Gold Medal Resilience: A conversation with 5 time Olympian Natalie Cook

In this inspiring Stronger Together episode, we are thrilled to welcome Natalie Cook, an esteemed Olympian, to share her incredible journey and insights. Natalie delves into her experiences, discussing the significance of resilience, the mindset that propelled her through five Olympic Games, and how these principles apply to everyday life. She offers an engaging narrative of her start in sports, the power of dreams, and the importance of asking the right questions to overcome life’s barriers. Natalie also highlights her commitment to supporting emerging athletes through her initiative, Athletes Australia, emphasising the impact of community support and mentorship. This episode is not only a reflection of Natalie's remarkable career but also a testament to the power of belief and encouragement in shaping one’s destiny. Join us for this enlightening conversation that transcends sports, offering valuable life lessons and motivation for all listeners. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of "Stronger Together" We hope you enjoyed the conversation and gained valuable insights.

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Transcript

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Welcome to Stronger Together, a powerful podcast series hosted by IMPACT Community Services. Join us as we discuss the importance of wellbeing support systems and how a strong community can be a lifeline for those in need. I'm Tanya O'Shea, managing director of IMPACT. And Hi, I'm Kate Rumballe Impact's communications officer. This episode may contain discussions on topics such as mental health, violence or other sensitive issues that could be triggering or distressing for some listeners. If you find this content challenging, we encourage you to pause the episode and seek immediate support. Information on where to seek help will be provided at the end of this episode or on our website. impact.org.au Please prioritise your well-being while listening. Before we begin, we wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we live, work and meet. We pay our respects to the elders past, present and future. They hold the memories, traditions, the culture, hopes and values not only of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but for all Australians. Now let's delve into the important conversations awaiting us in today's episode. Welcome to this month's episode of Stronger Together. We're actually up to episode six. We're just arguing about which one it was weren’t we Kate But we're up to episode six. I can't believe that we're here already gone so fast. It has gone so quickly, and it's just been such a diverse range of topics and speakers who we've had on the show. And this month we're incredibly excited. We have an Olympian in the House, Green and Gold! Self clap, oi oi Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi Oi Oi. I love it. Natalie Cook, Nat welcome and thank you so much for spending some time with us today. Pleasure. Thank you, Tanya and Kate, for inviting me. I feel privileged to be in sort of the first year of your amazing podcast. So episode six, Nat Cook, it'll go down in the history books. Well I only went to five Olympics, so this is my sixth right here with you is now my sixth Olympic experience. Oh, we love it. We don't have a T-shirt, though, and we don't have a doona. We don't have doona, best thing about the Olympics, the doona. My goodness. We don't have a doona. We don't have a gold medal that we can give you for being part of this. So our love and appreciation comes your way. It’s more than enough. Thank you Nat we have had the pleasure of your presence today and tonight at our annual celebration. And then you're doing more work in the community tomorrow at a business breakfast. So you're really giving us a lot of your time while you're here in Bundaberg and we really do appreciate that. Today you attended a session with our WorkFit clients, talking a lot about resilience. Tell us about some of the things that you talked about with the team today. Yeah, well, thank you. I had to be careful not to go like everyone in the audience was not going to want to go to the Olympics. Right. So how do I relate that across a diverse audience that can be more inclusive? Because I don't want them sitting there thinking, Well, I did tell them today. All I did for 20 years was chase a ball around a sandpit, right? So I tried to say, Look, there are bigger things behind everything we do in life. And for me, the Olympic journey and the quest to win and winning, it's really interesting. Winning for me is not a score, it's a mindset. So it really is about how do you get up every day to try and be the best you can be and have the best mindset, which will ultimately lead to a better outcome for whatever it is in life that people want. So when we discuss that in context and I was somebody wanted a guinea pig foundation, she won a gold medal for, we talked about whether people had won gold medals in life in any from school sport to any area. So she'd won the best guinea pig at the show. So she wants for her Olympic gold medal moment is a guinea pig foundation. So it was very diverse, very broad people wanting to have the best life for their kids and bring families back together and get themselves a job. And so very broad. And when we brought it back to Olympic resilience, it was just about how do you go to bed at night with the most positive thought so that you can sleep in a positive frame, wake up maybe a little bit, but ready to get out of bed and bust through the day, even if it's tough. And that might last a minute, might last 10 minutes before life gets in the way. And hopefully that can be extended throughout the day to get better outcomes. So, I mean, Tanya, you had to be there to understand the full essence, but that's hopefully that gave you a little