Pursuit of Gold with Laura Wilkinson

When he was just nineteen, Ryan Campbell flew 24,000 nautical miles on thirty-five stops in fifteen countries in just seventy days and was recognized as the first teenager in history to fly around the world solo by the Guinness Book of World Records. His critically-acclaimed book Born to Fly, which detailed this amazing journey, was nationally celebrated, and Ryan was on top of the world... until tragedy struck. At twenty-one, Ryan barely survived a devastating, life-changing plane crash, suffering broken bones from head to toe that left him in hospital for five months, followed by eighteen months of rehabilitation. Yet, refusing to accept his doctors’ diagnosis of paraplegia, Ryan fought back, using his desire to fly again as fuel for his painful yet triumphant recovery. In this episode, Ryan shares his journey from record-setting victory to backbreaking defeat and how he developed the mindset and toolbox necessary to ride out life’s toughest bumps.

Ryan starts the conversation by sharing how he fell in love with flying and set about making it his career before hitting upon the idea to break a world record. He lets us in on the process of fundraising a quarter of a million dollars at just nineteen while gaining flight experience and gives us insight into the remarkable, record-breaking flight itself, including the incredible sights and how he and his crew kept their heads under pressure. Ryan then provides an emotional account of the plane crash that nearly killed him and left him diagnosed as paraplegic, stuck in hospital with a long journey of recovery in front of him. He tells us how he drew inspiration and learned perspective from a fellow patient and developed the mindset toolbox, the idea that we all have a mental toolbox we can fill with tools to help us navigate change, challenge, crisis, and adversity. He also explains how his own toolbox helped him not only become tough and lean into his recovery but also to accept and adjust to long-term disability without letting it hold him back. In fact, he was even able to get back in the cockpit and fly again, keeping that intrinsic part of himself that he almost lost. Finally, Ryan tells us about his plans to get married, his move into motivational speaking, and why a pink Cadillac has become an important symbol for his attitude toward life.

Ryan’s resilience, determination, and fighting spirit are sure to inspire as he shares his emotional and uplifting journey from glory to tragedy and back to happiness.

Episode Highlights:

• How Ryan fell in love with flying and set about becoming a pilot at fourteen
• Ryan’s first solo flight at fifteen
• Planning a record-breaking flight
• Fundraising $250,000 while building flight experience
• Flying over water for the first time by pointing the airplane at the Pacific Ocean
• Pushing the limits of man and machine
• How Ryan and his crew keep their heads together during the flight by doing things one step at a time
• How it felt to land having broken the world record
• Working out what to do next
• The plane crash that nearly cost Ryan everything
• Tackling adversity, starting recovery, and learning perspective
• Developing the mindset toolbar
• Adjusting to disability
• Getting back in the cockpit
• What Ryan’s up to now
• The Pink Cadillac

Quotes:

“So we’re actually invited to go up and visit a cockpit as three young boys, and I tell you what, that’s pretty incredible. Eyes wide, amazed at the buttons and switches, super-stoked to meet the pilots, I thought they were the coolest people that ever walked the Earth. And that was it, that was the day that six-year-old Ryan discovered his passion, and that would be all things aviation.”

“Fifteen years old, this kid’s flying an airplane on his own, and I was jealous. Like, I was envious, I couldn’t believe this was legal. It just blew my mind.”

“The day that I turned fifteen, I went to the airport, I practiced some takeoffs and landings with my flying instructor. And then he told me to take him back to the hangar, not to shut the airplane down. He got out of that airplane, did up his seatbelts, he took his headset. He said, ‘Don’t forget to lock the door, go and have fun.’”

“I saw something I wanted, I started to kind of research how to do it, I put a plan in place, I worked really, really hard, I gave up on a bunch of stuff to be able to make it happen and ultimately found success in that. And that was a pretty powerful lesson to have when you’re fifteen.”

“I went to Google, and I googled ‘how to fly solo around the world,’ right? Legitimate Google search.”

“At that point, it wasn’t about precision. It was just about progress, doing something.”

“I often tell people, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to rent a car at an airport under the age of twenty-five, it’s very...

