May 24, 2023 • 14 mins
Stories of overcoming challenges and embracing messy action. From a life-altering diagnosis to discovering a new passion, I'll show how that first step, even when uncertain, leads to incredible transformations. Remember, failure is feedback and a chance to learn and grow. By embracing the unknown, you create your own path to greatness. Trust yourself, believe in your journey, and celebrate each small step. Dive in to learn how taking action without all the answers will transform your life.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Metal Mindset Podcast. I
am your host, Barenna huckaby three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
here to encourage you to live a gold medal life,
one that is full of confidence, resilient empowerment, so that
you can be successful in your goals without sacrificing your
mental health and the things you care about most in
(00:27):
this world.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Medal Mindset Podcast with
me Brenna Huckabye, a three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
and I am absolutely thrilled to be here talking with
you today where we can dive into the tools and
skills necessary to not only achieve our goals, but to
live a life full of love, fulfillment and pride. Today
(00:55):
we're going to be diving into taking messy action. Taking
action when you don't have all of the answers. Taking action,
even when you're not one hundred percent sure what to
do or where to put your energy, is significantly more
impactful than not taking any action at all. So let's
get out of our own way and let's actually figure
(01:16):
out how we can start making progress towards the process
of our goal achievement. So, if you've been following along
on our podcast so far, you have a smart goal set.
You already know what you're wanting to achieve, you know
who you're achieving this for. But the question comes up,
what are you actually going to do to get you
closer to your goal? I want to talk about the
(01:39):
difference really quick about being busy and being productive in
our pursuit to our goals. See, if we really want
to reach our destination, we need to shift our focus
to being productive. It means as you're going in on
what we're doing and giving it our undivided attention. It's
those significant activities that will yield actual results. I don't
(02:01):
know about you, but whenever I have a new goal
and I'm really excited but very scared, I tend to
do these smaller tasks that aren't really going to make progress,
but I feel so busy in the process. And so
when I talk about taking action and being productive, I
don't mean getting busy. I don't mean doing all of
these things that don't amount to anything. Because oftentimes, when
(02:22):
we are allowing ourselves to be stuck in this busyness,
we're possibly doing it because we are afraid of the
change that is going to occur if we were to
actually put our time and energy into those bigger, more
productive tasks. So I have a story for you, guys
that I want to share with you that I think
really hits the nail on the head when it comes
(02:43):
to just getting started. When I was just fourteen years old,
I wanted to be an ncuaa gymnast, but one with
a college scholarship. I had it all mapped out, the
college I wanted to go to. I knew which scholarship
I wanted. I knew that what it was going to
look like, what it was going to feel like. Guys,
I was so highly motivated and nothing was going to
(03:05):
stand in my way at only fourteen years old. And
what unfortunately happened is I ended up getting diagnosed with
osteosarcoma bone cancer, which resulted in an amputation. And suddenly
after this, my dreams of pursuing gymnastics at a collegiate
level within the desired time frame that I had vanished.
It was not going to happen. However, I knew deep
(03:28):
down that my story wasn't over. Life had something else
in store, and that something revealed itself when I first
experienced snowboarding. Now, okay, this is super important. I'm from Louisiana.
There is no snow, there's no mountains, trees, just swamps,
alligators and some really good food. And it's definitely worth
(03:49):
a visit for that. I'd never snowboarded before. I never
witnessed what a big snowy mountain looked like. I never
seen more than a few inches of snow. But I
had an opportunity to go on a ski trip in Utah,
and that was under the disguise of a rehabilitation ski trip,
and I thought, hmm, like snowboarding. It seems a lot
(04:10):
like the balance beam, and I would give anything to
have an old piece of my life back, So let's
do it. And you know, I went on this trip
and my entire perspective shifted. I was sold, like snowboarding
became a passion immediately. It was like, oh my gosh,
I finally found my lifelong calling. And I share this
with you because the question remains, like, how on earth
(04:33):
was I going to pursue this new dream, this new goal,
this new spark When I was living in Louisiana, So
when I spoke to my parents about it, my mom,
who was on that trip with me, she saw the
incredible impact that snowboarding had on me, how it gained
a sense of purpose and it ignited a light inside
my eye again. And she also had a dream of
(04:55):
one day living in the mountains. And I liked to
just acknowledge that because I think as parents, sometimes we
often get caught up in our own children's goals and
wants and needs that sometimes we forget neglect our own,
And so I really love sharing that my mom also
had a piece of her own dream in this in
one day living in the mountains, so she also got
to go for it for herself, not just for me.
