The School of Greatness - 841 Bethany Hamilton on Embracing Challenges and Becoming a Champion

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

GRIT CANNOT BE TAUGHT. What does it mean to be unstoppable? No matter what knocks you down, you stay the course for your goal. It’s not enough to just withstand the struggle. You have to embrace the struggle. That’s what I did when I played football, and it’s what I do in my career today. Fall in love with the pain associated with your passion. On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I talk about the power of grit with a champion surfer with an inspiring story: Bethany Hamilton. Bethany is a professional surfer, author and motivational speaker. At the age of 13, Bethany lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her dream career as a surfer. However, one month after the attack, Bethany returned to surfing and within two years had won her first national surfing title. Bethany’s foundation of faith has been her backbone; her source of truth, hope, and strength. At 17 years old, she realized her dream of surfing professionally, and she is still an active surf competitor to this day. Bethany talks about her journey to become a mother and what it’s taught her. She also reveals the lessons her parents taught her that allowed her to get back on the board after losing her arm. So get ready to learn all about how to be unstoppable on Episode 841. If you enjoyed this episode check out the video, show notes and more at http://www.lewishowes.com/841 and follow at www.instagram.com/lewishowes.

This is episode number 841 with champion surfer Bethany Hamilton. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Maya Angelou said,

you may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. And Osho said, don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move. I'm super excited about this one. We've got the inspirational Bethany Hamilton in the house. And man, is this individual an inspiration. If you don't know who she is, she's a professional surfer, author, and motivational speaker. And at the age of 13, as a rising surf star, she lost her arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her dream career. However, one month after the attack of losing her arm,

she returned to surfing and within two years had won her first national surfing title. This is unbelievable. If you guys remember this story when it happened. At 17 years old, she realized her dream of surfing professionally and in 2016 beat a six-time world champion and the top-ranked surfer in the world at a major World Surf League competition. In 2017, she was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame. In her film, Bethany Hamilton, Unstoppable is the untold story of the heart of a champion and her resilience

against all odds to become one of the leading professional surfers of our time. And it's out in theaters right now. So make sure you guys check it out. It's so inspiring and moving. So make sure you guys watch this movie. In this interview, we talk about where she finds the courage to tackle bigger and bigger waves, how motherhood has both challenged her and changed her for the better, her accident and how it empowered her rather than hindered her, the lessons she hopes to teach her sons, what she does to stay grounded as a wife, a mother, and a competitive athlete, and so much more. You're going to be moved.

You're going to be inspired by this interview. Bethany is just a delight, and I'm so glad I got to sit down with her and connect with her because she brought so much wisdom to this interview. And without further ado, I'm so excited about this. Make sure to share this with your friends. Text someone while you're listening who might find this inspiring and interesting. Just send them the link right to the podcast app that you're listening to. Be a hero and a champion in someone's life today by sending them this message. Without further ado, the inspirational Bethany Hamilton.

Welcome everyone back to the School of Greatness podcast. We have the inspirational Bethany Hamilton in the house. Good to see you. I've obviously heard about your story when I was in college, I think, when you had your accident and it was all over the world, the information about you, and people were so inspired when you decided to go back into surfing, which was crazy. And you have a new movie out right now. I watched the trailer for it. I'm going to go to the theater and watch it, but I watched the trailer and I had the chills because you're on a massive wave coming down. And I'm like, how are you even doing this? I can't even, I was telling Dale, I can't even surf a five foot wave without

feeling like I'm going to suffocate getting out. And you're doing like massive waves with one arm. It's super inspiring. So. Thank you. Congrats on everything. Just doing what I love to do. Doing what you love to do.

What's been the biggest lesson for you in the last, since the accident, which has been what, 15 years now? Biggest lesson you've learned about yourself in the last 15 years? Oh gosh, you're starting with a hard one. I think a lot of what I've learned in the last 15 years has just been finding community and people to support and a positive direction. I feel like it's been like not, I mean, I grew up with an incredible family, but then once I became an adult, it's like you're still, I'm so attached to my family still yet, but like meeting my husband and like just creating a team of like-minded people to help me achieve what I want to achieve. And yeah, there's just been so much that's happened in the last 15 years. It's mind-boggling.

Entering into motherhood and yeah, learning to communicate properly. You couldn't communicate properly before? I would say no. I mean, especially once you enter into a marriage, it's just you're constantly challenged to communicate properly. And this is a person you love more than anyone, but it's like you get the most comfortable and you can get almost like lazy. And I would say like just finding like healthy communication has been a big one. Wow. What's been the hardest part of marriage for you? I would say communication.

Really? I mean, we've had such a beautiful marriage. We're coming up on shoot six or seven years now, this month, August. We've had a really beautiful marriage. And I mean, Adam kind of came into the Bethany world, which is a bit chaotic. It's like super rad and fun, but like he had a time of adjustment. It wasn't his life anymore. No. Yeah, and, like, just adjusting to, you know, I don't know. We make such an incredible team, and we have so much fun together,

and we really, like, we mesh well, but there's just life's hard, and you're always just growing together and getting through and just trusting God. Yeah. Yeah, it's been so awesome. Wow. And then having kids, too, is like a whole other, like, whoo! How long were you married before kids?

