Finding a Way to Persevere with Siri Lindley

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What is up? What is up? Look, this is going to be a conversation with one of my favorite people in the entire world. But first, I want to talk to you about the champion spirit that resides inside of your heart. Now, sometimes you feed that champion spirit, and when you do, you're at your, like, highest and best self, able to take on any challenge no matter what comes your way. And other times, we allow the door of our mind, to borrow a Jim Rome quote, and we stop standing guard at it. And we allow that door to open. And before we know it, we're no longer fueling the champion spirit. We're getting comfortable. And you know comfort is the enemy of growth, right? There are two pains in life when you're trying to accomplish a goal. There are two of them. The first is the pain of regret. Oh, I should have, I could have. I wish I would have. Right? And the second pain is the pain of discipline. And every single time in my life when I have chosen discipline over regret, life got better. In this episode, I want to talk to you about how you find your way to make the right choices when when it comes to health and fitness and competing in whatever life has brought your way. Bringing your best self. Coming up in a few moments, Siri Lindy, world champion, author, coach, and dear special friend of mine, is going to be right here on the todcast. And that's happening after these words. This podcast is brought to you by the Wire Buzz team. Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because I've spent the past decade growing Wirebuzz into a digital marketing powerhouse designed to maximize clarity in complex sales processes so we can help accelerate revenue. And we do this in three phases. Phase one, we transform your website to function like your best salesperson and then also incorporate persuasive, on demand sales videos. Now, your entire team is aligned on messaging and they're injecting massive clarity into your prospect's head. So your site looks great, but it also has engaging content that helps your team sell on demand. 24. 7. The next phase. Phase two. We train your sales and marketing teams to sell remotely or in person to expand the impact of your sales team. And the third phase is we develop and run targeted ads to your prospects. Scale those ads to help you achieve more business results. Sign up for the Wirebuzz Company newsletter to learn more about effective and simple ways to improve your company messaging, attract more digital attention, and ultimately make more sales. Okay, so let's do this. I gotta introduce you to Siri Lindy. Siri, by the way, is my favorite speaker.

She is.

When I'm at an event and Siri's there, I always make sure I get in the room because there's so much value. Siri Lindy is a two time world champion triathlete. She's a coach and the author of Finding a Taking the Impossible and Making It Possible. She's also a keynote speaker and the co founder of Believe Ranch and Rescue which is all about rescuing horses from slaughter. Siri, thanks for joining me on the Toddcast.

I'm so happy to be here, Todd, and thank you for the kind and amazing words. As you know, I love getting in the room when I know you're speaking because I love seeing you shine your magic and share what you know. You're a gift. You're a gift in my life. You're a gift in everyone listening in their lives. So thank you for having me on the show. I'm so excited to share this time with you.

I can't wait. And for the interest of full disclosure, when Siri and I are at a Tony event, there will be May or maybe 14,000 people in the room. And I'm hanging out with Siri and her lovely wife Beck and have shared tears with them. And so they're. Siri and Beck are special people for me. When I think about Siri Lindy, I think about an unstoppable spirit and commitment to, to finding a way. Where did this get started in your life?

Wow. Well, you know, we all come up with our personal identities, right? And sometimes the identity we give ourselves are not empowering. You know, they're, they're, they're not serving us, they're not taking us where we want to go. And at some point in my life, you know, I had faced, I faced a lot of challenges in my life, as all of us humans do. I mean, it's a part of life. And at one point, and we'll get into these stories, I'm sure. But at one point I decided to say, you know what? I know I'm gonna have more challenges. I know that life is never a straight line, but I also have so much proof of the times that when I was faced with a challenge that seemed insurmountable, I was able to find a way not only to survive it, but to thrive through it. And when I had dreams that seemed impossible, I was able to find a way to somehow make those dreams come true. So in that, I decided, you know, if I want to tell myself who I am, I'm going to tell myself that I am Someone that will always find a way. And did I really believe that in that moment? Not really. But I knew that if that became my identity and if I conditioned that, that every single day when I. If I was faced with a problem, that I knew that somehow I was gonna find a way through it, that really served me. And it left me in an empowered state versus a disempowered state. So that's where that came from. And again, I always say, like, you know, show up as a person you want to be, you know, do what they would do, think how they think, have the beliefs that they would have, you know, make decisions that that person future you would make. And in conditioning that and showing up as that person, making decisions from that space future you, you become that person. And we all have the capabilities to do that.

