Hi, and welcome to a new How Did You Make It?
I'm Yusra, your host. And if you're a new joiner,
I'm so glad you made it here. And if you're a
regular, I'm glad you're still here. This podcast
wants to empower you throughout your teenage
life, but as well as a young adult. Because in
this podcast, you'll get to meet different, brilliant
humans. who had similar challenges as you're
having as we speak. So they will tell you about
their own life. They will tell you about their
own story. But here's the thing, is that as they
go through their story, they will share with
you pieces of advice, tools and things that you
can take home and leverage. And all of that to
help you make it through those years. So we'll
talk about their habits, their passion, their
interest, every single thing that has shaped
them to help you move forward and make it. I
just want to mention one thing before we start.
Do you remember last year, back in 2025 on the
pod, some of the guests were mentioning how they
would be super happy if you reach out to them
and ask them questions about their path, about
how they made it? And during episodes as well,
some were mentioning how they were highly inspired
by athletes for similar reasons. So given those
two points, I was thinking, why not bring athletes
behind the mics? Okay, some of them did not answer,
but rejection is part of the process, right?
And I managed to get absolutely fantastic athletes
behind the mics for you for 2026 who have shared...
incredible tools, incredible insights, incredible
advice. And here we are. We are starting with
Paul today. He lived in the United Kingdom before
moving to China. So he's joining us from Shanghai.
I'm not going to spoil you. So he will tell you
what choices he made. So here, get ready to learn
so much. And I have three things that are coming
to mind as I'm introducing this episode is that
you will learn how consistency, beats talents,
how disciplines allows you to take more risks
in your life. And another thing would be how
visualization in your day to day can change your
life. So let's get into it. Ready? Okay, take
notes. Hi, Paul, and welcome to the podcast.
I'm very happy to host you. So I'll just give
you the floor and let you introduce yourself.
Sounds good. Thank you, Asra. Looking forward
to this conversation, actually. And I was thinking
about it today as I was coming back home and,
yeah, I was just looking forward to it. So, you
know, starting with the basics, I guess. You
know, my name is Paul Ifrim. I just want to go
back, I guess, back in time and sort of like
capture that because I think that's important
context, like moving into this conversation.
So I grew up. in a small mountain town in the
Carpathian Mountains in Romania. And I think
as a child, you know, just looking back at my
experience, I used to spend a lot of time outdoors
in nature. I used to play a lot of sports, biking,
hiking, skiing and snowboarding in the winter.
And later on, I got introduced to luge, which
I'm, you know, we're going to unpack quite a
bit during today's conversation. And that happened
at around 10 years old. And that was, you know,
from my dad, who happened to be the national
team coach. And looking at sort of long story
short, and again, although we're going to expand
on this, reflecting on my, what ended up being
about a decade and a half of competing professionally,
it really was about the journey. And I keep reflecting
on that. when you don't reach the ultimate goal,
right? It's how that journey was. And I consider
that a very valuable lesson. And as of today,
I guess, you know, I lived in three different
countries, you know, from Romania to the UK to
China. Within China, I moved into two different
cities. And I went into teaching. After I ended
up my professional career, I went into teaching,
did some coaching as well. after I decided to
end that professional luge career and have been
into education ever since. I'm currently head
of PN Sports in an international school in Shanghai.
I lived in Beijing four years prior to this.
And also in 2021, I've had the pleasure to sort
of be part of the coaching staff for the Chinese
national luge team here in China. And in every
role, looking back, I've discovered one fundamental
truth i guess and that's you know people generally
those are that are making it aren't necessarily
the most talented ones but they're the ones that
generally show up they're the ones that are generally
consistent and they're pushing through when it's
hard and that's something that i'm hoping to
unpack a bit further today because so um yeah
looking forward to unpack this conversation with
you today And so am I. Thank you so much for
this intro, Paul. And before we start talking
about your teenage life, can you share with us
your definition of success? Looking from that
journey perspective and from that journey lens,
I guess, it's about the journey, not necessarily
about the destination, right? And that's how
I look at things. Success is not necessarily
a destination that you reach. It's really a direction
you keep walking in. And what I mean by that
is... is doing the right thing all the time,
you know, being consistent with that. But for
me, that meant waking up early to train, you
know, in my early days. Not because someone forced
me, but because you respect your craft and you
respect yourself and it's a case of being consistent
with what you're trying to achieve. In education,
that looks probably something a bit different.
