Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais - Start the New Year With Purpose and Intention | Olympic Medalists, Nicole Davis & Caroline Burckle

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Happy New Year!The start of the year is such an exciting time – it’s a natural opportunity to reset, ground ourselves, and re-align with who we are… and who we want to become.In the spirit of the New Year, we have a very special episode for you today – many of you who listen to the podcast may not be aware that Finding Mastery has a whole other very exciting side to our business. With the help of our very own performance strategists, former Olympians, and mindset coaches, we get the opportunity to work with some of the most influential organizations in the world (like Microsoft, Maersk, Salesforce, and many others) to help them solve some of the world’s most dynamic human performance challenges. In this episode, I’m joined by two of our incredible Olympians and Finding Mastery mindset coaches: Dr. Nicole Davis, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in indoor volleyball from the Beijing and London games – and Caroline Burckle, an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer from the Beijing games. Together, we’re here to help you shape, and bring to life, a powerful intention to set the stage for the coming year. Olympians are an incredible subset to teach us about intentions and how to bring them to life because their entire journey to success depends on a disciplined, deliberate, and methodical approach to achieving their ambitions.Whether you’re setting personal goals, professional aspirations, or just looking to make 2025 your best year yet, Nicole and Caroline have so many gems to offer._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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First of all, I want to wish you a very happy and healthy new year. The start of a new year is such an exciting time and it's a natural opportunity to reset, to ground ourselves and to even realign with who we are and who we're working on becoming. In the spirit of the new year, we have a very special episode for you today. Many of you who listen to Finding Mastery might not be aware that we have an entire other exciting side to our business, where with the help of our very own performance strategists, Olympians, and mindset coaches, we get the opportunity to work with some

of the world's most influential organizations like Microsoft, Maersk, Salesforce, and many others to help them solve some of the world's most dynamic human performance challenges. In this episode, I'm joined by two of our incredible Olympians and Finding Mastery Mindset coaches, Dr. Nicole Davis, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in indoor volleyball from the Beijing and London Games, and Caroline Burkle, an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer from the Beijing Games. Together, we're here to help you shape and bring to life a powerful intention to set the stage for this coming year. Olympians have so much to teach us about intentions and how to bring them to life

because their entire journey has depended on a very clear vision and then a disciplined, deliberate, and even methodical approach to achieving their ambitions. Whether you're clarifying personal or professional aspirations, or just looking to make 2025 your best year ever, Nicole and Caroline have so many gems to offer. So with that, let's dive right into this special conversation with Nicole Davis and Caroline Burkle. Nicole, Caroline, welcome to the Mastery Lab. It is so much fun to have you guys here.

The Mastery Lab is a place for us to explore, to share some insights. And so it's great to see you guys in here. It's good to be here. Yeah, we've been trying to do this for a while. I know. It's going to be great. So I just want to come out kind of firing here on this idea about resolutions. This phase of the year is really important for a lot of people. And you guys both know my take on resolutions, but maybe the listener doesn't. I'm not a fan. I don't think that this is something that is all that useful for people. But there is this moment in time right now where if we do anchor ourselves in research, Dr. Katie Milkman from UPenn has some really good research around the opportunity of fresh starts. So I would like to start our conversation grounded in science and give people some tools, your experiences, and some insights so that they can

be just a little bit better this year. So let's just start with a clip from Katie Milkman, and then we'll respond to that. The research we've done on the fresh start effect shows that at these fresh start moments, we really feel like a better version of ourselves because we can set aside, you know, that was the old me, all of those failures were of a different person. We take on this new identity, it comes with, you know, this is the 2020s me, or this is the, you know, Philadelphia me, because I've moved to a new city. Or, you know, if you've moved to a new job, you feel like it's the different role. And with it comes a better you because we're so optimistic. We're always expecting more of ourselves in the future, which I think it has some downsides, but it's a

pretty wonderful feature of human beings. Okay. So when you hear Dr. Milkman say that, I want to offer some context and then get your take on it. The context of why the three of us are having this conversation is we've been involved in high-level sport in the Olympics for a long time. And as athletes, you start a new season every year. So right now, people are thinking about the resolution for the new year. And actually, what we want to have a conversation about is how to start a new season to give yourself a best chance to be the best version of you. So when you hear her, how do you open up the idea about versions?

And then how do you think about new seasons? I like the concept of that transcending and including piece of what is it that you can leave and what is it that you can take with you. And I've noticed that if I think back to my career in swimming specifically, if each season started the exact same way every single time, how am I growing? What am I leaving behind that maybe didn't serve me, whether it was other people's opinions, whether it was trying to perform for the world around me, whether it was my own anxious nerves about something or other? And then what serves me? What can I look forward to moving forward?

