I recently interviewed Lauryn Williams on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is the first American woman to win Olympic medals in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Lauryn Williams is an Olympic gold medalist when he recalled in track and field, and then won a silver in bobsleigh two years later. Lauryn, thank you for joining us.

Lauryn: I am so glad to be here. Thank you for having me on the show.

Adam: Lauryn, I am excited to have you here. You grew up right outside of Pittsburgh, and you ran track at the University of Miami, which is where you became an Olympian. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What experiences and lessons were most instrumental to shaping your worldview and to shaping the trajectory of your success?

Lauryn: Way back to my University of Miami.

Adam: Earlier, if you want to go back to your days growing up in Rochester, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh?

Lauryn: Well, let me give the very long story short, and then I'll come back to the University of Miami. So I started running track when I was around nine years old. My parents have very, very different stories about how I got into it. One will tell you that I was at the Carnegie Science Center racing a Flo Jo hologram, I beat it, I was the youngest to do so. And that is how he knew he had to get me into a track and field program. My mother's story, on the other hand, is that I got home faster than our family German Shepherd. And that was when she knew that I had some promise. So I don't know which story is true. I do remember both things like playing outside with the dog and going to the Carnegie Science Center. But let them tell it, that's what started me off and led me on the path to becoming an Olympian. I know about myself that I didn't really enjoy the practice aspects of track and field, just the running, I didn't really enjoy track and field in general, I was more into coordinating sports like basketball, softball, ballroom dancing, and I had very, very poor coordination, which is probably why I enjoyed those things so much because they were more of a challenge for me. But track and field wasn't necessarily my first love. I got to high school though, and set the bench on a senior night. And then that put in in the fourth quarter for my best friend when she got injured. And that put a light bulb on like, hey, you know what, you should start to learn to love this track and field thing, because that's the thing that most people really, really know that you're good at. So fast forward, we get to the University of Miami, and I really just wanted to repay my coach for the opportunity to get a free education. One thing my parents really instilled in me was the importance of education. And so I was like, oh, okay, what do I have to do to be able to get this paid for, let me repay her for this opportunity because it's a very expensive school. Let me work my butt off here. And I started to just excel, excel, excel. Before you knew it, it was 2004, I was a junior in college, and not only was I winning the NCAA championship, but I was running the second fastest time in the world.

Adam: I love it. I love those early stories. And I love the story about how you showed up at the University of Miami and next thing you know, you're an Olympian. But I want to know if you could break down for listeners, what did you do to attain that breakthrough success? What were those key steps?

Lauryn: I would say some of it was being in the right places at the right time. But a lot of it was laying the foundation to be able to make sure that I had an opportunity to really put my best foot forward. And so what I mean by that is my mother had as an example, my godmother was a neonatologist, and her husband was an anesthesiologist. And so few seeds were planted by the people. My mother chose to have me around that education was important. So my parents were saying it, but I also had examples of people who showed me, oh, education is important. If you get an education, you can become a doctor. And I knew their house was a lot bigger than mine. And they had a pool and they were always having fun parties and things like that. So it was like, okay, education is the key to getting me to the things that I want. In the same way for track and field and become successful there. It was the foundation being laid that said, hey, if you do these little things, it could lead to much bigger things. So I always like to say good practices lead to good competition. A series of good competitions is what helps you win a championship. Little things add up to big things and I think that was a key part of me being successful as well.

Adam: Little things add up to big things. I love that. And so much of it is what you're doing when the lights are off when the lights are on, when you're competing in the Olympics, when you're competing in college, when people are watching you, it's easy to step up. It's easy to give 110%. But what happens when no one's watching? What happens when the only person who knows how hard you're working? Are you? How are you performing that matters just as much, if not more?

