[00:00] Katie: Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.
[00:36] Katie: Welcome to a new episode of the FocusBy Show. I am super excited to have Kate Strong on the show today. Kate is a world champion in triathlon and has three world records and she works with peak performance, enabling leaders to release their potential. Hi, Kate, welcome to the show. It is such an honor and such a pleasure to have you here today.
[01:02] Kate: Yes, thank you so much for inviting me, Katie.
[01:05] Katie: I have so many questions. Let's try and pack it all in in 30 minutes. First of all, incredible achievements. Three times world champion. I mean, blows my mind. And the third world champion was quite recently, wasn't it?
[01:20] Kate: Yeah. So it's one world champion, three world records.
[01:23] Katie: Oh, wow. Well, I don't even know the difference.
[01:28] Kate: The world Championships is in triathlon, so it means I won my country and then I went on to win in the world against everyone, their best and the best in triathlon. And then world records is the highest or the fastest or the strongest or the biggest in the world. So for cycling, I covered the most distance in 24 hours.
[01:47] Katie: Amazing. Absolutely amazing. And the first question that sort of comes to my mind when I look at all of these achievements, a world record is what fuels you, what gives you that drive and that energy to go all the way through to achieve these astounding records.
[02:03] Kate: Yeah, thank you. It's a really good question, actually, and I think it changes depending on my personal situation, because when I took up triathlon, say, ten years ago, I was definitely fueled by trying to prove myself and find myself again. I'd just come out of quite a toxic relationship that turned out to be, by the end of it, after nine years, quite abusive and controlling. So triathlon was my exit, it was my way of redeeming myself and know sounds a bit cliche, but finding my true power, who is Kate Strong in the world. And I'd always wanted to do triathlon, but had listened to my ex and never took it. So in that part, my purpose was to find myself and it was a little bit more of validation and it had morphed now into give back and community. So I think now my purpose is to create ripples in other areas and later on, I'll share with you what I've got coming up. So, yeah, I think it changes all the time, but the end of the day, I just want to leave the world a bit better and enjoy myself along the way.
[03:05] Katie: Yes, I think that's what we can all hope to do. And did you feel that as you achieved your world champion and as you improved in your triadlon, did you feel that it gave you that validation you were looking for?
[03:17] Kate: Yeah, it gave me a lot more questions than answers because something that at the beginning I was doing it for myself and then it did become a little bit attached to the external validation. So again, there's always a ripple. Once you get a red gold medal, doesn't mean you're set for life, it means you've just peeled back another layer of the onion and you've got to work on yourself in a different level. I needed to then sort of work on validating myself without the medals, without someone saying well done, without having to win or podium or be the best or be perfect. So I needed to sort of knock myself off that pedestal I put myself on to show a bit of vulnerability and a bit of failure and not be so fear driven. Yeah, I have found myself, but it's an ever evolving journey and I don't think I'll ever stop, really.
[04:06] Katie: I think it's always what it's like, we're always unraveling like the onion layers, exactly like you were explaining. And do you think that this drive that you had, did you have it your whole life or did it suddenly peak up in that phase of your life?
[04:20] Kate: I think I've always had it in me, but when I was younger, I didn't feel comfortable to express it. I wanted to fit the tick box of society. I didn't have many role models around me of a strong, independent woman, so I just sort of saw myself as not fitting in and wrong. So the conforming of myself was I made sure I conformed to the best sort of thing. So got degrees to satisfy my parents need for this girl to get a degree, because I was the first one in my family to ever go to university, so I did a lot for them but did my best in it. So I always had that drive, but it was only until after, as I said, that breakup in my mid 30s that I went, do you know what? I'm tired for living for everyone else. No one seems to be putting me first on my list and I'm the bottom of my list. I put everyone else's well being, my business, even the garden ahead of me, I need to put me first. And so it was only until then that I pivoted my drive to actually make sure that I enjoyed what I was doing rather than just keep pleasing other people.
[05:31] Katie: I think that's amazing. And I think it's really common for people to put everyone first and people that have more pleaser type tendencies to put the whole world above themselves and then not actually ever fulfill what you haven't fulfilled, which is seek what you truly want and at least go after that. You can still take care of other people. It's possible to do both, but not neglect yourself. I'm also super curious. How was your level of fitness before you began to train for the Triadlon? Did you already have the level of fitness that could sort of propel you forward towards this goal?
