WEBVTT 00:00:06.864 --> 00:00:13.018 When I was growing up, I never, ever exercised. 00:00:13.278 --> 00:00:15.266 I didn't have any active hobbies. 00:00:15.266 --> 00:00:17.031 I didn't play any sports. 00:00:17.031 --> 00:00:18.202 Nothing. 00:00:18.652 --> 00:00:20.533 I was very well-known for saying, 00:00:20.533 --> 00:00:25.648 "I will run when a bear is chasing me and never before then." 00:00:27.178 --> 00:00:30.414 This went on for about 34 years 00:00:30.414 --> 00:00:33.731 until I woke up one day with an infant, 00:00:33.731 --> 00:00:35.487 a two-and-a-half-year-old, 00:00:35.487 --> 00:00:39.174 and a back that hurt all the time. 00:00:40.214 --> 00:00:45.135 And I realized in that moment that if something didn't change, 00:00:45.135 --> 00:00:48.004 if I didn't become stronger and more flexible, 00:00:48.004 --> 00:00:53.958 I was not going to be the kind of mother I wanted to be - 00:00:53.958 --> 00:00:56.983 the kind of mother who can chase around her kids at the park 00:00:56.983 --> 00:00:59.660 or pick her kids up and swing them around 00:00:59.660 --> 00:01:05.104 or sit on the floor for five minutes to play Legos. 00:01:05.734 --> 00:01:12.413 Now, the only option to get stronger and more flexible is exercise. 00:01:13.123 --> 00:01:15.355 But it just wasn't who I was. 00:01:16.315 --> 00:01:19.846 And we all have something like this, don't we? 00:01:19.846 --> 00:01:21.679 Something that we know 00:01:21.679 --> 00:01:24.014 if we're going to become the person we want to be, 00:01:24.014 --> 00:01:26.273 the innovator that we want to be, 00:01:26.273 --> 00:01:28.866 this thing has to change. 00:01:28.866 --> 00:01:32.817 But even though we think about it all the time, 00:01:32.817 --> 00:01:36.585 we never make any progress. 00:01:37.255 --> 00:01:40.661 This phenomenon is what I call "defensive failure," 00:01:40.661 --> 00:01:43.025 and it goes a little something like this. 00:01:43.025 --> 00:01:44.381 It's Sunday. 00:01:44.381 --> 00:01:46.188 You say to your husband or wife, 00:01:46.188 --> 00:01:50.472 "This week, I'm going to go to the gym three times." 00:01:51.492 --> 00:01:53.707 Then it's Friday, 00:01:53.707 --> 00:01:56.079 and you haven't been to the gym at all. 00:01:56.419 --> 00:01:59.295 It's so mysterious, right? 00:01:59.295 --> 00:02:01.542 You're like, "I meant to go to the gym. 00:02:01.542 --> 00:02:03.886 I intended to go to the gym. 00:02:03.886 --> 00:02:05.960 Why am I not going to the gym?" 00:02:06.790 --> 00:02:10.777 Now, I am a cognitive psychologist, so I did what we do best. 00:02:10.777 --> 00:02:12.896 I spent the next three years 00:02:12.896 --> 00:02:16.327 obsessively researching the answer to that question: 00:02:16.327 --> 00:02:19.095 "Why am I not going to the gym?" 00:02:19.795 --> 00:02:21.205 And what I discovered 00:02:21.205 --> 00:02:26.049 is that so much of the reason you're not doing what you say you want to do 00:02:26.049 --> 00:02:27.876 is in your mind. 00:02:28.246 --> 00:02:32.365 In fact, I found that there are three powerful mindset blocks 00:02:32.365 --> 00:02:35.845 that are keeping you locked in a cycle of defensive failure. 00:02:35.845 --> 00:02:39.295 And if any one of these is in play, 00:02:39.295 --> 00:02:43.078 your brain defends you against real failure - 00:02:43.078 --> 00:02:45.736 which is where you do it but you do it really bad - 00:02:45.736 --> 00:02:47.909 by redirecting you and distracting you, 00:02:47.909 --> 00:02:50.263 and you never make any progress. 00:02:50.853 --> 00:02:52.633 So let's talk about each one. 00:02:53.483 --> 00:02:56.718 The first reason that you're locked in a cycle of defensive failure 00:02:56.718 --> 00:02:58.834 is that you think, 00:02:58.834 --> 00:03:00.659 somewhere in your heart, 00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:03.377 that you can't do it. 00:03:03.947 --> 00:03:09.847 You think that some people have the talent or the genetics to do this thing 00:03:09.847 --> 00:03:13.657 and, specifically, you don't. 00:03:14.707 --> 00:03:16.516 Let's talk about exercise for this one 00:03:16.516 --> 00:03:18.613 because I have a lot of experience with that. 00:03:19.013 --> 00:03:21.351 When I first started exercising, 00:03:21.351 --> 00:03:24.449 I decided that I would become a runner. 