into being the best she can be and playing backstage when he was always her equal, always her partner. So we, we look at that and go, oh, my gosh, that's amazing. And then you flip the page and go, let's talk about the next drama. So what I'm dealing with is there is no next drama. There is just your life. And, you know, sometimes they want to give me credit for their success and I, you know, I'll say no, if you do that, then I also have to take credit for your failure. So let's find a neutral place where we're on this journey together. We're co creating, I'm co creating this with you. I work with their parents, I work with. Some of them, have different spouses and different partners in other areas of life. But the truth of the matter is that in order for them to bring their best performance, to bring their best selves, they have to know their darkness, their demons. They have to work through their shit so that when they show up on the day, whether they win or lose, and in the case of my USA clients who skated perfectly, for example, and ended up with a silver medal, like, think about that for a second. Think about that. And the controversy that followed.
- [29:56]
A
Yeah, 100%, but I think there's a. But this is part of this whole thing, right? I think it goes back to the work that coaches like yourself do, or we collectively do, but ultimately consider this is that technically there is a way to manage a business, produce a product, find the edges of a skate. The technical aspects of it are the technical aspects. And there's coaches that are brilliant at working through the biomechanics. In the case of a skater or an athlete, the biomechanics of how's the best way to technically achieve and get the result you're looking for. And then there's the nutritionist, how do you eat? There's your body weight. Then there's the physical trainer, there's all that aspect. Those are very technical things. And there is a process, there is a system, there is a way of doing that. But what is always needed And I keep bringing this back to business because business there is, this is the way, you know, this is the way you grow a business. And you know, it involves what is the product, what is the value, what is the marketing, what is the brand, all of the things that go in, you know, what's your top line, what's your bottom line, your staff. I mean, there's so much around it, but it's all been done before. Why is it that some achieve a great result and others don't? And often it always comes nudge and sales. Often it comes back to how you mentally and emotionally can handle all of the other things that get in the way of being and staying focused on what it takes technically, physically to, and physically to achieve the outcome. How do you run the business when all of the this is how you do it is there? It's all been done before. So what gets in the way is that mental aspect of it. It's what do you chip away to get to what it is and to who you need to be to achieve that result? Am I saying that right way?
- [31:51]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know what, you have to be willing to chip away. You know, And I think when some people look at, you know, the billionaires, the CEOs, H&W clients that we work with on an ongoing basis, the world class and Olympic athletes that we work with, that's what people see. They don't realize what they had to chip away. And the space that, that I've held, that you've held, that we held collectively for people to chip away at the stuff that's in their way. Because they don't start out as billionaires, they don't start out as Olympic champions. They have a goal, they have a dream, they have something outside of themselves. They have a purpose that pulls them forward. And they're going to bump into whatever it is, their belief systems from the past, their traumas, their big T, little T, they're going to always bump into something. And maybe there's a. Also a piece of it that includes luck. There's a piece of it that includes timing. There's a piece of it that includes, you know, serendipity, sure. But ultimately, ultimately who everyone that I work with, it doesn't matter. Business, real estate, sport, who they've had to become is shedding some of the stories of who they used to be, of their value systems that they were maybe absorbing from their parents or from their society or from their religion or whatever. I've worked with people that have come from different religions Who've had to bust through, who've been rejected from their religions and had to bust through things. There are people who just believe so deeply in their own champions journey, in their ability to chip away, because what happens is that they want to shine, they want to step up, they want to be bigger than they were yesterday. And to me, that's the champion's journey. It doesn't matter where you start. It's about how you embrace the adversity and the, the, the joy and the elation and the. I don't know what. It was a CBC line back in the day, you know, the joy of, you know, what was the line like? The joy of success and the agony of defeat. What is it?
- [33:55]
A
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
- [33:58]
B
Right. I mean, it's so true. But if, if people really understood that, that that's transferable into the C suite, into your management team, into how you connect with the people on your team. Not just the roles that they play and the titles that they have, but the people and how they, you know, what they're bringing to that and not buying into all of this frickin, you know, external woke shit that's coming down and being imposed on people. How do we kind of chip away from the Michelangelo example is how do we when all that keeps getting piled on? That's more stuff that we have to climb on top of, more stuff that we have to chip away because there's going to be more people that want to take credit for other people's success on every level. And every four years I see it, somebody else is going to want to take credit for, you know, Lawrence and Guillaume and for Maddie and Evan and for Lyla Lewis and for, you know, Olivia, everybody, they want to take credit. They were there for five minutes. Yet for me, when I step back and I hold the space and know that they've done the work. Oh, I'm going to cry. They've done the work. I'm the space holder. I'm the one that says, get your head out of your ass. Hoa. People think that means, you know, something else. In reality, for me, in my world, it means get your head out of your ass. Right? And I can have those conversations because the trust has been built and that level of intimacy and commitment is that they know I'm not going to take credit for their success or their failure.