[06:07] Kate: Absolutely not. I mean, I was sporty when I was a kid, but joined a few clubs in school and things like that. But I could barely run a mile. I had bad asthma, I went out drinking most evenings. I ate. Back then I used to eat really unhealthy food like steak and cheese and things. Now I'm plant based and I still have the occasional drink, but not as much. And yeah, the first time I put my trainers on, I was almost sort of vomiting from the pain and the burning in my lungs. I could still see my front door. I was absolutely in terrible shape. My first cycle was like 5 was like, oh my God, I could cycle the world. I'm so amazed. And looking back, it was amazing. But I just did 433 miles in one day. So, yeah, my fitness was completely nonexistent when I started.
[06:59] Katie: That is absolutely incredible. And I think this is such an inspiration for so many people because often we feel, especially when we see world class levels, world records and World champions. I can't even pronounce it, we always believe that they started when they were four and they've been training their whole lives. And this type of example shows how we can turn our fitness around. So what would be some of your advice? Let's say someone's listening to this and maybe they want to become World Champion or they want to take their fitness to the next level, at least. How can they start to implement daily practices to reach a high level, let's say in any given sport, really?
[07:39] Kate: Yeah. There's the physical, the mental and the emotional and yes, let's go through all parts. Yeah. So physically, just start a little bit every day. If you've never been to the gym, for example, set the goal of putting your foot in the gym door. Don't have to do anything, don't have to pick up any weights or run on a treadmill or anything, but just that incremental gain. Just make sure the habit is formed. So three times a week, if you commit to or once a week, or whatever that may be, just commit to that little step every day and it's surprising how far it'll go. That's what I do with my training. When I started for the World records that I've just earned in March this year, I only cycled for half an hour, three times a week, and I built it up to 24 hours over a year and a half. So that little, little gain every single time, physically, mentally, believe you can give yourself permission to do it. And this is a don't. Don't. I normally don't. I don't. I'm going to double negative. I don't normally say don't do things, but do not put yourself down. Do not put your dreams down. If you want to run a marathon, run, that's your goal. It might take you ten years to get there, but don't settle for ten k. Don't settle for half a marathon, and don't believe anyone who says you can't do it. So set your goal and own it, and own it with pride, knowing that it might take a little longer than, say, bob next door has been running all his life, but you'll get there in the end. So mentally, just make sure you look at the positive and you always aim for the big dreams. And also emotionally enroll your friends and family. Make sure that people are aware of your goals. Make sure people are aware of the changes you're making and it might sift out. So some people I'm no longer sort of connected with on such a large level because it turns out that they actually don't have my back. They were giving me the lip service, but actually, when it came to it, they weren't prepared to support me in my dreams. So you'll find your tribe and make sure that they're there to support you because we will have days of doubt, days of don't want to get out of beds. It's winter at the moment, and I'm definitely pressing the snooze button three times more than I should be. So make sure someone's on your side supporting you as well through that. It's not a solo journey. We are in this planet together as a community to just bring people in to support you as well. Yes.
[10:03] Katie: I love how you separated it into those three buckets of the physical, the mental and the emotional, because I feel that there's a tendency, especially if someone's looking at elite sports or some sort of physical achievement, to just focus on that. When I would say the other part is at least half of it, what would you say in terms of percentage? How much percent would you say is physical, mental and emotional?
[10:24] Kate: I'd say the mind is 80% easily. If you don't believe it, if you keep putting yourself down, if you're forcing yourself, if you're not enjoying it in some level or proud of it, that's going to be the thing that stops you doing anything. It's not about how good you are. I read a lot of books and research, but it's all about the mind. There's no perfect body or shape or training that can help you. It's always the mind that will get you over the line.
[10:56] Katie: Yes. That's how I feel about it, too. Being in the field like you, of coaching, of peak performance somewhere, it's satisfying to hear it's in the mind because we have even more control over this than on our body. Of course, the body, we can train it, we can improve the training, we can work at it, we can have more endurance, we can build up the cardio, but the mind, we can really totally shift. And I want to come back to a point you were mentioning right now, which is we all have days of being discouraged and you have had those days, and I want to know, how do you cope with them? How do you cope with being discouraged, with not fancy, with being demotivated? What do you do?