Success for me now means helping others, becoming
better humans. And generally speaking, I like
to look from that bigger perspective, right?
Zooming out, not necessarily what we're doing
on a daily basis, but what's the ultimate goal
here? And if I can touch on someone's life, if
they can make even the tiniest improvement, then
that's mission accomplished for me. So looking
at whether... Students leave my class with more
discipline. Right now, you know, perhaps more
courage and perhaps having more clarity about
what they're capable of doing. So success is
that consistency in small things. Success sometimes
means failing well. You know, I didn't necessarily
win at the Olympics, right? But I succeeded in
how I responded to that. So it's what happens
to us when it comes to how we're reacting to
things, right? So I succeeded in using that as
a fuel that helped me to become better, helped
me with my daily habits. I had to define that
in one sentence because I sort of touched on
a few different things there. But if I had to
define in one sentence, success is essentially
becoming the person you know you're capable of
becoming through small... daily habits that will
essentially compound into who you are. There
are so many takeaways already from the success
piece. And there's something that stood out to
me around respecting yourself, how showing up,
how being consistent is you. Yes, you who's listening
to us. Those are actions that are showing that
you're respecting yourself, that you're respecting
your craft, that you're respecting your ambitions.
and everything that goes with it. And I'm sure
we'll get back to everything you mentioned. So
let's talk about your teenage life. So what can
you tell us? What kind of students were you?
What were your habits, your interests? Walk us
through everything. Yeah, no, absolutely. Those
are the best times, isn't it? They are. But yeah,
I guess, you know, early on, I've discovered
that I was set on... Everything that has to do
with physical challenges. I had a love for sports.
I, again, you know, growing up in nature, you
know, playing sports all day long. That was my
identity, you know, from early on. And I love
testing myself. I wouldn't say, you know, I was
necessarily the most naturally gifted athlete,
you know, to start with. But I was, I had that
obsession early on when it comes to pushing harder
than everyone else. And that shaped really my
identity. And I think that's still who I am today,
right? But I really enjoyed, you know, throughout
my, I guess, middle school years, anything that
has to do with practical subjects. You know,
I wasn't necessarily the kind of student that
was sitting in the classroom and was memorizing
a lot of stuff. And I was actually quite pushing
back on stuff that nature. I just couldn't necessarily,
I wasn't interested. Maybe that's a better word.
I wasn't necessarily interested in memorizing
just for the sake of memorizing things, right?
I wanted to understand sort of what the logic
behind that is. This is so understandable. And
for you who's listening to us, it's super important
that you keep that desire to understand why you're
studying what you're studying and hold on to
it. It might uncover, interests that are yet
to come. The longer you hang on, by that I mean
studying to the best of your ability, the more
opportunities you will get to identify what you
are truly interested in. And this is exactly
what we are doing on the podcast. Some guests
shared that they preferred math as they were
able to problem solve. They needed something
concrete where you had eventually a solution
to find. while others shared their interest and
love for history, as it allowed them to understand
how the world worked and its impact on today.
But yes, Paul, I completely understand. As a
teenager, the classes can get incredibly overwhelming.