bit about there is and resilience is not something you can buy off the supermarket shelf. You actually have to go through life and through the hard bits to come out the other side and say, I got a little bit of resilience in my backpack then and, and you build experience. And I guess for many of us, you know, we look at Nat Cook sitting in front of us, I'm looking at you going, Wow, amazing human. What you have achieved over your life. However, for each of us, we've got to start somewhere, right? So all those years ago, when Natalie Cook turned up and decided or not that she was going to be an Olympic volleyball player, but thinking, you know, with that mindset, how did that start for you all those years ago? Tell us a little bit about your story and where that started and building that resilience, because I'm sure being an Olympian turning up every day to do the level of training that you're required to do, that takes a lot of resilience and a lot of stepping over the hard stuff and then taking a few steps back and then going forward again. So tell us about your story, where it started and and how you built that resilience over all of those years. Five Olympics. Amazing. Yeah, I showed it today, too, with a picture of me standing on a podium at a swimming pool. I was eight years old and at the air swimming pool in north Queensland where I, grandma and granddad lived. My mum was an infant swim teacher and my dad played semi-professional football for Crystal Palace. So sort of born into a bit of a sporty family and started swimming in the heat of north Queensland and mum was an infant swim teacher and as an eight year old I watched the 1982 Commonwealth Games from my loungeroom floor in Townsville and saw Lisa Curry, who was a famous swimmer at the time when 100 meters freestyle get out of the pool, put her Aussie tracksuit on and I'm wearing the green and gold right now. So I saw the green and gold. I watched the Australian flag rise up, tears in her eyes. She had a gold medal around her neck and at eight years old I said, I want to do that. So that dream was born then, and in most of us we had dreams as kids. That wave I see people try and forget or ignore or push away because they've either not made it or it was too hard or it brought back difficult memories. But the dream is what has us now, kind of. It's that hope for a better future. It's that hope for something in our lives or our family's lives or our parents have gone or Cherokee to have a better future. And so I always believe in the power of the dream. For me, that's where it starts. And it started for me 40 years ago as an eight year old being inspired by someone. And for me it was an athlete, a swimmer. So for most people, it could be the family, could be a local doing good in the community. It doesn't have to be relied. It could be music, it could be that's how people end up being nurses or teachers, because they were inspired by somebody. So that was my moment. The dream is where it all starts. And then, of course, we set out on life like, Oh, I want to do that. And then you have people say, Oh, that's not possible for you from here, or you're never going to be good enough to do that. Or that takes a lot of work and maybe, well, that takes a lot of money and you hear all the excuses sort of populating in your head. And as a kid you kind of ignore them as a kid. And until reality hits at some point. And I remember that as a 15 year old. So I got through seven years of this is for me, I'm going to go to the Olympics and it train hard and my family supported me. My grandparents supported me and their mum and dad one day said, We can't afford to send you apply to apply to every sport. Sorry, I'm bouncing around, but I played every sport from cricket to taekwondo to figure to basketball, to tennis, to skateboarding. I rode a BMX, I did everything. And then there was a volleyball trip to Canada and America and the school fundraised and it only cost mum and dad 500 bucks. But the next time round, when I said I made the Queensland volleyball team and I want to go to Tasmania and it was a thousand, mom and dad said we can't afford it. And so that was the time where I needed to. I sort of had to take stock and realise that there are there's a know in life. It's first time I'd really heard no, because as parents and grandparents tried to give everything to their child, but we'd hit the first big barrier and I had to find a way around it. So the resilience journey started probably at 15. Well, and finding a way round, things like that. Sit back for some would have been enough to go, okay, I'm done. I need to now move on to something else. But that setback for you was okay. Righto. That's nice. So I've got to find a way round it. What did you do? Yeah, my volleyball. Firstly, I thought. Well, I didn't work. I was at school, I was in grade nine. I didn't really want to work or think that that could make enough money, like $1,000, so I'd have to work for a year. So I thought that's not going to happen. So I accepted the now I told my coach my parents couldn't afford it and he said, No, no, no, we've got a fundraiser and it's the new fundraiser and you'll be right. Okay. So I waited till the next weekend and the fundraiser for those that have been south of Brisbane between Brisbane, the Gold Coast to yet. La Paes It was a pie drive. We'd been through lamington drives and chocolate drives and car washes and all those traditional things. 45 years ago and it was a Yatala pie drive. But this is the bit that in today's modern fundraising people have crowdfunding pages. So QR code. So here's my digital fundraising page, but it doesn't raise money by itself. So this pie drive, I'm like, Well, how's that going to help me? I had to sell. $5,000.