Lauryn: Exactly, I think it is so important that you have some personal integrity, personal ambition, and really understand where it is that you want to go in life. So what are your goals? What are your aspirations? What is making you tick? So many people call it what is your why? For me, it was I want to see how fast I can go. A key piece of that is how fast can I naturally go because we know that the sport of track and field has been riddled with people who have used performance-enhancing drugs. And it's really, really put a mark on our sports that people don't think that people can run fast without using all these various types of things. So when we talk about what you said, who are you when no one is looking? Your integrity and your actual ability are not your own, if you're gonna get out there on the track. And you've used all these different supplements or drugs and all these different things to try to make yourself go. For me it was like you said, when no one is looking, I still want to be naturally the best person I can be I want to do everything I can to reach my full potential. So one of the things that got me an additional bit of notoriety during my time in my career is that I didn't use any supplements. So I was a junior in college, like I said, when I went professional, and my coach was giving us a multivitamin and Omega three, which are really really basic things approved by the university, and it was a very regular brand. And all I thought about was I was really just not disciplined in that area. So I never took the supplements. I came home from the 2004 Olympic Games, and I had a whole cupboard full of these things. Because every time everybody else needed some they're like, oh, I need um, ran out. And I would say oh, I ran out too because it was time to say that I ran out, but I was never taking them. And so I was just like, I just want a silver medal in the Olympics without this crap. I want to be the best person that I can naturally be. And I'm going to use food that everyone has available to them to be able to do that I'm not going to use all these different powders and pills. And I'm not sure how they're made or what labs are doing. It just didn't feel right to me. And so for me, like you said, who is it when no one is looking? You are defined by those things? And what is your natural ability, that's what really makes me tick.

Adam: As you look back, what were the keys to being able to reach peak performance?

Lauryn: One persistence, or maybe it's perseverance is a better word. And for me, that's like you have our trash practice, really, really bad practice. And you show up again, the next day, you're sore, you're tired practicing go well, so you don't have the best attitude. But as I said, with a series of practices, we'll build a foundation for your good and bad practices, which is I think an important piece of the puzzle that will create the foundation that you need. So just because practice didn't go well doesn't mean that you didn't get anything out of it, you didn't hit the times, or your coach said you got yelled at doesn't mean that you don't show up again the next day because something came out of that experience, you learn from it, your body is getting some sort of muscle memory. And then you show up again. So the days that you get kicked in the teeth, you feel bad, like you said, you're sore. And you show up again. Anyway, that's real perseverance. And so I think that's one of the key pieces that I track and Phil taught me was how to persevere, not just on the field of play, but also in life in general.

Adam: We're going to talk a lot more about that throughout the course of this conversation. But a key theme that you've hit on early on is the importance of motivation. And I want to know if you could share with listeners, how were you able to motivate yourself on the days that you didn't feel motivated? And more broadly, what are your best tips on the topic of motivation?

Lauryn: Oh, this is a good one. So how did I motivate myself when I didn't feel motivated? I think sometimes you lose motivation because you find yourself in a rut of monotony. Like so practice makes perfect. But practice is also practice, it is monotonous by trade, or by definition. You may be doing different things each day when you go to practice, but that is my life. You wake up, you eat something appropriate. You go train, you spend your whole day doing it and life just gets repetitive you get into this monotony, which sometimes allows you to feel a little bit complacent or to lose your motivation. But I think the best way to change that period of a rut or to re-motivate yourself when you start to see yourself losing motivation is to mix things that create additional stimulus in your environment. So that might be mixing up the people that you're hanging out with. Might be mixing up the foods that you're eating. It might be mixing up your schedule, something that is going to stick emulate you to be able to say, hey, alright, this is new, this is different. This is exciting. And I want to keep going because of XYZ. But also when you think about the word motivation, it's like you want to accomplish a thing. And so when you think about that accomplishment, it's like, why did I want to accomplish this thing in the first place? And also, what impact do I want to have on the world track and field is not being a cancer doctor, I'm not saving lives. But it does have an impact on the people who choose to watch it. It can motivate them, it can inspire them. And then how I carry myself after I am done with my particular competition or sport, is also going to motivate and inspire people. So the event is what people put their eyes on, and they enjoy watching. So giving people enjoyment could be part of your motivation. But circling back to why did I want to do this in the first place and looking for that outside stimulus to say, hey, what can I do to spice things up so that I can get new motivation? Or like I said, sitting down and taking a moment to think about what impact I want to create are the two things that I think helped motivate me when I got in a rut.

Adam:  And as you talk about how you were able to motivate yourself, as you talk about what you think about when you think through the word motivation, you touch on a couple of really important themes. One of those themes is the importance of defining success. Your definition of success could be different than my definition of success, could be different than the definition of success of someone listening to this podcast, it doesn't matter. That's okay. What matters is that we each have our own definition of success, which ties to the importance of goal setting, you have to set goals. If you set goals, you're going to be that much more likely to achieve them. If you walk through life, if you walk through your career, aimlessly, not knowing what you want to achieve. What are you going to achieve? How likely are you going to be able to attain greatness? So much of it starts with understanding where you want to be setting that end line. Setting that Northstar, recognizing where you want to be, and then working toward getting there.