Absolutely. What dropped into my head is when I was for years trying to get onto Tony stage, and I always had this vision that I was going to be on the biggest stage in the world, and there's really only one biggest stage. But for years, I just made sure that every day as the sun was coming up, I would be the first person out the door and on the trail and on my run. And while I was on my run, I would be coaching myself as if I was with the greatest coach of all time.

And.

And at some point, I just became the person that deserved to be there. And I hear that from what you're saying, Siri. I realize that though I've known you for several years now, I really don't know chronologically your story, though I know that you are always an athlete, as far as I know. So I want to go through a little bit of a chronological, because I think people are going to discover that this story only gets more fascinating along the way. And so when did you become an athlete? When did this start, this, like, competitive, athletic spirit inside of you?

So I feel like I was born an athlete because my dad, when I was born, like, you know, he showed up in my hospital room with a football and a baseball bat, and then he saw I was a girl, and I think he was pretty disappointed. But of course, course, you know, I knew that he was going to bring me up teaching me every sport possible. And my mom, as well, is an incredible athlete. So I've been an athlete as long as I can remember. And through high school and college, I was a field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse player. And I loved competing. I love these sports. I love being a part of a team. And the biggest thing of all is that I Had severe anxiety and ocd. And when I was out practicing or playing in a game, that was where I was free, you know, because the intense focus that it took to compete, you know, at a high level required me to not be in the past, not be in the future, but to be fully present. And in that space is where you become free of your anxiety. So it served a beautiful purpose for me. And when I was in college at Brown University, my anxiety kind of hit its peak. My field hockey and lacrosse coach were the same person, and they had said that if I wanted to play both field hockey and lacrosse, I had to quit ice hockey because they needed my full attention. And if I played ice hockey, I was going to miss out on the. The end of field hockey and the beginning of lacrosse. So those winters for the first three years at Brown University were extremely difficult for me, and I reached a really low point with my ocd. You know, in those days, nobody ever spoke about anxiety. Nobody ever spoke about fear. People definitely didn't speak about these things that I was doing, you know, flicking lights on and off for hours at a time until I could get some horrible thought out of my mind. Nobody ever spoke about this. So I felt like an absolute crazy person, and I felt like the only person in the world that had this problem and just.

Did you also feel like you had to keep it a secret?

Absolutely. I mean, I'm not going to share something that. That I've never seen in anyone else before. So. All of that was so heavy, and I was having to show up, you know, pretending everything was okay, and I just became so incredibly exhausted that I was. I was ready to call it a day, and thinking about taking my own life. But this is when my greatest mentor, Tony Robbins, presented himself, not in real life, but with his first book. And I started reading this book, thank God, because it's everything that I needed to hear. And the biggest thing, it didn't say, like, oh, everybody else feels this way, but just where focus goes, energy flows. And as someone that was working hard in my classes so I could get a good grade, working hard, training so that I could play a good game, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was creating my own experience of life, and that life was up to me. You know, what you focus on grows. And basically all I was focusing on was everything that was wrong, everything that was missing, my problems, everything I had no control over, and everything that I didn't want to have happen. It's where all my energy went.

So no wonder, right? Your energy and Focus went on. Lack everything or scarcity.

Yeah, fear, you know, avoiding, like. Like not wanting things to happen. No wonder I was as low as I was. So in that moment, after reading that, you know, whatever chapter that was in, I decided, like, okay, life is up to me. So from this point forward, all this discipline that I put into my sports, into my studies, into all these other things, I am going to put all of that and channel it into my patterns of foot focus. And I conditioned this every single day, where I would catch myself and ask myself, what are you focusing on now? Is that going to help you get to where you want to go? And the answer was always no. So then I would coach myself to say, well, what must you focus on instead? So I shifted from focusing on everything that was missing to everything that I had, from my problems to solutions, from everything I had no control over to everything I had all the control over, which was my own experience of life. And every single moment. We all have that power and focusing on what I wanted, not what I didn't want. And this truly freed me from the chains of my ocd, which some people can't believe that. But I'm telling you that if you make the decision and you commit to this practice, this, you will free yourself. But it takes work, and it takes a commitment and a belief that you can.

And you're an athlete, so you understand muscle and growth and strength. But, like, I'm somebody who grew up struggling with attention disorders and learning disabilities and dyslexia, and I think the brain is also a muscle worthy of being exercised and developing strength. And if I didn't read that first Tony Robbins book, Unlimited Power, and it didn't start in my life when I turned 12, I wouldn't have developed the muscle by the time I was 23, 24. To really awaken the giant within me might sound corny to some, but that's what happened for me, too. But are you saying that your experience is similar to mine, where you exercised that brain muscle, developed the strength and the discipline, so you could focus and really excel at another level, 1 million percent.