(05:17):
And so anyway I digress. So she was like, you
know what, We're going to make this happen. You know,
I'll do whatever it takes to get my daughter into snowboarding.
And I want to pause too to acknowledge that I
don't come from a wealthy family. My dad workshipwork, my
mom was a teacher, and it just we did not
(05:38):
have the financial means to make this happen. So this
was a stretch, not only financially but emotionally. They had
to figure out if they could support me in this endeavor.
But my mom, who when I asked her later, I
was like, well, how did you do it? Why did
you do it? And she said I had two crucial
conditions that I needed to fulfill before taking the leap
and moving to Utah. And she said, I needed to
(05:59):
have a strong sense of connection that I was helping
you reach your goal. I needed that deep sense of purpose.
And the second condition I needed was I needed to
know that you had a place for your cancer checkups.
I needed to know that, above all else I would
be taken care of. And once all of that was
(06:19):
in place, she said, everything else is going to be
figure out, but we'll figure it out. And so she
took the leap and I obviously joined her, and we
packed up moved to Utah, and let me tell you, y'all,
it was not the smoothest so the most glamorous transition.
I made mistakes, I made poor choices. But before we
made that move, my aunt shared with me some invaluable advice.
And the reason I'm sharing this with you because I
(06:40):
want you to sit and think about your own goals
right now, and some of those big, terrifying steps like
moving across the country to pursue something when you have
no idea if it's going to work out. And my
aunt gave me this advice. She said, Brenna, no matter
what happens, no matter where you go, no matter how
good or how bad it gets, you can always come
(07:02):
back to where you are. You can always come back home.
This advice, y'all. It hit me so hard, obviously, because
it's been over ten years and I still remember that conversation.
It has empowered me to realize that no matter what,
I have ownership over my present moment. I created it
and I can always return to it, a safe space
(07:24):
where I felt comfortable and in control. But I always
like to put a little spin on it, because when
you take action and you step out of your comfort zone,
you never quite go back to the exact same spot
you were at when you started. Even if things don't
go as planned, even if you stumble or you fail,
and I'm gonna put air quotes around fail, you always
(07:47):
gain something valuable from the experience. During my snowboarding journey,
I gained knowledge beyond my initial goal. I learned about resilience, adaptability,
and personal growth. It wasn't solely about snowboarding. It was
about the transformation I underwent during that time, and when
I eventually returned home, I had changed 'all. I had grown.
(08:11):
Failure didn't seem as daunting anymore because I knew I
had evolved into something stronger and wiser. Every step I
took brought me closer to my new plan, my new life,
my new comfort zone, and then ultimately later on my
goal of winning the Paralympics. Now I have so much
(08:32):
more to share on this topic, but I want to
leave you with just some visualization exercise that you could
try for yourself when it comes to imagining your self
achieving your goal, because ultimately that's what this podcast is about. It.
It's about taking that first real step, even when you
don't know fully what it is. And as somebody with
(08:56):
ADHD and many other things that I've had to work
through in life, I do really well when there are
clear directions. If you can give me detailed directions, y'all,
I will be your best work or your hardest work,
or I will go above and beyond. But if I
don't have clarity in that direction, it is a struggle
for me. I have its executive function problems, and so
(09:19):
what I've learned as an adult is most of life
doesn't come with a rule book with clear detailed direction.
You make it up, especially if you're a creative, especially
if you're working for yourself and you're not in a
traditional job that typically maps out a lot of things
for you. If you are like me and you're just
totally figuring it out, it can be so overwhelming. And
(09:43):
so this visualization has really helped me. I come back
to it anytime that I feel stuck, anytime that I
feel like I don't really know what my next move is,
anytime that I'm feeling like, oh my god, let them
I know in my life, I come back to this
visualization because it really is helpful. So right now, I
want you to close your eyes and for a minute,
(10:04):
just imagine yourself three years from now. Picture a version
of yourself that has achieved your current goal and maybe
a striving for a new one. And I want you
to ask yourself, what was the most significant decision or
action step that you took today that actually propelled you
(10:24):
closer to that goal. Visualize that version of yourself sitting
with you, giving you advice, being there for you. Tap
into your childlike imagination. I know it can feel silly
if this isn't something you're used to, but allow yourself
at silliness. Sometimes that is the best gift you can
give yourself. And after a while, maybe after this podcast,
(10:47):
you can come back to it. You know the answer
deep down, it's in there. Don't overthink it, just let
it surface and write it down. And once you have it,
take that action. No matter how messy it may seem,
no matter how INSIGNI eificant it may feel, no matter
how scary it may feel, take that action, because messy
action is infinitely better than never starting at all. Here's
(11:11):
the incredible thing, guys. If you stumble, if things don't
go as planned, you always can return to your comfort zone.