00:03:24.889 --> 00:03:28.906 Now, the very first time that I went out for a run, 00:03:28.906 --> 00:03:32.855 I went out in really baggy yoga pants. 00:03:32.855 --> 00:03:35.028 And I don't know if any of you are runners, 00:03:35.028 --> 00:03:38.295 but there's a real reason why runners wear so much spandex. 00:03:38.295 --> 00:03:41.448 Because I was only about two minutes into my run 00:03:41.448 --> 00:03:44.627 before I was holding up my pants while I was running. 00:03:44.627 --> 00:03:46.280 But I also didn't have any gear, 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.776 and I really needed my phone because I had the Couch to 5K app on it. 00:03:49.776 --> 00:03:51.367 I didn't have anywhere to put it. 00:03:51.367 --> 00:03:54.791 So I'm running, holding my pants with one hand and my phone in the other, 00:03:54.791 --> 00:03:57.524 and my pants are falling off in this direction now, 00:03:57.524 --> 00:03:59.336 and I've got to grab it, so I grab it, 00:03:59.336 --> 00:04:02.107 and the phone falls off - "ah!" - grabbing my phone ... 00:04:02.107 --> 00:04:03.758 It's a mess. 00:04:04.228 --> 00:04:07.007 And the worst part of the whole thing - 00:04:07.007 --> 00:04:10.013 this whole thing went down on a high school track. 00:04:13.543 --> 00:04:19.001 This, my friends, is failure. 00:04:19.582 --> 00:04:21.734 I tried to do something for the first time, 00:04:21.734 --> 00:04:23.729 and I did it wrong. 00:04:25.179 --> 00:04:26.340 Right? 00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:33.493 What happens in this moment is at the heart of this mindset block. 00:04:33.493 --> 00:04:40.280 If you believe that at the core of success is talent and genetics, 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:44.352 then this rookie mistake matters a lot. 00:04:44.812 --> 00:04:50.361 It's the proof you needed that you didn't have what it takes, right? 00:04:50.361 --> 00:04:52.539 But if you can, instead, 00:04:52.539 --> 00:04:56.732 develop what Carol Dweck would refer to as a "growth mindset" about it, 00:04:56.732 --> 00:05:00.372 then these rookie mistakes lose their significance. 00:05:00.372 --> 00:05:04.074 They are no longer proof that you never should have tried; 00:05:04.074 --> 00:05:06.164 they're opportunities to learn. 00:05:06.754 --> 00:05:11.560 Because you know that at the heart of success is not talent; 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:13.040 it's effort. 00:05:13.550 --> 00:05:17.378 It's effort, over time, that produces accomplishment; 00:05:17.378 --> 00:05:20.835 it's effort that creates innovation. 00:05:21.505 --> 00:05:25.074 And if you're able to shift your mindset 00:05:25.074 --> 00:05:27.977 from this belief that some people have it and you don't 00:05:27.977 --> 00:05:29.913 and into one where you recognize 00:05:29.913 --> 00:05:34.714 that your rookie mistakes are just signposts on the pathway to success, 00:05:34.714 --> 00:05:40.161 then you will be able to walk away from this cycle of defensive failure. 00:05:41.411 --> 00:05:45.074 Now, that's the first reason you're locked in this cycle of defensive failure. 00:05:45.504 --> 00:05:49.410 The second reason that you're locked in this cycle of defensive failure 00:05:49.410 --> 00:05:55.196 is that you think people like you don't do things like this. 00:05:57.196 --> 00:06:00.206 And this one comes down to your identity. 00:06:00.206 --> 00:06:02.998 And we care a lot about our identities, don't we? 00:06:03.518 --> 00:06:06.839 And part of the reason you care so much about your identity 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:10.031 is because it was hard-won. 00:06:10.461 --> 00:06:13.240 So let's talk about how you form an identity. 