The Chris Cuomo Project - How Tennis Bad Boy Nick Kyrgios Found Himself Through "Good Trouble"

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

Professional tennis player Nick Kyrgios opens up to Chris Cuomo about his journey from a volatile on-court persona to developing authentic conversations on “Good Trouble,” his hit new podcast. Kyrgios shares how family support and introspection helped him navigate dark times, embrace his true introverted self, and gain an invaluable perspective on overcoming challenges. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Curios, you know that name? Oh boy, can he hit a tennis ball? He is known for volatility on the court. The media loved chasing him. But let me tell you something. He is one of the most talented in a generation, but that's not why I'm interested in him. Have you seen his podcast, Good Trouble? This guy is talking to like all these big celebrities, people with real influences on culture, not just influencers with a lot of followers online. And he does amazing interviews. And it made me realize this guy has taken

what's happened to him and for him and to him on the court and translated it and developed a personality and a persona and a persuasion to connect with anybody. So I wanted to talk to him as a young man. He's like 28 years old. What is going on here? How did he develop this ability to talk to a Gordon Ramsay, a Jay Shetty, Mike Tyson, and really get them to walk through

what wound up being dark times, but ultimately good trouble in their own lives? I'm Chris Cuomo. Welcome to The Chris Cuomo Project. Thank you for subscribing and following here. And if you want it without ads, you know where to go. Thegriscuomoproject.substack.com. Sign up, you can get it there.

And you can track my whole long COVID journey with my doctor and the expanding protocols of wellness that you can put into your own life. How to eat, how to move and how to feel, okay? If it works for me, maybe it'll work for you. Maybe it'll work even better for you. That's the odds on favorite for me. So to get inside the mind of a phenomenal athlete who has controversy attached to him

that I don't really care about because I don't really care about how he is on the court. I mean, this is not like criminality. It's about personality. But boy is his podcast blowing up. And I want to talk to him about what the meaning of good trouble is to him. ["Good Trouble"] Nick, it's great to have you.

Thank you very much for taking this opportunity. Of course, thank you. So help me understand why you got so enthusiastic about doing what I do when you are so brilliant at what you do. What was the allure to this? And it's getting great reviews. Your interviews are highly regarded. The podcast gets a lot of good buzz. Why'd you get into it? And what was the surprise for you? I mean, obviously I got into it because I've had, I've had three surgeries in the last year and a half.

And as an athlete, it's brutal. I came off the best year of my life, made the finals of Wimbledon, playing some amazing tennis. And obviously my body just needed, I guess, a rest in a way. And I needed to fix parts of my body that I couldn't even live normally. I was struggling to put salt on my food with my wrist, so I needed to figure

out what I needed to fix. And yeah, I mean, I always felt like I had a pretty good knack of connecting with people. Obviously, in my past, you know, I've been through a lot of dark times and a lot of experiences where I feel like I'm able to connect with other, you know, whether it's athletes or people like, you know, Gordon Ramsay, for instance, to the chef that I looked up to, like, and get the best out of those people to now help the future generation that's coming and people who just feel like they can't, you know, get through their problems or navigate through some struggles. So I'm just trying to do the best I can and, I can and shine light on things that the people may not know.

Good trouble is a phrase that we know from our American politics. We lost a great politician recently who used to love to refer to good trouble as an explanation of what he did in his fight for civil rights in this country, that sometimes you gotta push the limits for the right cause.

What does it mean to you? I don't think anything can actually happen without a bit of good trouble. I look at my life and I've only been one way. I've been passionate, I've been myself and I've been authentic and it's been frowned upon for a larger part of my career. And now I think people embrace it and I've able to achieve some amazing things doing it. I think if I conformed to how every tennis player was taught to play,

I don't think I've been able to achieve the things that I've done. And I think, when I see the youth that look up to me, there's millions of people that look up to me that I didn't realize earlier in my career, that they draw inspiration. I used to be a fat kid from Canberra who's now been on the scene and achieved some pretty cool things. And I think without a bit of good trouble, I would never have, you know, I just think about my childhood as good trouble.

And, you know, it's just the way I am. I think, I don't necessarily think it's trouble in a way. I think it's just, you know, just being yourself when everyone else is telling you to be someone else. You are still a puppy as far as I'm concerned. You've had an amazing career, but like, you know, 30 is still a goal for you. So there's so much life in front of you.

You know, I'm 53 years old. And I always feel- You look good though. Yes, yeah, you better have them adjust your screen. You know, there's a, you know, there's so much pressure on you guys. You live so much life in such a short amount of years. And then you all have to figure out

these second and third and fourth acts. And so many tennis players have done it so brilliantly. But when you look at your life, do you see your life that way? Like, brother, I'm just getting warmed up. I had one chapter here which was amazing. I'm an internationally known guy because of it, but I don't even know what my dreams are yet.