$1,000, and yet La pie at the time, a family pie is $5. And yet we're very generous. Back then they gave us half. So I got to 50, They got to 50. And just for context, Tanya, I bought a yet la pie yesterday, a family pie, the same size and it was $20. So that's inflation. That's how it's gone from 5 to 20. And now when you fundraise, I think they give you a $0.50 bit of a flip in the equation. But wow, back to when it was actually worthwhile and I was get 2.50. So I worked out real quick that that was 400 pies and I thought Mum and Dad could do. I thought the thing I did was delegate. So I got really good at 15 to learn about photocopying a piece of paper and said, Dad, you go and sell some work Mum, You go and sell some to all the swimming ladies. And I sat back and waited for them to do all the work. So Dad, can I as a dad, I had the team meetings like work out a team had you go? He said, I saw 12. I said, okay, you are a long way from 400 Mum. She'd sell three. So at that point I thought, I still can't go to Tasmania for my valuable trip. But I realised then that if I needed to take some responsibility and I needed to go and sell pies, so I did. I sold over 400 pies, but I also worked out. I got a lot of nose, a lot of doorknocking. I tell my story and my my journey and my dream, trying to get people to buy into my dream, which is ultimately what we do every day, right? We try and sell ourselves, we sell our business, we sell our product, our service. So I got very good at selling my dream. But in the beginning everyone said no. So I sat on a letterbox and cried and thought, My valuable days are over, my Olympic dreams are over. I can't afford to do this and realise I got must have got struck by lightning because I thought, I'm asking the wrong question. I'm getting a no, which is not the answer and realised if I want a better answer like yes, I need a better question. And so asking myself a question which translates to today instead of like, why isn't it working? Because you get the answer to how do I make it work? And while you sleep, the answer will come. And while you go through life to build your resilience answers and help and support will come. So I changed my question from Would you like to buy a pie which the easy answer is no to Tanya. Okay, so would you like to buy four or five pies? And really the difference in people's brain, because zero wasn't no, wasn't an answer. And I continued to sell fours and fives and got a little greedy and changed my question to would you like to buy seven right. And no returned. So you really do have to find the threshold. But I learned through that experience that if you want a better life, then you need to ask yourself and others better questions. And that mindset, you know, that flipping that script and taking stock, I guess I think you called it that doing the reset. So for me I do a lot of reflection, a lot of resetting and going right? Things aren't going the way that I had envisaged. This needs to be negativity, reflection on how I'm showing up, what I'm doing. So much of that is, you know, aligned to what you're talking about. And I had to change my question. So with our mindset and the way that we that we tackle the world, we hear a little bit about fixed and growth mindsets. When you talk, you talk about Olympic mode and Olympic mindsets. What what does that look like? You know, when we're when we're flipping the script, asking ourselves a different question. But at the end of the day, it comes back to mindset. What does mindset mean to net cook Absolutely. Well, it's it's every time you say the word mindset, my shoulders go back, my my eyes open bigger. I put a smile on my face and and I look up to what's possible and winning versus it all going wrong and looking down and and shrugging the shoulders and and more of a victim. Woe is me, which might be completely relevant because circumstances are like that. But I often think of or speak to if all light went out and the room was completely dark and somebody lit a match, where is your attention going to go? It's going to go to the tiny little flicker of hope. And so that's the bit even when and our human brains and I see it with my eight year old daughter, I say, what was great about school today? Nothing. You know, a human brain in a human condition is trained for survival and protection. So changing that a little bit to drag out the one thing, which is why I talk about it, not when you put your head on the pillow, work hard, even if it is hard to find one thing that went right, one thing you did great, one thing you felt you want it to make sure that that's your 8 hours of sleep. And if you don't get it hours of sleep, then we need to train that because that's what's needed. That's how our body and mind and our soul recovers. So that's speaks to mindset. So when I do that, it builds momentum. I then go to bed with a happy, positive winning thought. I have 8 hours of that in my body to wake up the next day and my job is to keep that for as long as I can. Might be a minute, might be 10 minutes, it might be an hour. I can now go days and then I'll trip up the gutter. Something will happen and I still have to catch myself. I don't stay in it. 24 seven Bliss Utopia. I'd like to be in Olympic mindset like that, but it's catching it and reframing it. Like you talked about whether someone helps you with that, whether it's an image. For me, it's a palette gold, it's superheroes, it's inspiration from other people that are doing great things, hanging out with people who are going to support me and get me back into that. Going to a movie that's uplifting, listening to an uplifting song, Most people choose songs that are going to bring them back down. So find one. I have Tina Turner simply the best I have. We are the Champions. I have Vanessa Amorosi Shine Something is going to uplift too, to bring the psychology back to positivity. So Olympic is, is that excellence all the time? How do I get into that as often as I can? Some people could call it the zone, as is just a very heightened high performance zone in