Introduction

In this section, the host introduces the guest, Anna Hemmings, an 11-time European world champion in kayaking. The host highlights that Anna has a remarkable story of overcoming adversity to become an elite athlete and coach.

Anna's Introduction

• Anna is an 11-time European world champion in kayaking.

• She has undergone incredible mind-bending adversity to get where she is today.

• The conversation with Anna led to many realizations for the host.

Getting into Kayaking

In this section, Anna talks about how she got into kayaking and her journey towards becoming a world champion.

Discovering Kayaking

• Anna did not dream of getting into kayaking as a child.

• She tried different sports as a child but stumbled upon kayaking at Elm Bridge Canoe Club.

• The club was competitive and focused on producing racing athletes which played into Anna's competitive nature.

Ambitions and Dreams

• Being surrounded by people who had big ambitions made it feel possible for Anna to achieve her dreams.

• From a young age, she had a dream about the Olympics and watching it on TV inspired her.

• By the time she watched Seoul Olympics at 12 years old, she knew she wanted to be an Olympian someday.

Conclusion

In this section, the conversation comes to an end.

Final Thoughts

• No new information provided.

The Role of Circumstance and Intention in Success

In this section, the speaker discusses how both circumstance and intention play a role in achieving success.

The Importance of Being Around the Right People

• Moments of luck can come from being around the right people.

• The speaker reflects on how her life would have been different if she had not had certain people in her life.

Bridging the Gap Between Icons and Normal People

• The speaker talks about how we often view ourselves as "normal" compared to our icons or those we see on TV.

• There comes a moment when we realize that our icons are just like us, which can be inspiring.

Defining Characteristics for Success

• The speaker is asked what defining characteristics she has that helped her achieve success.

• She acknowledges that many people work hard, but one thing that made her more determined was being told she was too small to be a great kayaker.

• This motivated her to become stronger and prove others wrong.

Overcoming Adversity in Pursuit of Goals

In this section, the speaker discusses how she overcame adversity while pursuing her goal of becoming a great kayaker.

Being Told She Was Too Small to Succeed

• At 12 years old, the speaker's coach told her she was too small and not strong enough to ever be a great kayaker.

• This was devastating for the speaker because kayaking was something she loved and wanted to pursue.

Using Adversity as Motivation

• Despite being told she wasn't good enough, the speaker decided to keep trying and working hard towards her goal.

• She used this adversity as motivation to become even stronger than before.

Finding Joy in Winning and Improving

• The speaker loved winning, but also found joy in improving.

• She was determined to become the strongest kayaker she could be, despite being told she wasn't big enough or strong enough.

Overcoming Stereotypes

In this section, the speaker talks about how she overcame stereotypes in her sport and the importance of healthy conflict in teams.

Winning World Championships and Olympics

• The speaker believes that just because someone is big doesn't mean they are faster or more valuable in a boat.

• She feels underestimated unfairly but winning world championships and getting to the Olympics was satisfying for her.

• The speaker proved that being a certain shape doesn't make someone fast or useful in a kayak.

Importance of Healthy Conflict

• Healthy conflict starts with trust within a team.

• It involves healthy debate where everyone has the same objective and goal.

• If there isn't enough trust, people won't speak up and share their ideas, leading to problems later on.

• Vulnerability is key to building trust within a team.

Working with a Sports Psychologist

In this section, the speaker talks about working with a sports psychologist from a young age and what she learned about high performance.

Lessons Learned from Sports Psychologist

• The speaker worked with a sports psychologist from the age of 16.

• She believes it was part of what made her different and helped her succeed when others didn't.

• Key lessons learned include self-regulation, visualization, goal-setting, and focusing on what you can control.

Importance of Mental Strength and Confidence

In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of mental strength and confidence in achieving success. She emphasizes the need to constantly learn from others and seek expertise from other sectors.

Seeking Expertise

• The speaker encourages learning from other sectors to improve oneself.

• Clients in the business world are encouraged to constantly learn from others.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

• Fear, doubt, anxiety, nerves, lack of confidence are common limiting beliefs that prevent people from being their best.

• Identifying limiting beliefs is important in overcoming them.

• Unpacking how these beliefs serve us or not can help identify more helpful beliefs.

Building Confidence through Past Experiences

In this section, the speaker talks about building confidence through past experiences. She emphasizes the importance of drawing on positive experiences rather than negative ones when faced with similar situations.