A year and, like, two months. Okay. Do you wish you would have had a few more years together? We were aiming for, like, four years. Really? So when we got pregnant, we were like, oh, wow. It's happening. So that's a part of my new documentary.

I was mid-filming my documentary, and then I found out I was pregnant. And we were like, should we even do this? Should we keep going? Then we did. So that became part of the story. And yeah, it's a pretty cool aspect I'm excited to share because I get pretty raw and real. And I didn't feel ready for motherhood. Really?

I wasn't embracing it, which I'm kind of an embracer. So for me to kind of reject this God-given beautiful gift felt, I look back on it now and I'm like, that's okay. But I don't agree with that Bethany now. I'm like, oh okay but I don't like agree with that that Bethany now I'm like oh my gosh motherhood's amazing I love my son Tobias made life that much better and now we have Wesley and he's like throwing us for a roller coaster but he's amazing too so did you feel like you weren't ready for it or you were I think I just had I was at a place where I was like pushing my surfing the best I had ever surfed. And just at this place of progression and growing and just kind of rocking it. And then all of a sudden I'm pregnant and I'm like, oh shoot.

It kind of throws one thing off of the track to focus on another thing. And I was just kind of like, oh, I wanted a few more years with you, hon, like before the baby. But it's been amazing. So not looking back. Is there anything in your life you would change differently? Like the years you got pregnant, when you got married, like the accident, would you change it?

Would you wish, I wish I had four more years before the accident. Do you wish anything differently? No, because I love my life now and I'm so thankful for where I'm at. And I'm like, gosh, if I changed it, like there's some things I'd look at, like in the younger years of my competitive surfing career with one arm. Yeah. And like six, more like 18 to 21. I just wish I had found like the right support and like really hunted down people to like really support me. It was like surfing at that time was just growing to be more like professional-esque. Professional-esque. Because surfing has come from more of like a cruisy background whereas now the sport of surfing there's money involved a part of the world surfing league is like legit pro like you're making good money or it's just very professional

now kind of it's just so different yeah but you didn't have the right team but then yeah i just didn't i don't feel like i had the right support then or people to kind of give me. Like, I was just doing good in competition but not quite where I could have been, I think. Like, was it more of a coach or was it more of, like, family support, friend support? Coach, coach. Like, you didn't have the right coach. Like, coach and just people to, like, help bring out the drive in me. Because I already am like naturally driven but

I just but then I took a break from competitive surfing and then that's when I met my husband so it's like why would I change that when I'm like really happy with the man I get to share every day with and the father who's absolutely incredible and now we're doing all kinds of stuff and I'm still doing contests and yeah I'm still surfing better than ever really as a mom of two now you're surfing better than yeah for sure when you're 24 best shape your life whatever yeah better now free no responsibilities yeah maybe it's the maturity or just it just goes to show if you work hard, like, I don't know, you can keep going after you have kids. Wow. It's inspiring. So you're serving better. Do you just feel like a sense of wisdom? Like you understand how the ocean works better and you understand which chances to take and

you know, you know your body more or what's. I think it's kind of a combination of everything. Yeah. Especially just kind of hunting down opportunity. So I look for what I want and then I just like go get it. Right. So it's fun. That's cool. Was there ever a time where you really doubted yourself?

Because I think I saw you were back on the ocean like four weeks after the accident. Is that true? Yeah, four weeks later. You're back in the ocean. I mean, I was in the hospital and I was like, I don't know if I can surf and I don't know what my future looks like. But then I talked to the guy who had lost his leg to a shark and he learned how to surf with one leg. So that was my first hint of inspiration. And that was before I left the hospital. So I had already set my mind to try surfing. I didn't know if I could do it, but I was going to try and get out there. And then as soon as I got up on my first wave, it was no turning back. And yeah, I'm thankful because the ocean is so much fun. It's for sure the funnest sport in the world. Wow. Did you ever doubt yourself, though?

Yeah. I mean, just last week I doubted myself. Like, you're always, like, going up and down. In the ocean or? Yeah. I mean, I was in two contests. And I did not succeed in either event. Where was the contest?

It was in Southern California. And so, like, there's a sense of, like like, ah, like that is just not feeling good. But I was also like, the conditions were absolutely terrible. Well, one event was okay. But the second event was like, the waves weren't breaking. It was like, and I'm like a big girl, like tall, almost six foot. So when you're put in like really little, little waves, not even as high as my knee. That's hard to get up, right? Not even as high as my knee. It's hard to get up, right? Yeah, I need a little power behind it.

You need a little more momentum, too. I mean, you have to be able to use your arms faster in a small wave, right? Yeah, it's like my favorite waves to surf are waves that, like, I literally cannot even paddle into the wave. You can just lean? I position myself and lean into it. You can just stand up, right? Yeah, exactly. I've surfed, like, three times in my life. Waikiki Beach or something.

Oh, perfect. 15, 20 years ago or something, yeah. I tried surfed like three times in my life. Waikiki Beach or something. Oh, perfect. 20 years ago or something, yeah. I tried to surf out here one time. I can't remember, like near Carlsbad or something. Okay. And I just was, I could not get up. I think the board was so small. Oh, you need a big board.