sport that requires leaping tall buildings like Superman, which is my alter ego superhero. And sometimes I need Superman to get the ball, keep the ball from the sand, rescue Lois Lane and Lois lines my ball. Right. So we're too serious sometimes as well. We've actually got to find ways where we can take on other characters and, um, and they might be the ones that bring out the positivity. I love that sense of play. I've seen you play volleyball and I've seen. I think you are Superman, actually. Superwoman. Definitely. You can do some amazing things from heights. Well, Tanya, that's interesting because Superwoman, you reframe that from when I was growing up. There was no Superwoman, there was no Supergirl. And my daughter just turned eight and she had a superhero party and she looks at me when I dress up as Superman for her party. Other parents can't believe it, but I have my own real Superman outfit. And she says, Why? Why did you choose Superman? I said, Well, we didn't have Supergirl. We could have I could have had Wonder Woman, but I didn't like the skirt, so I wanted the long pants with my undies on the outside. Yeah, I like Superman. So now we're in a space which I'm super excited for. My daughter, where she can choose the girl, Green Lantern or the Girl Flash or the or Supergirl and Batgirl. And there was none of those right? So that's pretty cool. I still identify with Superman because it's how I've been ingrained. And my favourite moment was going to my three year old godson Superman Party many years ten years ago, and kids in the car park going, Oh, mom, Superman's a girl. I I'm so. I love it. I love it. Oh, I love that. And I love that you've stayed authentic to what did inspire you, because it's almost feels disingenuous that you would have changed to Superwoman when that actually wasn't real for you at that point in time. So I was fortunate enough to attend your session this morning, and something that has struck me is your wonderful gold shoes. How do those gold shoes, fabulous gold shoes, feed into mindset and how you come back in those challenging times? Well, Tanya spoke to it before about being how are you when you walk out of a situation that's that's doesn't feel good or you need to change and Superman spins in Clark Kent spins in the telephone box, comes out of Superman, and then walks back in to the Daily Planet as Clark Kent. So with the Gold Shoes, it's a similar thing. It's like if I put them on, I stand taller again. They sparkle a little bit. They're a little bit of magic. To turn my attention to the top of the podium, like I actually look up. And if you watch Superman, the posture changes, too. He looks up and that's where hope for me is. That's where aspiration lives. That's where excellence lives, not down. Because when you look down, your shoulders, cave in. So really is a postural thing. But the gold shoes make me walk taller. I sleep in gold sheets, I have gold ugg boots. I, I eat anything that's gold, like if there's a piece of cheesecake with gold fleck. Even if I don't like the cheesecake, I'll eat it because of the gold flake I wash in Palmolive gold soap and I still do. I mean, I did in the lead in to Sydney. This is 25 years ago. I have been washing in the 50 cent packet of Palmolive gold soap singing Advance Australia Fair standing tall. And so when I go to bed like I always shower before I go to bed, I do that more than showering to get up because I sort of bounce out of bed with my positive thoughts and I don't people like you don't share the money. No, I don't get dirty sleeping. I'm all good. I can get on with things. People shower to wake up, right. But I'm leap out of bed. So when I go to bed before it doesn't matter. Could be too I am. After going out with friends it could be 8 p.m.. I'll shower awash in Palmolive gold soap, I'll sleep in gold sheets. Pretty hard not to wake up pretty golden. Love it. And these rituals are really important. So that's what I'm hearing, is you've built these rituals in your life. Some of them have been with you since before the Olympics that you've continued, even though you're still an Olympian, Right? You're still an Olympian, even though you're not actively competing, but you still following those rituals. And I think there's some really key important messages in there For us. It's building that structure, that routine. If we really want to live a certain way, then we've got to keep turning up and sticking to those rituals. And in the way that we're turning up, one of the things biologically, in the way that we're wired as humans, we can't be in that fight and flight mode and feel grateful at the same time. Some people don't realise that and that gratitude. Should people sort of think, Oh yeah, righto, I'm thinking about my one thing or I'm writing down my couple of things before I go to bed? That practice is actually supporting you in exactly what Nat's talking about around the way that you get up. It will stick with you and then you're slowly building layer upon layer. The more that we're instilling in that practice, you are living proof of exactly what it is, you know, biologically that we can be doing to rewire ourselves. Olympian or not, but just to turn up in a bit of frame of mind every morning. I love that idea of bouncing out of bed every day. You don't need a shower, you don't need the coffee. You already primed and ready to go. Well, the secret there tenure is the word practice. It isn't a once off. You cannot stretch once and expect for 20 years later to be nimble and supple in your body. And I went through that when I retired 11 years ago. You also hit the nail on the head once an Olympian, always an Olympian. I am an Olympian. I don't identify as a former Olympian or a past Olympian. And we as Olympians have that phrase that we are always Olympians in spirit, in body, in connection in mind. And and hopefully a little bit of that brushes off on people. As