Yeah, it's interesting, because I mean, athletes, we spend almost two decades of our life dedicating, even more, two to three decades of our life dedicating our entire life to this one thing. So when we get to that point where we're thinking, oh man, like my body's starting to break down or I'm not having great results, like do I let it go? I think it's one of the hardest things for an athlete to do is let go of their profession.

And I spoke to Jay Shetty about it and he said that Kobe Bryant was so peacefully retired that it's like, because he had so many other things he was doing, it was just one form of communicating to the world. That's who he was. And I feel like tennis for me, all my friends and people that get to know me, they realize that tennis is not just my, it's not who I am. Like it's just one way of me communicating to the world. Like this is something I'm good at and it expresses how I am a little bit, but I got

good trouble. I've got some other things that I'm trying to do as well. And I'm excited for all of it. And I realized that I think that not many people in this world have had the success that I've had. And it'd be selfish for me to, after my injuries, to come back and be like, demand more success. You know, I've had my little window and if I'm able to have a bit more of it, which is great, but if I'm not, I'm okay with that as well because I'm still able to do some pretty cool things and I think that's the healthiest way to look at it because I was obsessed with, you know, success and winning and tennis and getting better and studying people on YouTube and that's all good but then there's a part of me that realizes now like I've had surgeries that

good, but then there's a part of me that realizes now like I've had surgeries that are pretty serious and it's like now I have to have the perspective of everything now as a bonus. So yeah, that's just where I'm at. I think that you have tremendous successes that you have no ability to even imagine right now. But if I ever see you playing on a pickleball tour, I'll run right out onto the court and I'll take you out, brother. You won't be able to stand up right for weeks. Jay Shetty is a very interesting,

now that you're in the media in a different way, one of the things I've always found very entertaining about you though, if I knew you better, I would have given you a different counsel. When people come out you in the media, you give them exactly what they're looking for because you are so authentic.

And it took you time to realize the game that these people aren't saying stuff to you like they're one of your brothers, or someone who's like, that you're an entrusted, but they're just saying it to bait you. They want that part of you. No one's ever gonna know who they are or what they said. Jay Shetty, I don't know if you know him

or if you're close to him, he is a good example of how to really deal with it. He had a real shit storm on his head a couple of weeks ago and he went quiet and right now it's gone. And there is tremendous power in less. Do you ever think about that in your own handling of the media? Definitely, you know, towards the...

I mean, pretty much my whole career, I was always giving it back to them. And I just took it so personal in a sense. Like, obviously, I stepped into the spotlight at 17 years old. Like, I was a kid going to school. And then at 18, you know, beating the Dulls and sending it to Wimbledon. When I was just... I was a kid playing video games. Like, I just lived such a normal life that when I kind of slipped in the spot,

I was not ready for it at all. I took things personally, I went back to people and it kind of just snowballed and then they kept doing it. And now I just, I guess now I'm good at kind of navigating and not taking it too personal and I guess feeding them as much as I used to. But I mean, look, this social media generation where someone can just continually hate on someone's career or life or personality or looks

is absurd to me. Like I've never ever in my life woken up on any given day and be like, oh, yep, I'm going to go on Instagram. Just look at someone's profile and leave hate there. Like what a ridiculous generation we have. And I think Mike Tyson has a quote, like he said, this generation has told people to say something bad about someone and not get punched in the face about it.

And I think it's so true. People, I can just go on my Instagram right now in my social media and just find thousands of ridiculously negative comments about me, my family, my partner. And they just get away with it. Where like, it's just such an odd... For me, it's so strange.

I guess that's why I went back at it. And I wanted to like message each person directly saying, you're a piece of shit basically. But now it's like, I just leave it. I have to consciously try and drown that like Nick to be like, Nick, just leave it. Like these people, we don leave it like these people. We don't even know these people,

but I just think it's such a strange generation that's coming anyway. It's just a strange cultural phenomenon. It is, so weird. Of just unchecked negativity where it's like the new excuse for intelligence. If you say something nasty, it's like you're saying something smart.

But look, everybody knows the right advice is to leave it alone. But boy, is it easy to say that when it's not you, you know, 100 percent, you know, it's like, Nick, leave it alone. He who cares about this guy? Yeah, I do. Because this is my reputation. Exactly. Definitely. And it's not just like, for instance, for me, these people are taking shots at my family. Like when I lose a match, they're attacking my partner.

It's just like, this is not okay. It's just completely not okay. And as you said exactly, I've told some people, it's like, bro, look at all this. They're like, oh bro, why do you even look at it? I'm like, it's a bit hard, bro. It's on social media. It's my name just getting dragged along the media.

So it's like, whatever. But I think now the media swing's definitely a bit different on me than it has been the last majority of my life. So it's helped anyway. Well, they're definitely loving you right now. They're loving good trouble. You know, I mean, look, you're talking to a guy

who's got no connection to tennis whatsoever. But I find what you're doing with the interviews, you got a real knack. At first I thought it was, well, he's talking to tennis players. You're not just talking to tennis players. And do you have like a go-to dialogue style? Do you have go-to questions that you like,

that you just see just keep working, whether it's a chef or a guru or a tennis player or a business guy, that it works no matter who it is? I guess, you know, I mean, I think you can't fake. I think I have a true interest of doing it, you know? So when I'm there, I try and listen as much as I can because these people are, in my eyes, I have big imposter syndrome.