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:14.669 Now, looking around this room, 00:06:14.669 --> 00:06:17.982 it looks like everybody has successfully made it out of adolescence. 00:06:17.982 --> 00:06:19.286 Is that true? 00:06:20.096 --> 00:06:23.616 This guy back here is like, "Uh ... define successfully." 00:06:23.616 --> 00:06:24.826 (Laughter) 00:06:25.376 --> 00:06:27.939 So here's what happens in adolescence. 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:29.801 You had an identity before adolescence, 00:06:29.801 --> 00:06:32.890 but you basically absorbed it from the people around you, right? 00:06:32.890 --> 00:06:34.696 Like, "Mom says I'm creative." 00:06:34.696 --> 00:06:35.893 All right. 00:06:35.893 --> 00:06:38.186 "Dad says that I'm an athletic person." 00:06:38.186 --> 00:06:39.900 Yeah, okay. That sounds right. 00:06:40.370 --> 00:06:42.318 But that switches in adolescence. 00:06:42.318 --> 00:06:46.075 You begin to start asking really hard questions about who you are, 00:06:46.075 --> 00:06:48.489 and you do it socially. 00:06:48.489 --> 00:06:49.541 So you ask yourself, 00:06:49.541 --> 00:06:51.308 "Am I like this person? 00:06:51.308 --> 00:06:52.669 Am I like you? 00:06:52.709 --> 00:06:53.754 Am I like you? 00:06:53.794 --> 00:06:55.323 Am I like you?" 00:06:55.993 --> 00:06:58.287 And you take on a little piece of their identity, 00:06:58.287 --> 00:07:00.048 and you see how it feels. 00:07:00.048 --> 00:07:04.117 So you might take on, like, lying to your parents and skipping school, 00:07:04.117 --> 00:07:07.202 or you might try on some really thick black eyeliner 00:07:07.202 --> 00:07:08.823 and dye your hair jet-black, 00:07:08.823 --> 00:07:09.879 shut your door, 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:12.397 and play the emo music on repeat in your room. 00:07:13.877 --> 00:07:17.300 You take on bits and pieces of the people around you, 00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:18.505 and in so doing, 00:07:18.505 --> 00:07:22.686 you do what Erik Erikson refers to as "identity fracturing." 00:07:23.246 --> 00:07:25.648 It's really uncomfortable. 00:07:25.648 --> 00:07:29.989 It creates a lot of friction in your mind because you don't know who you are. 00:07:30.789 --> 00:07:33.222 But the good news is that eventually - 00:07:33.222 --> 00:07:36.456 sometime around your junior or senior year in high school - 00:07:36.456 --> 00:07:41.027 you begin to release the pieces of your identity that are not serving you. 00:07:41.027 --> 00:07:45.038 Maybe you stop hanging out with the kids who are skipping school. 00:07:45.038 --> 00:07:46.990 Maybe you decide, "I don't like football, 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:49.888 and I'm not going to hang out with the football team anymore." 00:07:50.108 --> 00:07:55.709 Each piece of that identity that you let go of comes at a loss to you. 00:07:55.709 --> 00:07:58.518 Those friends you were hanging out with and skipping school, 00:07:58.518 --> 00:08:00.282 that may have mattered a lot to you - 00:08:00.282 --> 00:08:02.624 you might feel like a real traitor. 00:08:02.624 --> 00:08:05.103 The football team that you stopped hanging out with - 00:08:05.103 --> 00:08:08.758 that might lose credibility for you at your high school. 00:08:09.528 --> 00:08:14.831 And that process of what Erik Erikson refers to as "identity cohesion" 00:08:14.831 --> 00:08:16.601 is very difficult. 00:08:16.601 --> 00:08:19.251 But it does result in an identity, 00:08:19.251 --> 00:08:23.572 a belief about who you really are. 00:08:23.572 --> 00:08:26.210 And that matters to you a lot, 00:08:26.210 --> 00:08:30.730 and you will do nothing that threatens that identity. 00:08:31.410 --> 00:08:33.047 Now, I see some of you saying, 00:08:33.047 --> 00:08:34.474 "This is all very interesting, 00:08:34.474 --> 00:08:37.530 but what does it have to do with following through on my goals?" 