Hey, hey! Welcome back to The Bullpen Sessions! You guys know how this show works — each week, I sit down with another abundant thinker, and we deconstruct the formulas they have used to be successful in business and in life so that you can use them too. My guest today is one of the most inspiring and fascinating people I’ve ever met, and I know you’re going to love her!

Lisa Tamati is no quitter. This woman has one of the strongest, relentless mindsets I’ve ever seen. She runs ultramarathons over the world, coaches clients worldwide, and — in the ultimate coaching experience — Lisa even helped her mother fully recover from a life-threatening brain aneurysm. It’s an incredible story, and I’ll let her share it with you later.

Lisa Tamati is a mindset expert. She knows what it means to take just one more step even when you can barely walk, let alone run. That mindset of resilience and relentlessness has taken her far in life, and I have no doubt she’ll reach even bigger heights soon.

Have you been struggling in some aspect of your business or life? If you need a little encouragement or an extra push to keep going when things are hard, this episode is for you. In fact, I think this episode is for all of us. We can all benefit from hearing Lisa’s amazing story.

“You’re going to have failures. You’re going to have heartbreaks. But you have to keep running. And if you can’t run, keep walking. If you can’t walk, keep crawling, but never stop. Keep moving forward.” – Lisa Tamati

If you’re ready to learn how to keep going even when the going gets extraordinarily tough, get ready! Make sure you grab a piece of paper and a pen because you’re going to want to take notes. Let’s dive in!

Who Is Lisa Tamati?

Lisa Tamati is a New Zealand-based professional endurance athlete. Over the course of her 25+ years of running, Lisa has participated in over 140 ultramarathons. For context — an ultramarathon is really any race that is longer than a marathon. They can be up to 100 miles and last for several days! But Lisa refuses to be intimidated. She has several podium places under her belt, and she has raced everywhere from the Himalayas to Death Valley.

But for all her running experience, Lisa maintains that she’s not a very good runner. For her, ultramarathons are more about mindset than talent.

“I’m not a very good runner. I’m not very talented. It wasn’t much about talent, and [it’s] more about grit and determination and wanting to do it.” – Lisa Tamati

Lisa realized the power of her mindset of grit and determination, and she knew she had to share it with others. She founded Running Hot Coaching with her personal coach and business partner, Neil Wagstaff. Together, they coach clients all over the world to have a strong, relentless mindset.

But Lisa’s incredible accomplishments don’t end there. Besides being a professional endurance athlete and mindset coach, she’s also the author of three books: Running Hot, Running to Extremes, and Relentless: How a Mother and Daughter Defied the Odds. Additionally, Lisa is the host of the Pushing the Limits podcast, where she gets inside the minds of elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and more to uncover what mindset tools and strategies make them successful.

Lisa Tamati is honestly one of the most inspiring people I know. I so admire her ability to push the limits of what she’s capable of and encourage others to do the same. Seriously, this woman is kicking ass, and today, she’s here to teach us to do the same. Let’s dive into our interview!

Mindset Tips for Success: “It Starts in the Preparation”

For Lisa, running an ultramarathon is all about the work she does before the race starts. If you haven’t built the right resilient mindset way before the starting gun goes off, there’s no way you’ll be able to run for over 50 miles. Lisa says that even the few days leading up to the race pose a significant mental problem:

“[In] the days before [a race], the fear can be overwhelming because you’re facing down the barrel of some horrifically big thing. And up until that point, it’s all been theory because … it’s all been on paper and you’ve been doing your training, and you’ve been diligent and all that sort of jazz. But now it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is really happening, and I’m really doing this.’ And it starts to become really, really frightening.” – Lisa Tamati

Can you relate to that? Have you ever found yourself staring down the barrel of an enormous launch in your business and experienced that fear that goes along with embarking on something so huge? I know I have. So what can we all do to prepare for those moments?

As Lisa puts it, the number one thing is, “you have to understand what your ‘why’ is.” To stand up to massive fear, you have to believe firmly in your reason for pursuing your business, passion, or challenge. You need to get crystal clear on your “why,” so that you can hold onto that conviction in the moments when you’re afraid.

After that, a strong, relentless mindset is all about filling your mind with positivity. One of the best ways to do that, according to Lisa, is to surround yourself with people who can encourage you. You need a team of friends, colleagues, and coaches who are going to build you up and make sure you stop overthinking in the moments when you need to keep going.

“I decided … I would get my crew around me, and I’d tell them, ‘You have to fill me with positivity every time I start to say, ‘But! But this and this fear and that fear.’ … You need people around you. In other words, [you need] a team that will tell you that you can do this and that you will make it. – Lisa Tamati

Who’s on your team? Do you have people backing you up and supporting you? Make sure you have a crew of family, friends, teammates, or coaches who can push you to succeed. Having other people around you to make sure you keep moving when you’re afraid is priceless, so make sure you’re building a strong team.

