Episode #761 - Racing To Success with Lisa Brooking

Foreign.

Welcome to this edition of the Million Dollar Mastermind podcast. This is where we pick the brains of high achievers from all walks of life and get their hard earned real world insights on winning. I'm your host, Larry Wydell. Hello everybody. And we're fortunate today to be talking to Lisa Brooke. Hello, Lisa.

Hi, Larry. Thanks for having me.

And Lisa has got a very interesting story of achievement. And the way I look at it, Lisa of swimming upstream, starting at what would be a training for a normal type career but then continuing to swim upstream and take that into a lot of different areas. Whereas now you're the CEO of a private medical practice with a current revenue of 8 million and climbing. You know, you're just getting started and so to work your way up to that level is a tremendous achievement because, you know, you started. And we'll get into the, you know, your athletic career and all of those things we'll get into. But before we forget, why don't you show on the screen what you showed me and then explain to them what just came in.

Oh, thank you. Yes, I received a very pleasant mood boosting email this morning. So I'll just share this. So it says Paris 2024 and I'm just so grateful. This is now a third Olympic cycle to be on the long list. So I made the list. Yes, you have to go to trials and there's much they are definitely weeding down that list and it will be one or two individuals that represent that sport. But for me, a huge win to be on the list. So what a mood booster going into this beautiful day.

Yes. And yes, I want to get into all that. I'm a little confused with myself about where to start. But as you started out, when did you start the athletic career, started being competitive and what is your sport? Is it running? Is it cycling? Is it? I thought it was running.

Yes, it is. It's distance running. That's correct. It's so ironic. I've had this success. I don't come from an athletic family, certainly a hardworking family, but not an athletic family. And it was a high school teacher that really encouraged me to think about participating in sport. And since then just so many doors has opened and it's really helped to offset the cost of my schooling. But it wasn't ever my main focus. It was just a tool that helped me advance in post secondary school and such and I've just fallen in love with it. It's so soul fulfilling and it's a part of who I am.

Just to touch on it that is the point I wanted to make in my book serial winner about why do certain people just win over and over again? Because they don't just run to the finish line, they run through it. And once you complete whatever goal it is you went through, you wind up becoming a level of elite. Separate yourself from other people and other opportunities open to you that are not available to everybody. And so like you just said right there, you got into it, you did well, and surprisingly enough, you know, we never know. The thing is, we never know until we climb the top of a mountain what the view is on the other side. And like out in Aspen, the biggest, steepest terrain is out on Highlands bowl. And they have the prayer flag up there and people have to hike 45 minutes after taking all the lifts up to the top. And you're always used to looking at that thing from down below, looking up at Highlands boat and you can actually see it from Aspen Mountain.

I love Aspen. My heart's with Aspen.

When I got into helicopters, I took, you know, I'm a photographer, so I got a helicopter and we went up there on the biggest peak day, I think is 2018, the morning of the peak day of the season. So there was lines of people along the ridge and it was the first time I saw what was on the other side of the top. The peak of Highland Bull and sure enough, it's Pyramid Peak and Maroon Bells and all of those. But you can get two on the ground. But you have no idea the spectacular, mind blowing view and hopefully you're going to get back to Aspen. I have a nine foot photo of that, like five feet by nine foot in Poppycock's Cafe there. It's the busiest breakfast, breakfast, lunch place in town. And I've got a view there you just can't believe. But it symbolizes, you know what, until we get to the top, you don't know what's on the other side. And so do you remember what kind of doors opened up for you that was surprising to you early on?

You're exactly right. I running with something that I enjoy doing, it was stress relieving. It helped me definitely process thoughts, but it was a tool to offset cost of university. And I happened to be good at it. With that. I thought maybe it would be, you know, as a lifelong person who embodies active living, but really once I had that success, I had a different vantage point and then thought, oh, maybe I should try running on the roads. And then on the roads and getting further distance and putting myself into uncomfortable situations. Let's try a half marathon. What the heck? Sure, I'm working night shifts, but why can't I? And it's surprising ourselves. I would say the theme is when you have those gut feelings or that random thought of curiosity, just run with it. Jump in with both feet. If you fail, you fail. Or if you find out it's not something that's for you, then just pivot. But for me, it has just making the national team was so unexpected. And then from there, like continuing to open up more doors, more opportunities. Running internationally. In a couple of weeks, I'll be running Miami Half Marathon. I had the great fortune of winning that race.

