Erik Vendt, 3x USA Swimming Olympian
Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais
Dr. Michael Gervais
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2018
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week's conversation is with Erik Vendt - a 3x USA swimming Olympian.
He won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Vendt won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team.
This is a fantastic conversation that shines light on some of the core themes that have emerged from Finding Mastery.
Erik grew up loving swimming - so much so that he pushed all his chips in - and was determined to become an Olympian.
And while he did in fact achieve his "goal" there was a cost to it.
When swimming was over he felt void of passion and purpose - something all too familiar for many athletes when they reach the end of their playing days.
For anyone who's gone through difficult transitions in life - I'm sure you'll be able to relate and for those currently facing a transition in your life - this is definitely a conversation worth your time.
Erik's quest to find a new passion and purpose in life ultimately led him to WHOOP.
In his role as Director of Performance, Erik works predominantly with the special forces community, specifically within a program called PTOF (preservation of force and family) focused on building a more resilient and ready war fighter.
The idea is to improve their mental health, spiritual framework, and human performance and this is where WHOOP comes in.
I think many of you are aware by now that WHOOP is a partner of Finding Mastery.
I have been using WHOOP for months now - for me, it is about figuring out how my body responds to everything in life.
Whether it is my diet, sleep, training, or other stress, WHOOP breaks it all down into personalized daily Recovery, Strain, and Sleep metrics.
If you haven’t tried out their technology yet – I encourage you to go learn more about their product.
They also just created an amazing offer for Finding Mastery listeners.
Your first month is now free when you sign up at:
WHOOP.com/FindingMastery and use the code “FINDINGMASTERY” … all one word, all caps.
This episode is brought to you by:
Athletic Greens: Receive a free 20-count travel pack of Athletic Greens (valued at $99) with any purchase!
Claim here: athleticgreens.com/findingmastery
WHOOP: Starting today you can join WHOOP for $30 a month, six month minimum to begin. The WHOOP membership service includes the WHOOP Strap 2.0, professional analytics via its mobile and web apps, and a powerful community of performance-minded individuals. To find out more about what they’re doing and join their program, click the link below!
https://whoop.com/findingmastery
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I had an undying desire to reach the Olympics. |
| 0:03.7 | It was, for me that was what it came down to is that I wanted to be an |
| 0:07.8 | olympian and I wanted to win a gold medal. |
| 0:10.3 | And I was willing to do whatever it took to get there. like I said even from when I was a young kid I found a lot of strength in pushing myself past the limits |
| 0:19.8 | so I think both of those combined gave me the ability to kind. I'm Michael Jervay. |
| 0:40.0 | I'm still Michael Jervay. That hasn't changed. And by trade and training, I'm still my culture way that hasn't changed and by trade and training I'm a sport and |
| 0:46.0 | performance psychologist but the whole idea behind these conversations behind this |
| 0:49.9 | podcast is to learn from people who are on the path of mastery, to extend the learning for all of us |
| 0:54.9 | about how the most extraordinary thinkers and doers, how they organize their life, how they |
| 0:58.9 | think, how they condition their mind, to better understand what they're searching for, how they make sense of things in life. in their |
| 1:05.0 | mind to better understand what they're searching for, how they make sense of things in life, and really that falls into three buckets, which is |
| 1:08.0 | what is their psychological framework, |
| 1:10.0 | what are they driven by, what are their motivation modalities there? And then what are the mental skills that they use to build and refine their craft? |
| 1:18.0 | Finding Mastery is brought to you by Vitruvian. |
| 1:21.0 | Vitruvian is on a mission to help people live longer, stronger lives and their marquee product, |
| 1:27.4 | the trainer plus, is at the forefront of that revolution. So Vitruvianians trainer plus is the ultimate all in one home gym solution. |
| 1:37.0 | And it's brought to you on a single compact platform. |
| 1:41.1 | It's really unique. There's no bulky equipment here. There's no plates to stack and it's just this really sleek portable machine and |
| 1:51.4 | It's small enough to even slip under your coffee table if you wanted and it delivers a powerful data tracked workout. |
| 1:58.0 | So the trainer plus they offer up to 440 pounds of adaptable digital resistance for a ton of exercise. |
| 2:07.0 | Whether you're an elite athlete or you're just starting your fitness journey, |
| 2:11.0 | the trainer plus utilizes AI to adjust to your strength and speed. your for a more convenient and effective way to train, I want to encourage you to go |
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