By the way, a great way to surround yourself with good people is to join my Complete Game Mastermind. This is my coaching program, and it starts in just five days! Masterminds are a great way to get coaching and put yourself in rooms with other entrepreneurs just like you. You can start building your community and gathering people around you who will support you and your growth.

You can also join my FREE text community! Just text the word “Mindset” to 414-622-1462, and I’ll give you access to a TON of free weekly coaching. If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge and join the Complete Game Mastermind, this text community is a great way to see if my coaching might be right for you.

Accept Who You Are and Work with What You Have

Another essential aspect here is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing this kind of relentless mindset. You can’t expect to find a program, coach, or magical silver bullet that can solve all of your problems. You have to figure out what works best for you.

In addition to being a mindset expert, Lisa has done a lot of research into epigenetics. She’s studying the ways our DNA can actually affect the way we handle certain situations. 

“And this is an area that’s totally fascinating because we all process things different[ly]. The way I process negative stimuli, something horrible or some trauma, will be completely different [from] the way the person next to me handles [it] because they have different chemicals in their brain doing different things. … A big piece of the puzzle is accepting who you are and then working with what you have.” – Lisa Tamati

Remember, though — This is not an excuse. If you’re going to develop a relentless mindset, you’re going to have to put in the work. Hopefully, you can find a team or a coach who can tweak or tailor their program to work best for you, but if you’re going to make real progress, you’ve got to put in the work.

“I can show you the way, but you have to be motivated. … I can give you a push in the right direction. I can give you some guidance. I can pick you up along the way when you fall down and all that sort of jazz, but you have to do the work.” – Lisa Tamati

What are the biggest challenges in your business? To overcome those things, you’re going to need external guidance and support, but you also have to buckle down and do the work. You have to find that motivation and drive within yourself to keep going. 

How Lisa and Her Mom Defied the Odds

All of this leads me to Lisa and her mother’s story and possibly the greatest coaching Lisa’s ever given. Four and a half years ago, Lisa’s mom had a massive aneurysm — her brain was bleeding. She was rushed to the hospital, and pretty soon, the doctors and nurses were frantically trying just to save her life — let alone her mental state.

Lisa’s mom survived, but the prognosis was bad. She had massive brain damage, and she existed in a coma for three weeks. After that time, she did wake up, but she’d lost almost all of her cognitive function. She could speak a couple of words, but she had no memory, no control over bodily functions — Lisa described her as being like a baby in an adult’s body.

But Lisa didn’t give up hope. She got to work learning everything she could about brain rehab. She discovered that her mother had sleep apnea — meaning her brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen at night — so she had her mom put on a C-PAP machine to increase oxygen flow to her brain. Amazingly, that helped a little — Lisa’s mom started showing small improvements. But Lisa wasn’t done yet.

“They said, ‘There’s no way in Hell you’re ever going to cope with her as a family. She’s going to need around-the-clock care, two people at all times.’ And I was just like, ‘I am taking her home, and you better get on board with us and give me the support that you can.’ And it was a real battle against the system, and I won that battle. … I ended up throwing my two books at this one social worker and saying, ‘Read those, and you’ll see who I am, and I’m not leaving my mom.'” – Lisa Tamati

Lisa fought hard to bring her mother home instead of putting her in a 24-hour care facility, and taking care of her became Lisa’s full-time job. She invested thousands of hours into caring for her mom and researching new modes of treatment, and eventually, she came across something called hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Lisa ultimately had to mortgage her house to purchase a hyperbaric chamber, but after 250 sessions of therapy in the chamber and three years of Lisa helping to retrain her mother to do everything from eating to sitting to speaking, Lisa’s mom is back to full health. That’s right — Due to Lisa’s relentless effort and coaching, her mother has completely recovered from massive brain damage. 

Why You Should Listen to this Lisa Tamati Podcast Episode Right Now…

I love that story so much. Lisa Tamati is one of the most relentless people I know, but her sheer determination to help her mother get well again against all odds is inspiring. Today, Lisa’s mom is going to the gym five days a week, driving, in control of her own power of attorney, and enjoying time with her granddaughter — And all because Lisa refused to give up on her.

If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this — you can do anything. You can strive for greater success, and you can beat the odds. It just takes a simple mindset shift.

“Everybody, stop underestimating yourself and stop underestimating your neighbor and your kids. And don’t put … limitations [on yourself] because you don’t know how to fix something.” – Lisa Tamati

Thank you so much for joining me on this episode today, guys! If you enjoyed it as much as I did, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe, and give me a five-star rating. Your reviews really help this podcast find new listeners!

And if you can think of someone who might benefit from hearing this episode, share it with them and tag Lisa, @lisatamati, and me, @andy_neary, with a screenshot of the episode and your favorite takeaways!

Until next time, keep pushing your limits. Stop underestimating yourself, and keep striving for greater success. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve!

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