Like learning, you got to start on a big nine foot. I'm a giant. Yeah, you need a big board for sure. You need to be stable. I need to like, yeah. Yeah, it's like you need to spend probably a year on a big board unless you are going like every day. Wow.

And then you like slowly work your way down. I feel like a month or something. When I come to Kauai next, I'll have to come out and watch you, and I'll take the big board next to your little tiny board. Yeah, let's do it. Do the baby waves. You can serve with Tobias. Okay, perfect.

He's a four-year-old. He's probably better than me. Is he surfing right now? He's pretty good. Oh, my gosh. I don't want to serve with him. I'll find some teacher out there and show me the basics. That's crazy.

So when you're up against a world champion who's next to you in a competition or someone who's top five in the world what do you think about when you're about to drop in the wave or you're going up against someone like that when they're able to swim faster and able to maybe do something that you're not sure if you can do right now what do you think about? Well, it's interesting because the sport of competitive surfing, I literally, it's more about the ocean than my competitor. Like it's mastering the ocean. It's adjusting to the conditions you have, the waves you have,

and like performing the best you can on the waves you're given. And like with surfing now too, you end up taking turns. So, I mean, there is a bit of luck. on the waves you're given. And like with surfing now too, you end up taking turns. So, I mean, there is a bit of luck. There's a bit of, there's a lot of strategy, but it essentially comes down to mastering the ocean, which is like the more daunting aspect really because the ocean is always, the ocean is always humbling you

and kind of like putting you in your place. So that's more of what I'm thinking about. And, of course, like, when you're going up against a world champ, okay, yes, you are, like, okay, I got a tough heat at hand. I really got to master the ocean to, like, the best of my ability because they're a world champ for a reason. So, like, there is thought towards them. But, like, really it comes down to mastering the ocean. Wow. And, like, succeeding in a short window of time.

And, like, yeah, doing well. How do you, when you see a 40-foot wave, I saw this in the trailer. 40 feet, is that what it was, the wave? I guess so. It's something huge, right? It was big. It was massive. I didn't even think that was you. I was like, is that possible? It was massive. How do you have the courage to go and try something like that? Like

bigger and bigger and bigger, knowing that if you crash, like it's going to keep you under for a while, isn't it? Yeah. Well, do you ever get about me. Like, yeah, I mean, I have a lifetime of training to prepare for this moment. And then I also grew up in a family of chargers, like people that like both my mom and dad surf big waves. My brother surf big waves. My, especially my middle, My, especially my middle, my one-up brother, he charges, like, crazy slabs. Slabs are, like, kind of the mutant waves that don't even look like a wave. Freakish waves. They're, like, I remember one session. A tsunami wave.

I was, like, he's going to die. Like, I was crying in the car, like, I love you. Wow. If you die, like, I love you. Like, that sort of thing. laird hamilton style like crazy yeah but even like more mutant like laird surfing waves that you can actually like surf really he's like going after these like mutant warriors it's gonna be toad in there's like a small like number of people that are into these mutant waves that are just like death death waves but so i've grown

up in like this environment of charging and trying to keep up with my two older brothers and also on an island where there's really great waves and all winter long we're getting huge swells. So as I grew up, I would like continually kind of build up in bigger and bigger surf. And then I was talking to someone the other day, I have a really good breath hold, but I've been training my breath hold since I was like seven years old. My dad would take me to this like local lava rock pool and we would go underwater and like try to swim the whole pool length. And then once we made it to the end, we'd try to swim the whole pool length and back. Wow.

So it's like kind of this, you take a lot of confidence in your preparation for this day so that when you finally get that chance to serve something crazy and ginormous is what I call it to my three four-year-old I say it's ginormous out there then you are ready yeah you're more ready yeah and then for sure you want to be mentally just spry that day. What do you do when you're in the situation where it feels like you can't get out? Where does your mind go? Where does your heart go? I've kind of trained myself to stay calm underwater.

Just kind of relax. So in certain types of ways where you're not as worried about dying underwater. The ones where you're worried about dying underwater, what do you think about? No, no, but the ways you're not worried about dying underwater. The ones where you're worried about dying underwater, what do you think about? No, no, but the waves you're not worried about dying underwater, you practice. So you practice staying calm. You're getting ragdolled, like a doggy ragdolling a dog, a doll, and so you practice just like,

okay, I'm just relaxing the body, the muscles. Let the waves take me wherever. Weight it out. And so then when you get to the really heavy waves you're like already have that practice of like just letting it because you can try to like fight it and come up and the ocean's just you either way you gotta kind of wait like sometimes maybe you'll get like two seconds up faster but like really you just gotta wait it out until the water like calms so yeah you're just i just kind of take that meditate relax over

into the just like calm down but sometimes you're like and i don't know if you know much about breath holding do you like so your ribs start to kind of like convulse yeah so it's like if your ribs are convulsing which i have never had to hold down where my ribs started convulsing. So, you know, and I know that I can, like, one of my longer breath holds is, like, over four minutes. Wow. So I'm like, okay. Under pressure? No, this was, like, static calm. So, but I still, like, take confidence in, like, well, I technically could hold it for three, four minutes.