But here's the thing. Did it happen quickly? No.

No.

You know, it's just like anything, you know, when you start something you've never done before, it's going to be really uncomfortable, and you're going to fail and you're going to, you know, fall short and you're going to disappoint yourself. So. So I had to set myself up for success by becoming acutely aware of the progress I was Making maybe it meant that on this day I only washed my hands for 30 minutes instead of 45. And that was progress because I was able to get myself out of that, you know, loop of thinking about all the bad things. And finally I was able to like grab my own hand, beam the first responder to my suffering and say, no, we gotta focus on this. And so it was small steps, but if you're focusing on not how far you have to go, but how far you've come each day, and if every day you're acknowledging that little step forward that you took, then each day you have success to build upon. And so it was a process. It wasn't overnight and it was took total commitment. It's like learning how to walk. You know you're gonna fall down. Little kids, they're the perfect example. You fall down, you hit your head, you try again, maybe next time you stay up a little bit longer, eventually you're able to walk and then to run and all these beautiful things. But as adults, even for me as an 18 year old or 19 year old, whatever I was then, then we assume that we should be good at things right away and that once we know how to do it, we should be able to do it. But that never changes. If it's new, it's going to take work, it's going to take falling down a few times, it's going to take focusing on that little half step more that you did this time so that you maintain the momentum and keep moving forward.

Momentum is often the most important part, right? It's like once you break momentum, you almost start all over. So once you start something new, you gotta keep doing it to develop the habit. And then how did you go from being a collegiate athlete to a triathlete?

So this was again, you know, I'm.

Just right, because you weren't competing in cycling in college, or running or even in swimming. So like everybody you're probably competing against were all people that were specialists in one or two of those.

Yeah, I didn't know how to swim. But the thing is, you know, I had just come out of a pretty awful period in my life because once I became free of my ocd, you know, I became confronted with the question, you know, who am I? I've been so wrapped up in my fear. Fear and being who I thought I needed to be to keep everyone safe and me safe and all these things that I didn't know who I was. And one of the first things that I discovered as I opened up and got curious about Who I was is that I was gay. And that's a big pill to swallow in that day and age. It was a big pill to swallow, but I kind of, you know, I took it in stride and I'm thinking, okay, well, I'm gonna learn to get comfortable with this. But my father found out. And my father was my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my greatest source of love. And he found out. And when he did, he, you know, he called me up, he asked me if it was true, and I told him it was true. And he hung up the phone. And I didn't hear from him for two years after that. Sometimes on Christmas, he would just call and say, Merry Christmas and hang up the phone. But in that moment, you know, I'd been a three sport athlete, I got great grades, I was going to an Ivy League university. But in that moment, his rejection made me feel that everything that I was, everything that I had become meant absolutely nothing now that I was gay. And his rejection made me feel that because of who I am, I am not worthy of love. I am not worthy of, you know, of success. I'm not worthy of happiness. So what happened with triathlon is it was a few days after that phone call when a friend asked me to come watch her in a triathlon. I had no clue what it was. I didn't know how to dress for it, I didn't know what to bring. But man, what I witnessed was, were people of all sizes, abilities, ages. And what was so clear to me is that every single one of them was finding themselves through this challenge. They were pushing themselves beyond what they thought they could. They were like finding something within them. They crossed the line. They were crowd. And I thought, this is going to be the vehicle through which I find a love and appreciation and a respect for myself and a worthiness from within. It just, it was so clear. But the problem was at this point, I'm 23 years old, I don't know how to swim. And I came in dead last, my first race, dead last, last. So I talk all the time, Todd, about the stories that we tell. And the stories that we tell are either keeping us from everything we want or making it possible for us to get there. And the story I could have told myself, especially after that first race when I had never felt so alive. I'm like, I'm in love with this sport. This is going to be my life. I want to be the best in the world one day. But the story I could have told is I'm 23, which is old for wanting to achieve a goal like that. I don't know how to swim, that's ridiculous. And I just came in dead last. There's all the proof I need to say that triathlon, no matter how much I love it, it's not for me. But I wasn't willing to live that story because I wanted it so bad and I felt the importance of it. So I had to rewrite that story and tell a different one. Not one that was full of lies, but to find other truths. Like, hey, you know, I've been a three sport athlete my whole life. You know, I've got determination, work ethic, I'm willing to fail, I'm gritty, I can go hard like, like all. Because I have all these things. One day I can become the best in the world. Now that story, as you can see, big difference is going to move me forward, not back, but in that you don't just say it and it's going to happen. Then it's like, okay, future me, the one that's going to be the best in the world, in this world. What would she do today? Here I am, I've just come in dead last in my first race. Well, she'd get a coach, she'd learn how to swim. She'd work 70 hours a week at the YMCA so that she can afford to pursue this, afford her coach, afford to travel. She would, you know, what would future me? What actions would she take? She'd train at 4 until 7 in the morning. She'd train during her lunch hour, she'd train after work. She'd eat dinner, go to bed, do it again day after day after day, even though she sucked. Remember, she sucks. She would, you know, read everything that she can about the sport. Eventually she'd move to Boulder, Colorado because it's a movie mecca of the sport. So you show up again as that person that you want to be, what would she or he do? And in doing that, imagine how that accelerated my progress in the sport. And there are a lot of stories working against me. I mean, here I have Ivy League education, I'm going to give that up and go pursue a sport I suck at. Like, I mean, this was a big risk, but there was also a really powerful reason why I had to do it. And that was to prove to myself that even as a gay woman, that I could achieve something that I thought was spectacular. That I could, you know, inspire people and that I could be loved. Most importantly, that I could find a love for myself.

