841 Bethany Hamilton on Embracing Challenges and Becoming a Champion

This is episode number 841 with Champion Surfer Bethany Hamilton. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, 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 and 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 gonna be moved, you're gonna 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 gonna go to the theater to watch it, but I watched the trailer and I had the chills, 'cause 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 was like, I can't even surf.

A five-foot wave without feeling like I'm gonna 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 the 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.

And-- 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 and-- yeah, it's been so awesome.

Wow.

What's- and then having kids too is like a whole nother like- How long.

Were you married before kids?

A year and like two months.

Do you wish you would have had a few more years before kids?

We were aiming for like four years.

Really?

So when we got pregnant we were like oh wow.

What's happening?

So that's a part of my new documentary is 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? than 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 like raw and real and I wasn't, I didn't feel ready for motherhood.

Really?

I wasn't like embracing it, which I'm like kind of an embracer. So for me to kind of reject this like 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 my gosh, motherhood's amazing. I love my son Tobias made life that much better. Really? And now we have Wesley and he's 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 pushing my surfing the best I had ever surfed. 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, like.

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, hun, like before the baby, but it's been amazing. So, is there anything- I'm not looking back.

Is there anything in your life you would change differently? the years you got pregnant, when you got married, like the accident, would you change it? Would you wish we? 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 look at, like, in the younger years of my competitive surfing career with one arm.

Yeah.

And 16 years old or like, six. Well, more like 18 to 21. I just wish I had found the right support and really hunted down people to really support me. Surfing at that time was just growing to be more professional-esque. Because surfing has come from more of a cruisy background, whereas now there's a lot 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.

Like, was it more of a coach, or is it more of like family support, friend support?

Just a coach.

Like you didn't have the right coach.

Just a coach and just people to like help... Training. Bring out the drive in me. I already am naturally driven, 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 really happy with the man I get to share every day with and the father who is 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 as a mom of two.

Really? Now you're surfing better than me?

Yeah, for sure.

When you're 24, best shape you're ever going to be. 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, and I know you can keep going after you have kids.

Wow, it's inspiring. So you're surfing 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 your body more, what's-- I think it's kind.

Of a combination of everything, especially just kind of hunting down opportunity. So I look for what I want and then I just go get it. So it's fun.

That's cool. Was there ever a time where you really doubted yourself? 'Cause I know, I think I saw you were back on the ocean like four weeks after the accident.

Is that true or is it-- yeah, four weeks later.

You're back in the ocean with stitches in your head.

I mean, I was in the hospital and I was like, I don't know if I I can surf and I don't know what my future looks like. But then I talked with a 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 gonna try and get out there. And then as soon as I got up on my first wave, it was no turning back. 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 in the ocean.

In the ocean or?

Yeah, I mean I was in two contests and I did not succeed in either event.

Where were the contests?

It was in Southern California. And so like there's a sense of like, ah, like that is just not feeling good.

Yeah.

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. And I'm like a big girl, like tall, almost six foot. So when you're put in like really little, little waves. It's hard to get up. 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 smaller wave.

Yeah, it's like my favorite waves to surf are waves that like I literally cannot even paddle into the waves.

Just lean into it.

Position myself and lean. into it.

To stand up, right?

Yeah, exactly.

I've surfed like three times my life, Waikiki Beach or something 15, 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. I need a big board. Like learning, you gotta start on a big knife. I'm a giant.

Yeah, you need a, you need a big board first.

It needs 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 were going like every day.

Wow.

And then you like slowly work your way down.

A month or something. When I come to Kauai next, you'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 surf with Tobias.

Okay, perfect. Four year old, yeah. He's probably better than me. Does he surf with you right now?

He's pretty good.

Oh my gosh, I don't want to surf with him. I'll find some teacher out there that's like, 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. 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 the world champion-- okay, yes, you are like, okay, I got a tough heat at hand. I really gotta master the ocean. to the best of my ability, 'cause they're a world champ for a reason. So there is thought towards them, but really it comes down to mastering the ocean and succeeding in a short window of time and doing well, so.

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 was like, is that even you? 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 gonna keep you under for a while, isn't it?

Yeah.

Well, you ever get scared about that? I mean, 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 brothers surf big waves. 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 once I was like, he's gonna die. Like I was crying in the car like, I love you.

Wow.

If you don't- Tsunami waves. I love you. Like that sort of thing. So.

Laird Hamilton style, like crazy.

Yeah, but even like more mutant, like Laird surfing waves that you can actually surf.

Really?

He's like going after these mutant waves.

It's gotta be towed in.

There's like a small number of people that are into these mutant waves that are just like 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 four-year-old, I say, it's ginormous, then you are ready. Yeah, you're more ready. Yeah, and then for sure you want to be mentally like just spry that day, but... What do you do when.

You'Re in the situation where it feels like you can't get out? How do you, where does your mind go? Where does your heart go?