How can I continue to grow as a person? Now, that's simple, right? But I think we can overcomplicate it a lot. And we can go down this rabbit hole of like, I've got to change all these things and do all these things, but what didn't work, leave that there. It served you somehow because you learned from it. And then what can you do to grow moving forward and keeping it as simple as possible? My goodness. I mean that framing about it Nicole like when you hear that that's like oh yeah that's that is how we do it it's an examination period it feels like to you to say what am I letting go of and what am I working toward and then before your take on it Nicole

Caroline how do you do that how do you think through and determine what you're going to let go of and what you're going to work towards? I was talking with Kevin before this and I was just saying, well, sometimes I feel. Kevin is our producer. Yeah, Kevin, he's great. Sometimes I feel weird. You know, I feel like I'm just different because I think of everything in images. And so I can see different points in time. Like I can see my facial expression.

I can see things. And I'm like, yeah, I don't I don't want that. Or I don't want that experience. That didn't serve me. I was so stressed about this person judging me or not performing for this or not getting this time or not being best in the world at this. And I can see the vision. I can see the image of that versus just listing it. Like that doesn't work for me. But if I can see the image of like how I felt in that moment and how just empty that that is I know that that doesn't serve me because my whole body feels like it's going to just like crumble down into this little ball of dust if I think about that moment again and that's how I know that doesn't work you know what I love about this is that

it's not a cognitive alone it's not an intellectual alone experience it's what we would refer to as an embodied a fully embodied experience that you're using your imagination to see and feel times that you felt quote unquote empty or anxious like no no okay great i've got that image that is something that i am ready to let go of. Right. And then so you start with connecting the image with some feelings. And then you go to work on what led to that or what you want to do differently. Yes. Okay, brilliant. Start there and then like funnel down into the specifics. Do you get it down into writing? I do sometimes more bullet point style boxes and graphs and Nicole's laughing because she knows this is the truth. But that

really helps. But then also on the flip side, that's what I can see as how I'm going to start fresh or begin to feel like I'm doing great things. I can see that facial expression of like a smile or like you're standing on a podium or you can just see that glimpse of something and then you work towards that image. Like that's just what works for me. And I mean, I know it's different and doesn't work for everybody, but that's helpful for me to see that because it's tangible. On both sides, what you're letting go of and what you're working towards. It's like a little.

Beautiful. Yeah. And so you're not seeing a metal. You're seeing you in a future state. I'm seeing myself. Yeah. I don't see things very much. I see myself and like how I feel, whether it was like hand touching a wall, turning around, seeing the scoreboard, like I could see all of that first. And then being able to go from there, I think is a really powerful way to do that.

Amazing. Nicole, what did you hear from Katie Milkman or respond to? tethered to growth, that this conversation just makes sense. But I'm kind of cognizant that, you know, when people are looking to set resolutions or for a fresh start, that it's not always about growth, that there's some metric or there's something that they're trying to attain as part of sort of the impetus for the change, whereas like we do it for the sake of growth. Finding Mastery is brought to you by LinkedIn Sales Solutions. In any high-performing environment that I've been part of, from elite teams to executive boardrooms, one thing holds true.

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Sales Navigator for free for 60 days at linkedin.com slash deal. That's linkedin.com slash deal. For two full months for free, terms and conditions apply. Finding Mastery is brought to you by David Protein. I'm pretty intentional about what I eat, and the majority of my nutrition comes from whole foods. And when I'm traveling or in between meals on a demanding day, certainly, I need something quick that will support the way that I feel and think and perform. And that's why I've been leaning on David protein bars. And so has the team here at Finding Mastery. In fact, our GM, Stuart, he loves them so much. I just want to kind of

quickly put them on the spot. Stuart, I know you're listening. I think you might be the reason that we're running out of these bars so quickly. They're incredible, Mike. I love them. One a day, one a day. What do you mean one a day? There's way more than that happening here. Don't tell. Okay. All right. Look, they're incredibly simple they're effective 28 grams of protein just 150 calories and zero grams of sugar it's rare to find something that fits so conveniently into a performance-based lifestyle and actually tastes good dr peter attia someone who's been on the show it's a great episode by the way is also their chief science officer so i know they've done

their due diligence in that category. My favorite flavor right now is the chocolate chip cookie dough and a few of our teammates here at Finding Mastery have been loving the fudge brownie and peanut butter. I know Stuart, you're still listening here. So getting enough protein matters and that can't be understated, not just for strength, but for energy and focus, recovery, for longevity. And I love that David is making that easier. So if you're trying to hit your daily protein goals with something seamless, I'd love for you to go check them out.

Get a free variety pack, a $25 value and 10% off for life when you head to davidprotein.com slash finding mastery. That's David, D-A-V-I-D, protein, P-R-O-T-E-I-N.com slash Finding Mastery. So we know from research that about 20% of people that set a resolution actually accomplish it. That's a pretty low number, right? And so 80% wash out. And you're saying, okay, I get the idea of a fresh start. A new year is a fresh start. Monday actually is a fresh start to the week, right?