Right?

So when jump in real quick yes, please. Sorry, I. Because I.

No, no, no, don't. There's no reason to apologize. This is pure gold for people, myself included. Your story is very similar to mine. And I felt for years that I wasn't worthy because I was in all the dumb kid classes, and most of the kids were medicated to the point where they were asleep in class like I was in those classes. And I told myself a different story. And I fed that story on a daily basis and used my growth and development to justify that I was worthy. And I poured into myself and in doing so, continued to develop my skills to the point where they became world class also. And I think I did that because I didn't. I stopped believing what the educator said. Right. And I started believing what the vision in my head was, and I poured into it. But what you and I have, incredibly, we have several things similar here. One of them is that passion will override everything. Like passion to accomplish something or passion for something is a great fuel. It might be the greatest fuel. It's undeniable. And you'd be willing to work every waking hour and use that passion in order to realize that vision. And then you and I also had the fuel of, I'm guessing, of other people thinking you may not be worthy of, that we could burn. And also, like, did you have that feeling, like, when you were working out and competing, did you have the fuel of maybe your dad not thinking that you were worthy of love that would.

Drive you forward every second of every day. And you know, people, the naysayers that see this girl that sucks at the sport, yet she's devoting her whole life to it, like, you know, like, stay in your lane, girl. But so there were so many of those people. But again, you can use that to discourage you, or you can use that to fuel you. And I'll never forget there was this one of my first. This is years into, you know, starting to become good at this sport. I did this World cup race in Paris, and I remember passing an American girl in like the last kilometer and beating her. I came in like 20th, 25th place or something, but I beat this American girl. And she came up to me at the finish line, she said, geez, you run pretty good for a big girl. And I remember thinking, like it was little things like that. That's just one that came to my mind right now. Yeah, That I used that as fuel. And then I couldn't wait the next race where I beat her by like 10 minutes, you know, it. That felt good. And I don't love to be, you know, moved. It's a small piece of what moves me, and it's a very human piece that moves me, which I embrace because it. It serves me. But I don't tend to like to move myself with negative stuff. But I reframed it as a positive that, you know, it's like that underestimate me, you know, that'll be fun. And that kind of more of a positive spin to it. But, yeah, of course, I mean, my whole purpose in this sport was to be able to prove to myself, most importantly, but also to my father that, you know, what, yeah, I'm gay. But you know what? I can be the best in the world at something. I can be an inspiration to people. I can actually make a difference in this world. And you know what? Some people may love me, and that was important to me, and that was my why. You know, not to prove him wrong, but to prove those things to myself. And when you have a deep emotional reason why you're. You must do something. I tell you what, there is nothing that will get in your way. No matter how embarrassed I got, no matter how, you know, badly I failed, nothing was going to stop me. But that required also to redefine success and failure, right, Because I was failing a lot. So I definitely had to embrace the learning that came with the failures and maintain the idea that progress is just taking. Doing one little thing better every single day, whether that's physical, emotional, or mental.

Okay, I love this. The mental part of it is just as important as the physical development. There are a lot of athletes or entrepreneurs or thought leaders in this world that are purely thinking about the. Maybe the physical part, but not the mental part. You coach people all the time like, this is part of your amazing gifts. How do you coach somebody that their mind isn't at the level that it needs to be for them to achieve their physical goals?