Like when I'm sitting next to say Gordon Ramsay or Jay Shetty or these people that like, I'm a kid from Canberra who just like, I'm in my gaming den right now. And it's just like when I'm sitting there and these people are genuinely giving insights to their life, their struggles, their success, I'm genuinely interested because I've had such a shit show in my journey.

Like I've made so many bad decisions and I was just I genuinely want to learn. So it's like when they're speaking, I think they deeply understand that I'm trying to connect with them and trying to get the best out of it. And I just want them to feel as comfortable as possible. Like on my show, you know, I did I did Piers Morgan like a while back and sometimes I was watching him and how uncomfortable he makes people feel like for me, like, I know that that's part of his thing and all but for me it's just like I want to be trying to get the best out of my guests and then and the deeper I go in my journey, I feel like they're

really uncovering things that I didn't even know. I'm so excited for my future episodes to come out. I've got some that are coming already, but man, I just, I really, after I interview each guest, I really feel like I've grown as a person. I'm like, wow, they went through a lot in their life, and they're able to turn it around.

It's truly amazing, honestly. Nobody learns from success. I mean, when you think about it, you know, even, look, so for people who don't know Nick, although this is a pretty engaged audience and they're all pretty Google savvy, but what made Nick first pop into our heads as tennis fans was that he beat like the top three players and

he was one of the only people to do it and the age and the stage he did it at was tremendous. But I bet that those wins are not what stand out to you in terms of what shifted your game the way some embarrassing ass lost that should have never happened or a match where you threw it away and you were like, I will never do this again and it haunted you. Success does not hit the way failure does. 100%. You know, I look at all the wins that I've had in my life and that's not what drives me.

You know, I got an incredibly tough gym session after this. Basically, we go till we feel sick and that's when I'm in there. Those are not the types of things I'm thinking about is, oh my God, when I beat this guy. It's like some of the darkest times I've had in my life and on court are the things that are like driving me. And that's the thing, like, I feel like, not even with athletes,

just with anyone who's trying to have success, it's like, it's so easy to wake up and just do things when you feel good. And I know that like, this is such a cliche saying, but when you feel so average and so tired, if you're able to just push through those days to add to the consistency of just shut keep showing up, like that's when the building blocks like start happening. And it took me eight years of my career to understand that. And I had like, I was so sick.

People would have seen me to, this guy's a professional athlete. He knows already, career to understand that. And I had like, I was so sick. People would have seen me to, this guy's a professional athlete. He knows already, he already knows that. Like, it took me so long to find that out. So yeah, I mean, I barely think about my accomplishments anymore, to be honest. I just keep going. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from cozy earth.

Did you know that 35% of us report experiencing poor sleep quality? It's not that big a surprise. But you gotta go a layer deeper. Why? Why? Because I have something that will transform your sleep problem. Cozy Earth. Discover the secret to better sleep with Cozy Earth's luxurious bedding products. Little funny side note, my wife just left

to go from our apartment out to our house where we live. Guess what she took with her in her bag? This sheets, ha, I gotta get another set. She took the Cozy Earth from the apartment, I don't know what I'm sleeping on tonight. Cozy Earth bedding are temperature regulating. That's the technology, That's the key. So what they do is literally adopt to your body's needs.

And that helps tailor the sleep experience to you. They use only the best fabrics, materials, and weaves, offering superior softness, and that invites you to sink into a world of comfort. Treat yourself to the ultimate in comfort and indulgence with Cozy Earth Bedding and sleepwear and prioritize your self-care and sleep health. Use my promo code, CHRIS, at checkout and you'll get 35% off at CozyEarth.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you. Select podcast in the survey and be sure to write in the Chris Cuomo Project.

Please. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from AG1. It is important to me that I take the right things to help me. Now I'm dealing with the long COVID on top of all this other inflammation stuff, and I got longevity concerns because I'm over 50. I need supplements. Many of you are the same way.

And even if you're not getting creaky, you may want to be maximizing your performance. That's why for many years, I have switched to AG1. Why? Because it's one and done. They did the research for me. They have the right combinations and it is more cost effective than buying these things separately. I've partnered with AG1 for so long because they

make such a high quality product that I absolutely look forward to drinking every day for two reasons. One, they make a good product. For two, if I'm drinking it again, it means I lived another day. So if you wanna replace your multivitamin and more, start with AG1. Try AG1 and you're gonna get a free one year supply of vitamin D3K2 and five free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription.

Just go to drinkag1.com slash CCP. That's drinkag1.com slash CCP. Check it out. For all of the passion and the emotion that you put on the court and people will like it or criticize it or whatever. I was talking to a fighter recently, a UFC guy. I love UFC.