Lauryn: 100%. Setting goals is all about recognizing where you want to be what is the finish line as a track and field athlete? Where exactly is the finish line? I cannot tell you the number of times that my coach asked me, do you know where the finish line is? And it's like, what do you mean, do I know? Of course, I know where the finish line is. But it was like, well, why didn't you run through the finish line was something that I came up against at one point. And I'm like I did. And the idea is like he said, where do you want to be? What is the goal that you set? What are you trying to accomplish? You should be powering through the finish line you shouldn't be walking up to and just like oh my god, I finally made it cool walking across the finish line. You want to make sure that you set your goal in a place that's maybe a place that maybe feels a little bit unrealistic. And so for me, it was a place past the finish line that my coach may have, you start to focus on, find yourself a lamppost or a flag or whatever the case may be, and you're not running to the finish line, you're running past the finish line to that thing. And so we're thinking about setting goals and getting to the place of the accomplishment, knowing where you want to go, being really clear on what the finish line is. Because sometimes it is I want to make a million dollars. I hear. I'm a financial planner now. And people say I want to have a million dollars, or they say I want to make a million dollars. And I'm like, okay, well, what's the path to earning a million dollars in a year? And they don't have an answer to that. What they're actually saying, or what they're actually trying to articulate to me is that they want to have a million dollars to their name, or a million dollar net worth a million dollars in the bank, which are all completely different things. So if you're not really clear on what your goal is, how can you get there, but they're quick to say I want to make a million dollars, but making versus having versus being in possession of you got a million dollars and you spent one guess what, you're not a millionaire anymore. So you might want to have more than a million dollars in that case. But getting really, really clear on what your finish line is and how hard you need to work to get to that finish line is a key piece of the puzzle.

Adam: And you're a person whose goals have evolved over the course of your life over the course of your career. Your initial goal was I just want to win races. Really fast. My parents recognize that I'm fast. I'm competing against other kids. I seem to be really good at this. You get a scholarship. My goal is I want to earn my weight here. I want to prove that I belong here. And then your goals evolve. You make the Olympics. Suddenly you want to win a gold medal. And then you set this goal that no other American woman had ever reached before. Not only competing in the Summer Olympics but then competing in the Winter Olympics.

Lauryn: It's funny because I just talked about the idea of looking past the finish line. And I think so many of the things you just mentioned, as I look back on my own life, I was setting a goal in one area, but I was able to accomplish something else because of that. So life is a journey. People talk about it being a marathon more than a sprint, and how you'd like to look at things. But switching from track and field to bobsled, it was not a goal to become the first American woman to metal on both the Summer and Winter Olympics. It was at that time, a goal of figuring out something else to do life after sport. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, I knew that my days were numbered in track and field, and I thought it would be a cool recreational thing for me to do. And so I just set the goal to go out and do my best to see if I was good enough to participate in bobsled, I didn't really know that it was the Olympic year, I didn't really think that I had the ability to make the Olympic team. I was just like, this sounds cool. It sounds interesting. It's stimulating. So that point, we talked about motivation, and I was stimulated to see just how good I could be in that area. The goal didn't necessarily come to be the first American woman in the summer winter Olympics. That was the goal past the finish line if you will. For me, once I actually made the team and was going through this process, it became to help whoever I was assigned to put their best foot forward. And the goal was to win the Olympic Games, it had nothing to do with me winning so that I can accomplish this title. It was me wanting to make sure that I was the best at that moment. And if I was the best person to be out there with one of those three drivers, I take that opportunity really seriously. And that I give them everything so that we left it all on track, we did everything we could to accomplish the goal that we set out to do, which is like you said to win, Don't ever show up at any kind of race to lose. So that's always going to be a goal. But the goal past the finish line. And the goal that sometimes you can't see or accomplished is that thing that first American woman and metal and both this summer in the Winter Olympics that these extras come along. When you're putting yourself when you're really fully putting yourself toward one particular goal, you usually accomplish something much, much greater

Adam: And you've won a lot over the course of your career. But there have been many times when you’ve fallen short. In 2004, you finished second in the 100 meters winning a silver, an incredible accomplishment. But your goal is to win the gold. Still, winning silver is amazing. Next Olympic Games was in 2008. You finished fourth, just outside of being able to win a medal. Next Olympics, you win your gold medal. Can you talk about that process? Falling short, not reaching your goals. How did you deal with that? How did you manage that? And the broader lesson you have for listeners on how to manage failure, how to manage not reaching your goals, how to manage falling short of the expectations that you set for yourself, and that you believe you're capable of achieving?