00:08:37.530 --> 00:08:41.380 Well, when I first became a coach, 00:08:41.380 --> 00:08:43.631 I struggled a lot to get clients 00:08:43.631 --> 00:08:47.764 because I consider myself to be a heart-centered helper type 00:08:47.764 --> 00:08:51.075 and I'll be promoting myself and selling my services - 00:08:51.075 --> 00:08:53.787 it felt really inauthentic and pushy. 00:08:53.787 --> 00:08:57.355 Am I going to do something that feels inauthentic and pushy? 00:08:57.875 --> 00:08:59.165 No! 00:08:59.165 --> 00:09:00.381 Never. 00:09:01.351 --> 00:09:05.262 And that's how you get locked in a cycle of defensive failure. 00:09:05.262 --> 00:09:07.561 You say, "I'm going to go to a networking event - 00:09:07.561 --> 00:09:09.181 one each week this month." 00:09:09.181 --> 00:09:11.978 Then the day comes for the networking event, 00:09:11.978 --> 00:09:13.025 and your brain's like, 00:09:13.025 --> 00:09:16.504 "Yeah, no. We're not going do that. That threatens our identity. 00:09:16.504 --> 00:09:19.661 And anyways, Amanda, you're so tired. 00:09:19.661 --> 00:09:21.524 You've been so busy. 00:09:21.524 --> 00:09:23.245 You should really take care of you." 00:09:23.245 --> 00:09:24.377 And before you know it, 00:09:24.377 --> 00:09:26.429 the networking event is happening somewhere, 00:09:26.429 --> 00:09:27.436 but you're not there. 00:09:27.436 --> 00:09:29.831 You're at home on the couch in your stretchy pants, 00:09:29.831 --> 00:09:34.173 knee-deep into the 13th episode of the first season of Friends. 00:09:34.173 --> 00:09:35.173 (Laughter) 00:09:35.173 --> 00:09:36.573 Again. 00:09:37.983 --> 00:09:41.320 Now, no judgment - we have all been there. 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.249 But it does explain why you're not making any progress. 00:09:45.439 --> 00:09:47.577 So if this sounds like you, 00:09:47.577 --> 00:09:50.428 if this might be a mindset block that you're struggling with, 00:09:50.428 --> 00:09:55.162 what you have to do is find people like you doing things like this, 00:09:55.162 --> 00:09:57.956 and you have to share your concerns with them. 00:09:57.956 --> 00:10:00.484 For me, I had to find a heart-centered helper type 00:10:00.484 --> 00:10:02.638 who was great at promoting her business 00:10:02.638 --> 00:10:06.746 and learn from her how I could bring these things in line. 00:10:06.746 --> 00:10:09.031 And if you can find a way 00:10:09.031 --> 00:10:11.646 to bring what you want to do in line with your identity, 00:10:11.646 --> 00:10:13.880 you'll find going to the networking event 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:15.687 much, much easier. 00:10:17.357 --> 00:10:21.357 And that's the second reason you're locked in a cycle of defensive failure. 00:10:22.867 --> 00:10:26.004 The third reason that you're locked in a cycle of defensive failure 00:10:26.004 --> 00:10:29.885 is that secretly you don't want to do it. 00:10:30.495 --> 00:10:34.125 You just think you should want to do it. 00:10:34.695 --> 00:10:38.753 Basically, you value it for the wrong reasons. 00:10:39.383 --> 00:10:42.163 Now, there are two ways that you can value things. 00:10:42.163 --> 00:10:43.164 On the one hand, 00:10:43.164 --> 00:10:46.174 you can value them for what we refer to as "intrinsic reasons" - 00:10:46.174 --> 00:10:48.344 reasons that come from inside of you - 00:10:48.344 --> 00:10:49.348 interest, 00:10:49.348 --> 00:10:50.346 curiosity, 00:10:50.346 --> 00:10:53.332 or you've drawn a straight, bright line 00:10:53.332 --> 00:10:58.142 from the thing you want to do up to your long-term hopes and dreams. 00:10:58.682 --> 00:11:02.600 But you can also value things for reasons that are outside of you. 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:04.342 Extrinsic reasons like 00:11:04.342 --> 00:11:05.677 "All the cool people do it," 00:11:05.677 --> 00:11:07.244 or "My mom would be proud," 00:11:07.244 --> 00:11:09.735 or "Boy, would I like to be admired." 00:11:10.855 --> 00:11:14.195 Now, let's just say for a second, for the sake of an example, 00:11:14.195 --> 00:11:16.359 that you have said, 00:11:16.359 --> 00:11:18.422 "I've really got to stick to a budget. 