Well, that's, you know, as a coach, whether it be a coach of athletes, which I did for, you know, 20 years, or human beings, you know, executives or team leaders, whatever. I used to always tell my athletes that, you know, the physical parts. 80%. What's going to make you successful? 80%. Oh, sorry, physical 20%. 20%. The mental is 80%. Sorry. That was total flip. And they would come to me and say, well, you know, I don't want. I don't need that kind of a coach. And I would say, well, if you've come to me to coach you, we're going to be doing 80% mental, 20% physical. And a lot of athletes didn't come until they started seeing that, you know, I'm coaching 11 world champions and two Olympic medalists, and they thought, okay, well, maybe there's truth to this, but for anyone, whether you're an athlete or a business person, I truly believe that it's 80% mental. So it's always been, you know, the fourth discipline for me, but actually, if I prioritize it, the number one discipline for my athletes and the people I coach. So, yeah, I think that there's this belief that people have that if they just do the hard work, you know, it will pay off. And it will. It will. Like, if you just work hard every day and you don't pay attention to the mental stuff, sure, you'll succeed in spite of that. What if you did prioritize mindset and the mental game? Like, how successful would you be if you did that?

Yeah, I love everything about that. I spend a lot of time coaching myself and strengthening the mental part because I know that that's one of those strengths that can become a superpower and will make you unstoppable. And I work on tuning out things that would, in the past have held me back or kept me stuck.

Duck.

Let's talk about the. The space in your life from when you went from being a. A developing triathlete, like, when did you first break through? And now all of a sudden, you realize you've become elite.

Yeah. Wow. So unexpected the way it all happened. You know, it came on the back of my biggest failure.

Typically happens that way, right?

Totally. Six years after setting this goal, you know, I had made it to the Olympic trials, which was huge, but I hadn't quite mastered the mental game as an athlete. So, you know, know that this. That I coach my athletes with is something that I kind of learned mostly in hindsight, looking back, but, you know, on the day of the Olympic trials, you know, I had visualized for 365 days the perfect race, everything going exactly as it needed to for me to cross the line, make the Olympic team. Well, in the first five minutes of the swim, everything went terribly wrong. I got kicked in the face, dunked under the water, swum over the top of the. And by the time I came up, I'd lost the front pack, which, in my visualization, I was with that front pack.

Yeah.

And I hadn't planned for that. I didn't even think about something going wrong, which. Big mistake. So there's a lesson in this, everybody. You want to anticipate things going wrong and Seeing yourself successfully overcoming them. But I didn't on this day. So I'm being passed. I'm swimming as hard as I can. I'm going backwards. I get on the bike, I'm biking as hard as I can, going backwards, get to the run, I'm at the back of the field, and what do I do? I quit. At the Olympic trials, I quit, and I stood on the side of the road feeling, like, so ashamed and so broken. But in that moment, I had the clarity of mind to know, know that the first person that came up to ask me, you know, were you sick? Are you injured? Did you have a mechanical? That how I answered that question would determine my entire future in the sport. And I knew that I had to be honest and I had to own it if I was going to keep moving forward. So the first person that asked, I said, you know, I choked. I completely choked. I had visualized the perfect race. Something went wrong, and I froze, and I had no response. But that set me into a deep, deep, deep depression. And as I was in that place, I thought, I've been here before, you know, when was that? I've been here before. And it took me back to those years at Brown University, and I said, you know, we. We all have our own success formula, right when we hit challenge, we all have a success formula because we're still here. So we overcame something like, how did you do that? Go back and figure out what that formula was? And I remember the biggest thing was I changed my focus. And so I thought, okay, so change the way you look at things. The things you look at change. Here I am thinking about how devastated I was, and now I've got to wait another four years. But I failed to remember that six years ago, I didn't even know how to swim. I mean, this is an absolute miracle that I was just competing at the Olympic trials. So suddenly my deep darkness goes to this extreme gratitude of how far I'd come. And that filled me. Not immediately, because you don't just go from deep, dark depression to, like, you know, joy. But it brought me to a higher energy space where I then became resourceful and started thinking about, okay, what can I learn from that experience? What can I do differently? What changes do I need to make? And, you know, when we raise our energy, you know, by typically, gratitude is the answer. Finding something to appreciate, looking at how far you've come versus how far you have to go from that space, you start getting curious about, okay, well, what did I learn? And what can I do differently? And it was from that space that I decided that, you know, training on my own wasn't going to do it, that I needed to surround myself with the best athletes in the world, the best coach in the world, in order to be stretch to the next level. And that changed everything for me. There's million stories that go with that, but I'm going to put it back in your court there, Todd. But that's where the shift happened.