But, like, granted, it's way different when you're getting ragdolled. But, like, I'm like, okay, I could do a good 45 seconds, you know? Yeah. Wow. What is your greatest fear? Oh, I don't know if I have, like, a greatest fear. I take motherhood pretty seriously. So just, I don't like decide off of fear, but I kind of just don't want to blow it, you know?

What would blowing it look like? Well, I mean, my husband and I talk a lot about like just caring for our relationship first and foremost because I think that speaks more louder than anything for our kids so having us have a healthy relationship and loving him well and making sure we get time together and then just being present and a part of my kids lives and like just sharing fun times together. But also, like, I just, I don't know, I just want my boys to be, like, respectful, kind young men and, yeah. Every mom wants that, right? Yeah, but many of our decisions as mothers, like,

and how we raise them will hugely affect that. So being that mom that kind of guides them towards those, which Tobes is like, he's so amazing. I mean, Wesley's amazing too, but Tobes has this sense of like chivalry already. Really? Yeah. Do you feel like you taught him that or is your dad?

I think I've taught him a bit, but I also think it naturally comes to him, too. Like, he's very thoughtful towards other people. And lately I've noticed, like, he held the elevator door for me because I was, like, just taking too long in the elevator. I'm not going to say why. And he, I was like, can you please hold the elevator? And then I was like, thank you so much. And I looked at him and he was,, had this like huge smile on his face.

Like he just held the elevator door. That's cool. He was so happy. Wow. So we'll see though. What's the greatest lesson your mom and dad taught you? Oh man. I mean, they encouraged me in my faith in God, which has been such like my rock and my place of like refuge and peace.

Especially when I lost my arm, I just think, how did I have such peace? I was so at peace with the situation. Really? Right afterwards? Right after. Like, it's kind of bizarre. In the ocean or like in the hospital? Kind of in the ocean and the hospital.

In the ocean, you're like, okay. I was very calm. And even as a 13-year-old, I was praying, like, God, help me get through this. In the ocean? In the ocean while I'm dying. 60% of the blood out. Crazy. Yeah, and then in the hospital, I was pretty at peace and just, like, okay with it. And my mom always kind of encouraged me to be thankful for just the fact that I was alive.

And so I immediately kind of went into the whole scenario of, like, life is different now, but I'm thankful I'm alive. Like, there's so much more to life than the arm, you know? So I would say my mom taught me a lot about just encouraging me in my faith in God and trusting that God has a greater plan for this and that good will come from this. And I look at it and I'm like, no doubt good has come from what seems like such an awful thing. So imagine if all of us believe that, hey, good's going to come from our terrible situation. We might get through our situations with more hope and, like, direction of that, like, something good is going to come out of this. I don't look back and think, oh, I wish I had my arm

and I wish my life was way different. I'm just happy with where I'm at. Yeah, that's inspiring. Thank you. Wow. And what about your dad? And my dad, he's like the super supporter. He came to my contest last week. He's like, I'm not going to come to the premiere of Unstoppable, but I'm going to come to the contest the two weeks later.

He loves being a part of my surfing, especially. And he's a great grandpa too, and great dad. Another thing my mom, or both of them, taught me a sense of adventure, which is just so fun. I live life looking for the next adventure, whether it's going to the park in a few minutes, going on some crazy surf trips. So they're so adventurous. I'm going to go camping when I get home with my family.

We're going kayak camping my family we're going kayak camping and we're just kind of like I've kept they've ingrained that adventure spirit in me and my mom's really like on the fly spray the moment whereas I'm kind of a planner but then I'm also on the fly spray the moment I'm like hon let's do this like let's go to trampoline world tomorrow you know stuff like that like just go get some energy out especially when we're in california we're just like where's the adventure like drive on 405 right that's crazy roller coaster but then we go home and we're like okay back to like outdoors and chill yeah adventure mode so i love that they like gave me that like we grew up going camping all the time

and just they supported traveling and traveled the world once i started getting into competitive surfing and yeah they were just amazing parents really what's a lesson you wish they would have taught you oh maybe finances and like taxes and stuff like that. And I'm also thinking the school systems should teach that too. But yeah, I'm definitely going to make sure my kids graduate high school knowing like a little bit about finances, taxes, like all the essential things. Did you learn the hard way? Kind of, but I kind of just learned to, like, pay people to do it for me. Right, right. So I haven't had, like, bad scenarios.

I just, like, wish they had taught me a little more of that. But then I'm also, like, I should go teach them. Not that I have it all figured out, but. Your boys are 18 and 23 I guess 22 what do you wish that you have taught them that they have now created in the world oh I just hope they're content where they're at I hope they're patient for a nice girl um maybe I hope they're like living out their passions. So I hope their job comes in something that really gives them like passion and drive and excitement. And that they're like gentlemen and that they have a sense of adventure. Yeah, I don't know.