[11:35] Kate: Yeah, I'd like to share, if it's okay, the story of the dark side, because it's easy to talk about the medals and the records, but I think we learn a lot more when we were actually in that pain state. And after being a world champion, like a year and a half later, I was no longer the champion, if you want. So I competed for my country, but I wasn't number one. And I just moved back from Australia to the UK and it was quite dark and miserable and I was quite lonely. And for days I couldn't get out of bed because I wasn't actually accepting who I was, because I'd identified as that medal, as that success. So instead of just saying triathlon was failed, I'd failed in triathlon, I said I was a failure. So I'd actually internalized the journey as my identity, rather than a woman doing her best in a certain subject. And so I started to do the usual habits, I'm sure, what you sort of share in your own coaching, meditating, positive Affirmations, vision, boarding. I even started volunteering at a local charity, but nothing was sort of shifting. I still felt very alone. Friends I reached out to would just say, oh, you smash it, you're a champion, you'll get through it. But I just wasn't getting anywhere. And it took about two or three months. But what I decided to do, and this is what really got me out of it, was, put your resume to the side. I've got a double master's in mechanical engineering. I speak three languages fluently, I've run multiple seven figure businesses and world champion, put it all to the side and just start at zero. Who you are today and who I wanted to be was I wanted to give back. I wanted to feel valued and I wanted to feel like I was adding value. And so I just went into a local cafe and asked them if I could work for them. And they offered me a zero hour contract cleaning their toilets. So I'd come in two or three times a week and I would clean the toilets of the cafe. Not a great experience, got to say, but it really taught me we can be our best selves in any situation. And it reminded me that I'm not my medals, I'm not the certificates, I'm not the successes, but I'm also not the failures, because I define the moment. My future is defined by the present, not the past. So if in the present I can be my best self cleaning toilets, then my future is going to be my best self somewhere else. And that's what happened. I slowly grew that. It became a consultant. I started to consult to the franchises and six, eight months later, I had defined that I was being my best self in any situation. So the lesson is just stop connecting to the outside world and start connecting to who you are and know that we can always build if there's nothing in our life that we enjoy. It's amazing because it's a blank canvas that we can start designing something different on. But it was tough to learn. But there's always a tomorrow. And when there isn't, we don't need to worry about it. Not to be so morbid, but it's true.
[14:41] Katie: Isn't it amazing that after the meditations, the positive affirmations and vision boards, in the end it was cleaning toilets that got you back on track?
[14:49] Kate: Totally. Because I was proud of that. I brought my grandma around to show them and that's humbling to get to that level of not caring about identity because we are just a label, so why not just remove the label?
[15:03] Katie: Yes. It sounds to me like basically in that moment, because you were so previously attached to all this identity of World Champion or maybe your Masters or your languages, that because one of them hadn't gone as well as you wanted to, as in not getting the World Championship again. Therefore there had been sort of that identity bridge or gap or misalignment. But by starting on something totally new altogether and realizing that you weren't those labels, sort of feels like it was sort of a fresh new start. And maybe it opened up more possibilities in your mind too. So instead of being in that box of, okay, well, actually, this is what I'm good at. I have the Masters, I have those businesses and that's it. It was actually well, actually, I could do a whole other bunch of things. So maybe it just opened up more.
[15:53] Kate: Yeah, completely. I removed the word should. I should be an engineer, I should be earning this much. No, I do what I love and I love just doing whatever I'm doing in that moment in time. So, yeah, it gave me that freedom to dream and explore who I want to be and what I want to do, rather than what I should be doing because of whatever people expected.
[16:16] Katie: Amazing. And in your coaching practice, focusing on peak performance and leadership, how do you help other people to unlock their potential?
[16:27] Kate: I do my best to remove that word should and also the glass ceiling. Quite a few of us still are carrying around impostor syndrome. We feel that we should not to genderize, but especially women. We don't embrace the power within us. There's already data out there that men apply for jobs if they take like twelve out of the 20 things that are required for the job, women wait till about 18 or 19. I'm not saying that men don't struggle with impostor syndrome, but when I'm working with people, the thing that's stopping them is their self belief. So if I'm able to give them permission to dream that they're allowed that possibility of dreaming and the ability to take the next steps forward, then they know what to do. Intuitively, my role as a coach is to not tell anyone what to do. I'm here holding up the mirror so they can see their greatness, but also what needs work with, and I just hold their hand to make sure that we guide through it as seamlessly as possible. So it sounds a bit woolly, if you know what I mean. There's not like single steps I do in my business, but it's purely just to enable them to dream big and have the confidence to take the next step towards it.