And then how long after did you reach the. The podium and be the champion?

Not as long as people think. So I did got take the greatest coach in the world. This guy, Brett Sutton, decided to coach me. He'd seen me racing in a race where I was in, like, 30th place, but, like, destroying myself to come in 29th. And he remembered me from that, and he said, I like that. That is, you know, shows me great grit and. And hunger. And so I went to his training camp, and I was the worst, worst athlete in the entire squad. And on day one, you know, I thought there was no way I could train any harder than I was. I remember saying that to myself, there's no way I can train any harder, but I'm going to train with people that are better than me.

And there's always another level.

Like, this was like 10 levels above. Like, first day, we had to. We lived 20 miles at the top of the stairs. Swiss Alps in Leysanne, Switzerland. First day, we had to ride down to the bottom of the mountain for our swim. And we swam double what I'd ever swam in my life. It was like 12,000 meters, and every lap was just so hard because I was so slow compared to the others. And after that, like, I was ready. I'm like, okay, it must be a swim day. That's all we're doing now. I can sleep the rest of the day. Get outside. I've got my bike. Because we rode down to the pool, and I asked my new training partner, you know, where's Brett? Where's. Where's the van? Because I'm not climbing up that wall 20 miles to get back to my apartment. And she laughed and she said, God, you ride home, Siri, my God, you're not gonna get a ride in the car. And she could see the look of fear on my face, and. And she told me to go with Jane. She says, jane sucks. And I'm thinking, oh, my God. First of all, that's the meanest thing. But I was super excited that Jane's there. So I'm like, where's Jane? Can't wait to find Jane. And I find Jane, and Jane within the first five minutes. Drops me and it's the hardest bike ride of my life. Getting up this mountain, get to the top, making my lunch, getting ready to sleep the rest of the day. Knock on the door, we're going running. Couldn't believe he's asking me to run. I'm thinking it's got to be like 5, 10 minutes of like just checking my technique. But he loads us in the van, he drives us down to the bottom of the mountain, tells us to get out and like whips a donut and yells out the window, see at home, 20 miles. I'd never run over 10 miles. I'm a short course athlete. Yeah, I cried my way and they all, all dropped me immediately. I cried the entire way to the top. And I called my mom. I'll never forget. I said, you know what? I'm not cut out for this. This. It's like, there's no way I'm not gonna survive it. And I remember her saying, you know, it was a test. You passed. You did it. So I went to bed super happy, thinking I passed this big test and now it's all going to fall back to normal. But the next day, I mean, basically the same exact thing, it was six to eight hours a day of the most horrific and intense training. Like three hour hard time trials on the bike through the mountains. You'd finish at the track and run 25, 400 meters as fast as you could, and then you'd swim 12k in the afternoon and every single day. And after about eight days, like, I couldn't move my body and I was so exhausted and I went up to my coach, Brett, and I said, you know, I just, I can't do what you're asking me to do today. And he kind of looked at the doors to say, well, then go home, because, you know, you can go home. And he looked at me and he said, find a way. And I realized that all I could do is just do the best that I could with what I had every day and try and find a way. And what was so brilliant in this? There was no method to his madness of the coaching, but kind of because it was brilliant. Because every day he was giving me something that seemed impossible, like humanly impossible. Every day I just showed up, leaned in, did the best that I could, and proved to myself that what seems impossible is really possible. And here's the thing, like for everyone listening, how will you ever know what you're truly capable of if you're not trying to do the stuff that you don't think you can every day, how will you ever know? Because otherwise, you're setting a ceiling, and you'll never surpass that. So that's what was so brilliant about it, because I realized that we, as human beings are so much more powerful than we could ever imagine. I think that most of us operate at about 60% of what we're capable of. And I went into my first race. Todd, you asked how I raised the bar and got my first podium, my first race back. I could barely move. Couldn't believe that he was having me race because I was so stiff as a board. And one of the things that used to always destroy me racing were my expectations. That's what always got in the way of me, performing to my potential. But on this day, he's asking me to race. I can't bend my knees and arms. I'm thinking, whatever. I had zero expectations. And that I was just hoping that when the gun went off, I'd be able to actually swim. And on this day, you know, the gum went off, I'm like, hope I can swim. And that was my first World cup podium on that day. Wow. So wow. Yeah.