6.45 a.m. is when I wake up on most mornings. That's a fresh start to the day. So there's a fresh start moment that the new year represents. And you're saying, I get it, but I feel like every day to be a successful Olympian, I was constantly leaning into those two things. What am I letting go of? And what am I working towards? Yeah, I remember I had already been to two Olympics, and I was trying to make a third. And we had all these younger players in the gym. And they just didn't see the game the way that I saw the game. I was watching it unfold so much faster so that the game slowed down for me.

And I reached a point where I recognized there was fear to share what I was seeing because it might mean that they get better than me. And when I finally let go of that, it was actually liberating for me. And so to your question about versions of you, when I heard Katie Milkman talk about sort of this idea of a move to a new city knew me, I think I have a knee-jerk reaction to this idea of like, what about the operating system, right? What about all of the things that served you until now? And that we're not sort of flipping things upside down, but we're really tethering to what's been working for me and what do I need to let go of so that I can update the operating system. It's way more grounded. Obviously, her research is pointing to something, which is like

capture the fresh something. I feel it. You do feel it. Yeah. Right now, when I wake up and it's like, yes, today is a new day, I feel fundamentally different than, oh, my God, not another day. OK, so you're using a fresh start on a day-to-day basis. Inherent in being an Olympic athlete. Like that's, that's how you approach every day. So let's ground the listener. How many, how long Caroline, did you compete on a world-class stage? Well, after NCAAs, I guess it kind of starts. So seven years, seven years. I actually think in swimming college college is, in the U.S., is world class. Five to 25.

But I was not on the world stage at five. No, right. Took a long time, by the way. 15 years? Yeah. Somewhere in there? Yeah. Like it was.

Yeah. Okay. You were competing against great competitors. Okay. Nicole? 12 years. 12 years. Okay.

And then your season, you had seasons. Did you have two seasons a year or one? Two seasons a year. You had two years. 12 years. Okay. And then you had seasons. Did you have two seasons a year or one? Two seasons a year. You had two. Yeah. Yeah. So you had the college and or the pros and then the Olympic season. National team, Olympic season and pro season.

Okay. So you got two starts in that way. And swimming is like year round. It's like you're staring at a black line. Two weeks off a year. Yeah. I don't know but seasons are a thing like you'll have summer season and then winter season okay to where you peak at

those times so new year new you you're using a framework and nicole are using imagery as well similar caroline yeah i connect to images as well Let's stay here for a minute and operationalize how you do it. So the listener who maybe doesn't use imagery or isn't familiar with it, which is one of the more powerful tools, psychological tools. Can you just open up maybe in ways that you've never talked about before? Like, how do you do it? Do you sit down? Do you stand up? Do you lay down?

Are you doing it walking? Like, how are you doing it? Walking with your eyes closed. I actually have a cute little story here. When I was, I don't know how old, 10, 9 or 10, I had a goals sheet. And on the goals sheet, you know, you write down all the things you want to do and how you want to feel and all whatever. And all of it was like, have fun with my friends.

But then at the very bottom, I put, I want to go to the Olympics someday. O-L-I-M-P-I-X. And my mom framed it. But I remember like, you know, you have very few memories sometimes of just specific things when you're younger. Like, you know, certain things happen, but it's not very vivid. I had this image of me on the podium at the Olympic trials as one. And then the other one was like touching the wall and turning around and just like the smile of that. So I held that for a long time. And I was 20 when I made the team, so 10 years.

And so I started with that, again, that image of the feeling, the expression, the experience versus the expression, the experience, versus, okay, I'm standing there with a medal with my name written on the roster. That wasn't as important to me as the feeling, the experience, the expression on my face and embodying that. So I start again, back to, I start there.

I have to start with the macro feeling of that. And when you do imagery now as a more seasoned, you know, imagineer, can you see it in color? Yes. Is it real time? Is it slow? It's like how Instagram now has like three-second reels. It's that.

Oh, it's three-second reels. It's like a boomerang. Oh, that's interesting. When that was cool. In full color. In full color. But that's interesting. And then when that was cool. In full color. In full color. So but that's still how I do it to this day. So that framed it up for me as a young girl.

And I haven't strayed from that. Like that's a very easy way for me to capture that feeling. When Bob Bowman was on an earlier podcast, this is Michael Phelps coach. He talked about Michael doing lots of imagery, like running the full race and then adding adversity into it where his goggles would fill up with water. So he'd have a frame of reference if that were to happen. Yeah. Would you, Nicole, would you see adversity in your imagery or is it more of a success rule? Initially, when I wasn't super effective at imagery, I would see a lot of adversity. I would see myself making mistakes before you helped with that process.

And so I think it's pretty natural for your mind to wander when you're trying to, when you're trying to imagine the future. Um, and just for the listener, I worked with the team in what year was this? It was 2012 to 2016. Yeah. And with the women in what year was this? It was 2012 to 2016. Yeah.

And with the women's national Olympic roster. And when I became better at it, then I could intentionally sort of plant what I was working on. For example, let's say there's a phase of the season where I was sort of struggling with a particular skill being served, you know, from one direction to the next and making angles on my left. then I could implant that, you know, the particular server, the type of serve, the environment, the mistake that I was making, and then correcting it in real time.

Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So the listener might hear that and go, okay, a couple of things. One, new year, new me. This is actually an everyday process. Right. But let's take advantage of the January fresh start. Let's ground it in some research. Let's think about upgrading the operating system. And it involves two things. What am I letting go of and what am I working towards? And then part of the process is to close your eyes. Imagine you're doing imagery, eyes closed. Not everyone does. Closing, let's just say closing your eyes and seeing and feeling both parts of that. And then why do that? Because it becomes a little bit more real.

And let's say that somebody wanted to lose weight, make more money, gain weight, whatever it might be. You're suggesting work through the sticky points. Maybe it's not drinking at parties. You would encourage them to see themselves walking up the stairs to a party and kind of having that right frame inside themselves where they're open, they're fun, they're going to enjoy it. And they're not anxious and tight about what do I do when somebody says, do you want to drink? That they're working through that feeling first. Do we have that right? Yeah. Beautiful. So there's, there's a bunch of words that we've just used. We've used imagery, we use resolution, we've talked about goals. When I bring up the word

intention, what comes to mind for you? For me, it's a quality of how you want to show up and be. There's images that are connected to that. There's feelings that are connected to that. And that's 100% in your capacity to control. So that's one of the reasons why when I think about how do I want to move through a fresh start, a new year, I connect to that word much deeper than a resolution, right? What am I resolute or determined to do? It's a way of doing, not a way of being. Okay. So I'm not interested in resolutions.

We hit that from the top. You're more interested in intention. Like how do I want to be? Okay. I see you nodding your head, Carolyn. Yeah, resolution. I have that allergy too as well just because I think you can set all of the resolutions, this outcome-oriented goal. But if you don't know why you're doing it, which to me is intention, why you're doing it, why it matters to you, how you're showing up to her point, then that's why it falls off.

That's why that you gave the statistic earlier. That's why people lose it after three months, because that goal can't be that strong if you don't know why you're doing it. And that intention can help you get there. Just pause here, because there's a way that I work with people when they're going to start a new season or start a phase, whatever the phase is. Sometimes people come because they're like, look, there's so much more in me and I'm committed. I want to go to that place. Or it's they're in some sort of crisis and they're like, it's hard right now, you know, like, or it's the beginning of the season. They're like, look, I just want to, I don't want a stone unturned. I want to make sure that my technical training, my physical training, my mental training,

it's all on point. Okay. So the thing that I do first and foremost, it's like simple language, which is like, well, what's the ambition here? What is it that you're trying or what are you setting out to do? Simple language. And then who are you setting out to be? Those two ideas, the doing and the being is going to constantly be a framing for me.

Can we make this really concrete for you going into 2025? What are some of the ambitions? And who is it that you're working on becoming? Can I throw a wrench in here really quickly? Ooh. What if people don't know how to describe what they want and how they – so what if there's – That's a big part of the conversation, yeah. You know, where it's like, okay, I can feel it.

I know I inherently want to be great and lose 20 pounds or run a marathon or, you know, win a gold medal or become CEO of my company. I don't know. Whatever it is. But what if they don't know how to describe that? It's not tangible yet. Yeah, I think that's a cool statement or cool question because most people, tell me if you feel it differently, have a sense that there's more.

And then there's a process to get more clear of what that more will look like. Like what is the more? The doing more and the being more. Still both of those frames. And it's through the conversation, through its questions, or set of questions, that help elicit that clarity. That to me is what a great friend would do. It's what a mentor could do. It's what obviously a sports psych would do. A person of wisdom. It could be a parent. It could not be any of those. They could all, you know, get directly... It could be a parent. It could not be any of those. They could all, you know, get directly.

Right. It could be a lot of things. So I think the work is to get to the clarity. And I'm an extroverted thinker, so I like to talk it out with people. I like to hear it and feel it. And I like to hear what they say. And I go, oh, that's it. Oh, wait, not that, but that.

And it's a bit of a tapestry weaving experience for me that at the end of a conversation or five conversations, I'm like, oh, there's the tapestry. That's exactly it. So if I don't let you off the hook. Don't worry. We were ready. What are some of the ambitions that you're thinking about for 2025 and or who are you working on becoming? Something that's really important to me over the last year is working on becoming more of myself through less of what I have been. So back to the initial conversation. Being open to more possibility. Being open, not so rigid in how I've always done things.

That got me somewhere. In my sport, it was really good sometimes to be very disciplined and rigid, but also, and it works in my life in some ways. And also it closes me to being open sometimes to new possibilities and opportunities that present themselves because it's easier to go back to what's familiar. So that is something that's really important to me. And I think it's an ambition in a way because it allows for different goals and outcomes to fall into place as I go. So you've had incredible structure. This phase is now about breaking some of that structure.

Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to do because structure is also necessary. Yeah. For some. For some. But it also provides freedom within it if you have an idea of why, again, you're doing it. Are you working on breaking structure or operating? I think I'm working on using what helps me with the structure and allowing freedom for what doesn't. That's cool.

The parts that close me off to opportunity and possibility. Yeah. And I noticed that you, I know you're doing a bunch of art right now, that you didn't say it's to turn out 15 pieces. It's to get into this gallery. It's to make this money. It's to put out 15 somethings a week. You didn't do any of that kind of concrete, tangible goal setting. I think there's a part of

me, and I don't know if you experienced this too, where you can, you feel into that. You're like, yeah, I want to, I want to do that. You know, like I want to do all those things you just said. Yeah. And also I'm open to taking it step by step. So for example, if I have an art show in February or something, it's like that I want to fill the place. I want people to feel like they're a part of something. I want to for artists to feel like they can share their art. That to me is more important than me creating something at this point. Does that make sense? So like creating possibilities and opportunities as well that are more expansive for our community and for different situations

than just me hitting a goal or a target of i'm gonna do this how about for you nicole the word i'm playing with right now is vibrance i feel like i'm still recovering from my doctorate a little bit and that'll beat all the vibrance right out of you yeah one site more citation please yeah how do you know the sky is blue who said it before you so it's vibrance and there's so much wrapped up in that you know part of it is like vision a vision around like what it means to be healthy now at my age and the things that i've sort of encountered in the last year with my health and then also just like personally i think i part of my vision is my vision for life is to make a ripple.

And so what I've recognized is that I say yes to a lot, and it doesn't always fill my cup. And that takes away from my vibrance. And so it's also paying attention in my relationships and the things that I'm doing and the people I surround myself with to what's creating energy rather than what's taking energy. And that then also boils down to sort of the, the daily commitments to myself, you know, like non-negotiable around movement.

Even if it's seven minutes, you know, like doing squats before I get in the shower, it's just something that I'm going to do because the snowball effect of those committed, that committed action creates the type of sort of energy stores that I want and need to have. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Momentus. When it comes to high performance, whether you're leading a team, raising a family, pushing physical limits, or simply trying to be better today than you were yesterday. What you put in your body matters.

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So let me pull on that thread. One of the less obvious observations that I've been able to see from working with world class athletes and teams is that they make a fundamental commitment in their life. They are fundamentally committed and organized around a vision, a goal, a purpose. You think about the greats. They have fundamentally committed their life towards something. And that means waking up early. That means waking up, being disciplined, the structure you were talking about, Caroline. This is not like when I feel right or when the motivation is on or, know when everything's lined up i'll paint or i

will swim or i'll get in the gym whatever it might be it's a fundamental commitment so i i want to highlight that as people are going through this this fresh start phase that think about the fundamental commitment required that rests on a series of committed actions which is what you were just referencing nicole using your imagination which is what you were just referencing, Nicole. Using your imagination to see what you want to let go of and who you want to become. To clarify that, it does start with some questions. Either you're asking yourself or other people.

And that question for me is, who do I want to become? Who am I becoming? And what's the ambition? What am I trying to do? And then, in some way, get it down or make it clear so that you can work from a fundamental commitment to get to a set of committed actions. What do you think? What are yours? Oh, I said, how did I? You knew it was coming. You were waiting. You've been waiting for the opportunity to kick it back.

Maybe a cool way to answer that is if you would share first what we do as a team here at Finding Mastery. Every year, maybe you can walk people through that exercise that you know is part of what we've just been through. It's pretty simple. The year of blank. Fill in the blank. Fill in the blank. And we take the time to know each other. Yeah.

Yeah. So that we can see people working towards it, love them up when they're in it, sort of lock arms with them when they're not. That's it. Yours is the year of adventure. Mine was the year of play last year, the last two years. Nice job, Carolyn. And this year it's the same. So I've run this back now.

This is my third year I've run it back. It's a deep intention to play more. And I'm an intense person. I'm serious it back it's a deep intention to play more and I'm an intense person I'm serious I love the work I get to do I get really intense and I want more even more play I'm exponentially better at play than I was three years ago and I want more of it and so I'm running the same thing back so my intention is a one word intention which is this year is the year of play. And so to operationalize that, I have to fundamentally commit to it, not just have a bunch of goals that I write down. Like, how am I going to be more playful today is cool, but I have to fundamentally commit to it. And then when I wake up in the morning, like that's the that's the fresh start.

All right. Play. So what do I do? Like, what did i do last year as a takeaway probably 85 of the time first thing is um to greet lisa and grayson with a smile and a good morning kind of vibe in that way vibrance there you go and the second thing is turn on some music in the house that's just up that has a beat to it so i'm starting connecting and then i'm starting with like some energy in my environment so that that's how if i'm better at that it creates this glide path for all the things that i want to do to have just a little bit more play so that's for me what i'm working on and i want to add one more piece is that this becoming the way i see it is not like a version of myself to your point earlier, Nicole, it's not quite that for me. It's more like opening the

aperture wider so that that part of me can come forward. Yeah. Right. That part of me that was at three and 13 and 23, that part of me can come forward. And the part I want to come forward more often is a playful part. So that's that I'm doing it. I like that. Do you like that? I do. Yeah. Well, and I was thinking as you were talking, my word last year was trust.