[17:44] Katie: It sounds, from what you're saying, that a lot of it comes down to this self belief.
[17:50] Kate: Yeah, it's all about the mind. We are infinitely more powerful than we ever can imagine yet. It's what our father told us when we were two, it's what our mother reminded us when we were five. It's what our teacher said when we stood up in assembly at twelve. All of these memories about not being good enough, not getting it right, have to be perfect. Don't be so loud, don't be too quiet, don't be this, don't be that. They're all stuck on us and we're just this beautiful ball of white light and we just covered it with mud. Let's just start chipping the mud off and start being the most authentic way of being Kate Strong or Katie as well.
[18:30] Katie: What would be sort of one practical tool that maybe the listeners could use if they wanted to remove some of this lack of self belief?
[18:39] Kate: Yeah, that's a great question. I'm just going to reflect on a quick tool that I use. I'll tell you something I do as a daily practice, and I'll get to the tool every day. At the end of the day, I write down three things I'm grateful for, but I also couple that with three things I want to pat myself on the back for. So what can I acknowledge myself for? Because sometimes my partner might say to me, oh, thank you so much for cooking your amazing meal today. I didn't want acknowledgment for that. I wanted acknowledgment for the email that I've been procrastinating on and I finally sent. So in my journal. I give myself that space to actually give myself the acknowledgment that I deserve. There's a lot of research around the attitude of gratitude, like, we need gratitude in order to flourish and grow. That's not actually true, because they've shown that we have more brainwave activity when we receive gratitude. So it's not just about giving it, it's also about receiving it. So those acknowledgments I'm giving myself allows me to receive what I want, when I want it. So that's a really sort of simple habit today to make sure that we're in a receptive positive state, that we're feeling empowered, not like miserable or waiting, we're expecting other people to give it to us as well. And for anyone with limiting beliefs, what I suggest is I write down on a list, write down the red flags or the triggers, the sentences that stick with us when we're about to embark on a project, but something comes into our head that says, oh no, you can't, you're not good enough. Or no, you shouldn't start that because intellectually you're going to fail. Or we've all got those sort of sentences that are repeat offenders for us. Write down as many as you can remember or as and when they happen in one column, the next column next to it, write, Says Who? Says what? Or says when. So I'm not good enough. Says who? Or you're always going to fail. Says who? Oh, that was my teacher when I was 15. It takes a little time or practice. Or says when all of university, for example, might have been, I'm not good enough. I'm always going to fail. So when. Write down in the second column that area and the third column after reflecting and this isn't like a process driven we've got to feel the emotions, to sit down and really feel the misery, feel the frustration, feel the impact of these words as well, and then in a clearer state, which means take a deep breath, shake it off. Literally, stand up and shake it off. If I wanted to, I could say so instead of saying to myself, I'm not intelligent enough. If I wanted to, I could say, and it's not like I'm an infinitely intellectual being, it might not be as big a jump as that it could be. I have access, thank you, Google, to all the knowledge I need. So it's about baby stepping us away from beliefs that are limiting and no longer serving us and actually making us doubt ourselves into beliefs that actually empower us. So that's the three process steps that I strongly recommend and I still do to this day. I've got a long list of things that hold me back and I keep working on it incredible.
[22:11] Katie: And I love what you said between the difference between gratitude, what we're grateful for, and the acknowledgment we receive. I've never thought of it from that perspective. I know that gratitude is beneficial apart from anything else. It helps us not to take things for granted, but also, yes, being acknowledged. And I love this idea of self acknowledgment because I know that the few times I like to say it's all the time, but it's not. But the few times I've said to myself, oh, thank you for doing that, or, thank you for finally doing this element, or for getting up earlier, or for it feels really good. So sometimes we don't really need the external acknowledgment. If we're really able to really be thankful for taking that action or maintaining a healthy routine, then I think it really builds. Again, that self belief, but also self trust, I feel.
[23:00] Kate: Yeah, completely. It's like adding a drop of like, you might have a big glass of water and just add a little bit of drop of dye. You might not see the change of color, but every day if you add that drop, this glass will become a completely different color. So it's about just adding those incremental drops every day that we might not see the changes. But in six months time, wow, will we be somewhere different.