You can always return to the present moment where you
stand today. You can always return to your breath, to
your happiness, to the people and the support systems that
love you. And I don't know if I said this
on this podcast episode yet, but failure doesn't actually exist.
(11:34):
I put air quotes earlier because there is no such
thing as failure. There's only feedback. It's an opportunity to
learn and grow and adapt. So really embrace that mindset
when you go into taking action, really embrace that you
know what needs to be done, and you have the
power to do it, and you can do it. Make
sure that you are giving all yourself the credibility and
(11:55):
recognition and support that you deserve because you've ecken got this.
Nobody out here is more special than you, and you
are not more special than anyone else. We're all equal.
So if someone's out here they're doing exactly what you
want to do, you have the same power within you
to do it. So thank you guys once again for
tuning into today's podcast. That's all I have for you.
(12:16):
I hope this discussion on messy action has ignited a
fire within you to actually take that leap, embrace the unknown,
and start making progress towards your goals. Y'all, Remember, my
fellow gold Metal minds, the power lies within you. You
have that ability to create your own path, to overcome challenges,
and to grow beyond what you ever thought was possible.
(12:38):
So don't let that fear or the fear of failure,
holds you back any longer. Embrace the messy action because
it's through the action that we take that truly transforms
our lives. So as we bring this episode to a close,
I want to leave you with one final thought. Every
great achievement, every incredible success story, started with someone who
(13:02):
is willing to take the first step. Even when they
didn't have all the answers or a perfect plan, they
trusted themselves and believed in their ability to figure things
out along the way. So I encourage you, guys, trust yourself,
believe in your own journey, embrace the messiness and know
that it's all a part of the process. And celebrate
(13:24):
your progress no matter how small it may feel, and
keep pushing forward because you have the power to make
your dreams of reality. Thank you, guys for being part
of my incredible community. I love you and I am truly,
truly grateful for your support and for allowing me to
be a part of your journey. I would love for you,
guys to leave a comment or a review or share
on your social media so that I can continue to
(13:45):
show up on here and share and remember you are capable,
you are worthy, and you have what it takes to
achieve greatness. So until next time, keep digging, messy action,
share with me maybe that first step that you took.
I want to know and keep it, embracing the future
and the adventures that'll wait, and keep shining bright. I
will see you on the next episode. Goodbye,
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Metal Mindset Podcast. I
am your host, Barenna huckaby three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
here to encourage you to live a gold medal life,
one that is full of confidence, resilient empowerment, so that
you can be successful in your goals without sacrificing your
mental health and the things you care about most in
(00:27):
this world.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Gold Medal Mindset Podcast with
me Brenna Huckabye, a three time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder,
and I am absolutely thrilled to be here talking with
you today where we can dive into the tools and
skills necessary to not only achieve our goals, but to
live a life full of love, fulfillment and pride. Today
(00:55):
we're going to be diving into taking messy action. Taking
action when you don't have all of the answers. Taking action,
even when you're not one hundred percent sure what to
do or where to put your energy, is significantly more
impactful than not taking any action at all. So let's
get out of our own way and let's actually figure
(01:16):
out how we can start making progress towards the process
of our goal achievement. So, if you've been following along
on our podcast so far, you have a smart goal set.
You already know what you're wanting to achieve, you know
who you're achieving this for. But the question comes up,
what are you actually going to do to get you
closer to your goal? I want to talk about the
(01:39):
difference really quick about being busy and being productive in
our pursuit to our goals. See, if we really want
to reach our destination, we need to shift our focus
to being productive. It means as you're going in on
what we're doing and giving it our undivided attention. It's
those significant activities that will yield actual results. I don't
(02:01):
know about you, but whenever I have a new goal
and I'm really excited but very scared, I tend to
do these smaller tasks that aren't really going to make progress,
but I feel so busy in the process. And so
when I talk about taking action and being productive, I
don't mean getting busy. I don't mean doing all of
these things that don't amount to anything. Because oftentimes, when
(02:22):
we are allowing ourselves to be stuck in this busyness,
we're possibly doing it because we are afraid of the
change that is going to occur if we were to
actually put our time and energy into those bigger, more
productive tasks. So I have a story for you, guys
that I want to share with you that I think
really hits the nail on the head when it comes
(02:43):
to just getting started. When I was just fourteen years old,
I wanted to be an ncuaa gymnast, but one with
a college scholarship. I had it all mapped out, the
college I wanted to go to. I knew which scholarship
I wanted. I knew that what it was going to
look like, what it was going to feel like. Guys,
I was so highly motivated and nothing was going to
(03:05):
stand in my way at only fourteen years old. And
what unfortunately happened is I ended up getting diagnosed with
osteosarcoma bone cancer, which resulted in an amputation. And suddenly
after this, my dreams of pursuing gymnastics at a collegiate
level within the desired time frame that I had vanished.