Today’s guest made history in Tokyo this summer, becoming the first woman to medal in springboard diving at the Olympics since Kelly McCormick won Bronze 33 years ago in Seoul, Korea in 1988. Krysta Palmer made her first Olympic team this summer at the age of 29. Watching her smile and giggle at the podium with her Bronze Medal proudly hanging around her neck warmed hearts all over the country. Krysta’s positivity is infectious and her perseverance throughout her journey to get to the Olympic podium is absolutely inspiring. Today she opens up about the injuries that took her out of contention in the sport of trampoline, what it was like to start a brand new sport at the age of 20, and she walks us through her extraordinary adventure in Tokyo, from a close call in the preliminary round to the very moment she realized she had medaled. Krysta offers mindset tips all along the journey, and she shares with us her favorite way to process both the good and the bad so that she can keep coming back stronger.

Krysta begins with her unique journey in sports, and reflects on coming back stronger from her recurring injuries, as well as how she ultimately found diving at the age of 20. She talks about transitioning her skills from trampoline to diving, working with her coach, Jianli You, to change certain habits, and entering the 2016 Olympic Team Trials following her graduation from the University of Nevada. Krysta tells Laura about a training trip to China that served as a turning point in her path to becoming an Olympian, as well as how her own experience as a coach has helped her as an athlete, and what she learned from competing in the 2017 and 2019 World Championships (her first international meet). She explains how her mindset to learn and grow from setbacks has helped her through the pandemic, and shares the moving story of receiving her Olympic ring from Laura. You’ll hear about Krysta’s memorable experience at the Tokyo Olympics, how her faith keeps her grounded, and the surreal and exciting moment she realized she had medaled in Tokyo.

Krysta’s honesty and perseverance throughout today’s conversation are sure to motivate and inspire as she shares her incredible journey, and everything she has overcome to be able to do what she loves to do.

Episode Highlights:

• Krysta’s journey in sports, beginning with gymnastics and trampoline at a young age
• Coming back stronger from her heartbreaking injuries and finding diving at the age of 20
• Transitioning her skills from trampoline to diving, changing certain habits, learning new dives on the fast track
• Entering the 2016 Olympic Team Trials following her graduation from the University of Nevada
• Her training trip to China in 2016, and how it brought her closer to becoming an Olympian
• The difference between platform and springboard diving, and Krysta’s transition from platform to springboard
• Supporting her athletic training after college through coaching, and how this has helped her become a better athlete
• Her experience at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019
• Learning and growing the most from disappointments or poor competitions
• How this mentality helped her make the most of trials and tribulations brought on by the pandemic
• Training through injuries and her family’s support throughout her career
• Krysta’s very special memory of receiving her Olympic ring from Laura
• Her unique experience at the Tokyo Olympics
• The importance of Krysta’s faith
• The surreal and exciting experience of realizing she had medaled in Tokyo
• How Krysta continues to process her accomplishment and what the next season of her life looks like
• Continuing her education and studying toward an MBA

Quotes:

• “At the age of five, when I was young, I really really had this lifelong dream of being an Olympian one day.”
• “You're always having to use your visual awareness to spot where you are. And make changes based on where you are. So I learned that through trampoline, and that actually really progressed well into my diving career.”
• “I've had two big struggles in learning how to make a proper entry. And also learning how to get the rhythm and the timing with the springboard, because also trampoline is very quick - quick twitch muscle work.”
• “I competed platform in the 2016 Olympic Trials because we weren't quite there yet with springboard. And my coach had always said, Give it time. Because springboard diving...you need time to develop the skill of it.”
• “I came into the team mid-semester, so in January. And I had to learn all my springboard dives for 1-meter/3-meter before Conference in February.”
• “I think the biggest thing was just trusting my coach [Jianli You], because I knew that she has the knowledge and the skill to teach me, whatever it is. I'm learn...

Laura’s guest on today’s episode is record-breaker, trailblazer, and history-maker Natalie Coughlin. Natalie has won twelve Olympic medals and twenty World Championship medals; she was the first US woman to win six medals at a single Olympic Games and the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the same event and consecutive Olympics. And as if that wasn’t enough, Natalie was also the first woman ever to swim the hundred-meter backstroke in less than a minute. Her achievements also include winning eleven out of a possible twelve individual NCAA titles, being NCAA Swimmer of the Year three years in a row, and winning a total of sixteen medals in major international competitions (twenty-five gold, twenty-two silver, and thirteen bronze) spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan-Pacific Championships, and the Pan-American Games. As impressive as her achievements are, Natalie’s also just a really cool, down-to-earth person who’s so much fun to talk to. During the episode, we jump into how her story began, her fierce competitiveness, and an injury that changed her whole perspective on swimming.