[23:25] Katie: We're coming already to the end of the episode, and I'd love us to discuss the idea of this glass ceiling and pushing through the glass ceiling. I think it's a fantastic concept, and as you've said, we have so much more potential than we realize. So what? Again, a similar question to what we began. But once you've achieved all of this, what pushes you to, again, go to the next sort of glass ceiling? To take on new challenges. And feel free to share also your new challenges, your limitless challenges that are upcoming.
[23:58] Kate: Yeah, I think any goal is like climbing a mountain. We might see the top of a peak and go, oh, my golly, how am I going to get there? Because I'm at sea level in this big thing covered with snow and ices looming in front of me. But we forget, we don't need to get to the top today. We just need to take one step forward and then one step forward. And again, it might take a little while. There's no rush. I'm not rushing to get to the end of my life, I can tell you that, for nothing. So why rush every project? So it's all about remembering any goal. We don't need to be there yet. I don't need to know how to climb a mountain yet. I will in six months, but not now. So we set these goals and then typically it's our mind that immediately shuts it down, goes, no, you don't know how to get there. So the one thing I invite everyone to do is tap into why you want to, like the emotions of thinking of yourself. I'm going to keep using the mountain analogy on top of that mountain. How would that make you feel? Like, imagine what you'd look around, imagine the pride you'd have in your heart. And the house will always sort themselves out. So always set your goal in stone. Keep that rigid if you want something. My goal was never to be a world champion in triathlon. It was to be in a different distance in triathlon called Iron Man. I never got there, but I found my Limit, which was a different sport, different distance, and I was number one in that. So we never know where we'll end up. So keep your goal in stone, but your journey in sand. The how will change. It will come across problems or challenges or issues, or a new quick solution to the top, or a friend you want to do it with. All of that will change. But make sure your goals are set really, really solidly and don't compromise on it. Something that works really well for me is tying it into something that's a passion project. So you alluded to my Limitless challenge that's coming up. Originally it was for me to climb Everest from the Channel and cycle across America. Well, upon deep reflection, that doesn't excite me as much as what I've actually changed it into, because now my partner and I were cycling 3000 miles around the coast of Britain and we're planting 3000 trees. So we're engaging 30 communities, 30 schools. They're going to help us plant the trees. We'll cycle around, meeting everyone, sharing stories and hopefully inspiring others to get into sport and help around the sustainability and climate crisis as well. So my goal was always to connect and push myself. And this is doing it, but in a very different way, but in a much more wholesome way. And that's my purpose now, seeing the ripple effect of my actions. Yes.
[26:51] Katie: And it's so true what you were saying, that if the why is super strong, then a strong why can bear any how. And I feel that most of the time when people are struggling either with motivation or procrastination or getting there, they often think it's strategy. So they often think, I don't know how to get there, I need to buy another course, I need to find a mentor, I need to study this and buy a book. But often it's because the reason they want to do this isn't strong enough. They might have a reason or several, but it's not so strong that they find a way and they achieve it. That's what I've come to see anyway.
[27:31] Kate: Yeah, very true. And sometimes it's a bit about the goal as well. So I'm sure you know the acronym Smart specific measurable goals, but I hear a lot of people who want to lose weight. For example, I'm like, but when is good enough? Because you can't infinitely lose weight. So your goal is a moot sliding scale. Could we pick the trousers you want to wear? Could those be your targets when you fit into this? Or how you feel about yourself emotionally? Because that is something that we can actually tap into rather than this ever never ending goal as well. So making sure it's specific as well, and it's the why, it ignites your passion for yourself pushes us outside our comfort zone, but also hopefully involves other people. Because it gives us that accountability as well as that sort of purpose to do something when we don't want to get out beds and do things. We know we're doing it for others as well.
[28:27] Katie: Absolutely. I'd love to go into so many more topics, but I feel we've already covered a lot. It was absolutely amazing to have you here today, Kay. I loved everything you shared. Such a huge inspiration for our listeners and hopefully also the female listeners to show what it's possible and that you can achieve your dreams if you set your mind to it, which is pretty much what you said.
[28:50] Kate: Thank you so much, Katie. It's been an absolute delight to be a guest. And, yeah, an absolute pleasure to meet you as well.
[28:56] Katie: Thank you so much, Kate. Thank you.
[29:02] Katie: Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee Show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. So let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.