EP. 1895

02/27/26

Shaun White

โ€œHow badly do you really want it?”

How to Reignite a Dream After You've Lost Everything | Shaun White

Shaun White admits that losing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics had nothing to do with his body and everything to do with his heart not being in it. That honest reckoning launched a years-long process of rebuilding from the inside out, patching broken relationships, ditching a fake social media persona, and assembling a team that actually shared his vision.

Then a training crash in New Zealand left him with 62 stitches and lungs full of blood just months before the 2018 Olympics, forcing a gut-check question: how badly do you really want this?

His answer carried him to a third gold medal and the most emotionally charged finish of his career. Whether you are chasing a world record or a business breakthrough, Shaun’s approach to mental resilience, goal-setting, and self-discovery applies directly to your life.

Buy a copy of Shaunโ€™s book Shaun White: Airborne

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โ€œSuccess without fulfillment is the greatest failure. You have to find the enjoyment. Otherwise, you get to that place where you finally get that goal, and it's not exactly what you pictured.โ€ โ€” Shaun White
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And now let’s jump into episode 1895 of The School of Greatness!

Some Questions I Ask:

  • How do you continue to stay so disciplined at this age, with your body, your mindset, your training, to continue preparing at this level?
  • Why did you not think you could do it?
  • Where do you think you would’ve been had you not addressed the things in your life that you weren’t fulfilled with yet, or kind of finalized or resolved with relationships, and without having the team to support you?
  • Have you learned how to put your self-worth not on winning or losing, but just on who you are as a human being, or have you struggled in the past with thinking you suck as a person when you lose?
  • What would you say to your 13-year-old self getting into this journey, knowing what you know now about what the real champion’s mindset is?
  • What feedback would you give to someone out there going after life in a big way with big goals, big dreams, whether it’s business or career, on the path of wanting to accomplish massive goals and be at the top of their field without hurting themselves along the way?

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Discover why raw talent is never enough to win when your heart is not fully committed to the goal
  • Learn how resolving personal and relational friction off the field can unlock peak performance on it
  • Understand why pairing a massive goal with small, specific, even playful sub-goals keeps motivation alive
  • Recognize the trap of delayed happiness and how to find fulfillment along the path rather than only at the finish line
  • Build a mental framework for separating your self-worth from outcomes so loss stops defining you
  • Plus much more…
The School of Greatness Podcast
The School of Greatness Podcast

The School of Greatness Show

The School of Greatness shares inspiring interviews from the most successful people on the planetโ€”world-renowned leaders in business, entertainment, sports, science, health, and literatureโ€”to inspire YOU to unlock your inner greatness and live your best life.