I wish that were 30 years younger, that's definitely what I would be doing. I don't know if I'd be any good at it, but it's definitely what I'd be doing. And I was saying to him, I was listening to him talk about lessons from fighting in life. And we hear that all the time. We love hearing guys like you that are great at something,

teaching us how it's a metaphor for regular life. And I said to him, do you live the way you fight? And he said, fuck no, I don't live the way I fight. He's like, I'm trying to kill people in there. I literally go into the ring thinking, into the octagon thinking within the rules, I'm going to do this guy as dirty as I can, as soon as I can.

He's like, I don't live my life that way. And I thought about that, like, you know, I've heard so many tennis players talk about, you know, training discipline, staying locked in a point, understanding that all that matters is the next, you know, being present. But do you believe you live your life the way you play? Are you that same type of person?

Absolutely not. I am two opposite people. On the court, it's like I see the full moon and I just am such a competitive animal and I'll put on a show and I'm unpredictable and I'm like, I live in the chaos where like when I'm off the court, I have to like have the same routine. I'm very like, I'm like an honestly, I'm an introvert like off the court, I'm an introvert. Don't speak very much. Just like, don't take myself too seriously. When I'm on the court, it's like, you'd be like, this guy's volatile. He's crazy. Like, he's so confident. He's loud. He's like engaging with the crowd. When I'm off the court, it's like I'm two different people. Like, I always like saying this, like even when I met my partner for the first time, she, like obviously my reputation in Australia, she was like, I thought that you were going to be the most

volatile, arrogant, crazy, like, like she was like expecting someone completely different. And then after a week, she was like, you're actually just like a normal person. I'm like, I know that like it's, I'm a strong believer that you need to be, when you walk on that, you know, wherever, whatever it is, even in business or whatever, like, you need to be able to separate what it is there to like your personal life. And that's, you know,

you look at some of the best players in the world, like when they step out there, they think that they're the best thing that ever walk earth and they come off the court and they're the most humble guy ever. So, think fighting that balance is huge no matter what you're doing. How big a deal is it in tennis

that you guys are allowed to talk to coaches now? Oh, I hate it. I absolutely hate that because tennis was one of the only sports in the world where you had to go out there potentially hour and a half to five hours and figure it out on your own. Like it was like boxing with no contact

and not going back to your corner. It was such a unique part of tennis, like where you were helpless, like there was no place to hide. And I think there's a quote that I said a couple of years ago, like in tennis, there's nowhere to hide. Like physically, if you're not doing the work, you'll be exposed. Mentally, if you're not like working on your mental health

and your mental, like you'll be exposed. Every little aspect, you can't, you're having a bad day and you feel like shit, you can't just sub yourself out, like I'm done today. It's just like, you've got to figure it out on your own. And then now they were like, a couple of players were like, oh, I think we need our coaches, and I'm like, dude, no, we don't, no, we don't.

And then I'm not a fan of it at all. And my kind of view on that will never change. Were you in favor of like Mackenro? I don't know why. I still don't understand this. I don't understand why Mackenro wouldn't have been at the front of the line for automation to make line calls. Like so much of his career was spent fighting, although I've always believed it was that,

you know, not like you so much, but that he was doing something in those moments because he is not an irrational, he's not a psycho, you know what I mean? And it's not like he was on drugs, and we later learned, he would like put himself into a mood state that he's never in anywhere else in his life.

You know, like things go wrong in his regular life too. He doesn't, you know, turn into what he did on the court. I would have thought he'd be so in favor of the technology. Do you embrace the accuracy technology? Does that like give you some relief that like, hey, it's either in or it's out. You know what I mean? The technology is good enough to tell you.

Definitely. I think especially, I mean, you look at how every sport's progressing as well. You got, you know, like football, you got like VAR. I mean, NBA even now is like showing great plays. I just think it's not worth, you know, a match can be played for three to four, five hours. People giving their all and the crowd's so into it.

Why leave a line call up to chance and being able to affect the outcome? It's such a stupid... And I think, like, people don't realise, oh, why are you getting so angry over a line call, Nick? It's like, I'm playing for millions of dollars and an older elderly community person has now called one of my servers out that was in,

and now it's affected the outcome. Just think to yourself, would you not be pissed off? You spent your whole life training for these moments, and now the outcomes change because someone got the line called on. What a stupid... I just think it's not rational at all. So yeah, I think AI and the ability to call lines has to change very, very soon. And I think it's already here, but it just seems to happen all the time. And I want to say McEnroe, he got defaulted, he got fined. Like, I mean, him, like we're,

we're definitely cut from the same cloth, in a sense, on the court where we just don't like people making mistakes. Like we are so accountable for our behavior. It's like, okay, this line on fire called the ball out. Where's his, why is he not collecting copping flak? You know what I mean? Who, if you could trade games with anyone who's ever played, who do you love the most? Well, I think, I mean, Novak is definitely

the greatest of all time. Like he's the best player to pick up a racket, Well, I think Novak is definitely the greatest of all time. He's the best player to pick up a racket, but the prettiest player that I like to watch is obviously Federer. I think without Federer, Nadal and Djokovic don't exist. I think LeBron and Kobe and all these magnificent NBA players, they were chasing something and comparing their games to someone. So I think if I had to train my game,

I don't know if I want to train my game. I like my game a lot, but I think Federer is so beautiful to watch. Like if you just look at him, you just know that that man was born to play tennis. So I'd take, I'd probably switch with Roger. But Djokovic you believe is the best because of how he plays or the stats?