Wow. Congratulations. What was that?

Thank you. So that was 2022, and then I came back in 2023. I ended up being out sprinted at the end, finishing third, but ran two minutes faster. And that's the beauty of sport, is I was competing against an extraordinary Kenyan and a woman from Ukraine. We were pushing each other and pushing our body's limits. So I wouldn't have run that fast if I wasn't being pushed. Yes, I ultimately came third, which is not the same as winning. But for me, it was a podium nevertheless. And I realized I am getting stronger with each passing year. Defying age in the sense that sport doesn't have an age limit.

Yeah, you hear more and more of that coming out, that it's not that as you get older, older, your body naturally loses the ability to do things. The reason it loses the ability is you don't exercise well.

Vanny gets smarter. You learn that nutrition and sleep and prehab. Changing your running shoes. So how I approach sport at 18 is very different now. And it's just incredible, the different factors that play into performance and how you can really tweak it to optimize your peak performance.

Yeah. Because there's advantages everywhere in every aspect. The training, the nutrition, the shoes, and so especially the way your thought process and your attitude, how you react to things as you go through the race and good things and bad things happen and you're able to. You got to be your own best self coach. Because when you're in the moment, you don't have time to take a time out and let me go to Tibet, climb the mountain and talk to the monk, and then come back with a renewed whatever. You know, you got to give yourself the answer. Right.

Well, they often say with running anyways, 80% of it is mental. And I agree with that. Because even if you have sluggish leg, like on race day, when that gun goes off all of a sudden, you could have a GI issue. You could have like a sprained ankle, someone could bump you. Lots can happen. But it's all about mindset. So you could pivot your mindset to lower your goal, your finishing time goal, but you're still going to finish that race. You still have that grit and that commitment that's seen in so many aspects of life. So just because something happens, it doesn't mean you just throw away what you're trying to achieve. Racing, you have to go with the flow. So why don't we do that in other aspects of life while not losing spirit of our overall goal that we're trying to achieve?

Well, I'm glad you brought up that thing about the Miami race, because I did not have that in my notes about you. So thank you for sharing that. But the thing is that there's so many advantages of being the competitive athlete and not just being an athlete, but a competitive athlete and especially at the higher levels, you know, the highest level that you're capable of for yourself. Give me a little peek into your mind in a race, something that is, you're in one of the races, important race, you get out there, you got 26 miles to run, and right in, early in the race, something bad happens. Someone bumps you or something this or you start to get a twinge in your back or whatever. If you can think of one example, something like that. And then what you had to say to yourself to what went through your mind to sort yourself through that maybe you would have known to do when you were in high school, right?

Well, I like to reframe it for half marathon, so 13 miles, I can, you know, knock those out. So when I think of any race, regardless of how long it is, you still have to be in the right frame of mind because shorter races are faster. So there's actually less time to really just be dogging it. I'll. Oh, I'll pick up the pace later. So the shorter the race, the more challenging it is. When you think about track races, the margin for error is low foot races, longer distances, you have a bit more negotiating yourself. Oh, I'll take this kilometer a little slower this mile, but I really have to have to negotiate with yourself. You're going to pick up that pace and make up the time in the next mile. So it's certainly a lot of negotiating. I will say, when it comes to a race, these international races, I have certain race kit I wear. I have my hair in French braids. Like I put myself in this zone and when that mental zone, not thinking about the company I run, I'm not thinking about anything else. I'm in this zone and it's just frame of mind. It's almost like you become this other person. In my day to day, I don't identify as an elite athlete or anyone special. I just am somebody that embodies active living. My training looks significantly different than when I was on the national team. It's quite a bit less. But it's super targeted and it's mindful and small things compound over time. So I will say that when the race goes off, I'm in game mode. I am competitive but not ever at the risk of trying to win by pushing or shoving or anything like that. I certainly, I run my own race and I don't get intimidated by women that are maybe running at a quicker pace than that first half because I know my body and that's something I've learned over time is we're all running our own race and that's the same in business. There could be lots of people in the space, but like everybody's at their own pace and that's with competing. I approach it the same. I see a lot of transferable skills and things I've learned from competing at the highest level. World Championships within Uganda Kampala, Uganda, the breeding ground of runners worldwide comes from Africa. Of course it's intimidating, but you know what, it's actually an opportunity to just be among the most incredible crowds of people and the most incredible runners in the world to compete at the world stage. So it was just about reframing that mindset to recognize on African soil. I'm going to not worry about my placing, but I'm going to just be a great competitor and like bring my A game.