you know, we tell our stories, but the gratitude piece is so important because when things are going to plan, that's actually when it's more important to be grateful for where we are in our lives, where we've been, who we have around us. Even if it's the tiniest little flicker, that's what keeps growing. But it grows with practice. So we've got to keep watering the plant, we've got to keep watering the seed. And the most important time to do those practices are when you feeling least like it. It's almost like forcing yourself in the beginning. Then you realise how important they are and then they flow and then it's easy. But when I retired, I didn't want to exercise again. I'd done 25 years of Olympic exercise like that. Is next level somewhat obsessive exercise. So I my brain went, okay, you've done 25 years at that level. That's enough for a lifetime. You can stop. And so that didn't go so well. Some ten kilos lighter and feeling sluggish. And I started to not feel my Olympic self and I had to date again. So the worst thing I did was stop it. You can turn things down and you can have a fluctuation of effort and intensity, but we need to keep our bodies, need to keep moving, our minds need to keep moving, and we need to stay. That's for mental health and wellbeing, physical health and wellbeing. So yoga's important to me now. And walking and golf and other things not as intense, but I need to keep moving. We got to do it all the time. Absolutely. You talked about inspiration before and people who are inspiring to us. So for you watching, looking at Lisa Curry, Kennedy's standing up on that podium, gold medal looking up, proud as inspirational, you are an inspiration for other people now, other athletes coming through, these athletes who will be elite athletes through green and gold athletes. Australia was so incredibly excited when we had this conversation a few months ago around your company, your business, why you're doing this and understanding. I guess you've come from a space where you go, I get what it's like to experience some form of barrier or disadvantage to a gym being able to get where I want to go financially. We didn't have the money I needed to make that happen. I needed to overcome those barriers. Great. And called athletes Australia. Tell us about this amazing foundation organisation that you have set up for other athletes who maybe have some barriers that they need to overcome? Yeah, I because I am an inspiration to others, and that was one of my purposes to want to win an Olympic gold medal because Lisa did it for me. So if I can inspire one to do what she did for me, then that that's great. Now, obviously I've gone on to inspire many that keep coming up to me every day going, Wow, thank you. And I watched you and this is amazing. And my daughters playing volleyball because of you and I even had a Townsville family friend, Summer Lockerwitz, who's I was really good friends with her brother. She went on to be a beach volleyball Olympian and I played against her because I inspired her to play. So you see these amazing circles and it and it's great. But I kept, especially recently, the last probably just pre-COVID, people saying I'm a single mum. My 14 year old son made the Taekwondo Australian team and I can't afford to send him to Korea to compete. And I keep getting these messages and so I would help one at a time. And then I thought, I need to build an organisation. So we started not for profit growing and got Athletes Australia to collectively raise money because as people that want to help but they just don't know where to go, they don't know how to find the young 14 year old taekwondo athlete or from the Wide Bay region or from North Queensland or even Mount Isa, where Greg Norman was from and Kari Webb's from Air, and they were two of my inspirations. And so what I've decided to do is collectively raise funds for the athletes out there with the dream to represent Australia. So parents and mine included had this myth that when you make it to represent Australia, surely there's some financial relief, but actually it gets more expensive because now you've got to wear the green and gold and travel to Europe and it's or South America or America to get competition to play for Australia, you've got to leave. And it's so expensive and the funding just isn't available unless you're in one of the biggest sports. And so our lesser sports, when I say lesser lesser known, lesser funded hockey, water polo, badminton, taekwondo, volleyball, some of these sports just don't have the money. So kids are stopping. They are quitting because mum and dad or mum or single dads cannot afford to send them so great about athletes is to rise through events. I've got a golf event. When I go to functions, I'm in privileged positions, I'm with CEOs of companies. I just tap them on the shoulder and say, Hey, you know, you know that steak you're eating now, My athletes can't afford to eat steak, So can I just take your steak home with me and feed them? So basically asking CEOs of companies to feed and fund athletes that can't afford it. So we'll collectively rise. Then we'll have an application process and we give it out. We don't just give it out like a handout. We give a leg up because we're teaching them to fundraise themselves, using things like containers for change and Coach X and my daughter's collecting her cans and bottles to get enough money for her dreams, which currently aren't representing Australia, but maybe one day. Yeah. So I provide modern fundraising advice because we used to do La Leapai drives. Probably not enough these days, but really providing an education system, letting families know they're not alone. This isn't something they have to do by themselves. And I originally had a thought that, you know, I don't want these athletes to go through the hardships. I do. But then that's not fair either. They they have to go through the