Building Confidence

• Confidence is built over time through past experiences.

• Positive experiences should be drawn upon when faced with similar situations to build confidence.

• Focusing on negative experiences perpetuates doubt and hinders performance.

Building Confidence and Identifying Strengths

In this section, the speaker discusses how to build confidence by recalling past successes and identifying strengths. They also talk about how people tend to underestimate their potential and the importance of focusing on non-tangible attributes.

Recalling Past Successes

• To build confidence, consciously recall positive experiences and past successes.

• Identify all of your successes, not just in a specific scenario.

• Unpick what role you played in that success and identify the attributes that allowed you to achieve it.

Underestimating Potential

• People tend to massively underestimate their potential.

• The average person realizes only about 5% of their potential.

• Focusing on non-tangible attributes is more valuable than tangible achievements.

Identifying Strengths

• Work on identifying your strengths and building up a bank of successes.

• Highlight both strengths and weaknesses but focus more on exploiting your strengths.

Tangible vs Intangible Attributes

In this section, the speaker talks about how society tends to measure success based on tangible achievements like certificates or awards. However, they argue that intangible attributes like skills or personal qualities are more valuable for building self-esteem and self-belief.

Measuring Success

• Society measures success based on tangible achievements like certificates or awards.

• Comparing yourself to others based on tangible achievements can make your confidence and self-belief fragile.

Intangible Attributes

• Focusing on non-tangible attributes is more valuable than tangible achievements.

• Intrinsic qualities like skills or personal qualities are better than certificates or awards.

• Identifying strengths and evidence of those strengths helps build self-esteem and self-belief.

Overcoming Negative Narratives

In this section, the speaker talks about how negative narratives can impact one's confidence and self-belief. They discuss how to overcome these narratives by focusing on strengths and building a positive mindset.

Negative Narratives

• Negative narratives can create the impression that you will be unsuccessful.

• School grades can create negative narratives that impact confidence and self-belief.

Overcoming Negative Narratives

• Contrasting yourself with peers can help build a positive mindset.

• Focusing on intangible attributes helps build self-esteem and self-belief.

• Identifying strengths helps build a positive mindset.

Knowing Your Strengths

In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of knowing your strengths and how to exploit them. She also discusses the limitations of labeling oneself in their line of work.

Importance of Knowing Your Strengths

• Confidence is fragile, so it's important to know your strengths and be able to exploit them.

• Labeling yourself can be limiting and may prevent you from being all that you can be.

• Focusing on what you want and what you could achieve helps to overcome fear and uncertainty.

Limitations of Labeling Oneself

• Broad labels we give ourselves are not helpful.

• Labels become a part of our identity, which makes it hard to let go of them.

• It's important to resist labels and liberate oneself from them in order to grow.

The Power of Visualization

In this section, the speaker talks about the power of visualization in achieving one's goals.

Using Visualization for Goal Achievement

• Visualization is a powerful technique for achieving goals.

• When you see something vividly, your mind doesn't know the difference between a vividly imagined experience and a real-life experience.

• Visualizing what that new role/person/identity could be brings excitement.

The Power of Visualization

In this section, the speaker talks about the power of visualization and how it can help athletes achieve their goals.

Visualizing Race Plans

• Visualization involves visualizing a race plan and seeing oneself executing it perfectly.

• The speaker visualizes everything from different weather conditions to recovering from setbacks during a race.

• By visualizing a goal, the subconscious mind starts generating creative ideas on how to achieve it.

Law of Attraction

• Visualization activates the law of attraction, bringing in people, resources, and circumstances needed to achieve one's goal.

• Conscious visualization is more powerful than daydreaming because it ingrains in the subconscious mind.

• Looking at things that one wants in the future helps set goals and peer into one's future life.

Discipline and Consistency

• Believing that a goal can happen gives motivation to take action towards achieving it.

• Highly motivating big dream goals like world championships or Olympic games are not enough to get out of bed every day; discipline and consistency are necessary for success as an athlete.

The Importance of Understanding What Drives You

In this section, the speaker talks about how having targets and goals can be a big driver for some people, while others are motivated by being part of a team or receiving recognition. She emphasizes the importance of understanding what drives you and your team in order to get the best out of yourself and others.

Different Drivers for Different People

• The speaker explains that hitting targets is a big driver for her, as it gives her a sense of achievement.

• For some people, being part of a team and enjoying the connection with others is what motivates them.