This year I feel like it might be trust again because that's that trusting the expansiveness of opportunities and staying open to that. But trust is also so intricately tied to those fundamental commitments and committed actions. Because if you don't trust yourself to do the things that you want to do, it doesn't have that same feeling in the first place. So I think it's important, you know, as people wake up January 1st, it's like, do I trust myself to really step into what I'm envisioning for myself or if I set an intention for myself,

I think that really goes hand in hand in a lot of ways too, that piece. For me, when I really trust myself, I can dream bigger. And the trust has to be earned. Let's spend a few minutes on talking about how to build self-trust. When I think of self-trust, it's like I like i can do hard things now you have to earn that statement and that statement to me is like i trust that i will figure that out too whatever that that is sometimes those things are really you know like heavy and hard yeah you know some people are don't see it, don't say it because it comes into existence. I'm just calling bullshit.

Square up with it. Face it. Be an adult. This could happen too. So you're calling BS on that too? I used to know very superstitious if you will. When you were racing? Oh yeah. Like for example?

Would never tell anyone what I wanted to do or. But it was it was really interesting because I still trusted myself. But I think there was a component of not wanting everybody else's voice in my ear. Oh, that's different, though, which I which I eventually figured out. But I think at a young age, I thought it was superstitious. You know, I thought it was like, I don't want to say it because it's not going to come true. I don't think that was it. It was me feeling like if I said it out loud that other people would have an opinion about it.

And I wanted to stay to what I knew I could do. That's badass. But I didn't get that at first. You know, I thought I was just the superstitious. You're young. You're 16. If you said out there, I want to be an Olympic medalist, you wouldn't. Somebody would go, oh, that's sweet.

That's nice. I just didn't want other people's thoughts about it. I think I knew that I was a people pleaser and it would just end up bad. It would just end up in this place where I was doing it for everybody else. And it did for a while. There was a long time that I that I went down that path. But I think once I figured out that it is, you know, just you got to stay to what you know you can do and that you're like the road you're on instead of, OK, other people's opinions about the path that I'm going to go on. It's not it's not my business. They can stay out of it. And I think that was finally what I realized. How do you think that insight and some of the other things that we've been talking about for intentions and, you know, really having a way about yourself

that you've learned over the years of all of the radical world class competitions that you've been through in the process? How do you think that that is helping the corporate clients that we work with. Well, I think there's a difference between receiving feedback from people and honest thoughts and opinions and truths and filtering those into what is helpful moving forward. And then people's just flat-out opinions about how you are going to achieve something or the way you're going to go about it. I think there's just a difference there huge difference like one of the things that is a important practice for me

is I think about a roundtable there's only a handful of seats at the roundtable and those those that wisdom counselor the people I turn to and that could be a coach a technical coach right like put your elbow in when you do this or like hold your hand. And that could be a coach, a technical coach, right? Like put your elbow in when you do this or like hold your hand here when you, could be a technical coach or it is definitely my wife. There's some people that make the round table. Everyone else? Yeah.

You know, like they don't really, really, really, really, really know what I'm trying to do. So same for you? Yeah, I think so. I think that took some training, though. And it also took to your point about like earning my own trust that I didn't have for a long time. And I think you have to, you know, figure out what you trust within yourself

so that you know how to filter what other people are saying. Otherwise it will just osmosis into you. Yeah, right. And just super dangerous covers you like a blanket and think about that like the average just becomes your operating system yeah right think about that most most people a thousand like there's a number when it comes resolutions three out of ten people set quote-unquote resolutions what they go through some process at the beginning of the year. 80% of those people say, oh, yeah, mine? I'm going to make them happen.

Less than 20% actually make it happen. Think about the overestimation. Like, I'm different. I feel special. You two are Olympic medalists. So you hold something really powerful about how to make something a reality. Okay, pause, Nicole, take us home on like, what it is that you would love a listener to take away from this conversation from your insights from Caroline's insights? What I would love a listener to take away is, I think I'm thinking of your question, like, what if you

can't articulate it? To start somewhere, whatever it is, because I think language is limiting. And then to your point, Caroline, when we put it out there, whether it's just the sentence in our mind, or we actually say it out loud, there is most of the vulnerability hangover of of putting it out there within yourself or with other people and it's it's not a sentence like you're not sentenced to this intention or to this resolution or whatever the word is that there's so much flexibility if if i want to be about vibrance this year and two and a half months from now i need need to adjust, I can adjust. But it's about setting sort of the mark, whatever the North Star is for you, put words and feelings and images to it. What I hope you take away is that then back end with the committed, the fundamental commitments, the

committed actions, the daily restart, refresh towards that rather than being one foot in one foot out. I love that. That's so good. It's super crisp. And for somebody that would be listening, it's like, I just, I want to lose 25 pounds. I want to put on 10 pounds of muscle. I want to stop smoking. Let's be concrete.