I just, I think he's head to head, I mean, his performances against Roger, against Nadal, against the Generation, the dominance, I think, across the board is, it's absurd. I think, like, what he's doing is, I just don't think he gets enough credit for. I think, I think it's just because people are a bit uneducated about tennis. I think the adaptability of the tennis player is like no other, because then you look at sport in general, like whether it's football, basketball, it could be anything like they have a such a routine. It's like they barely leave the country. They know when they're going to play.

They know the length of time they're going to play with tennis. It's like we play two weeks in Asia, three weeks in Europe, now the States, now to Australia, now back to Europe. It's like you're playing in different time zones, different diet. You don't know when you're going to play. You don't know the length of time when you're going to play. It's like there's so many variables and I think Djokovic has been able to adapt to so many things like and just dominate, which is pretty incredible.

What's your favorite sport? Basketball, oh, I'm obsessed. I love basketball. Yeah, I'm a big Boston Celtic fan, and I'm just a fan of basketball in general. Why are you a Boston Celtic fan? So in 2005, I got my first video game and I picked the Celtics, and ever since then,

I've just been obsessed with the team, obsessed with the players, but the sport, I used to sit in front of my VCR machine and just watch basketball highlights. And just something about the culture of the sport, like when someone arrives, they're wearing something and you can just like kind of, you know, you just get, I don't know, something about basketball just gets me going a bit.

It is a phenomenal sport, especially what it's become now with the size of the athletes. We could have never, I would never, so I'm older, right? So Karl Malone was a freak in the NBA. We had never seen a guy look like that. And he was a power forward and he could do some things that were pretty athletic for power forward and he could do some things that were pretty athletic for power forward. But he's got nothing on LeBron James in size and strength. And LeBron James is running around like he was 5'8", 155 pounds.

I would have never thought we would see that kind of explosion in it. And you know, you're a Celtics fan, Larry Bird, and it's gotta have something to do with race. But that guy, people sleep on him and his greatness. I had a friend of mine who was a huge Celtics fan who said, I mean, actually I'll find it and I'll send it to you. You'll get a kick out of it. Please. We were together and someone was saying,

yeah, I mean, he was amazing for a guy who was not that athletic. And the guy was like, not that athletic. He was 6'9". And he was like, yeah, I mean, he was amazing for a guy who was not that athletic. And the guy was like, not that athletic. He was 6'9", and he was like, yeah, but he wasn't explosive. And he put together this compilation of Larry Bird dunking on guys. Now, I wasn't as impressed, because he is 6'9".

So it's not like, you know, he couldn't dunk the best. But still, he was smooth as well. It was like 125 dunks. 125 dunks on people's heads. And he was just, I think that he was athletic. Did you want to play? Yeah, I played, I played when I was playing tennis when I was a junior, I was like playing up until about 14. And then my mom and dad basically, well, dad came out the back of that door right here, I had a basketball hoop there

and he came out that exact door and was like, we're done, we're done with basketball. We're gonna just stop playing. We're gonna pursue this tennis career. I mean, obviously tennis as well in Australia is one of our biggest sports. So he was just like, look, we're gonna just give away that dream

and we're gonna go tennis and that killed me, honestly. When I just dropped the ball out of my hands, I was like, wow, it's over. Well, now you can pick it up again. Get your body right. That's true. Go and start playing in some league. Just make sure you like the guys so they don't take your knees out.

When you wanna help somebody understand that what they're dealing with is absolutely bad. It's absolutely bad. This was definitely a bad choice. This is definitely a mistake. You're definitely kind of fucked right now. What do you tell them to help them have perspective on what can be next?

Oh, I mean, I just, I actually love when, you know, even my friends or people I don't know like on Instagram come to me and they're like, look, I feel like I have no more options. Like I feel like, fucked, I've made this horrible decision. Like I don't know what to do. No more step forward. Like I literally just use my life as an example of being able to navigate through that time or whatever it is you're going through. Like I was literally on so dark, like suicidal thoughts, like self-harming in 2019.

Like, and I was still playing the sport at its highest level. And it's like, I was, I thought it was the end. Like I, like, thought, like I just couldn't think about anything out of it. Like I was waking up every day thinking about ending my life, self-harming. Like that's what I was living for and I was playing the highest level of tennis at the same time and I couldn't communicate to anyone. And it got so bad and then I was able to navigate. It took a couple of years to get out of it.