I think it's going to be so fun. I can't wait to be a grandma. Already? Can't wait already to be a grandma? Yeah. How old are you now? I'm 29. 29. You wait to be a grandma. Already? Can't wait already to be a grandma? Yeah. How old are you now? I'm 29. 29. You want to be a grandmother already? No, I don't want to be a grandma already. I just look forward to being a grandma someday. I think it'll be easier than motherhood. Really? But like, it's going to be fun. I get to go like, go take the kids surfing and then like bring them home and be like, okay, you put them down for the nap. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the hardest, how hard is motherhood?

Oh, it's the hardest thing for sure. I don't have a scale, but it's like the best things in life are often the hardest things. So think of that, weigh that out, you know. It's the best thing, but it's also the hardest thing. Yeah. Because you're always kind of on but they bring so much joy and excitement and adventure and challenge and I think they make you a better human because you just you're now responsible for another little

human and they see every action that you take and they'd see every kind of, they're watching you all day long. So, yeah, there's been times where, like, I wasn't dealing with stress well and just maybe my plate was a little overfilled and I could see Tobes. He was kind of worried about me, you know. But then we got past that and realized, okay, slow things down, like, mellow things out a bit, like, don't do too much and it's okay, slow things down, mellow things out a bit, don't do too much, and it's okay now. But he's watching everything and soaking it all up, so it kind of challenges me to be thoughtful in everything. How do you prepare for day-to-day as a competitive athlete, as a mom, a wife, running a business, traveling the world? How do you stay grounded with it all?

I go surfing. That's how you stay grounded? Yeah, I know. There's a lot of things I do. Because it seems like a lot of energy. Yeah, yeah. And there's a lot of moms out there who have one, two, three, four kids, and they've got a career, and they've got a lot of things happening. Yeah.

And I admire it because it's, I don't know if I could do it. a lot of things happening yeah and I admire it because it's I don't know if I could do it so how do you do it and I know moms are the ultimate multitaskers but yeah sometimes I'll you know I'm on social media and whatnot and I try to be active and commenting back but like I'll see comments like how do you do it all? You're so amazing. And I'm like, well, I do have a husband, and we teamwork everything. He's like full-time dad, but I'm also kind of full-time mom. Yeah. We really live together every day, and we teamwork everything. And plus, we have a team of people that help us as well who are very like-minded and, you know, involved every day. So

it's just this ebb and flow of balance. But kind of how I prepare is just, you know, having some moments of quiet, praying, asking God to just guide the day. And I also feel really good when I just get a surf in, get in the ocean. The ocean definitely grounds me and like rejuvenates me. get a surfing get in the ocean the ocean definitely grounds me and like rejuvenates me i'm having quality time with my husband that's not like work focused is really cool we've been doing um dance lessons like we're learning like ballroom dancing like salsa um rumba waltz and swing wow so we're kind of tackling that yeah wow we have like a private dance instructor she's amazing laura bacelli her dad i think is like some film person over here but okay yeah it's so fun so just finding things where you can't think about what's going on surfing it makes you present like

dancing you're just thinking about moving and like learning your next step and enjoying like my husband. So, yeah, it's kind of just finding times to have a quiet. We always like have coffee dates and yeah, and getting some exercise, getting your workout in is really helpful. But that doesn't happen every day. And then travel kind of throws everything off too. So when you're traveling, just trying to find some like moments of just calm. helpful but that doesn't happen every day um and then travel kind of throws everything off too so when you're traveling just trying to find some like moments of just calm yeah sometimes i'm like okay kids like calm down like the four-year-old be like screaming making all kinds of noises i'm

like no we need like some peace right now like let's calm this down What's missing for you in your life? Ooh. Currently, there's, like, we've just kind of come off of, like, a six-year project of making my documentary Unstoppable. And so that was, like, a big undertaking and a lot of, like, it was a big passion project. So we're kind of in a place of like redirecting the future path so like definitely the last six to nine months I had this feeling of what am I reaching for like what am I doing right now of course like yes I'm being mom and that's I'm constantly reaching for that but like I've always been a very goal-centric person and always working towards something. And I am, like, still working on my surfing, too. But it just kind of went from, like, working so hard for, like, five years to getting the film out. And then it was just, like, it felt weird.

I do not feel comfortable right now with this feeling. And I have a friend who's like integrative health doctor and he was in like him and his wife are in a similar situation too he just graduated more schooling and he just doesn't have a goal kind of so kind of feeling goalless felt really awkward and I can't say I have a very clear goal now but yeah dabbling with some surf contests I'm competing I'm still pushing my aerial games so it's like progressive surfing like especially in the sport of women's surfing we aren't incredibly progressive above the wave surfing so doing airs and stuff but for sure 10 years from now like girls are going to be going crazy going to town so it's going to be really cool so I've been pushing that aspect

of my surfing and and then I'm working on some like kind of business I look at it as like business but I mean it's a lot of kind of the work you do like empowering people to live their best life so we've been working on this unstoppable year online course right sounds course, right. Sounds cool. Which I feel like young people are in this place of just constant distractions, like they don't know who they are. They're constantly bombarded with not so positive messages on all the medias. And I think we're kind of in this weird era of what are these kids like? Who's our future future leaders and I know this might sound negative but I just have a passion for young people and wanting to help them just find their boundaries but also find their passions goals and like how to reach them how to get through life unstoppable so to

say so I'm really excited about this course I've been working on. So that's kind of been like a big undertaking too. And we've been working hard on that, like my husband and team and I. So that's kind of the next like big goal. But oh yeah, I didn't even get to the question. You said what's missing, yeah? Yeah, what's missing? Is a goal, is a big goal missing then? Yeah, I mean, there's a sense of like my competitive surfing. I would say of all the aspects of my surfing,

competitive's more of my weaker side. And with board sports, there's so many angles you can go at it. Like I've thought of myself as like a free surfer the last five years, because I've just been going on like amazing surf trips. What's the different types of things you can do in surfing? Free surfing, competitive surfing?