Somebody says, I want to lose 20 pounds. How would you reframe that starting point for a person? Or how would you work with that starting point for a person? Or how would you work with that starting point for both of you guys? How would you do that? I would start with why it mattered. Yeah. Right. Why is it important? What what would that do for you? What would that mean to you? Is it that you get to roll around with your grandkids, your, your daughter is having her first child, for example? Or does it mean that you show up with more vibrance at work, and it impacts the

quality of your relationships and your relationship connector person? So I want to know why it matters first and what are the feelings and images that are connected to that? And then how, how they would do it. How they do what? Lose 25 pounds, gain 10 pounds of muscle, whatever it is. What is the process yeah and then from that make a fundamental commitment yes and from that what are the committed actions to put that in place and if you don't know go like find a sports performance coach or nutritionist like someone in your community that can that can nudge you a little bit more specifically well to that point i think and your people, find the people that support

you. You know, even if it's something small, it's having that support and understanding from other people that hold you accountable to it. I know I love an accountability. It makes me so happy to know that someone's like, keep it going. It's one of the things we do at Finding Mastery with our clients. We run small experiments. And so this is me explaining a little bit about what we do from a company standpoint is with a group of leaders or a team, we'll run these experiments on let's call it goal setting

or optimism training or confidence training, whatever it might be. They're holding each other accountable and we're holding the team accountable to doing the work, which it goes so far. Like I need it too. Yeah, that's great. All right. Look, you guys are awesome. There's a reason you understand what it takes to be one's very best on the world stage. And I'll just kind of wrap it up by saying it's a gift to be able to work with both of you and to watch you flourish and to create a pebble in the pond to help others flourish in their own lives. And it, for me, it's actually quite beautiful because we get to work with people where they quote unquote sweat, where they work and they know

people. They have maybe family members or friends. So when they take these best practices about what it takes to be one's very best, the psychological principles and practices, and we make them really concrete, you make them really concrete for them. That ripples into like so many parts of their lives and so many other people. It's just really cool. So I just want to say thank you for allowing me to work with you and to do this work with so many many other people. It's just really cool. So I just want to say thank you for allowing me to work with you and to do this work with so many thousands of people. Thank you for talking. No, but really, one of my favorite pieces about finding mastery and working with you all is that everyone learns something from everyone and with our clients. Everyone's learning from everyone. It's all we're all learning from each other. And that's such a special gift because I've learned from every single person that I've been in contact with, whether it's virtually or

in person. And that's exactly that's beautiful. You know, one of the like when I was early in my career, I would get really nervous to go kind of present to a team, a hockey team or football team, basketball team. And I was nervous because I knew that they already understood it. They're in the NBA. Like, what am I going to do? I never played with them. So I'm completely wet behind the ears. And I was really nervous at that point.

And then I realized at some point, like, wait, hold on. They've grinded their way here. They don't necessarily have a program or a radical psychological operating system to do it. And then I started to say, wait, why am I nervous? That's because I want them to find favor and like me and give me another chance. And then I started to realize like, wait, there's so much I can learn from them too. So at some point, like when we start to become more partners with the people we work rather than quote unquote experts, it goes so far. Yeah. Walking alongside each other.

Yeah. I think relationships matter more today than they ever have with our corporate clients as well. The appetite and the aperture for relationship based organizations and the value of relationships right now has changed. And I think just to your point, we can sort of be a ripple or a pebble in the pond through teaching someone something, or we could just simply be with them and see them. And the way that creates sort of impact at scale is a really beautiful thing. And how we learn through AI, it's like everything is changing. And the premium right now, I think, for societies and relationships

and support and building community to leverage it all. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Cozy Earth. Over the years, I've learned that recovery doesn't just happen when we sleep. It starts with how we transition and wind down. And that's why I've built intentional routines into the way that I close my day. And Cozy Earth has become a new part of that. Their bedding, it's incredibly soft, like next level soft. And what surprised me the most is how much it actually helps regulate temperature. I tend to run warm at night, and these sheets have helped me sleep cooler and

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the way you prepare for it matters. If you're looking for high-quality personal care products that elevate your routine without complicating it, I'd love for you to check them out. Head to calderalab.com slash finding mastery and use the code finding mastery at checkout for 20% off your first order. That's calderalab, C-A-L-D-E-R-L-A-B.com slash finding mastery. So as a summary, there's some things that I want to share back to Condense that I heard. And there's also some things that you didn't say that I want to reflect on.

The first is that take advantage of a set of processes to help make a fundamental commitment in your life. It kind of starts with that deep commitment to organize your life around what matters most to you. And the way, Caroline, you articulated is like, what do I want to let go of and what do I want to work towards? And then see it and feel it and spend time there. Then write down or have clarity about what are the committed actions I need on a regular basis. So that's kind of the nuts and bolts, if you will, the most mechanical part of this conversation.