I've kind of trained myself to stay calm underwater. So, in like certain types of ways where you're not as worried about like 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 kind of like staying calm. You're getting like kind of rag-dolled, like a doggy, a rag-doll and a dog. dog, a doll. And so you practice just like, okay, just relax about body, the muscles, the waves taking you there. Wait 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 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 a hold down where my ribs started convulsing. So, you know, and I know that I can, like my, one of my longer breath holds is like over four minutes. Wow. So I'm like, Under pressure?

Under pressure?

No, this was like super calm. So, but I still take confidence and like, well, I technically could hold it for three, four minutes, but granted it's way different when you're getting rag-dolled. But I'm like, okay, I could do a good 45 seconds, you know?

Wow. What is your greatest fear?

Oh, I don't know if I have 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 Toews is like, he's so amazing. I mean, Wesley's amazing too, but Toews 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 he naturally comes to him too. He's very thoughtful towards other people. And lately I've noticed he held the elevator door for me because I was just taking too long in the elevator. I'm going to say why, but... And he 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 like, Had this 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 of 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, you were- Right after, like, it's kind of- In the ocean or.

Like in the hospital?

Kind of in the ocean and the hospital.

In the ocean, you were like, okay.

I was very calm and I was, even as a 13 year old, I was like praying, like, God help me get through this.

Like- In the ocean.

In the ocean, like while I'm like dying, you know, 60% of the blood out and- Crazy. Yeah, and then in the hospital, 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. There's so much more to life than the arm, you know? So I would say my mom taught me a lot about like just my like 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 is going to come from our terrible situation. We might get through our situations with more hope and direction of that 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. Nice. He's like, I'm not gonna come to the premiere of Unstoppable, but I'm gonna come to the contest the two weeks later. He loves being a part of my surfing, especially, and he's a great grandpa too, but, and great dad and. 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 trip. So they're so adventurous. I'm gonna go camping when I get home with my family. We're going kayak camping and we're just kind of like, I've kept in vain, green that adventurous spirit in me. And my mom's really on the fly, spray the moment, whereas I'm kind of a planner, but then I'm also on the fly, spray the moment. at the moment. I'm like, Hun, 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? Drive on 405.

Right, it's crazy. Roller coaster. But then we go home and we're like, okay, back to like outdoors and chill. Chill adventure. Yeah, chill adventure. Chill adventure. So I love that they like gave me that. 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?

Ooh, 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 gonna make sure my kids graduate high school knowing a little bit about finances, taxes, all the essential things.

Did you learn the hard way?

Kind of, but I kind of just learned to pay people to do it for me.

Right, right.

So, I haven't had bad scenarios. I just wish they had taught me a little more of that. But then I'm also like, I should go teach them. No. 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. 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 gonna be so fun. I can't wait to be a grandma. Already?

Can't wait already to be a grandma? 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 I look forward to being a grandma someday. I think it'll be easier than motherhood.

Really?

But like, it's gonna 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. think of that, weigh that out, you know? It's the best thing, but it's also the hardest thing.

Yeah.

Because it just keeps you 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're now responsible for another little human. And they see every action that you take, and they see every kind of, they're watching you all day long, so. Yeah, there's been times where 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, mellow things out, 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.

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. So how do you do it and.

How do you balance? 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 in commenting back. But like, I'll see comments like, how do you do it all? Like, 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.

Like, we really like live together every day and we're very like, we teamwork everything. So it's like, and plus we have a team of people that help us as well who are very like-minded and involved every day. So it's just this ebb and flow of balance. But kind of how I prepare is just 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 rejuvenates me. I'm having quality time with my husband that's not like work focused is really cool. We've been doing dance lessons, like ballroom dancing. What type of dance? Salsa. Salsa, rumba, waltz, and swing.

Wow.

So we're kind of tackling this before.

Yeah.

Wow.

We have like a private dance instructor. She's amazing. Laura Baccelli, her dad, I think, is like some film person over here. 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 quiet. We always, like, have coffee dates and. Yeah, and getting some exercise. 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 moments of just calm. Sometimes I'm like, okay, kids, calm down. The four-year-old will be screaming, making all kinds of noises. I'm like, no, we need some peace right now. 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 re directing 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 were 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, 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 gonna be going crazy. Jumping and flipping and going to town. So it's gonna be really cool. So I've been pushing that aspect of my surfing, 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.

Of 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 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, what's missing. 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 is 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 'cause 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, 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. But competitive, I've had 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. No goal is fully been set. It's just this feeling of, okay, let's figure out what is it that I want, and then maybe head that direction. I'm still figuring it out. 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 serve six inch waves. I want to serve like some decent waves. So foot 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, gotta 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, so it's like, 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 like good a.

Little bit of peace.

A little bit of peace for a couple hours. Sleep first. Like, I thrive on good sleep and I have not had that for like four years. So let's have a year of good sleep and then go from there.

How many years do what 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 talked to him?

We've been messaging back and forth on Instagram. Yeah, he would be amazing.

He said he wants to come on the show, but he's not in LA.