Competitive surfing, like there's hipster surfers. There's like big wave surfers. There's like crazy slab surfers. Like, you know, like there's all these different kind of genres within the sport. But I've been kind of working towards being the most well-rounded. So I'm trying to tackle it all, so to say. Like I kind of tackled it all the last five years or the last lifetime.

So, but, like, competitive, I've had, like, amazing success at the same time, but I'm also, like, I feel like there's room for more success in that area. I just, I don't know. I'm still in this state of not fully goal-setted. Like, no goal has fully been set. It's just, like, this feeling of not fully goal set it like no goal has fully been set it's just like this feeling of like okay let's figure out what is it that I want like and then maybe head that direction

I'm still figuring it out like I mean of course I want to be successful in my sport but I'm also like especially in my last two events we were like i just don't want to surf six inch waves i want to serve like some decent waves so waves yeah six foot waves at least but the world surfing league is so incredible right now and i don't know there's there's opportunities the opportunities are endless it's just like zeroing in on what i want and i just don't have that fully dialed in i think it's okay to have a time of figuring things out, not having the goal. Like, take a little break, take a little breather. Like, just have fun.

And I'm still, like, working on so many things and, like, have the kids full-time. Like, got to change the diaper probably in, like, two hours from now. So it's busy. Yeah. Okay. But, yeah, as far as something missing, I mean, I could see more babies down the road. Really? I don't feel like the family's complete, which is crazy.

When I had our first kid and then our second kid wasn't conceived yet, we were like ready. We were like, okay, second kid. Already? Wow. You want another kid now? Not now. The little one's like just barely sleeping through the night, so it's like, let's get a year of sleep.

A little bit of peace for a couple hours. A year of sleep first. I thrive on good sleep, and I have not had that for four years. Sure. So let's have a year of good sleep and then go from there. How many years do you think you can be competitive for? Well, have you heard of Kelly Slater? He's like 47.

Have you heard of him? Of course, yeah. I've actually been messaging. Have you heard of him? Of course, yeah. I've actually been messaging. Have you talked to him? We've been messaging back and forth on Instagram. Yeah, he'd be amazing. He said he wants to come on the show, but he's not in LA for a while. Or maybe he is now.

I'm not sure. He will be a fun conversation. That guy's amazing. He's like 40 something, right? Push him 50. He's a machine. He's like, what, 12, 15 times world champion? Who's to cut off the pushing or surfing?

I mean, I think of him frequently and I'm like okay well we still got some time. You got time. Is he a good friend of yours? You know a lot of these people? And I'm like no I'm not like super tight with him but like I mean we would sit down and chat you know. Sure. But not like best friends you know. But I would say like the last five years since podcasts were invented.

And actually, I've had your podcast downloaded. I just haven't listened to it really. You listened to one recently. I was like, oh, I want to listen to this. And then I just never really got around to it. But it's been in my podcast. Oh, that's good. I like it.

I know, I really enjoyed. We listened to a bunch of your short ones. I love that you do short ones. Because some of these guys, they only do an hour and a half or I don't have time for an hour and a half, but if it's really good, I'll, like, find a time.

Sure. I was super stoked on some of your stuff. It's just, like, good to hear, like, encouraging words. That's right. I'll let you know what you're trying to do

with your course, too, right? Yeah, exactly. Is it designed for younger people, for older people? Well, I mean, I think anyone could do it, but I definitely like have a heart for teenagers and young adults. I think it's just such a time of figuring yourself out, figuring life out and, you know, teaching these, I mean, I don't know if grit can fully be taught, but like teaching them. Isn't that interesting? Yeah.

You know, everyone's talking about grit. Yeah. And the TED Talk and the books and all these things. But it's like, as an athlete growing up, you either have it or you don't. Yeah. No, no. Like, I was talking to someone just recently about how they're like, oh, I got so pounded in the ocean and then I was over it. And I was like, I guess when I was little

I would go and get pounded for fun. Like that was what we did. So my grit was like, I got taught to enjoy being pounded as like a five, seven year old, 12 year old. You fall in love with the pain of your sport or the thing that you're into. Yeah. The pain of like your passion that you're into.