But once you've been through a period like that, it's like you have amazing perspective on little things that happen every day. You don't, your whole perspective on challenges changes, problem solving, you don't complain about anything. And then, you know, when someone comes to me and they're like, I think this is the worst thing that possibly happened. I'm like, dude, it's fine.

Like just take a breath. First of all, like just deep breathing is like one of the most underrated things ever. Like, and that's, I learned that with Jay Shetty. He said the only thing that changes, whether you feel happy, sad, depressed, is your breath. Your breath always changes when you're excited. So the ability to control your breathing is huge.

And then just like having perspective, like, you know, I broke up with my first girlfriend, I thought it was the end of the world. Like the problems that we all face are really not like, it's all a building, it's all a process, man. And people say, like the question I get asked all the time is, Nick, do you regret the way you acted here or do you regret doing this?

And I'm like, hell no, because if I take one bit out of this whole structure, the whole thing falls and it's given me the ability to be who I am today and confidently have this conversation. Like two years ago, I wouldn't have been able to speak to you. I would have been so insecure in myself. I would have been wondering if you would have asked something touchy and I would have like

broken down. Like now it's like I'm so accountable and so open to who I am. It's like that's the biggest freedom is being comfortable in your own skin as well. And as you said before, you alluded to it like this generation with social media, it's like being negative is the new being smart, but it's like comparison, like everyone just comparing themselves on the internet. It's like, I want this.

It's like, it's a disaster. People don't even, there's so many beautiful things right in front of them. They're like, I want this, I want to look like this. It's just like, it's hard, man. Life's hard right now. We're making it hard also. It's hard enough when everybody's working together,

let alone when they're trying to tear everybody down. There's a great book called Breath. I'll tell you, you know the book? It's a great, great book. In terms of practices, influences, experiences, what helped you go from 2019 to now? What did you change in yourself? What and who helped you go from 2019 to now? What did you change in yourself? What and who helped you do that?

The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by Magic Spoon. All right, so growing up, right, we liked to have cereal, right? As I got older, I wasn't so crazy about the sugar, the empty carbs. Magic Spoon has amazing flavors. You're gonna like them, but it's got high protein and less sugar, and that's the key. So this is Magic Spoon has amazing flavors. You're gonna like them, but it's got high protein and less sugar, and that's the key.

So this is Magic Spoon, the variety pack, four flavors, cocoa, fruity, frosted, and peanut butter. This pack has zero grams of sugar, 13, 14 grams of protein, four or five grams net carbs, only 140 calories a serving. High protein, zero or five grams net carbs. Only 140 calories a serving. High protein, zero grams of sugar, keto friendly, gluten free, grain free, soy free, okay? Now, I'm a cocoa peanut butter guy.

Why? Because they taste good and that's what I want. But you can pick your own and also at the end of the day, it's about what you're putting in your body, whether it's helping or hurting your goals, okay? So if you go to magicspoon.com slash CCP for the Chris Cuomo Project, you can get a variety pack and you can try it today.

And if you use our promo code, which is CCP at the checkout, you're gonna save five bucks on the order. Magic Spoon is confident enough that they will back it with a 100% happiness guarantee. So if you don't like it for any reason, they'll refund the money, no questions asked. Remember, we're all starting off the new year, right?

We wanna do it the right way. Why not do it including a delicious bowl of high protein cereal at magicspoon.com slash CCP. Remember that code, CCP, will get you $5 off. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Delete Me. So Delete Me is a necessary. Why? Reality.

Online bogeyman, harassed, scammed, identity theft, spam and robo calls out the wazoo. Man, I get hit with all of it. Some of it is done out of spite. spam and robo calls out the wazoo. Man, I get hit with all of it. Some of it is done out of spite. I'm convinced people put me on lists and have tracking software put on me just to make my life more of a hassle. But here's the reality for everyone.

Personal information is everywhere on the internet. You are an easy target. That's why I personally recommend Delete Me. Okay, what does it do? It removes any personal information that you don't want online and make sure it stays off. Take control of your data. Keep your private life private.

Sign up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for my listeners. Today, you'll get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com slash Cuomo. Use the promo code Cuomo at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com slash Cuomo and enter the code Cuomo at checkout, J-O-I-N-D-E-L-E-T-E-M-E.com slash Cuomo. I pushed my family away like a lot during that time. You know, they weren't necessarily reaching out to me every day and they kind of knew

that I was on a path where it was not good. And they were trying to help me and I was just pushing them away. Like my contact. And they were trying to help me and I was just pushing away. Like my contact with them was shit. And I just thought I could navigate through these problems alone. And that's the biggest thing I feel like. People think it's a bit weak to lean on people. And, you know, sometimes they just think they can do everything themselves.