- [35:38]
A
So when I break this down, I look at it and I go, you know, really in the context that we hold this conversation is that the champion's journey is a journey and it isn't about sport. It's actually about identity of who you are under pressure, who you need to become to win the day, to be able to hit the podium, whatever your podium is. But I think there's, you know, the other side of that is, on the champion's journey is how do we respect those that have achieved those kind of results when we understand or if we take a moment to think, is that what's going on in those moments when nobody's watching, when you're up at 5am to grind it out at the gym or, you know, you're having to, you know, walk away from that bowl of chips that you really want, you know, all of the things that we do or that. That athletes have to do to compete at that level. It is a journey. It's called the champion's journey because it is a journey. And ultimately, we can say that the concept of the champion's journey is a way of being regardless of sport or business. You know, you used to do the segments on the champion's journey, but it could be, you know, are you a champion, dad? A champion, Mom? What is the champion in you that we chip away to truly discover? And to me, that's what the champion's journey is all about. It's not about sport. It is about chipping away to discover the champion or to uncover the champion in you. And, I mean, that might be a better way to kind of give it a context.
- [37:22]
B
The willingness that I. I've seen, for me, is, I think, because I'm willing to be completely vulnerable. And, you know, they laugh at me, I. I fall down two or three times the competition, I, you know, me, I twist my ankle, I. There's nothing in me that's perfect, but the willingness and the commitment that I have matches theirs. And when you talk about identity, you know, about who you have to become, what I've realized, there is another shift and what I realize, and if I can talk about Madison and Evan for a second, they've gone from identity to essence. And what I mean by that is they know who they are. But when they were, you know, given, when the joke, when the marks came up, I'm sure you saw it on our faces and just stunned that they were second and silver overall, which is a great thing. Don't get me wrong. We're not. Nobody's complaining. The team absolutely medals.
- [38:20]
A
Wait, it doesn't suck.
- [38:21]
B
Yeah. And. And, you know, you know, the regular people in the world will say that's a pretty damn good thing, but the truth is that wasn't their goal. You know, their outcome was that they were going to get the team event gold and they were going to get the individual gold. What got in the way is that Laurent and Guillaume showed up 10 months ago and said, we want to play, too. And what I saw, the level of raw emotion and disappointment and the willingness to show the truth to the world and how hurt they were, and then within 24 hours, be able to rise above it and go, no, we're not going to fight this. We're not going to ask for reviews. We're not going to continue the drama of the social media and the people that only show up every four years to, you know, to be caught up in the emotion and the adrenaline of the Olympics, and then they're going to forget about us in five minutes anyway. So they went from identity about who they are, who they wanted to be seen as to truly the essence of champions. And if anything, what the Champions Journey provides is the truth of who they are. And yes, they can be disappointed and devastated, and they can be in the moment, not look perfect and. And maybe say the wrong thing, but as they gather themselves and they bring themselves back to center, that essence of the Champion's journey, of the champion of who they are showed up. And that is truly the result, I believe, of the work that we're doing, whether it's with mine, Shui and Champions Journey, our work with our podcast. I know, right? Like, some people love this podcast, other people think we're wingnuts, but ultimately it's the essence of who we are, and we're going to attract and draw the people that want to be on this journey on some level.
- [40:09]
A
Beautiful. I think I covered all the ground I want to cover for this episode for now, but I think it's some great food for thought as we kind of wind down realizing that the Champion's Journey is really a way of being, a way of thinking, a way of life. And for those who are committed to achieving more, being more, growing, doing all the things, that's why you listen to a podcast like this. Maybe it's time to consider that you are on a champion's journey within and with whatever you're doing. And it doesn't have to be sport, it is life. Be the champion, mom, the champion, dad, the champion, manager, whatever it might be. It is a champion's journey, but it is a journey. And it means that on an ongoing basis, you're checking in and going, is this the way a champion would move? Is this the way they would think, Is this what they would do? I don't know. Some food for thought, I guess. Yeah.
- [41:06]
B
I love that. My mom always said that, you know, you're doing the world a disservice. You have to be the best in the world because you're the only Stephanie Hanlon in the world. So if you're not the best Stephanie Hanlon, then you're ripping the world off.
- [41:19]
A
You're ripping the world off. I love the fuck up.
- [41:24]
B
Isn't that great?
- [41:25]
A
Okay, well, you are the best Stephanie Hanlon in the world.
- [41:29]
B
Yeah. Because you're my biggest fan, babe.
- [41:30]
A
Congratulations and thank you. We'll call that a wrap.
- [41:34]
B
All right. I gotta get some sleep.
- [41:36]
A
Okay. Goodbye.
- [41:38]
B
That was fun.
- [41:41]
A
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening. If you found value in the podcast, please take the time to rate and review and share with others. Share with your friends as it is my goal to always improve and to provide the highest, highest value for you, the listener. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions you'd like answered, please email me@ceoaincanada.com that's CEO E I N Canada.com I look forward to hearing from you. And until next time, Patrick.
- [42:14]
B
Okay.