I remember playing basketball, football, baseball growing up. And it was just like, how much pain could I endure as a kid? It was fun still, but it was like, okay, it's not enough. I've got to keep shooting. I keep training. I keep working out because I loved it so much and I wanted to be better. Yeah. I think you've got to have that for whatever the thing you want to be doing. Like I still have that. I want to be better. Yeah. So I think that continually drives me. And then there's this whole movement now, I think with the internet and, like, phone access,

there's a whole movement of, like, longevity health. So there's, like, you can constantly be educating yourself on all that and, like, doing stuff to, like, I'm, like, really into just natural good health. And so I'm, like, well, I guess I could, like, keep myself young, like, a'm like really into just natural good health. And so I'm like, well, I guess I could like keep myself young, like a little bit longer. And I've like had two kids. So I've gotten past that. Like that to me is like, if I had another kid, it's fine. You know, I feel like there's still a lot of time. Yeah. But and I'm very motivated that regardless of

if I'm like a professional surfer, I want to just surf well and be able to surf really well as long as I can as a grandma. There you go. So there's a lot of kind of, I have grandma goals. Grandma goals already. I love it. What was more painful for you, having a baby or having the accident? Oh, for sure having the baby. What's more painful than the accident?

Child bearing. And I did all natural, like, you know, nothing, nothing. Then a shark biting your arm off? Shark bites are so traumatic that your body goes into shock. Haven't you heard that? You can't even feel it. It's just like, uh. Yeah, for sure child-bearing.

You're going through hours and hours and hours of, like, severe, like, crazy cramping that is, like, you feel like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to die. But you know you're not. like severe like crazy cramping that is like you feel like oh my gosh i'm gonna die so it's more painful having a baby yeah than having your arm bitten off by a shark that's crazy was there ever pain afterwards like when you were actually allowed your mind to calm down i'm really thankful like i had a little bit of what they call phantom pain. So right now I have phantom feeling. So it's like I can feel my hand down there, my fingers, my wrist especially. You can feel it? Yeah, I can feel it. Like my nerves have that remembrance or whatever. But it doesn't hurt.

So I call it phantom feeling because some people, but some people it's really unfortunate. They have like severe pain. And I think it somehow has to do with how the nerves were lacerated or whatever it's crazy okay we're getting a little too gory here but um yeah so i know some i've had like i've met a lot of amputees and people have been through traumatic injuries and they have to take drugs to kind of deal with that pain because it's really. So I'm so thankful. I'm like, oh, my gosh, thank goodness. Like, everything came clean.

But, yeah, child rearing is no joke. But the thing is, as a woman, you know your body can do this. God has created your body to bear children. Like, you can do it. So it's, like, kind of, like, mentally preparing it. To me, like like being an athlete I've heard athletes can have a hard time because they have a hard time letting go of like you know control but so I surrender almost yeah you have to just let go but it's kind of like being in the

wave too yeah so I think I did a good job of letting go because both my births went really good. Oh, that's good. Yeah, the pain is over now. I'm probably going to forget about it in a year or two and then have another kid. Wow. But yeah, some women have really traumatic births that are so hard, and so I have a lot of compassion. I'm like, finally, once you've had a kid, you understand women so much more because it's like, wow. You just have a lot of respect, yeah, for your mom.

You're like, I love you. You're amazing. Or, like, the people who have, like, a ton of kids. You're like, oh, my gosh, you're incredible. Like, how do you do that? Unless they're just, like, dragging up and, like, they don't feel it. Okay, then, like, well, there's still, like, that's still amazing, too. It's still hard, yes.

Well, you've got your movie out right now how long is it out for it's called unstoppable right unstoppable it's out now july august 1st yeah i think it's one of the last weekends okay and then eventually it'll be online hopefully hopefully yeah like netflix or prime you never know but people can go to your website to learn more about that and the course where can they go to learn more about it? Yeah, at bethanyhamilton.com. And, yeah, the Unstoppable Year is going to be awesome. I believe it's going to be life-changing for myself and everyone who does it.

When is it coming out? We're starting this summer or fall, September-ish. Okay. And it will be on your website. They can sign up to learn more about it. Yeah, just head to the website and you'll get all the information there. Okay, cool. Yeah, I'm really pumped to just share my life

and all the things I've learned along the way with people. Yeah, I've been in this place of kind of inspiring people since I was 13 years old. And then now I'm kind of stepping into that role of equipping and just really giving more. Educating more, yeah. What is something about you that most people don't know? Ooh. That you're really proud of?

Ooh. I don't know. I have a prosthetic arm that helps me play ukulele. No way. Yeah. That's cool. But I broke it, so I got to send it in for repair. So right now it's kind of down, and I'm not really good at ukulele, but I can strum a song.

Wow, that's cool. I love the ukulele. Me too. And I grew up playing guitar and ukulele, so that felt really hard for me when I lost my arm. That was one of the harder challenges because I was passionately in love with music making and just loved just picking it up and playing a song. So yeah, finally I got a prosthetic to just see what it would be like, and it was a little awkward. It didn't feel completely natural, but it's still really fun. It felt like I definitely had some tears at some point. That's cool.