First up, Natalie shares how she got into swimming at a young age and how her natural competitiveness drove her to break onto the swimming scene at just thirteen. She then relates how she suffered a torn labrum in the run-up to qualifying for the 2000 Olympics team, the effect that had on her mindset and perspective, and her choice to avoid surgery and recover through physical rehab. Next, Natalie discusses how she chose which college to attend (eventually ending up at Cal, Berkeley) and the choices she made in her career post-injury, including ditching the two-hundred-meter backstroke and transitioning to sprint events. She talks about qualifying for the 2004 Olympics and the relief when she did, followed by the experience of winning her first gold medal and the positive impact that had on her confidence and ability to stay calm while competing. She also discusses how becoming a gold medalist led to more media attention and street recognition, how the Michael Phelps phenomenon helped shield her from the worst of that, and how she managed to achieve a happy medium of attention for her record-breaking success. Natalie then shares how it felt when other swimmers started nipping at her heels, firing up her competitiveness, and the mindset she gets into when preparing to compete. She then discusses how she prepared for the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, keeping her cool when the media were pushing retirement, and circling back to that early injury and how it helped her keep swimming in perspective. Laura then asks Natalie to share her most memorable and toughest moments in her career, including winning the hundred-back in Beijing and feeling isolated during the 2012 Games. And finally, Natalie shares what she’s been up to since retiring from competition, including writing her cookbook Cook to Thrive and starting the women-owned winery Gaderian Wines in Napa Valley.

Episode Highlights:

• How Natalie got started in swimming
• Natalie’s competitive spirit
• Breaking onto the swimming scene at age thirteen
• Dealing with injury while trying to make the 2000 Olympic team
• Choosing between colleges
• Ditching the 200 backstroke
• Qualifying for the 2004 Olympic team
• The impact of winning gold at the Olympics
• Dealing with media attention
• Winning medals and breaking records
• The mentality of competition
• The road to Beijing 2008 and London 2012
• The most memorable vs. the toughest moment of Natalie’s swimming career
• What Natalie’s up to now
• Natalie’s cookbook, Cook to Thrive

Quotes:

• “Like the Water Babies type thing, you know, that every parent really needs to do for the safety of their children. It’s very, very important, whether you want them to be a swimmer or not, you have to get your kids in the water early.”
• “When we did soccer at school, like during PE or during recess and lunch, all the kids in my class, they were in soccer, and they were just, they were so much better than me. So I remember going home and practicing with a soccer ball against the wall in the backyard, just so I could get better. And no one was coaching me, I was doing this by myself.”
• “I will never forget, like, walking out onto the pool deck in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and they’re like, ‘And in lane one, Natalie Coughlin. Thirteen-year-old Natalie Coughlin.’ And then I choked because it was the first time I was on, like, the major stage.”
• “A doctor, you know, finally told me, ‘Hey, you tore your labrum.’ So I had to deal with that, you know, most of ’99 and the lead up until 2000. And so my training really suffered. Emotionally, I really suffered. It was a really, really tough thing. And so I got to the 2000 Olympic trials, and by that tim...

This week’s guest is Dr. Karen Cogan, a Senior Sports Psychologist for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) who has attended 4 Olympic Games as the Sports Psychology Consultant for several Olympic medalists and their coaches. Dr. Cogan has a special set of skills, and she most certainly ‘knows her stuff’.

In today’s episode, Laura and Dr. Cogan cover an incredible amount of territory including the Doctor’s journey to sports psychology, her direction for athletes dealing with the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the benefits of implementing mindfulness techniques in both sports and life in general. They also look at the causes of burnout in athletes, some reasons behind athletes seeking Dr. Cogan’s assistance and what it means to honor their feelings, as well as some common characteristics of successful and struggling athletes. Finally, Dr. Cogan offers her advice on a number of topics ranging from helping struggling athletes to managing distractions, routines, and pressure, and she also shares some words of wisdom for parents and young athletes. This is an episode overflowing with amazing insight, unique perspective, and powerful ‘truth bombs’ from two highly accomplished experts in their fields. There truly is gold in your future, and today’s show marks the first in a series of formidable steps to help you pursue it.

