Miscellaneous
Have a topic you want to hear discussed on Humbled, or have a question? Email us at hello@humbledpodcast.com! You can find the Humbled team on Instagram:@humbledpodcast@kharaldsdottir People mentioned:Michael Phelps- @m_phelps00Caroline Burckle- @caroburckleKatie Ledecky- @katieledeckyDana Vollmer- @dana.vollmerMissy Franklin- @missyfranklin88Ruta Meilutyte- https://swimswam.com/lithuanian-olympic-champion-ruta-meilutyte-retires-at-age-22/USC Swimming- @uscswimLink to 200m breaststroke WR race in 2012 London Olympics- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koGygGfyvzQPositive psychology- https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/positive_psychology_in_practiceRISE Athletes- http://www.rise-athletes.com/mentoringKundalini yoga- https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/kundalini-yoga-101-everything-you-wanted-to-know Show Notes:Rebecca talks about the the role being athlete played when she was a kid, and how being an athlete quickly became her identity when she was young. [4:40]Why did Rebecca push herself so hard to swim when she was a young? [5:45]Rebecca’s road to swimming at USC on a full scholarship and how her college experience was shaped by swimming. [6:05]What was it like to go to the Beijing Olympics as a college student, and come home with three Olympic medals? [7:00]The Beijing Olympics coincided with Twitter’s rise. What was it like to be on the US swimming team at a time when it was rocketing to fame with teammates like Michael Phelps, and your popularity was directly correlated to your medal? [11:00]What it was like to go back to college swimming after the 2008 Olympics. [12:08]Rebecca needs to decide if she’s going to go for another Olympic cycle after she finishes college. She didn’t have any other obvious options, but eventually decided to keep training for the next Olympics and try to break the world record in the 200m breaststroke while hiking a mountain in Honolulu. [13:10]Going into the 2012 Olympics, Soni was pretty sure it was her last Olympic cycle. She didn’t know what was coming after retirement, but how did she know she was done training? After seeing how the media treated star athletes, Rebecca realized she could never really win. [15:38]Rebecca’s sponsorship deals made it possible for her to swim professionally, but they all came at a cost. [17:33]What it was like to feel like tying her worth into her swimming performance, and feeling like she wasn’t living up to the athlete identity she had been given. [19:00]How gracious Rebecca is to Ruta, who ended up winning gold in the 100m breastroke at the 2012 London Olympics.She describes that race as the perfect example of how great the Olympics are. [20:00]Rebecca describes how she got through her mental block leading up to the 200m breaststroke final at the 2012 Olympics, which ultimately led to her interest in positive psychology and mindset in sport. “I don’t know how, but I’m going to do it anyway.” [21:05]Rebecca describes being shocked that she broke the world record in the 200m breastroke, and realizing that she was the first woman to break 2:20 in the event. [24:17]How the 2012 Olympic experience was a little more fun than her first Olympics. [25:45]After London, Soni was living in LA getting invites to media events, but did not want to attend any of them [16:40]What was it like to leave a sport to which she had assigned her identity? “To lose or shift an identity is excruciating.” How she spent the first few months after retiring, grappling with the fact that she didn’t know the answer to the question, “What do you do?” [27:30]Who was Rebecca outside of “Rebecca the Swimmer?” [29:10]How Rebecca began to explore who else she was outside of her athlete identity, and realizing the huge role that swimming played in her life. [30:45]As Rebecca looked back on her career, she began to get curious about how she became so dominant in a sport where she was not at an obvious physical advantage. She became interested in the role of mindset and positive psychology. [31:38]How Rebecca’s interest in positive psychology and experience during her swimming career led her to start RISE Athletes in order to help young athletes develop the mental side of the game. [32:00]Rebecca discusses the importance of hiring Olympians at RISE in order to give them the experience of mentoring the future generation of athletes, and how that benefits both the mentors and mentees in confidence. [33:45]Does Rebecca have more moving on to do? [34:40]Rebecca is now reflecting on the pressure she places on herself to give back to athletics, even though it has never been asked of her. Is it because she doesn’t know her value anywhere else? [35:15]Emotions. Why were they suppressed during Rebecca’s swimming career? And what was the process of getting more in touch with her emotions after she retired? [37:00]What it was like for Rebecca to lean into her more feminine side (and she’s not talking about male vs. female, but allowing herself to find softness in herself and giving herself space to back off.) [39:45]How emotions in sport are traditionally not given much value, which led to Rebecca suffocating her emotions, resulting in inevitable blowups. She is now working hard to value her emotions (and herself). [41:30]How Rebecca found yoga and really got into the philosophy of yoga. [45:00]What’s Rebecca’s relationship now with her athlete identity? [48:20]In terms of what’s next, Rebecca really believes that she needs to experience the death of what was in order to experience the birth of what’s coming. [51:50]How Rebecca structures her life now. [53:25]