It was not going to happen. However, I knew deep
(03:28):
down that my story wasn't over. Life had something else
in store, and that something revealed itself when I first
experienced snowboarding. Now, okay, this is super important. I'm from Louisiana.
There is no snow, there's no mountains, trees, just swamps,
alligators and some really good food. And it's definitely worth
(03:49):
a visit for that. I'd never snowboarded before. I never
witnessed what a big snowy mountain looked like. I never
seen more than a few inches of snow. But I
had an opportunity to go on a ski trip in Utah,
and that was under the disguise of a rehabilitation ski trip,
and I thought, hmm, like snowboarding. It seems a lot
(04:10):
like the balance beam, and I would give anything to
have an old piece of my life back, So let's
do it. And you know, I went on this trip
and my entire perspective shifted. I was sold, like snowboarding
became a passion immediately. It was like, oh my gosh,
I finally found my lifelong calling. And I share this
with you because the question remains, like, how on earth
(04:33):
was I going to pursue this new dream, this new goal,
this new spark When I was living in Louisiana, So
when I spoke to my parents about it, my mom,
who was on that trip with me, she saw the
incredible impact that snowboarding had on me, how it gained
a sense of purpose and it ignited a light inside
my eye again. And she also had a dream of
(04:55):
one day living in the mountains. And I liked to
just acknowledge that because I think as parents, sometimes we
often get caught up in our own children's goals and
wants and needs that sometimes we forget neglect our own,
And so I really love sharing that my mom also
had a piece of her own dream in this in
one day living in the mountains, so she also got
to go for it for herself, not just for me.
(05:17):
And so anyway I digress. So she was like, you
know what, We're going to make this happen. You know,
I'll do whatever it takes to get my daughter into snowboarding.
And I want to pause too to acknowledge that I
don't come from a wealthy family. My dad workshipwork, my
mom was a teacher, and it just we did not
(05:38):
have the financial means to make this happen. So this
was a stretch, not only financially but emotionally. They had
to figure out if they could support me in this endeavor.
But my mom, who when I asked her later, I
was like, well, how did you do it? Why did
you do it? And she said I had two crucial
conditions that I needed to fulfill before taking the leap
and moving to Utah. And she said, I needed to
(05:59):
have a strong sense of connection that I was helping
you reach your goal. I needed that deep sense of purpose.
And the second condition I needed was I needed to
know that you had a place for your cancer checkups.
I needed to know that, above all else I would
be taken care of. And once all of that was
(06:19):
in place, she said, everything else is going to be
figure out, but we'll figure it out. And so she
took the leap and I obviously joined her, and we
packed up moved to Utah, and let me tell you, y'all,
it was not the smoothest so the most glamorous transition.
I made mistakes, I made poor choices. But before we
made that move, my aunt shared with me some invaluable advice.
And the reason I'm sharing this with you because I
(06:40):
want you to sit and think about your own goals
right now, and some of those big, terrifying steps like
moving across the country to pursue something when you have
no idea if it's going to work out. And my
aunt gave me this advice. She said, Brenna, no matter
what happens, no matter where you go, no matter how
good or how bad it gets, you can always come
(07:02):
back to where you are. You can always come back home.
This advice, y'all. It hit me so hard, obviously, because
it's been over ten years and I still remember that conversation.
It has empowered me to realize that no matter what,
I have ownership over my present moment. I created it
and I can always return to it, a safe space
(07:24):
where I felt comfortable and in control. But I always
like to put a little spin on it, because when
you take action and you step out of your comfort zone,
you never quite go back to the exact same spot
you were at when you started. Even if things don't
go as planned, even if you stumble or you fail,
and I'm gonna put air quotes around fail, you always
(07:47):
gain something valuable from the experience. During my snowboarding journey,
I gained knowledge beyond my initial goal. I learned about resilience, adaptability,
and personal growth. It wasn't solely about snowboarding. It was
about the transformation I underwent during that time, and when
I eventually returned home, I had changed 'all. I had grown.