That's like a fun little side project I've had in the last couple years. That's cool. That's like a fun little side project I've had in the last couple of years. That's great. That's awesome. This question is called the three truths. So I want you to imagine that you're the great, great grandmother that you dream of being and that you're so excited to be and you've created everything you want to create in your life. You've accomplished all the dreams, all the big goals you set. You make them happen. You've got the family of your dreams. You've done it all. But you've got to take everything with you. So whatever you've created, your books, your movies, the things you put out in the world, you've got to take it with you. So no one has access to your information anymore. All your social media content, it's all gone now. But you get to write down on your last day the three things you know to be true about your life

and the lessons that you would leave behind. And this is all people would have to kind of remember you by, are these lessons. What would you say are your three truths? Oh, my gosh. Is it the things I want? Do you want people to like,'s like you know always be honest here's a lesson here's a truth like I'll always give your best or okay one of the first things

that came to mind was like faithfulness um be faithful and what just to the people in my life and to God um and then my second, oh gosh, this is deep. I feel like I need to put like some months of thought into this. You can come back in the future and let me know, but what's on the top of your mind? You know, three things you'd want to leave behind, yeah. Maybe, can I bring surfing with?

Yeah, I think just having a sense of peace. Well, these are the things that I kind of cherish. I don't know. I don't really care, like, what people, like, remember me as. I always get that question. I'm just like, whatever, like, whatever, like, empowers them, you know? What would you want them to, lessen what you want them to know? Oh, I think that we can be unstoppable no matter what the challenges that come our way.

And, I mean, I always think of, like, wow, well, I mean, I've faced an immense amount of challenge. But some people have faced a lot more and a lot more pain. And I really take that to heart and know that, like, maybe I don't fully understand all the pains of the world but I just believe that like in my own life my passions have driven me to overcome and that's my faith in God and surfing and now my family and these are the things that continually push me forward so I hope that people can find their passion to overcome their challenges. Give me one more. Yeah. I saw the first one, be faithful. Okay.

Second one I heard was be unstoppable. Okay. So that kind of goes in the unstoppable category. Third one, just enjoy the moment and get some adventure in you. Okay. So what I'm hearing is be present and adventure. I like it. Yoohoo.

It's good. I feel like those are what you've been representing for a long time. Cool. Adventure, like you have to be present when you're on the waves. Yeah, it's funny. I've noticed with social media, I try to do something funny and people will comment on the funny thing. They'll comment, you're so inspirational. I'm trying to be funny here, not inspirational.

That's good. So it's just funny how you can't really change people's perceptions of you even if, I mean. No matter what you do. Part of making my film Unstoppable was actually to be like, hey, I'm way more than just the shark attack survivor girl, the shark bite girl because I'll be called like weird stuff like that I'm like hey like look at my surfing or now I'm mom like either way I'm just Bethany but

well I want to acknowledge you Bethany for your inspiration because you have done so much for so many people especially young girls who I think look up to you. You continue to be yourself. You continue to bring a lot of joy. And you're just grateful for your life. And I think that is a powerful message that everyone can have, no matter what adversity, challenge comes our way. Like, continuing to pursue the passion that you have is inspiring a lot of people. So I acknowledge you for your childlike joy. You just have like a pure joy about you

and it's really cool to connect and meet you. So I acknowledge that. Thank you, man. Of course, yeah. Fun chatting. It's fun chatting. I have a final question for you and that's what's your definition of greatness?

I think just kind of loving, loving or making the most of what you've got and just like loving life and enjoying it. Amazing. Bethany, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. You rock.

There you have it, my friend. And if you thought this was inspiring as much as I found it inspiring to sit down with Bethany, then make sure to share this with one friend today. Be a hero in one friend's life. Just shoot them a text. Put this in a WhatsApp group message. I don't care how you get it to your friend. Send them a Facebook Messenger link.

Whatever it is, send this to one friend who might be facing some challenges in their life, who might be facing a setback, that this could help inspire that friend, overcome it, and achieve great things in their life as well. Send it to one person, lewishouse.com slash 841. Or you can take the link right from the Apple Podcast app where you're listening to or on Spotify and share it with your friend that way. Make sure to tag me on Instagram at Lewis house and tag Bethany Hamilton. She would love to learn more about what you thought about this. So share it out there.

I'll be resharing these stories over on Instagram as well when you post. So just make sure to tag me and Bethany Hamilton and please leave a review. If this is your first time here, subscribe to the podcast. We do this three times a week where we bring you some of the most incredible minds in the world, all for free over on Apple Podcasts. So go subscribe there and please leave a rating and review. I don't care if you leave a one star or five star. I don't care what you say on the review. I just want to hear from you. I want to hear how we can make it better, how this has improved your life, how it's impacted you in any way, shape, or form. So please leave a review and let me know. We would love to hear from you. We want to share

this with our audience. We want to share it with our internal team. And every time you leave a review or rating, it helps create more awareness of the School of Greatness podcast as well. Again, Maya Angelou said, you may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. I want you to remember this. There are events that are going to happen in your life that you are unable to control them happening, but you can control the way you react

and you don't need to be reduced to those events. You can rise above them. This is key for all of us. It's so important to know that you can rise above any challenge in your life. You are not dictated by those events in your life. As we bring it back to the beginning, Osho said, don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move. I hope you feel joyful, loved, and full of light today. I love you so very much, and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.