For those of you who are sick and tired of fooling around and are dead serious about wanting to move up fast, I've got something especially for you. I've combined the best insights from over 40 years in business and making $70 million in income and compression them into a free webinar. That's right. It's a free resource. If you want to find out exactly what the concepts are that I use in coaching million dollar earners. Register now@widelonwinning.com you'll discover the five part framework used by so many to reach their financial, personal and professional goals. You can find that link in this episode's show Notes. Now that's the general, the setup thing. But now it gets different when you're actually moving down and some the things that happen to us are usually so totally out of the blue and unpredictable. You would never, you know, because a lot of it, when people do things to us, it's not really the damage they did to us, but like, what were they thinking? You know, there's like, how could they do that to me? And if you just let the emotions roll over you and absorb, like, it didn't really mess me up that much, you know. But have you had those kind of things?

Well, a recent example was last year in Miami. We went out quick, the winds were howling across the bridge deck. So even though the bridge decks are flat there it was howling across and the girls are really tucked in behind. So I thought, well, that's not fair. They're drafting off me. I'm doing all the work. But again, that's legal, so you can do it. But what bothered me is the one individual kept clipping my heel. And I know this is early on. I still have 10, 11 more miles to go and we're running at a pretty good clip. I'm pushing the pace and then my heel keeps getting nicked. And I had said, like, we have the whole road. And I did call back and tell her, like, no, that's not cool. Have some good sportsmanship. And she didn't back off. And so to me, it was just competitiveness came out and then I just need to. Pushing the pace.

Yeah, pulled out and left behind.

Right, Exactly. Nevertheless, I agree, when something happens, it's hard to not think. This is devastating. I ran the Vancouver International Half Marathon several months later. I was supposed to be traveling for work. It changed last minute. I joined last minute and we went out hard and it was, you know, sometimes it's pouring rain, it's windy, it's hilly. Course, it's Vancouver still managed to come second, 90 seconds behind the Olympian, but it was not with tapering or any prep. I didn't expect to race that weekend, but I think it's just realizing I can't change the situation. I still want to race, I still want to participate in sport. I need to throw my hat in the ring and I'm going to just give it my all. And I'm not going to have these mental, these games where it's pushing me down from a self confidence standpoint. So it's trying to be our own superhero. I guess that's it. It's that mindset around, I got this, I can do this. I've done all this training and just really reflecting on the longevity I've had in the Sport and the great successes, not thinking about all the failures. Yeah.

And the one thing is for mental stability is to recover. We can remind ourselves we're in that in business or a personal competition. It's like when things go wrong, it's like, I knew something was going to go wrong. I didn't know what it was, but now there it is. Now at least it's come out of the shadows and that's what I'm going to have to deal with today. And it's like, well, at least it's not worse because all achievement is overcoming. Would you agree with that?

Completely agree with it. And what do we have control over? We have control of how we react to things. Yes. It's frustrating when these things happen to us. Business. Athletically, you train so hard and then the wheels, you get sick the day before the race or something. But it's being able to just not let that affect you mentally. And how can you find a solution moving forward?

Now, when is the Miami race?

So it's in a couple weeks. It's the 27, 28th or something like that. So of January, what's great is who's fit in January? I don't know. I'm not. But because I raced it the last couple years, I'm grateful to be invited back. And I say, why not? I am an athlete for life. I'm grateful to be invited into the elite field. And so the race may go very well, it may not go well, but I'm not going to be fearful of putting myself out there. And so I'm hoping to do that.

Now. Is that on a Friday? Saturday. What is that race?

So that's on the Sunday. So they do the marathon, the full and the half at the same time. And actually we all go out at the same time. So that's another interesting thing. You have two races starting at the same time, and in the elite field, you don't necessarily know who's in which race. And so you really have to just run your own race.

Yeah. Well, darn it. I was going to try and sneak down to it, but I head out to Colorado on that same Sunday.