There's so much. There's so much to unpack here. For those that are listening along, I hope you're picking up a blueprint, because that's what I do when I hear winners speak. I'm looking for what is the blueprint that I could lift up? Almost like when we were in school, there was the overhead projector film thing that you could see through, and I just kind of, like, lift that up from series life and then apply it down into mine and say, what's the big takeaways here? Like, what's the morsel of truth that I can learn from a winner who's always finding a way and applying it back into my life.

And.

And it's so obvious to me that, like, one of the things that I'm obsessed with is finding what my full potential is like, playing out to my full abilities. And if I don't train every day and keep myself growing, then I will never realize my full potential of what I'm supposed to do here on Earth. And that's what I'm hunting on a daily basis. But I see that you had that as an athlete. By the way, for those that are with us, Siri just dropped an incredible book. It's called Finding a Way. Taking the Impossible, Yo. And Making It Possible. And you need to pick it up the Hartley's have purchased of dozens of these. We're giving them out because we know the impact and the value that series teaching has on people's lives. I know you're getting it right now. Siri, talk to me about AML and what you went through and how you had to find your way. And I, for those that don't know, it's acute myeloid leukemia, and it is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, and it's caused by a rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that are unable to carry out their normal function of fighting infections. But clearly, Siri isn't normal in how she fights. Right? And for those that are listening, you aren't either, because you're in training also and finding your true highest abilities. Siri, what, what, what happened when you, how did you first discover that you were sick?

I mean, I was definitely not feeling, feeling my normal self, but of course I was like, getting older, you know, and, and kept attributing it to the fact that I'd hammered my body for so long and getting older. And maybe that's why I feel so exhausted all the time. But I was going in to get a hip replacement. You know, after training that hard for that many years, I, I needed replacement parts. So I'm going in for hip surgery.

And Lindsay Wagner, right here on the Todd cast, the Bionic Woman.

So I go in and they're doing the pre op and I'm waiting forever, and they come out and they say, we can't operate. There's something really off with your blood work. And within, you know, 12 hours, I got basically an urgent call saying, you got to go see these leukemia doctors in Denver because we're pretty certain that you have this acute myeloid leukemia, which can take people in a week, can take people. You know, once it's, it's detectable, it moves fast. And yeah, I went in, did, you know, a spinal tap and bone marrow biopsies. And my doctor came back and said, it's really bad and you've got a genetic mutation. And, you know, what we can offer are these two clinical trials. I figured out I was number seven on one of them. And, you know, it was terrifying and devastating at the same time. But I also knew, you know, when my doctor called and was telling us the news, you know, my wife was just like screaming at the top of her lungs, like tears just flooding down her face. His voice was so serious. Like, in that moment, what I'm hearing from everybody is that this Is the end. And again, like, I wasn't willing to live that story. And if I listen to that, like, this is the end, how am I going to show up? Am I going to show up ready to fight? Am I going to show up with hope? Like, let's do all these different things and see if I can survive? Like, no. So I couldn't afford to live that story. So I, out of nowhere, just declared, like, you. You know, this isn't my time. I'm gonna survive this, and I'm gonna thrive on the other side. And I said that. And they're looking at me, and I can, you know, hear my doctor there. Did I believe that? No, of course not. I am freaking out. My life is falling apart. I'm devastated, I'm terrified, all these things. But I had to become the person that believed that I was gonna survive and I was gonna thrive. Because in that, in telling myself that I'm going to show up different, I'm going to show up looking for all the things I can do that will lead me to surviving or at least give me every chance, I am going to get curious about the things that I can do to set myself up for success. I'm going to be able to pinpoint, okay, what do I need to focus on here? I need to be the master of my mindset. And in every single moment. Just like back in college, every time I focus on everything that's wrong, I'm gonna focus on everything that's right. Like, I have health insurance. I have a wife that loves me, a mom that's here, a dad that calls, have doctors. I have two donors that are gonna donate their cells to give me life. What can you appreciate? No matter how dark, no matter how bad things are, there is always something you can appreciate. And it took me changing the channel basically every. Every single second of the day to focus on things that gave me hope versus things that made me feel even worse than I already did. So that was step one. Step one was making a decision that I'm going to survive and deciding that, you know, I'm not a statistic. You know, the chances were like, something like 5%. But I am not a statistic. I'm Siri Lindley. Like, I've proven what seemed impossible, and I've made it possible. And you, each and every one of you, have something in your life that felt impossible that you now have. Like, we all have proof. So in times where you're really struggling, stop, you know, stacking all your doubts, stack your proof and remind yourself of who you are. And let's build on that story, not your fears and your doubts. So it was disciplining my, my focus in every single moment. It was giving this whole thing an empowering meaning, like who I become in, in surviving this and beating this disease. Who I become is going to allow me to, to be all that I want, dream of being in this, in the world, you know, for my family, for the horses, for my loved ones. So giving it an empowering meaning so that I stay stepped into this not as a victim, but as someone that was intent upon making this her most beautiful triumph. And that was the key. Because the story you tell determines how you show up, and how you show up determines the actions you take and determines your destiny.