resilience, but just a bit of a guide. And more like recently I said more like a librarian in a library. And I'll tell them which I'll we'll have the best return on investment, which books to read what what places to go, which rocks to pick up, find, hopefully find some money underneath. But got to be good at telling your story. You got to be good at sharing. You've got to be giving back to others. You got to be out hustling sausage sizzles, car washes, or washing your parents car to make some money. So it's not a free handout. It's it comes with a few educational pieces. But it's also a community of others doing the same thing. Yeah, amazing. And something else I picked up as you were talking there, it's around the question that you're asking. So you're actually teaching them the right questions. And if you're being told no, that's completely normal. So it's normalising that now is generally a response that a lot of us have got to deal with all the time. And it's about how you then flip the question that you're asking. And be ready for the. Yes. So some people miss this because they're like just daydreaming aside, you know, he just said he'd give you some money. Have you written down his email and will you? It's amazing. I had ten in a room and the guy at the back of the room said, I'll give you some money. And only three people have written to him. Yeah. Wow. So it's not. Oh, you know the old adage, you can lead a horse to water, but we can't make them all drink. We're just giving them the opportunities and also providing events where they can come along that they normally wouldn't get an invite to. So I'm providing an opportunity to be in a room or on a golf course or somewhere where someone's got some influence that can maybe if you pitch the right story, they might support you, which they don't. They don't get. Absolutely that responsiveness. I know when we were tacking for this event just like that, that would be always just responding. So it's something for you that responsiveness is important and it's also making yourself available. So I know when we advertised you were coming to Bundaberg, you were going to be here for our annual celebration tonight and then again tomorrow and you were inundated. And that and I can't imagine, you know, trying to work out what, what am I saying yes to and how do I navigate this however you went, you know, okay, that'll finish at this time tonight I can still get to the volleyball off to that. And even though I was going straight back after the event tomorrow, I will make time to spend some time with that association as well, because I feel like that's your giving back to the community as well as making yourself available. But but also part of that, you know, paying it forward, I guess, and giving back. Yeah. And, and it's a big puzzle. I've come all the way when I say all the way. It's a five hour drive from Brisbane and want to be able to give as much to the community. So Wide Bay Sport Academy, the local volleyball club. So I'll go down there after tonight and take some photos and give some little tip. I mean, it's hard to give tips for volleyball. It's a practice, right? Here's my number one tip Keep the ball off the sand or the court and get it in there. Get it over there and there. So I get two in beach volleyball, 21 first in indoor volleyball, 25 first. But it takes years of honing your craft and for carrying out. By the end of it, our discussions were about rotation spins on the ball and the speed and the loft, not about where you just start to hone and become masters of your craft. And so, you know, these kids are just beginning or some of the adults playing. I look forward to saying that tonight, but I believe in getting back to people promptly, following through on your commitments and that builds trust. It people know I'm always going to show up. They know I'm going to do what I say I'm going to do and be as inclusive and and diverse as possible. So I have a wife, Sarah, and we have a daughter, Jordan, together. And so the community I embrace the LGBTQ plus community, which that is getting longer, but I'm glad they added a plus because I probably would have forgotten all of the letters. So I'm inclusive there and anyone that wants to play sport and parents and oh, I just feel like one person, Lisa Curry, inspired me, and if I can do that for somebody else, then the whole journey has been worthwhile. I love the simple messaging. I can remember having a conversation with Ellie. Sure. And hers was simple in in some of the advice that she was given. One of those was always wear a uniform and be proud in your uniform. And that included pulling, having your socks pulled up and the other one was always be on time, never leave people waiting. Now when I hear that advice, I could do that. Like it's not like I have to be an Olympian to take these simple messages forward in my own life in the way that I'm carrying forward. You know how I'm showing up in communities in households, at work, with my family. It's just such such simple messages, which I absolutely love. Do what you say you're going to do and doesn't mean you have to say yes to everything. So sometimes I'll stop and pause because I'm like, I actually can't do that. So I'm not going to say yes. And understanding that and be the light, be the inspiration for someone else, because you're always leading. Everybody in society is lady someone is watching and so be that inspiration. Pick up the rubbish, go to bed at night with a positive thought so that maybe you can wake up the next morning in a positive state to help somebody else. And the best way to help yourself actually through experience is to help someone else. Love that. And I know that earlier on today there was a big conversation around taking responsibility, taking responsibility for yourself, for your own actions. And I think that's a really important part of the process as well, isn't