Oh, shoot. Well. Oh, my gosh. Aspen is humbling, being at 8,000ft. And I had the great privilege of getting on a bike last summer there and seeing its beauty in the summer and biking up Ashcroft and the bells and pain is temporary and it's just extraordinary once you get to the top.

Yeah, I used to cycle out there until I had my massive accident about 15 years ago. But I'D always ride with a coach and he, he would always come up and say, we could always quit. You can always quit as soon as you know you're riding uphill and as soon as you give up, you know you're going to be coasting down. It's all over. You know, it's kind of like it's a faster decline than in life when you start giving up, you know, but it allows you to keep your toughness when you know, you know, at any point I can just give up. I had a couple actually. They were the most important people that helped me build my expansion business up in North Carolina in 1979. And things would got tough for my guy. And he was home griping and groaning to his wife. And she said, well, you can always quit. You can always quit. And that's all it took to get them locked back in. And so the thing is, when you quit, you got to start over somewhere.

My challenge is very much the downhill. And I don't know why. I have this mental. I enjoy running hills, I enjoy running uphill. Which is why Vancouver and Whistler residing here works very well for my speed training is hills. I love hills. So being on a bike and aspening and cycling up, but not being overwhelmed by. I live at sea level. So if you make the mindset that no, the altitude won't affect me, it obviously does. But just reminding myself, no, I enjoy that grind of under that kind of conditions cycling uphill and each, you know, as I acclimatized, it got easier and you push the pace. So certainly it activated that competitive spirit in me. But the downhill, I'm very cautious.

It's probably wise. Cause that's where the bulk of the things go wrong. And especially now. Are you talking about running or cycling?

Cycling, Yes, I did run up the Bells, but I just took the bus down. Cause running downhill would really bother somebody. But cycling, yes, I'd cycle up and then down, but this is also transferable to business. So I am somebody that very much enjoys like that. I'm not afraid of the grind and the hard work or this is a big mission that's impossible. I think it is possible. And how can we inspire people to mobilize this change? And so that seems to be a theme between my professional athletic life is let's try something hard.

Yeah, why not? Because you don't want to be the one that's guilty of under believing in yourself. You know, because of your lack of faith or willing to bet on yourself. You don't want to be the One that held you back and find out down the road you could be so much further along if you'd had the guts to go for something big. And people don't pay a big price going for small goals. And so the first thing is set a big goal, put a squeeze time frame on it and give yourself a shot at it. Now what will you do? One more thing. I'm of course very curious about the athletic because they are transferable now that because those things happen in business like happen to you right now you got word you've been listed on the our selective of the long list. Right? Is that way to say it. So now in business that can happen where you get a big deal or you get a chance to get a big deal or take over a big territory and really scale up. So now what will you do if anything different now based off what you the notification you got this morning in your athletic training and everything, how will they find out if you make the short list?

Right. So it's quite structured when it comes to something like the Olympic Games. Regardless of what country you reside in, there would be trials and they just wean down for running. It's time based on and so figure skating and other sports are different but with racing they have races on the calendar and those races, if you finish in this time then you go to the next race. And so for me, what am I going to do different? For me it's a little boost because you just live in your own little world. And so I live in my little world and I had no idea that while I'm pushing my body and competing and very much enjoying sport, I don't look at rankings. So I guess it just came unexpected to me. I don't race to see where I rank. I race because I enjoy racing and trying to achieve peak performance in my body and I'm driven to keep doing that and by adding in other sports potentially compliments that that overall strength. So for me it did come as a pleasant surprise. The likelihood is very low but for me, just like making the elite field, I qualify to be on that front rank. It doesn't matter how I finish, I qualify. And so I think it's not just throwing your hat in the ring. It's like being selected is quite exciting and so certainly it's a motivation. And same with the in business when you hear that you may be able to secure a big deal, it is exciting but at the same time you don't want to get overly excited that you lose your focus and so the team can celebrate and you can have that moment of it looks like we're going to move forward with this, but let's not lose sight. Let's not get to our heads. We are, at the end of the day, going to continue delivering the great care and great services that we do.

Thanks for listening to the Million Dollar Mastermind. If you felt there were any valuable takeaways from this episode, please take a minute and leave us a five star review. Your feedback is important and really helps us get the word out to a wider audience. Remember, we have a valuable webinar that is absolutely free. Register for it right now@whiteallonwinning.com thanks for listening.