Lauryn: Yeah, this is a great question, because so much of the way the world measures things is you either win or you lose. That's it. There's no in-between. But I would say that I have to beg to differ, that there is there's a lot of in-between. So you're right. I showed up in 2004 to win a gold medal. I did not plan. Like I said I've never taken the line and said, I hope I can get third today. I hope I can just get through or what? Like no, no, no, no, every race that I put my foot on the line, I'm getting ready to line up if I'm on the line, I intend to win. But there's gonna be a lot of times where you don't win. Nobody's gonna have this undefeated record. We see sometimes an undefeated season, but it is highly, highly unlikely. And that's not the end goal. That's not the most important thing. We set so much weight on accomplishment or the in-line that you're just like, oh, I failed because I got silver. No, no, no, no, no. I still became a University of Miami celebrity, an Olympic athlete for the University of Miami. I made my family proud. I represented my country well. I was the highest American finisher. When you reframe things to realize, hey, I didn't reach my goal in the way that I mapped it out. But I accomplished a whole lot along the way. And you can focus on the mini account placement versus the one accomplishment, you won't feel as disappointed that you did not reach whatever the particular goal was in the moment, you absolutely will. And you should, you should feel your feelings related to whatever it is that you are attempting to conquer. And maybe we're trying to summit Mount Everest, you don't get to the top. But I guarantee you, those people who didn't make it, they're bummed initially, but all the way up until they had to turn back or whatever the case may be the journey, the accomplishments in and of itself and decided to do it, the training that you went into. And this applies, like you said, to all aspects of life, not just sporting things. I'm running a financial company right now, the goal is to help as many people as possible organize their finances. I don't know how many as many people as possible are going to be, I can set a specific number goal. And I do recommend that people set very specific goals. So let's say I set a goal of let's help 1000 people this year, if I help 500, why am I sad? 500 people got my help, and I have better organized their finances because of the work that I did. And so don't get so caught up in the I did or I didn't reach the goal. circle back to the other accomplishments that are a part of the journey. I think that is a key piece of the puzzle.

Adam: Great advice. And I want to highlight a few things that you shared. First things first, appreciate what you have accomplished. Appreciate the journey. We've talked so much about focusing on the end game. Where is the finish line? How can I get to the finish line? How can I blow past the finish line? But don't overlook the importance of enjoying the journey, savor it. Something else you shared, which you said quickly, but I think it's a really important point, you should feel your feelings. All too often. We feel something, we feel a certain emotion. And we turn around and say, I shouldn't be feeling this. This isn't right. But the reality is no one can tell you how to feel no one should tell you how to feel. However you're feeling, that's how you should be feeling. Go through it. It's natural. But keep your eye on the end game. Focus on what matters. Go through whatever process you need to go through. But once you go through it, recognize what's ultimately important.

Lauryn: 100%. It's not that we don't need to think about what the end game is. But we don't need to get caught up on what the endgame is. That is the key piece of the puzzle. It's not insignificant. Everything that goes into getting to whatever your endgame is, if you're trying to get the best quarterly sales or the best annual sales at your company. That's the end game. But all along the way, all the people you meet all the people you sell to all the small wins, the big accounts closed, that get you closer to your goal, the people that are impacted by hopefully the very much needed product that you're selling. All of that matters. And you get to go to bed every night saying I'm really good at my work and it helps your self-confidence and you're friendlier to people and on and on and on. Challenge yourself to really look at the ways that you have been blessed to accomplish all the things in pursuit of this goal.

Adam: How can anyone listening to this conversation push their comfort zone?