Let's take advantage of fresh starts. The new year is one of them. Let's not make resolutions. Let's actually use this radical, powerful machine of mental imagery and see and feel the person we're trying to become and the things that we want to do. And combine those two together there is part of the broth of becoming okay the thing that was not said that was just part of

your dna part of this conversation was that you really care with everything that you do whether it's here at finding mastery whether it's being a partner with your your your partners whether it is you know getting in the pool day in and day out to be your very best or to be on the court and figure out how to just get one to four percent better on a regular basis. It's the caring that is no one said it like you have to really care it. But that is what you guys are about. And so I just I hope the listener can can just maybe say, Oh, yeah, like really care about the person I'm becoming and really care about my people that I'm supporting and challenging them and they're supporting and challenging me. So that word care was never said. If it was I missed it. But it is evident in the conversation. I see you guys both smiling yeah yeah it's having heart when you care you have heart you you show up for what matters and

can let go of the things that that don't it's not easy no one ever said it was this is not easy yeah but at the heart of it is the heart. How many people challenge you? Oh, a lot. Oh, gosh. My whole team. The Funding Master team? The whole team. Yeah. How many people support and challenge you? By the way, let me not run over that.

This is what I love about the Funding Master team. Like Olympians and sports psychs supporting and challenging each other. Like imagine the cocktail party or imagine the holiday party around a bunch of Olympians and sports like saying, so how'd you do today? I mean, listen, my brother and I are both Olympians. We grew up in a very competitive household. And I think from a young age, I learned that you have to have people that push you in a way that is from the heart and because they know that you can be better. And they know that they that you believe in yourself just as much as they believe in you. And so I mean, it sounds so simple, but it's taking you back to that brass tacks of, you know, it doesn't matter if it's three or if it's

30 people. But they've got to really be all in and the buy in has to be there. And same for you in return and reciprocating that so I'm big on that I think it makes a huge difference um and when you feel that when anything is possible when you feel that I mean that's why teams at the Olympics are teams like when the team is really doing well like you just feel it right there's just's just this feeling. It's so, it's, you can't describe it, you know? So I just, I think when you know that, you really feel into that and there's nothing that can stop you there.

Nicole? It's hard not to feel that if you lack care, though, you know? Like I didn't care. I didn't love volleyball every day. But the one thing that I always cared about was working my butt off. And that wasn't just in service of me. I knew that if I didn't do that and my teammates weren't along the path of doing that, that we couldn't be the best team that we could possibly be.

And when we were all doing that, those were the moments that just felt really good, even when it was hard, even when we were on the eighth hour of training. I'll share this piece as a small little note is that you're talking about being clear about why something matters so much, right? Like whatever the intention for the year is. And this is not about play for me. This is about fitness for a moment okay so i at one point i did i trained really hard so i could be good at my sport surfing and then i trained after i was kind of done pushing in that avenue i liked the training i liked something i

could see and feel the concrete expression of getting a little bit better, a little bit more weight, a little bit more mobility. And it was nice and physical and tangible. And I don't have that kind of thing as much anymore. I'm not surfing big waves. I'm not loving the soreness that comes, you know, like on a regular basis. I'm not adverse to it. There's something wonderful about it, but it's not like the thing that's really driving underneath.

And so the reason I share this with you is because maybe somebody can relate to this, is that when you're trying to get better, it's hard. There's a, right at the edge of the capacity, you can fold it up and be like, oh, there's things I got to do. Or you can stay for a couple more clicks of the gear. And so specifically, I'm thinking about this bike protocol that has me in the 90% threshold. That's a really difficult oxygenating place to be. It's very, it feels like there's a heater inside of my body. It's like really hard, like the heaters on 10 out of 10. And so I'm in that place. And if I don't connect

to my vision of being a fun, engaging, mobile dad for my 16 year old son, when he's in his 30s, that's another, you know, 15, 16 years of me being fit and mobile. Like, I'll just pack it up. I got things I want to go do other than stay with this heater in the inside of my chest for another, you know, 45 seconds. So I need to go to that moment. And I can't search for it when there's a toxic feeling, like a real irritated feeling in my physiology. I can't search for what's my motivation

i gotta have that well in advance clear so i just wanted to if somebody is going if the listener's like yeah but when it gets hard like that's when i feel like i connected to something that matters and mine is like me playing sport with my when i'm in 15 years from now when i'm in my 65s you know i'm 653 so oh my god just turned 53 oh my god i said 52 yeah like in another 15 years i better be able to kind of sit down and stand up easily let alone let alone like go serve big waves so i'll hold you to that we're your support system yeah let's do it we got you look thank you guys so much really appreciate rooting for you uh love being a teammate with you and um thank you for sharing your got you. Look, thank you guys so much. Really appreciate rooting for you. Love being a teammate with you. And thank you for sharing your wisdom.

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