00:11:19.162 --> 00:11:22.700 And you know, the thing I do the most that's costing me the most money 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:27.247 is I buy my lunch every single day at work." 00:11:28.167 --> 00:11:29.173 So you decide, 00:11:29.173 --> 00:11:31.505 "I'm not doing that anymore; I'm taking my lunch." 00:11:31.505 --> 00:11:33.782 So one day, you're halfway through your commute, 00:11:33.782 --> 00:11:37.242 and you realize that your lunch is sitting on the kitchen counter 00:11:37.242 --> 00:11:39.631 right next to your cell phone. 00:11:39.631 --> 00:11:42.145 Now, that is a hard day. 00:11:42.145 --> 00:11:45.050 You've got nothing to eat and no Candy Crush. 00:11:45.050 --> 00:11:46.050 (Laughter) 00:11:46.050 --> 00:11:47.799 What are you going to do? 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:50.966 So you're talking to your coworker, like, "I'm having a hard day." 00:11:50.966 --> 00:11:53.846 And she says, "Don't even worry about it. 00:11:53.846 --> 00:11:57.314 We'll take it as a sign from the universe; we'll go and have a real lunch. 00:11:57.314 --> 00:11:58.900 It's going to be awesome." 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:01.080 So you have two options. 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.507 You can go with your friend and have a "real lunch," 00:12:03.507 --> 00:12:05.549 spend $25 on a sandwich, 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:07.778 or you can go to the vending machine 00:12:07.778 --> 00:12:12.488 and get a crappy two-dollar power bar. 00:12:13.058 --> 00:12:15.169 What are you going to do? 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:21.312 Well, it depends on why you're trying to stick to a budget. 00:12:21.312 --> 00:12:23.092 If you're trying to stick to a budget 00:12:23.092 --> 00:12:26.512 because you've just got engaged and you're trying to buy a house 00:12:26.512 --> 00:12:28.130 and you have these dreams 00:12:28.130 --> 00:12:31.844 of your children sitting next to a crackling fire on Christmas Eve, 00:12:31.844 --> 00:12:34.635 then you will go to the vending machine. 00:12:35.185 --> 00:12:39.638 But if you're trying to save money because wealthy people are admired, 00:12:39.638 --> 00:12:42.092 and, yeah, it would be cool to be admired - 00:12:42.562 --> 00:12:44.071 that's not enough. 00:12:44.621 --> 00:12:49.976 It's not enough to counterbalance the urge, the desire in the moment, 00:12:49.976 --> 00:12:52.581 to go to a restaurant with your friend. 00:12:52.581 --> 00:12:55.600 And this works for anything that you're struggling with. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.133 If the work you want to do is hard, 00:12:58.133 --> 00:13:00.730 there will be urges in the moment to quit. 00:13:00.730 --> 00:13:02.618 And it is intrinsic interest 00:13:02.618 --> 00:13:07.076 that keeps you focused on the steps you need to take 00:13:07.076 --> 00:13:11.763 and not those urges of the moment to go with your friend to the restaurant. 00:13:11.763 --> 00:13:13.351 So if this sounds like you, 00:13:13.351 --> 00:13:16.112 if this sounds like something you might be struggling with, 00:13:16.112 --> 00:13:19.967 you have to build out the intrinsic interest. 00:13:20.417 --> 00:13:23.571 You have to find a way to be interested or curious 00:13:23.571 --> 00:13:26.416 about what it is you want to do. 00:13:26.416 --> 00:13:29.331 You have to read the blogs; you have to look at the magazines. 00:13:29.331 --> 00:13:31.373 And if you cannot, 00:13:31.373 --> 00:13:34.000 if there is nothing of interest to you - 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.628 for example, about taxes - 00:13:36.628 --> 00:13:39.385 then you must draw the bright line 00:13:39.385 --> 00:13:43.249 between the thing you want to do and your long-term hopes and dreams. 00:13:43.249 --> 00:13:45.886 When the moment comes that you want to get out, give up, 00:13:45.886 --> 00:13:48.078 you take that piece of paper out of your pocket 00:13:48.078 --> 00:13:49.734 and read it to yourself 00:13:49.734 --> 00:13:53.605 so that you ground back into your intrinsic interest. 