Erik Vendt, 3x USA Swimming Olympian
Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais
Dr. Michael Gervais
4.6 • 1.8K 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.
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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? |
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