So can you give yourself an empowering state? No matter what adversity you're going through right now, can you change the story, mentally, empower the state that you're in? Remind yourself of the past heroic moments where you have accomplished things that other people wouldn't have expected you to be able to do and where you surprised yourself and connected with your strength. Because as you're going through a new challenge, there's the opportunity of pushing through and strengthening your mind in the process and always finding a way. She's Siri Lindy. Her new book is Out Finding a Way. Oh Forward by who's this Tony friggin Robbins? Are you kidding me?

He's phenomenal. It's a dream come true to have him, him supporting my work and believing in it. You know, saying people go on this journey with Siri like that is like the ultimate affirmation and support. And I'm forever, deeply grateful for that extraordinary man that has not only lit the path for me for the last 25 years, but he probably provides the most beautiful example of what it is to be a loving, kind, giving, extraordinary soul.

So I'm forever grateful. I know firsthand how much he loves you. And I've seen it firsthand. And I have been standing next to you when Tony's in a room of 14,000 people and I've seen him catch your eye and flash and I love you signed to you and then thought, oh my God, how amazing that, that I just saw. And it's so incredible. Guys, I strongly recommend you to go and purchase Finding a Way. You can get it on Amazon and after reading do what the Hartleys have done. Just pay it forward and buy a bunch of copies for your friend. Every. For every copy. Okay, a dollar goes to Feed Feeding America. And Tony Robbins is going to match every dollar for dollar in that. And a majority of the remaining proceeds go to Believe Ranch and Rescue, which is their. Their ranch that they started, by the way. Quick, quick words. Just give me a couple words for people that want to know about the ranch and the amazing work that you guys are doing. It wouldn't be right for me to talk with you without talking about the ranch and your commitment to horses.

Thank you, Todd. Well, Believe Ranch and Rescue, we started seven years ago rescuing horses from slaughter. It's a horrific and just. It's just atrocious what they're doing to horses. And since then, we've saved 265 horses from slaughter. Here's the thing. If you're not an animal lover, which I'm sure you all are, because who can't be an animal lover? But if you're not an animal lover, these hors. Horses go on to heal humans. Humans with ptsd, anxiety, fear, people that have been through trauma, depression. So know that as we save horses, we are also saving humans at the same time. So thank you for that. It's very, very important. My wife and I, and to the people that have benefited so beautifully from these animals, including us.

Well, she's Siri Lindy. She is a dear friend, somebody that I admire tremendously, and her wisdom helps me grow. I know you're gonna find it also. And in that process, you're gonna find your way to be an unstoppable force in this world. Siri, thank you so much for joining me on the Toddcast. This is a dream come true for me, Todd.

Well, I absolutely adore you. You. You are an extraordinary human. So thank you for having me and thank you so much for paying it forward. That means everything to me. And you just keep shining your light in this world because you are a gift. Thank you so much.

Thank you. You too, my friend. A real pleasure. She's Siri Lindy. Make sure you guys go pick up her book and. And, well, you'll get touched even deeper about this incredible story that not only never stops, but always finds a way through whatever adversity. Siri, again, thank you so much. And everybody, I'm. This is the end of the episode. I'm actually so emotionally moved that I don't know how to end my episode. So have a wonderful day, everyone, and thank you for joining me right here. Yo, that was a powerful episode. And from what we just learned, it should be obvious how you can now implement these lessons in. In your life to get to the next level now before you bounce I just have three quick thoughts. First, thank you for taking me on your incredible life journey. Second, if you received some value from me and you want to pay it forward, it would mean the world to me. If you left an honest rating and review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen, I'd be incredibly grateful. And lastly, if you you share this episode, whether it be a screenshot or a photo from where you're listening, anything via Instagram stories or LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the social media sites, just tag me and the guest. I'll repost your content and I'll reply back in the comments because I love mixing it up. In fact, I'd love to share your shoutouts in my feed too. Not only are these shout outs really good for you and for me, but they also help us book more amazing guests because they'll be able to see the reach that you're helping to cultivate. This is a way for you to help contribute to the show. So thank you again for listening and I look forward to earning a regular spot inside that ear of yours. Let's grow.

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