Ep 120: 40 Secs to Win & The Power of Psychotic Obsession | Apolo Ohno (Most Decorated US Winter Olympian with 8 Olympic Medals & 21 World Championships)

Apolo Ohno has won 8 Olympic medals & 21 World Championship medals, which makes him the most decorated US Winter Olympian in 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺! He was the state champion swimmer at age 13 & national speed skating champion at age 14, but it was short track speed skating that really caught his eye. Because to him, they were like Superman! After 6 months of training, Apolo won the 1997 US Championships. He was a shoo-in for the 1998 Winter Olympics but then... Apolo grew complacent. He self-sabotaged & threw away his training, finishing last in the Olympics trials. His father was so upset, he sent Apolo to an isolated cabin at Copalis Beach and said: "You'll stay here for as long as it takes for you to figure out what you want to do with your life!" That was traumatic. Apolo decided he would give this sport a real shot & that's when everything changed. But there was a price to pay for such "psychotic obsession". He was ruthless to everyone, including himself. In this STIMY Episode, we talked about how he finds FLOW, sports psychology, self-sabotage, the importance of recovery, and being obsessive without being "mindlessly handcuffed to it". So if you want to live your life to the fullest the way an Olympic champion does, then this is the episode for you! Highlights: • 3:27 Survival • 7:23 Why did this happen? • 10:35 Blowing up toilets?! • 12:25 Joining the Superman sports • 15:33 Sleeping with his skates • 16:48 Sacrifice • 22:01 Not being handcuffed to failure • 24:39 Self-sabotage • 30:57 The darker side to obsession • 39:31 Finding the FLOW state • 42:50 The power of introspection • 45:25 The controversial Salt Lake City Olympics win • 49:20 Turin Olympics • 50:46 Why Apolo turned away from Hollywood • 52:30 A lion is most dangerous when it knows it's near its end • 56:11 Psychotic obsession outside of sports • 57:31 Not returning to sports + Michael Phelps • 58:51 The Great Divorce • 1:02:37 What do you say yes to? • 1:05:07 Building his personal board of directors • 1:08:31 Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/120 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442