it? Yeah, I think I see it in my eight year old. I want maybe I've set that up. The parents, to do everything for them, right? So when sometimes there's a sense of entitlement or maybe somebody, you know, you see a big for us as athletes, we see footballers get their bag packed, they get their hotel checked in for them and and I've got to pack my bag and I got a check in myself. Right? So I think that's what builds your character, being able to build your own capacity, build your character by going through all the steps, taking responsibility. Have I packed everything? Have I got everything I need to be successful in this journey, which speaks to filling your backpack up with the tools and the skills and the friends and the people around you, because you've got to build a support team. There's a reason why when you climb Mount Everest, you have Sherpas. You actually need people to help. You is not a one man show to get to the top. It takes a team and you've got to build that team. You've got to build the trust in the team. You've got to know they're going to show up for you like you're going to show up for them. And that comes with, again. Kate, going back to do what you say you're going to do and build trust and build trust in yourself so that you know, you can do these things and build trust. Let build, have that trust built for others so they can count on you to. We talk a little bit about wellbeing and you talked about, you know, I was did my Olympics that was my last Olympics moved so right. My body has trained at Olympic level for 25 years. It's time to have a step back. And then you went, Oh, this isn't working so well. I've got to sort of rent that back up again and start including more things in my life. Yoga, walking. What does wellbeing look like for you that that going to bed at night with that positive mindset? What if you could round out the meaning of wellbeing and inspiring that little bit of flicker for the rest of us if we needed a little bit of motivation around what being wellbeing looks like, how would you sum wellbeing up for you? Well, the last ten years we've had a balanced have a balanced work or a work life balance. The one thing I've learned is we never in balance the moment think you're imbalanced, you've gone off the seesaw. So it's a balancing and understanding when you're putting more attention on one thing that that might rise. But every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So something in your life is whether it's relationships, whether it's finance, whether it's physical health, whether it's mental health will be on the other side of that seesaw. So understanding the first is awareness. Where am I putting my attention? And then the thing that's got me through 20 years as an Olympian and then now is planning my recovery and my mental health first. So every Sunday night I look at my week and I plan my it used to be physio, chiropractic, massage, stretching before I put my training, my movie with my friend, before I put my training in. Now I put my coffee with friends. I go and see my mom and my dad and

and I have afternoon tea, which is 3: 42:17

00 every day. Cup of tea. My dad's British, so is this cup of tea and he's carrot cake. So I now it's 3 o’clock every day I play one of those in the week. I plan my foot spa. I love a good food spa once a month. So I go through my schedule and make sure I plan my recovery first and then work fits in and my obligations and my charity work and my work and my green and gold athletes fits in all around that. So golf now I like to play my golf, so I've got to get my golf in at least once a month. And I have golf stuff in the car. So I would drive past the driving range. I'll hit 50 balls. It's like a rule. And I make sure that that happens because if you do it Saturday, if you look Saturday for your recovery, there's not all the times gone. You have to plan for your mental, physical health first. I was talking with family, whether it's walking the dog, whether it's yoga, whether it's a massage, just and if you can't do want to wake, do one a month, but get it in and keep saying yes to yourself so that you can trust yourself to take care of yourself. You know, putting yourself first. I think people don't realise the importance of that. They almost think that. I don't know. It's a little bit greedy of time, isn't it? And it should be about other people. However, we can't always turn up for other people if we're not putting ourselves first when it comes to our wellbeing. It's a myth to me that people go, Oh, that's selfish. I'm like, No, it's actually self less because if I get that done, I can do if I can do everything for these athletes, I can support them in this space. I can go to Taekwondo with my daughter, I can pick her up after school, I can walk at a school, but if I am burnt out or I am a wreck, none of that's happening. And so you have to take care of yourself. You have to fill your cup up and overflow your own cup before you can give to others. Absolutely. So that's, isn't it? You can't pour from an empty cup. And if we have a think about if you're on a flight, they say put your own mask on in the event of an emergency before helping others. The same thing applies. Even your child, they say to put your mask on before you help fit your child's mask. So there's something to that. And yeah, I do find I am more superhuman when I have had that rest time. And I will go to the the foot spa and I will go to my favourite place for lunch and to make sure that I'm ready to then go and be with my family and be with my friends. And it's really important to take care of yourself, even in a crazy, chaotic way. You look at your diaries or your schedule on the fridge and you go, There's no room for me. Well, you have to do your responsibility is to make room for yourself first and then give to others. Beautiful. I've got two great stories. One of a decathlete that has