(08:11):
Failure didn't seem as daunting anymore because I knew I
had evolved into something stronger and wiser. Every step I
took brought me closer to my new plan, my new life,
my new comfort zone, and then ultimately later on my
goal of winning the Paralympics. Now I have so much
(08:32):
more to share on this topic, but I want to
leave you with just some visualization exercise that you could
try for yourself when it comes to imagining your self
achieving your goal, because ultimately that's what this podcast is about. It.
It's about taking that first real step, even when you
don't know fully what it is. And as somebody with
(08:56):
ADHD and many other things that I've had to work
through in life, I do really well when there are
clear directions. If you can give me detailed directions, y'all,
I will be your best work or your hardest work,
or I will go above and beyond. But if I
don't have clarity in that direction, it is a struggle
for me. I have its executive function problems, and so
(09:19):
what I've learned as an adult is most of life
doesn't come with a rule book with clear detailed direction.
You make it up, especially if you're a creative, especially
if you're working for yourself and you're not in a
traditional job that typically maps out a lot of things
for you. If you are like me and you're just
totally figuring it out, it can be so overwhelming. And
(09:43):
so this visualization has really helped me. I come back
to it anytime that I feel stuck, anytime that I
feel like I don't really know what my next move is,
anytime that I'm feeling like, oh my god, let them
I know in my life, I come back to this
visualization because it really is helpful. So right now, I
want you to close your eyes and for a minute,
(10:04):
just imagine yourself three years from now. Picture a version
of yourself that has achieved your current goal and maybe
a striving for a new one. And I want you
to ask yourself, what was the most significant decision or
action step that you took today that actually propelled you
(10:24):
closer to that goal. Visualize that version of yourself sitting
with you, giving you advice, being there for you. Tap
into your childlike imagination. I know it can feel silly
if this isn't something you're used to, but allow yourself
at silliness. Sometimes that is the best gift you can
give yourself. And after a while, maybe after this podcast,
(10:47):
you can come back to it. You know the answer
deep down, it's in there. Don't overthink it, just let
it surface and write it down. And once you have it,
take that action. No matter how messy it may seem,
no matter how INSIGNI eificant it may feel, no matter
how scary it may feel, take that action, because messy
action is infinitely better than never starting at all. Here's
(11:11):
the incredible thing, guys. If you stumble, if things don't
go as planned, you always can return to your comfort zone.
You can always return to the present moment where you
stand today. You can always return to your breath, to
your happiness, to the people and the support systems that
love you. And I don't know if I said this
on this podcast episode yet, but failure doesn't actually exist.
(11:34):
I put air quotes earlier because there is no such
thing as failure. There's only feedback. It's an opportunity to
learn and grow and adapt. So really embrace that mindset
when you go into taking action, really embrace that you
know what needs to be done, and you have the
power to do it, and you can do it. Make
sure that you are giving all yourself the credibility and
(11:55):
recognition and support that you deserve because you've ecken got this.
Nobody out here is more special than you, and you
are not more special than anyone else. We're all equal.
So if someone's out here they're doing exactly what you
want to do, you have the same power within you
to do it. So thank you guys once again for
tuning into today's podcast. That's all I have for you.
(12:16):
I hope this discussion on messy action has ignited a
fire within you to actually take that leap, embrace the unknown,
and start making progress towards your goals. Y'all, Remember, my
fellow gold Metal minds, the power lies within you. You
have that ability to create your own path, to overcome challenges,
and to grow beyond what you ever thought was possible.
(12:38):
So don't let that fear or the fear of failure,
holds you back any longer. Embrace the messy action because
it's through the action that we take that truly transforms
our lives. So as we bring this episode to a close,
I want to leave you with one final thought. Every
great achievement, every incredible success story, started with someone who
(13:02):
is willing to take the first step. Even when they
didn't have all the answers or a perfect plan, they
trusted themselves and believed in their ability to figure things
out along the way. So I encourage you, guys, trust yourself,
believe in your own journey, embrace the messiness and know
that it's all a part of the process. And celebrate
(13:24):
your progress no matter how small it may feel, and
keep pushing forward because you have the power to make
your dreams of reality. Thank you, guys for being part
of my incredible community. I love you and I am truly,
truly grateful for your support and for allowing me to
be a part of your journey. I would love for you,
guys to leave a comment or a review or share
on your social media so that I can continue to
(13:45):
show up on here and share and remember you are capable,
you are worthy, and you have what it takes to
achieve greatness. So until next time, keep digging, messy action,
share with me maybe that first step that you took.
I want to know and keep it, embracing the future
and the adventures that'll wait, and keep shining bright. I
will see you on the next episode. Goodbye,
Host
Brenna Huckaby
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