• The speaker notes that for some members of her team, receiving recognition was a big driver.

Tapping into Intrinsic Motivation

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of tapping into intrinsic motivation rather than relying on external factors like pay or promotions.

• She suggests that leaders should understand what motivates their team members individually in order to get the best out of them.

• It's important to be aware that different drivers work for different people and not to push your own drivers onto others.

Identifying Your Drivers

• The speaker recommends using a diagnostic tool to identify your own drivers.

• However, she also notes that getting to know someone and asking questions can help you understand their motivations over time.

Short-Term Goals vs Long-Term Goals

• The speaker shares an example from her own experience climbing Mount Kilimanjaro where focusing on short-term goals helped her achieve her long-term goal.

Overcoming Fear and Achieving Goals

In this section, the speaker talks about how to overcome fear and achieve goals by focusing on the process rather than the end goal. She uses an example of climbing a mountain to illustrate her point.

Focusing on One Step at a Time

• The speaker describes climbing a mountain with a friend who is scared of heights.

• She advises her friend to focus on taking one step at a time instead of worrying about reaching the summit or getting back down.

• The speaker emphasizes that this approach can be applied to any goal in life, whether it's related to business or personal growth.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• The interviewer asks the speaker about her experience with chronic fatigue syndrome, which she was diagnosed with when she was 25 or 26 years old.

• The speaker explains that chronic fatigue syndrome is more than just feeling tired and discusses how it affected her career as an athlete.

Huel Nutrition and Fiverr Sponsorship

• The speaker talks about her positive experience using Huel nutrition products for the past three and a half years.

• She also mentions using Fiverr for freelance services and offers to send credits to viewers who message her with their project needs.

• The speaker thanks Huel and Fiverr for sponsoring the podcast.

Physical and Emotional Challenges of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Anna discusses the physical and emotional challenges she faced with chronic fatigue syndrome. She describes symptoms such as pain, brain fog, and being bedridden or in a wheelchair. Anna also talks about the mental and emotional battle of dealing with an illness that is not visible to others.

Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Painful symptoms such as difficulty washing hair for more than 10 seconds

• Inability to engage in physical activity for more than 10 minutes at a light pace

• Brain fog and difficulty concentrating

• Some individuals are bedridden or in a wheelchair due to the severity of their symptoms

Mental and Emotional Battle

• Frustration with invisible illness that others cannot see

• Difficulty understanding and empathizing with mental health struggles due to lack of visibility

• Feelings of frustration, devastation, confusion, sadness, loneliness

Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Anna discusses her experience with getting diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. She talks about how it took six months for doctors to eliminate other possibilities before diagnosing her. She also shares her experience with different treatment options.

Diagnosis Process

• Six-month process to eliminate other possibilities before diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome

• Misdiagnosis as overtraining due to being an athlete

• Frustration with lack of diagnosis clarity

Treatment Options

• Graded return to exercise program

• Trying conventional and alternative medicine with no success

• Doctor telling Anna there is no cure or treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome

Coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Anna discusses how she coped with chronic fatigue syndrome. She talks about the emotional impact of being told she may never race again and how she had to redefine her identity.

Coping Strategies

• Acceptance of diagnosis and redefining identity

• Finding new passions and goals outside of athletics

Overcoming Illness and Believing in Possibilities

In this section, the speaker talks about her experience of overcoming an illness and how she always believed that there was a way out. She also discusses her optimistic outlook on life.

Belief in Possibilities

• The speaker always believed that there was a solution to her illness and that she would find a way out.

• Her belief in possibilities is what kept her going during the difficult times.

Understanding the Illness

• There are many different schools of thought regarding the cause of the illness.

• The treatment that worked for the speaker was called reverse therapy, which identified triggers such as pressures, stresses, relationships, environment, emotions, etc., that were causing alarm bells to go off in her body.

Importance of Expressing Emotions

• Symptoms such as pain, fatigue, exhaustion are alarm bells telling you that something is wrong.

• Opening up to people closest to you and sharing your struggles can be a big turning point in recovery.

• Suppressing emotions can lead to isolation and perpetuate negative feelings.

Balancing Vulnerability and Toughness in Business and Personal Life

In this section, the speaker discusses the challenges of balancing vulnerability and toughness in both personal relationships and business. He shares his experience of bringing a "tough guy" attitude into his personal life, which did not help his relationships. However, he also acknowledges that being tough is necessary in business, especially when dealing with difficult situations.