not won a medal at an Olympic Games, but he helped his mate win a bronze when he tore his hamstring, and he's won a medal for sportsmanship. His name, Cedric Dobler, and he is in ten events. So he trains for ten events. He's exhausted. He doesn't have time because he's being told to study and work and he doesn't have time to look after his body. We just we talk about recovery and work and make money and there's not much money in track and field. So Cedric and I have done some work together and all of a sudden he has a sponsor and a supporter. And that little bit of belief that someone else, the fact that he can go to bed at night going someone else believes in me enough to give me some money to buy a new pole vault, to buy new shoes or travel, maybe business class when there's not enough time between events for recovery. Right. We all know what economy class is like when traveling long distances. And it's expensive. It's expensive for a reason. You don't want to be learning to do that all the time, but sometimes you need to. Once he got that, he grew ten feet. His performance was off the charts because all of a sudden there's a little bit of belief breathed into him by somebody else. And then I've got a young 14 year old BMX girl, indigenous BMX girl at Ipswich who has since the age of two. There's images of her going down the BMX track on her little plastic trike and she's been representing Australia for eight years and her family are going to glad they just came back from Glasgow in the World Championships for all the cycling races and she has because she's 14, she has to go with mum or dad. So now it's doubling airfares and so watching those families stick together, do it together, do it for and there's two other kids. So do it for the fact that this young girl might make it to a games or achieve her dreams. That's why I do it. I just love seeing people reach their potential. And if I can give them a green and gold, athletes can give them a little leg up, then I'm much happier putting my head on the pillow. Beautiful. I completely get it. When you're talking about that belief, you know, someone having that belief in us. When I started here, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I started in the front office and the CEO at the time went, You'll be running this place one day anyway, I was dropped out of uni, didn't know what I wanted to do, and that's all it took is just someone having that belief. So again, you don't have to be an Olympian. You don't have to be aspiring to be a future Olympian. It is an everyday stuff that and for me I do a lot of mentoring and coaching and it is about showing belief in what is possible with other people and showing belief in others. And that's where I feel like I'm paying it forward as well because someone believed in me and now I'm managing director of a not for profit. Who would have dreamt this story? Not like never would have thought this in a million years. But here we. Are and it's great when people get given jobs. So some people in the work fit program or what impact do that? There was some tears in eyes today when I would come and say hello to me and I said, Well, what's your goal? And we just talked about gold medal goals. She said, To get a job, to have someone give me a go. And so when you do get that, go, I get it. You feel like you've been catapulted halfway up the mountain and you got a bit of gusto now to keep going. So I've seen it in athletes. I've seen one person say a coach say, you could be good one day and it changes everything and they don't even know them. So I try and I went to volleyball to around the weekend to try and high five. Didn't even know who I am that that they weren't born when I want my gold medal and I say give you've got a great spark. You could be awesome one day and who knows where those kids will end up? Those words. Yeah. Beautiful. I bet you that do know who you love. It depends if mums were watching or not. So it's the generation of moms that can say, Oh, I watched you and I said, Can I have a selfie? And then everyone looks at them like, Who's that? But yeah, it's it's pretty awesome to know that something I did on the sporting field would have someone dream big and doesn't have to be about volleyball. It can be about anything. Absolutely. Oh. See, I. Oh, that was awesome. I don't have anything else at all. Kate's too busy thinking about her event. She's managed tonight. To squaring off in a busy girl. Beautiful. All right, well, we might sign off. Yeah, Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, thanks. Money in that. Thank you so much for joining us for this latest episode. Can't wait to hear this and replay it. I think I'll replayed a few times because your voice will be now resounding and you can do anything. You could do this. You've got this, catapult it up high, loving all of this imagery. So thank you very much. It's been an absolute pleasure. Pleasure's all mine. Thank you, ladies. Thank you. And we'll make sure that we drop a link in the comments to Green and Gold Athletes Australia. So if you would like some more information about Nat’s mission, make sure that you click on the link and have a read of her website. Donate if you can. Thank you. It's a wrap. Thank you for listening to this episode of Stronger Together. Sometimes the issues we discuss in Stronger Together may be triggering for some people. If you've been affected by the topics we have discussed today, please reach out for help. You can call Lifeline. 24 hours a day on 13 11 14. Or you can use the chat option on their websites. you live in the Wide Bay BURNETT region, you can also reach out to us at IMPACT Community Services. Go to impact.org.au and click on the make a referral button at the top. If you wish to self-refer, we hope you've enjoyed today's episode and if so, please remember to hit the subscribe button. Until next time, remember, we're stronger together.