For a while, so. 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 time world champion? Who's to cut off the, like, pushing or surfing? I 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. I'm like, no, I'm not like super tight with him, but like, I mean, we would sit down and chat, you know, 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 like Podcast.

That's good. I like it.

I know, no, I really enjoyed, like, we listened to a bunch of your short ones. I love that you do short ones, because some of these guys, like, they only do an hour and a half. 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, encouraging words.

That's right. Well, that's what you're trying to do.

With your course too, right?

Yeah, exactly. Is it designed for for younger people, for older people, kids.

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?

That's.

Yeah.

You know, everyone's talking about grit.

Yeah.

And the TED Talk and the books and. things, but it's like, as an athlete growing up, you either have it or you don't.

Yeah, no, no. I was talking with someone just recently about how they were like, oh, I got so pounded in the ocean, and then I was over it. I was like, I guess when I was little, I would go and get pounded for fun. That was what we did. So my grit was like, I got taught to enjoy being pounded as a five-year-old.

You fall in love with the pain of your sport or the thing that you're into. The pain of 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 gotta keep shooting, I keep training, I keep working out because I loved it so much and I wanted to be better. I think you've gotta have that for whatever thing you wanna be doing.

I still have that I wanna be better. So I think that continually drives me and then there's this whole movement now I think with the internet and phone access, there's the whole movement of longevity health. So you can constantly be educating yourself on all that and doing stuff to like, I'm really into just natural good health. And so, well, I guess I could keep myself young a little bit longer. And I've had two kids, so I've gotten past that. 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 like be able to surf really well as long as I can as a grandma.

There you go.

So there's a lot of like kind of, I have like 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.

It's more painful than the accident?

Childbearing and I did all natural, like, you know, nothing, nothing.

Than a shark biting your arm off?

Shark bites are so traumatic that your body goes into shock. How do you hear that?

You can't even feel it.

It's just like, yeah, for sure, childbearing. You're going through hours and hours and hours of severe, crazy cramping that is like, you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna die.

So it's more painful having a baby 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?

Yeah, I was really thankful. Like I had a little bit of what they call phantom pain. So right now, that's the worst, right? 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, my remembrance or whatever. But it doesn't hurt. So I call it phantom feeling because some people, But some people, it's really unfortunate to have severe pain. 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 yeah, so I know some, 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 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. You can do it. So it's kind of like mentally preparing it. To me, being an athlete, I've heard athletes can have a hard time because they have a hard time letting go of control. But, so, yeah, 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 braces went really good.

Sounds good.

Yeah, the pain is over now. I'm probably gonna forget about it in a year or two and then have another.

Wow.

But yeah, someone 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 like understand women. so much more because it's like, wow.

You just have a level of respect, yeah. For your mom, you're like, I love you.

You're amazing. For the people who have a ton of kids, you're like, oh my gosh, you're incredible. How do you do that? Unless they're just like dragging up and they don't feel it, okay, then like.

Well, they're still, 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. 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 we don't know.

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 gonna be awesome. I hope it, or I believe it's gonna be life-changing for myself and everyone who does it. When is it coming out? We're starting this summer, fall, September-ish.

Okay. And it'll be on your website. They can sign up to learn more about that.

Yeah, just head to the website. 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. And 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.

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 gotta send it in for repair. So right now it's kind of down, and I'm not really good at ukulele, but I can storm 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 went and got a prosthetic to just see what it'd 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, so.

That's cool.

That's like a fun little side project I've had in the last couple 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 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, you know, always be honest. Here's a lesson, here's a truth. Like, always give your best.

Okay, one of the first things that came to mind was like faithfulness.

Be faithful in what?

Just to the people in my life and to God. And then my second, oh gosh, this is deep. I feel like I need to put 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? Three things you'd want to leave behind, yeah?

Maybe... Can I bring surfing? 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 what people remember me as. I always get that question. I'm just like, whatever, whatever empowers them, you know?

What would you want them to lessen, what would you want them to know?

Oh, I think that we can be unstoppable, no matter what the challenges that come our way. 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. That was, I saw, the first one was be faithful. Second one I heard was be unstoppable.

Okay, so that kind of like goes in the unstoppable category. Third one, just enjoy the moment and like get some adventure in ya.

Mmm, okay. So what I'm hearing is be present and adventure. I like it.

Yoo-hoo.

It's a good, I feel like those are what you've been representing for a long time. Adventure, like you have to be present when you're on the waves.

Yeah.

It's funny, like I've noticed with like social media, I like try to do something funny and people will comment like on the funny thing, they'll comment, you,'re so inspirational.

Hey, I'm trying to be.

It's really funny here, like not inspirational. That's good. So it's just funny how it's like 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 like be like hey like I'm way more than just like the Shark Attack Survivor Girl, like 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.

Yeah.

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.

Thank you. Acknowledge that.

Of course, yeah. 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, 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. 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/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 @lewis.howes 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. 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. And as we bring it back to the beginning, Osho said, don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes 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.