Katie Zaferes, #1 Triathlete in The World

Katie Zaferes (0:00)

It's funny because when I was in college and running, I was always thinking like, oh, if someone needs to work on their mind, that means they're weak, that means their mind's not strong enough. And wow, has my whole viewpoint switched so completely where I just think, now it's like, I mean, I do the physical work, of course, but I put a lot of time into just the mental aspects and knowing how incorrect I was before.

Michael Gervais (0:37)

All right, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. I'm Michael Gervais and by trade and training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist, as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create. And the whole idea behind these conversations is to learn from people who are on the path of mastery. And the same issues they struggle with, so have I.

And I bet so have you. And I think that we can find ourselves in every one of these conversations.

These conversations are with extraordinary people, not just extraordinary doers. And with that in mind, we wanna better understand what it is that they are searching for. And to use these conversations as placeholders to reflect on what it is that we're searching for as well.

And every conversation helps me to better understand really what it means to be human. And especially in modern times, what it really means to be me. And I hope the same is happening for you.

The whole idea is to use this information to apply it as we both continue to commit our efforts towards both mastery of self and craft.

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Now, this week's conversation is with 2016 Olympian, Katie Zaferes, the number one ranked triathlete in the world. And mastery is a commitment of time and curiosity with a relentless commitment to hard work. And it's not about an outcome. And in 2015, Katie took fifth in the world championships, fourth in 2016, third in 17, and then came in second in 2018 And so in recognition of Katie's ascent to eventually capturing the number one ranked spot, USA triathlete named her in 2017 and 18, Women's Triathlete of the Year. So she's no joke to understanding what it takes. And Katie now has her sights set on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games. And this conversation is about her approach in life and sport, how she thinks about world-class competitions like world championships and the Olympic Games, and how she's committing to living at that intersection of joy and achieving on the world stage. And with that, let's jump right into this week's conversation with Katie Zaferes.