Lauryn: Oh, so pushing your comfort zone and stepping outside of the box. I think that is a key piece of the puzzle as well. Because what we do is sometimes we get a little complacent. We're like, oh, this feels good. I know how to do this. If I'm transparent, I've been in a little bit of a comfort zone related to working out life after sport. I know what injury it is, I know what it's like to push your body to its limits. And that's not required of me anymore. I'm just exercising for my health. But I'm also trying to lose 12 pounds. And so it's like how do you lose 12 pounds if you won't step outside of your comfort zone? I know that that's the thing you have to get outside of your comfort zone, you have to push yourself a little bit further than where you think you can go if you want to see results. And in order to be able to do that you need to circle back to what is the goal. When do I want to achieve the goal and how can I motivate myself to go ahead and get outside of that comfort zone? One thing that you can do is have accountability and create competition in your world. Someone else shows up at the track and I'm running and they might just be walking on the track but they're in front of me. Well, that's the one thing that's gonna push me outside of my comfort zone that day because I'm like go get them more and pretend like you're racing and go catch them. So little stimulus, which we talked about earlier as well is something thing that can get you outside of that comfort zone. But the main thing I would say is you got to ditch the fear that's keeping you in the comfort zone in the first place. It's comfortable in the comfort zone, right to step outside of the box, and challenge yourself to be better than whatever it is that you think you can do from this safe place. Because the safety of this place is not going to create impact, it's not going to push the limits is not going to get you closer to your accomplishment. The safety is just like the status quo average over here, not trying to be great. Success is something that may or may not fall in my lap. I'm not counting on luck, because I know that I've worked hard. I'm counting on myself to be able to do the things because I'm not afraid to step out of my comfort zone. But I'm also not afraid to fail.

Adam: Lauryn, you've been a key part of high-performing teams in the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. What are your best tips on the topics of teamwork and leadership?

Lauryn: Oh, my biggest tip for teamwork would be don't be afraid to say that you're sorry. So very quick story here. I was on the bobsled team. And we had a long day of travel. And we were all joking around. But we're all very exhausted. And I made a joke at the dinner table that offended one of my teammates. And everybody laughed. And we all went about our business. And I didn't even realize at the moment that she was offended by what was said. And a week goes by and we're working together and she's doing the bare minimum whenever she gets around me. The conversations are very short, and I started to pick up on it. Maybe it was just me. And then we get a smooth six or seven days in and I'm like it's something wrong. And she says yes, I didn't like it, what happened at dinner, etc. so on and so forth. So she was over there suffering silently. It was affecting our team, it was affecting the chemistry related to what we were trying to accomplish. And I didn't even know that her feelings were hurt. And it wasn't meant to, like I said be derogatory or to hurt her feelings. That was not my intention at all. I wasn't ever upset or anything like that. And what I realized in that moment, was that it didn't matter what my intent was, it matter how I made her feel. And that was the thing that was important to acknowledge and to apologize for. Even if I didn't mean sometimes you're like, why me to her, but I'm not sorry about that. for the greater good, I needed to apologize. And it was important to acknowledge the way that I made her feel and to let her know that I didn't intend to make her feel that way. So that we can move forward and the team could continue on. So not being afraid to say you're sorry to do what is in the best interest of the team, even when what's in the best interest of the team sometimes sucks for you. Or it may not include you because that's another piece of teamwork. Maybe your best part is sometimes sitting on the bench, your best used over here your best use getting the water your best use by not being used in this particular moment, you're not the best person for the team right now doesn't mean that you're not a part of the team. So being humble enough to be able to sit down somewhere if it's not your term, or you're not the one that needs to be doing the input for the team is a key piece of the puzzle because everybody wants to play, everybody wants to contribute their part. But sometimes your contribution is sitting on the sidelines, cheering.

Adam: Everything you shared really speaks to the importance of humility. Check your ego at the door. Want to be a great leader? That's how you do it. Want to be a great teammate? That's how you do it.

Lauryn: 100%. Yeah, you've got to be thinking beyond yourself.

Adam: How can anyone develop a winning mindset?

Lauryn: Practice makes perfect. We talked about that at the very beginning. So one day at a time, one positive thought at a time. If you want a winning mindset, you got to start thinking like a winner. And one of my favorite sayings from my clients is to write it down and make it real. So for me, what that means is you can't just think positive thoughts you need to write them you need to see them, you need to make them something that is going to be real so that you can continue to digest them. So if you want to put something as simple as I am a winner on a Post-it note and put that on your mirror in the morning. It's a reminder, like, hey, this is a real thing. I am a winner. You can say it, you can think it, but I think writing it down and making it real because when you read it is like this is something I can pass on and turn it into something tangible. Even though in general, we know that the action is an intangible thing. But then you start the process of being able to do that on a regular basis. So you want a winning mindset. You want to be doing the things that are required to be a winner on a day-to-day basis. And some of that is going to be taking that mindset and actually making it real. I'm in a moment I don't know what to do what don't win or do right now. If I really want to win, talking to a client and I want to win their business, what are the necessary steps in order to help me win this particular situation? Do I need to be friendly? Hey, somebody just said something negative to you right before the call, you're not feeling that great. How do I get myself into a positive space so that I can win this client and start doing those things immediately? And day after day, time, after time, you're able to start to flip a switch and say, okay, I'm a winner because you remember what you wrote on that Post-it note in the morning. And then you take action and you make those things happen.