And I don't know if it's a sixth generation thing. I don't know if it's an athlete thing. But for me, as soon as I was able to mend that relationship with my family and have people that genuinely have my back, like obviously, you know it as well, like probably a handful of people that you feel like you can trust day to day and your family as well. And it's like, once I had people to genuinely hear me out

and care for my best interest, I was able to help myself a bit more. And then I dug myself out of the hole. And now I actively go out of my way to try and help people that are feeling that way. Because it's like, that was the one thing I felt so alone. I was like, oh, no one understands how I'm feeling. And maybe my family didn't understand exactly

what I was going through, but they had like compassion and they cared and they were like, what can we do to try and help? So I think my family was the biggest one. My mom and dad, like they just constantly didn't give up and it really, it really helped. It was like, okay, I'm not alone here. Like I've got to, you know, and then I'm not even close to some of these people that I'm, I have their number in my phone that I try and talk to. Like I call them cause they're like, oh, I don't want to live anymore. I'm going through this. Like I've actively

try and tell them like, bro, I'm right here. Just reach out to me whenever like it oh, I don't want to live anymore, I'm going through this. Like I actively try and tell them like, bro, I'm right here, just reach out to me whenever, like it's fine, like what you're going through type of thing. So yeah, bro, my family. It's way easier to deal with other people's pain than to deal with your own. I figured out that, you know,

while I am trained and have a ton of experience and probably a little bit of talent when it comes to understanding other people, I kind of realized that I was like, man, I don't really know myself. Maybe I do this job because it's so much easier than focusing on myself, you know,

digging into stories and situations and personalities that are not me. You know, you don't talk about yourself a lot when you're interviewing somebody, especially in a news capacity. And maybe there was some escapism in that. And when I finally realized that I didn't even understand or even connect to the Chris Cuomo

that I was reading about and hearing about. And it didn't matter if things that were happening to me were good or bad, I felt no connection to it. And that was really key for me in dealing with it because what I needed, I was not enough for myself. I needed a therapist, but he's really a life coach. My therapist is really like a life coach for me because it's so strategic what I talk to him about.

And the hard part is I have to be honest with him because I'm always trying to change shit so it doesn't sound as bad as what I'm thinking about in that moment. You know, either it's like, that's too dark, or God, that's a stupid answer, but that is how I feel. Like that is what I want to do right now. And he was, and it was so hard for me to do those things because it makes you so vulnerable, you know,

and you're so worried about the judgment. And my family couldn't do that for me. They love me, they care about me, but they can't help you be you. You know what I mean? And that was huge for me, was having a guy who could hear what I was saying and say, okay, but you know that's how you see it, but not how it is, right?

I'm like, no, that is how it is. What I just told you is how it is. And he'd say, no, that's how you see it, but not how it is, right? I'm like, no, that is how it is. What I just told you is how it is. And he'd say, no, that's how you think it is. He's like, but here are other ways that it could be. And here's something else. And I wasn't able to see it about myself. It was a huge blind spot. And he has been invaluable, this cat.

He actually kind of cut me off a little bit. Once he almost threatened to fire me, which was really funny, I was ducking sessions and he was like, you duck another session, I'm going to fire you. And I was like, okay, sorry. And he like pushed me away. He was like, you got to make your own choices and you got to, you know, I'm not a guru. You can't come to me asking me what to do. You got to do what you do and then we'll figure out how it went and why I didn't. And that structure is really important. And you'll see, you're lucky that you've gone through it at an early age.

The upside of the downside of you having to run your body into dust, you know, at barely, you know, into your thirties, not yet, is that you have an emotional maturity and a sophistication that will be absolutely applicable to, you know, your kid doesn't get on the team. You know? Yeah, definitely.

100%. You decide to start a family and like somebody, you know, and you got somebody who you gotta just suck it up and, you know, and lose to on a regular basis. You know, but it'll help. You'll see. I definitely feel as if tennis has fast-forwarded my emotional kind of maturity.

It has to. I mean, I was going overseas to like, at 13 and 14 years old, to like the Philippines and India, to places that were so... Like, these were like countries that had nothing. Like the parts where I was going, and then I come back to Australia and I'm like, wow, I'm like really, really lucky. And it was so eye-opening. And then I was traveling around the world,

meeting new people and new cultures. And it like sped me up. I feel about 60 years old, like on the inside with all, like I've been around the world, met so many, like it's crazy how quick tennis has kind of made me mature. And I appreciate that. I think that's the first time someone said that I'm emotionally mature, so I appreciate it.

Well, you've been through things. It's true. And the first gift in that is that not everybody makes it through. First of all, there are a lot of tennis pros who have a ton of talent, who have blown up their careers. A lot of the names you'll know, but nobody's ever heard of before. The difference between number 150 and number 20

is the ability to deal with everything that comes along with the game. And you figured that out time and time again. And you figured it out with this extra echelon of notoriety and pressure, and people cave to that shit and go away all the time. People will be like, I can't take it anymore. I'm out. And they just fade. It's true. It's true. So, you know, you're on the other side of it. You're also just at the starting line. What are you most excited about as a potential next?