Episode Highlights:

Dr. Cogan’s background and her journey to sports psychology Her direction for athletes trying to cope through this pandemic and who are preparing to get back to full swing when this isolation ends Mindfulness training for sports and life The causes of burnout in athletes and how to avoid it Reasons that athletes have for talking with Dr. Cogan and how she honors their feelings Common characteristics of both successful and struggling athletes Dr. Cogan’s advice regarding helping struggling athletes, overcoming ‘fear of success’, dealing with pressure, managing distractions, routines, community, and technology Her advice for young athletes and parents of athletes

Quotes:

“What I have encouraged athletes to do is to really honor the feelings that they have, whatever those are.”

“It’s okay to grieve dreams or hopes and things like that when it doesn’t play out like you want.”

“When we try to push down those things we’re afraid are going to take over, we’re actually giving them power to take over, and that’s when they end up exploding in our face.”

“Everything is a performance issue when it comes to the Olympics.”

“An athlete has to be able to talk openly.”

“Now’s the time to get rid of the bad habits and establish the good habits.”

“Winning and losing does not define you as a person or an athlete.”

“While the gold medal is awesome, and it’s a great goal to strive for, it’s that pursuit that’s going to make you who you are in the long run.”

Links: The Pursuit of Gold homepage: http://thepursuitofgold.com/

Dr. Karen Cogan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-cogan-93440a24/

This week, Laura welcomes Olympic hurdler, Sarah Wells, to the podcast. Once an athlete who was cut from every high school team she tried out for, Sarah discovered track and field and went on to become an Olympic semi-finalist and Pan Am Games silver medallist in the 400m hurdles, building a reputation for overcoming challenges and achieving the ‘impossible’ along the way. She is also the Founder of the Believe Initiative, where she now uses her story to help youth understand the importance of being resilient and the power of believing in themselves, and to help corporations build more resilient teams. Sarah begins by recounting how she got her unique start in sports, the support networks which have sustained her throughout, her rapid development in the hurdles, and both working and learning through her injuries. She also shares her discovery of ‘her word’, her Olympics Trials and Games experience, managing her stress fractures, and preparing to qualify for Rio 2016. Sarah concludes the conversation by discussing her Believe Initiative, how to get involved in it, her retirement from sports, and her perspective and guide to redefining success. A gifted speaker with a truly inspiring story, Sarah Wells has learned so much from her journey which is so very pertinent to life both within and beyond the sporting arena, and she shares it all here today. Episode Highlights:

• Sarah’s start in sports
• Her support networks
• Sarah’s rapid development in hurdles
• Working and learning through her femur injury
• Finding her word ‘Believe’
• Returning from her injury
• Her Olympics Trials and Games experience
• Managing her recurring stress fractures
• Preparing to qualify for Rio 2016
• The Believe Initiative and how to get involved
• Retiring from sport
• Sarah’s perspective and exercise regarding redefining success

Quotes:

• “At that point I hadn't defined myself by sport and I also had some really amazing siblings.”
• “You go from zero to competing internationally in, like, eight months.”
• “When someone else says it, you know, you're instantly a bit more likely to believe it.”
• “I would almost, like, live and die by how my leg felt that morning.”
• “I just would get so mentally defeated and, like, halfway through an interval I would just start walking.”
• “In the most important races in my life, when the gun goes off, I hear nothing. I just lock into completing what I need to do.”
• “It hurts so much that I'm scared, tomorrow when I run, it could break in half.”
• “It's a hard line to figure out when to push and when to ease off.”
• “Success isn't linear, it’s this roller coaster ride of emotions.”
• “Rest would have been very productive in that moment.”
• “I miss qualifying by half a second.”
• “Clearly you don't build self-belief through achievements, you build it through action.”
• “It helps people everywhere take a passion they have with a problem they want solve, and they use that passion to solve that problem, and they build self-belief through action.”
• “While hard work doesn't always lead to success, being resilient will always lead to another opportunity for it.”
• “Far more people are inspired by the time where I didn't make the Olympics over the time where I did.”
• “If you're able to continuously embody and act from a place of those powerful character traits that lead to success, well then, even in a moment where things don't work out, you're going to be able to rely on those things and find your next opportunity for success.”

Links: The Pursuit of Gold homepage 5 Smart Strategies to Confidence Conquer Your Fear in 5 Days Laura’s Social Media: Laura's Instagram Laura's Facebook page Connect with Sarah: Sarah's Homepage Believe Initiative The Believe Leadership Course Redefining Success