Balancing Vulnerability and Toughness

• Admitting mistakes and expressing emotions can improve personal relationships.

• Being tough is necessary in business to stand up for oneself and make difficult decisions.

• Being vulnerable to some degree can help build trust with others in business.

• Building relationships requires showing vulnerability and humanity rather than putting up a tough front all the time.

• A resilient leader has confidence in who they are, understands their strengths and weaknesses, finds a way to bounce back from setbacks, and creates opportunities.

• Leaders must believe without doubt that the future is bright even during challenging times.

• Some leaders may have a self-fulfilling mindset that takes them out of business during difficult times.

Handling Fear as a Leader

• Leaders must be confident in themselves and their team's abilities to find a way forward during challenging times.

• Even if leaders are scared or unsure about the future, they should not lie to their team but instead focus on finding solutions.

The Importance of Honesty and Transparency in Building Trust

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in building relationships and trust within a team.

Honesty and Transparency Build Better Relationships

• Leaders sometimes have to lie, but it's important to be honest and transparent.

• The more transparent and honest we are, the better relationships we build.

• This leads to better connections and more trust within a team.

• Working together as a team helps us figure things out.

Overcoming Mental Health Issues Through Human Connection

In this section, the speaker discusses how she overcame her mental health issues by recognizing the connection between mind and body. She also talks about how human connection is crucial for emotional support.

Recognizing Triggers

• Overcoming mental health issues requires recognition that mind and body are connected.

• No medicine or pill was involved in overcoming her disorder.

• To overcome her disorder, she had to recognize what triggers it.

Importance of Human Connection

• Training alone led to isolation which affected her mental health negatively.

• Emotional support is necessary for good mental health.

• Being able to vent frustration is important for emotional well-being.

The Importance of Environment in Motivation

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of environment in motivation. He talks about how people underestimate the value of human connection and how community plays an important role in motivation.

Environment Affects Motivation

• People underestimate the value of human connection when it comes to motivation.

• Community plays an important role in motivation.

• Operating in a positive environment can lead to higher motivation.

• Feedback and support from a community can increase motivation.

Freelance Depression and the Importance of Human Connection

In this section, the speaker discusses how freelance depression can occur due to a lack of fulfillment and support network. The importance of human connection is highlighted as a key factor in motivation and enjoyment at work.

Inner Lack of Fulfillment

• Conflation of community with tasks at work leads to loss of fulfillment.

• Support network is important for motivation and enjoyment at work.

• Environment plays a crucial role in thriving at work.

Extroverts and Freelance Depression

• Extroverts have found it hard during the pandemic due to lack of human connection.

• Speaking over Zoom does not provide the same level of energy as speaking in person.

• Understanding what one needs to thrive is crucial.

Lost Connections

• Loneliness and lack of human connection are major factors in anxiety and depression.

• Emotional issues can manifest physically, such as getting sick or having headaches.

• Loneliness is an alarm bell that signals a need for more human connection.

Conclusion

• It's important to listen to one's body when feeling lonely or lacking fulfillment.

• Taking action, such as getting back to one's tribe, can help alleviate these feelings.

Listening to Mind and Body

Anna Hemmings talks about how she was able to tune into her mind and body, which helped her overcome physical illness and thrive in her career.

Tuning into Mind and Body

• Anna Hemmings listened to her mind and body, which helped her understand what was going on with herself.

• She was able to overcome physical illness by understanding what her body needed.

• Her experience with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) made her realize that there is more to physical illness than just taking medication.

Helping Others Fulfill Their Potential

Anna Hemmings discusses how she uses the lessons she learned from sports to help others fulfill their potential in the business world.

Developing People

• Anna Hemmings loves helping others fulfill their potential by sharing the lessons she learned from sports.

• She now focuses on developing people in the business world, using the same principles as in sports.

• Seeing people have an "aha" moment or transformation is what motivates her now.

Inspiring Others through Resilience

The host reflects on Anna Hemmings' inspiring story of resilience and overcoming challenges.

Reflection on Anna's Story

• The host finds Anna's story incredibly inspiring due to its twists and turns, resilience, dealing with pressure, understanding oneself, and mental state.

• He thanks Anna for coming on the podcast and hopes to stay in touch.

• The host asks listeners to subscribe or follow the podcast and promises to send a message to one subscriber for each episode.