Or is your specific focus now, get my body and my joints where I need them to be so I can swing the racket like only Nick can? Yeah, I mean, that's my goal at the moment. I'm just in my like, pretty much the middle stage of my like training to get back to being on court again. So I'm about seven months out of surgery now, and I'm two days into hitting some tennis balls again.

So man, it's been hard. People think just getting surgery, it's just like, oh, you just sit on the couch and wait for it to heal, and then you're back out there. It's like, no, dude, it's two gym sessions a day, a conditioning session to basically go till two, throw up all the rehab, get back out on court, learn to play again, basically.

So all my goal is right now is to get to a point where my wrist is able to hit a tennis ball without pain and discomfort and then just go again. You know, I want to put in a good year, year or two left of my career. I know that to myself, I'm going to buy into a good year to two years of, you know, process and trying to win a Grand Slam. And if it doesn't happen, I'm okay with that. But that's the timeframe I've got left. And I just don't want to get to

a point in my life where my body, I need another surgery or do this. And then I'm just like, when I want to have a family, like my body hurts, I just don't want to do that. I don't want to live like that. I want to be youthful with my kids. I want to be just as competitive as I am now. I'm never going to ever let them win. And yeah, that's what I want to do. I want to just, all my focus right now, you know, I've lost like four and a half kilos in two weeks

getting back to my playing shape. So I'm right in the midst of it at the moment. What do you like to play at what weight? About 89 kilos is ideal for me. I'm 6'4.5 so pretty light. Like 89 kilos for someone 6'4.5 is pretty, I'm usually pretty skinny. But I mean that's my optimal playing rate where I'm, if I have to play for four and a half hours I can move at that level. You're not skinny.

I know I'm putting on a good 10 kilos, I think. Right. Oh, no, no, no, you will just naturally as you start to get what they call the man muscle as you get older. But you're not skinny, you're wiry. There's a difference. Because you're obviously, you have so much power.

I mean, some of it is from your length, but you hit the ball so hard. I mean, I was watching some of your play, just getting ready, I've watched you play dozens of times, but you're a strong motherfucker, there's no question about that. When you look at your career with the podcast

and what you wanna do with it, do you have any your career with the podcast and what you wanted to do with it, do you have any ideas, first of all, of who you want that you haven't had yet, obviously? And two, would you like to make it into something more different, more or different? I love the way it is at the moment. I love the fact that we sit for 45 minutes and the episodes are really, really intimate

and really short. I think with this generation as well, it's like... I agree. They don't have the concentration for something that's a long time. Yeah. And people live such a strenuous life and they're going from here to here.

It's like, okay, I've got 25 minutes to 30 minutes to really just unwind or learn about something. Here we go. So I love the length of it. I love the structure of it. Guest wise, I mean, look, I look back at season one and I'm like, dude, these guys are like incredible people. And you know, I've still got Mike Tyson to come, Novak Djokovic to come.

Like I've got people that are like some of the greatest athletes and business people and chefs that have ever lived. So season two, I've got a couple of names. Kevin Garnett, for me, is like a childhood hero that he's already given me the nod because I met him last, earlier in the year in L.A. And he's given me the nod he wants to do it. So I'm like, for me, I'll be super nervous for that. And Charlie Sheen, you know, I've got to connect with someone that knows him and is going to put us in touch.

So that's because obviously I've watched him two and a half minutes on my favorite show growing up. And obviously we look at his journey, someone who's just been through so much and navigated. Oh, I just want to just have it. If he just allows me to walk through that head for 10 minutes, I'll be grateful. So those two names for me

are going to be on the lookout for sure. You'll be grateful to get in and you'll be grateful to get out. Thanks. I wish you all good things. I can't wait to watch your comeback But I have a feeling I'm gonna be paying attention to you for a long time to come I should get contributions and just starting if there's ever anything I can do for anything that you're doing I want to be a part of it. I love what you're about

I appreciate that and I love what you bring to the game and I love what you bring to the game of podcasting It means a lot to me. Thank you. I'm trying hard, I'm trying hard. It doesn't come that easy. You're succeeding. Anybody can try. Thank you. You're succeeding. And thank you for doing the podcast with me.

I appreciate you. Of course. No worries. Anytime, anytime. And feel free to read. If you're ever in Australia, reach out. Done. Reach out.

Done. What a remarkable young guy. So much life still in front of him, but so wise already. And I got to tell you, what a roster of people he's talking to. It really gives you a kind of a comforting faith in the idea of what podcasts can be about and who may get involved and kind of totally shift our perspectives on What we learn about people and how thank you for being with me and subscribing and following here at the Chris Cuomo project Thank you for being part of the sub stack if you want this ad free or you want access to me and what's going on with?

My long COVID journey and what I'm learning about how to eat how to move and how to feel and maybe it can help you As well, and I'll see you at NewsNation, 8P and 11P, every week, day, night. Also, you want some merch? You want to wear your independence? You want to show that you're a critical thinker and a free agent? Click on the link and get yourself some merch

and wear your independence. All right, my friends, no matter what happens, no matter what the challenge, let's get after it.