00:13:54.215 --> 00:13:55.224 And that, my friends, 00:13:55.224 --> 00:13:59.927 is how you would break out of the third cycle of defensive failure. 00:14:00.627 --> 00:14:01.775 Now, 00:14:03.205 --> 00:14:05.283 if you have even one of these in place, 00:14:05.283 --> 00:14:07.945 you will struggle to make progress on your goal. 00:14:07.945 --> 00:14:10.328 If you've struggled with something your whole life, 00:14:10.328 --> 00:14:13.520 it's likely that all three are at play 00:14:13.520 --> 00:14:17.105 like it was for me with exercise. 00:14:17.555 --> 00:14:21.708 But as I was able to accept those rookie mistakes 00:14:21.708 --> 00:14:24.232 as part of the process of getting better 00:14:24.232 --> 00:14:25.732 and recognize 00:14:25.732 --> 00:14:29.642 that there are non-competitive people like me who also exercise 00:14:29.642 --> 00:14:31.883 and accept - 00:14:31.883 --> 00:14:36.214 you know, I got really, really interested in the science of exercise; 00:14:36.214 --> 00:14:37.971 it's very fascinating - 00:14:37.971 --> 00:14:42.591 I was able, amazingly, to begin to make progress. 00:14:42.971 --> 00:14:46.718 Now, I do not want you to think that I'm up here saying, 00:14:46.718 --> 00:14:51.162 "Get your mindsets in order, and you'll be a raging overnight success," 00:14:51.162 --> 00:14:53.638 because that's not how it works. 00:14:54.048 --> 00:14:55.970 But what you do get to do 00:14:55.970 --> 00:15:00.232 is trade that cycle of defensive failure 00:15:00.232 --> 00:15:03.076 for action-driven, 00:15:03.076 --> 00:15:05.580 insight-filled, 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:08.568 productive failure. 00:15:09.008 --> 00:15:11.261 Failure where you do it wrong, 00:15:11.261 --> 00:15:13.319 but then you get a little better. 00:15:13.319 --> 00:15:14.997 And then you do it better over time 00:15:14.997 --> 00:15:18.901 until suddenly, you're doing what you never thought was possible. 00:15:19.261 --> 00:15:21.203 For me, what that looked like 00:15:21.203 --> 00:15:23.552 is over the course of about three years, 00:15:23.552 --> 00:15:25.402 I taught myself how to run - 00:15:25.402 --> 00:15:26.623 got the gear. 00:15:26.623 --> 00:15:28.607 I taught myself how to bike. 00:15:28.987 --> 00:15:31.110 I taught myself how to swim. 00:15:31.850 --> 00:15:34.142 And one crazy August day, 00:15:34.142 --> 00:15:37.816 I strung those three together, and I did a triathlon. 00:15:38.446 --> 00:15:40.489 I know - I was surprised too. 00:15:40.489 --> 00:15:41.941 (Laughter) 00:15:42.531 --> 00:15:44.397 And about two months later, 00:15:44.397 --> 00:15:47.324 I did a half-marathon. 00:15:47.784 --> 00:15:49.368 Most importantly, my son - 00:15:49.368 --> 00:15:53.470 who's now six and heavy and wiggly - 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:55.097 I can pick him up. 00:15:56.347 --> 00:15:59.252 And I'm not telling you this because I'm some kind of athlete, 00:15:59.252 --> 00:16:02.804 because, clearly, that's not what's happening here. 00:16:03.854 --> 00:16:05.571 I'm telling you this 00:16:05.571 --> 00:16:08.968 because that day that I did that triathlon 00:16:08.968 --> 00:16:12.866 was the most exciting day of my life. 00:16:12.866 --> 00:16:15.215 Because it should never have been my story; 00:16:15.215 --> 00:16:17.786 it should not have been possible. 00:16:18.716 --> 00:16:21.944 And what it helped me to realize that day 00:16:21.944 --> 00:16:23.652 was that I, 00:16:23.652 --> 00:16:24.855 that you, 00:16:25.695 --> 00:16:27.258 all of us - 00:16:27.258 --> 00:16:29.710 we can be anything we want. 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:31.974 We get our head clear, 00:16:31.974 --> 00:16:34.569 and we begin to take steps. 00:16:34.569 --> 00:16:37.296 And if you're doing those two things, 00:16:37.296 --> 00:16:40.214 nothing can stop you. 00:16:40.964 --> 00:16:42.201 Thank you. 00:16:42.201 --> 00:16:43.556 (Applause)