Adam: When you were competing at the highest level, when you were competing on the track in the Summer Games, when you were competing as a bobsledder in the Winter Games, did you feel pressure in those key moments in the biggest races? Did you feel the heat? Where were you? What was your mindset?

Lauryn: Oh, I absolutely felt the pressure. I think one of the famous sayings is about the idea that a diamond has to be put under a certain amount of pressure to become a diamond sort of deal. Yeah, I'm sure it said much more eloquently than that. But the pressure is good for you. And I absolutely felt the pressure. There's a lot riding on this situation. And I don't want to flop I don't want to be the reason that it is our dreams and our goals. And our ambitions don't come to fruition. However, you can't cave under the pressure. As he said, sometimes you let the pressure get to you. So some people don't feel it at all, I am not that person. So I can't speak to that. But for those of us that feel we need to manage it, you need to harness it, and then you need to redirect it to something that's going to turn into a positive outcome for you. And so for me, as I said, it is that positive or winning mindset, taking this pressure and saying I can do this, I will do this, I am capable, I am just as good as anybody else that I am competing against, I have put in the hard work, I am properly prepared. And so these affirmations come along, and you remind yourself how much you put into making sure that you were able to get where you want it to go. And that starts to redirect the energy away from the pressure and towards something that is going to be more productive.

Adam: It's interesting, because I've had conversations with the absolute highest performers across all kinds of backgrounds, Olympic gold medalists, like yourself Hall of Fame athletes, greats, outside of sports, and we all perform in high stakes moments in whatever our craft is. It's interesting to talk to people. Some people really feel that heat and others don't others, step up to the plate, and just love that moment and embrace it. And there's no pressure. For someone who does feel the pressure, who does feel the heat, you shared a great tip, reframe it. Focus on affirmations. Is there anything else tactically, that you would share with anyone listening, trying to understand? How do I manage high-pressure moments? How do I manage situations where I'm doing something that makes me sweat, or I'm doing something that makes me uncomfortable? What advice do you have?

Lauryn: I think the only other thing I could say about like you said managing that pressure is figuring out how to disperse it. So let's go to an example where as you said, the pressure is a heated conversation of some sort. It's thinking through what problem-solving skills I need in order to reduce the pressures that exist in this space, I don't want to be in a place where if I say just one thing wrong, this is all going to implode on me. So how do I bring the energy down in this particular so dispersing the pressure is also a piece of the puzzle, which is similar to harnessing the pressure so harnessing it and redirecting it in a different direction. Or just actually relieving the pressure is another way to be thinking about that. And so sometimes it's in thoughts or then practices or saying something nice in the middle of like, so my original example was an argument, no one's really expecting you to just say, You know what, you're a really nice person. If you were just screaming and yelling at each other or whatever is happening, then you've dispersed a whole big crazy amount of pressure that has been had. So don't be afraid to use a positive mindset or positive energy in order to be able to disperse that pressure.

Adam: Lauryn, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become more successful personally and professionally?

Lauryn: I would say you said take some of the things that we've talked about. We've talked about pressure and managing that we've talked about ambition, and we've talked about setting goals. All of these are key pieces of the puzzle if you want to become successful, so create a positive mindset putting have plans in place in order to be able to achieve whatever it is that is your definition of success. You want to be more successful, either personally or professionally. You need to first define what success is and set some goals that are appropriate based on the success that you want to have a look past that finish line that we talked about set the finish line, but what does it look like to go past that finish line and then commit that you are going to enjoy the journey and the process during the whole time? Yes, there will be hard parts. Yes, there will be negative things. Yes, there will be failures along the way. But every time that I am in process, and in pursuit of my goal, I can achieve this success. I am going to enjoy that piece of the puzzle so that I can realize when I look back on it, how awesome it was to accomplish this thing.

Adam: Lauryn, thank you for all the great advice, and thank you for being a part of Thirty Minute Mentors. 

Lauryn: Thank you for having me, Adam.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and on LinkedIn and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.