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The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Jonny Wilkinson: Winning The World Cup Led To My Darkest Days

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Education, Business

4.517.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2022

⏱️ 93 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jonny Wilkinson is one of the most famous rugby players of all time. With a career spanning two decades, he has won the rugby World Cup, the Premiership, the Heineken Cup, the Six Nations, and the Top 14. For all those years, people didn’t really know what drove Jonny. Because when he was playing rugby, Jonny never felt good enough. Even the highest achievements in the sport would hold back his insecurities for only a few minutes. The journey of how he was able to break this toxic cycle and appreciate himself and the world around him to the full is one of the most inspiring stories we’ve ever heard. Jonny’s own podcast, I Am, is available for download now. Follow Jonny: Twitter - https://twitter.com/JonnyWilkinson Follow me: https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I had to be perfect I guess ultimately take on the suffering.

0:05.5

The player of the tournament Johnny Wilkinson

0:08.4

a genuine sporting legend.

0:11.2

How much pressure has this man been under this week?

0:14.0

For me it was do or die on the field.

0:16.0

So therefore, where other people kind of called it quits and threw in the towel,

0:20.0

I didn't have the choice.

0:21.0

Here it is for Johnny.

0:22.0

There's all go deal in history.

0:24.0

Was your mental health better or worse after that moment?

0:27.0

When I was on the field in the zone, I was operating at a level I couldn't even understand.

0:31.0

Waking up the next morning leaves you in the cold

0:34.0

light of day. I thought there was going to be joy here. I was convinced there isn't.

0:37.3

I spent my life being very fit but not really that healthy. Health is about what fitness can come out of

0:45.1

and unless you look after health it's dangerous. People say I wish I've made more of

0:49.4

my life, wish I'd enjoyed every moment. But that starts with health,

0:53.2

working on someone else really doesn't work for anyone.

0:55.6

Working on yourself tends to work for everyone.

0:58.7

So without further ado, I'm Stephen Bartlett

1:01.8

and this is the diary of a CEO. I hope nobody's listening, but if you are, then please keep this yourself. Johnny, you went on to become one of the real greats in Rugby and I remember watching you in my living room as a very very young kid on the screen in

1:25.8

awe not just in that 2003 moment but but long before then and when I think about and when I sit here

1:31.9

with guests that are athletes or successful entrepreneurs or whatever they might be,

...

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