For some of us, we didn't get the chance to understand
why we were doing what we were doing. I guess
I grew up in those years when we were just told
what to do. We were... you know, told you need
to memorize this for next day. And then you would
listen in front of the classroom and embarrassed
and all that kind of stuff. So that's sort of
my experience with the middle school years. So
I struggled, I guess, with that. You know, I
wasn't, again, the type of student that did necessarily
well academically. And somehow, ironically, now
I became a teacher, right? And it's interesting
to see how sort of like life leads in different
directions because you just never know where
you're going to end up. But obviously PE was
my favorite, right? Sports, anything that had
to do with sports. And, you know, even like through
that, it was, again, the daily habits that are
still with me now that have started. sort of
shaped me from that very young age you know with
waking up earlier and that's when it started
to sort of take sports a bit more seriously and
particularly luge you know I had to wake up earlier
to train earlier to you know put myself outside
of that comfort zone which I still do which I
still wake up early to this day you know just
because Those became habits. It became part of
my identity. Respecting, you know, discipline,
structure, having the structure in place, which
helped me tremendously with my education career.
And the very important aspects that, you know,
sort of have been decisive in who I am today,
essentially, right? But it's also having those
mentors that are guiding you and that can really
amplify the direction that you're going into.
Because if you have the right people around you,
then you can do so much more than just figuring
things by yourself. So in a nutshell, those were
my... middle school years and when I started
really taking sports a bit more seriously. Can
we talk about mentorship? You know, a lot of
guests I've had on the pod, but as well as people
out there have been inspired by athletes. So
do you think that mentorship is key for success?
And how do you find a mentor? If you cannot have
mentors, do you think there is something in life
which is as valuable, which is teaching you things
that are making you grow and making you more
successful? I think that's the exact environment
where you actually want to find a mentor, right?
Anything that has to do with practical, and it
doesn't have to be a sport, it can be arts, it
can be music, learning an instrument. It can
be any sort of... practical craft that it's sort
of the best environment when it comes to finding
a mentor because you can replicate what they
have done, right? You can physically see what
they have done well. You don't have to reinvent
the wheel. You can replicate what they have done
well, right? The best of your ability and try
and do that over and over and over again until
you build up that skill set that will help you
to reach whatever goal that is right so finding
someone that can support with that that's absolutely
fundamental for your development whether it's
a physical development a sport again art music
you name it it can be any sort of industry right
but it's also working on that and for me it was
an obsession with being able to challenge myself
physically And that really taught me something
profound that the obstacles are your teachers,
right? Oftentimes we're looking at the obstacles
being an enemy. You know, we're looking as a
hindrance, right? We're looking at an obstacle
being something that's bad and is a boogeyman.
But the reality is from that, from the obstacles,
that's where all the good lessons are coming
from. Right. If you're someone who's learning
early on to sort of like reflect on that. It's
a bit like the universe saying you need to do
things differently. You need a new strategy.
You need to dig deeper. You know, that sort of
became a life skill for me, you know, not just
a sports skill, because, you know, sure, you
have teachers that can specifically challenge
you and you're going to come across. various
different people with different approaches to
how you're doing things and whether they can
guide you in a specific direction or not but
you know I realized early I guess and reflecting
on what I just said I realized early that discipline
and that obsession for pushing yourself further
but that discipline it's sort of a form of freedom
rather than a restriction so It felt moving on,
sort of like going into like my high school years
and sort of like moving on. And when I started
going really seriously into my professional career,
it was the case of it felt more free for me than
anyone else with having that restriction, let's
call it, right? The discipline, because I knew
exactly the direction that I was going into.
For me, the discipline and having a precise structure
of a schedule, that was more freeing rather than
just wandering around and being pulled in different
directions, I guess. So there's certain values,
I guess, there that I locked in from a very young
age, particularly with having respect for your
body, having respect for your mind. respect for
people in general, but having integrity at the
same time and doing the right thing. And even
when nobody's watching, and oftentimes that's
when it counts the most, right? Because we're
looking at any professional athlete, right? They're
competing, you know, for 50 seconds or so, you
know, in a luge race in particular, that's sort
of like an average time. But you don't see the
amount of... hours they put into that practice
right you see that final craft that final outcome
of all the early mornings all the setbacks you
know the the potential distractions um everything
that comes with that right um and i was i guess
lucky in that sense that you know nobody needed
to push me Like, you know, I was seeing around
me a lot of different types of athletes and I
was the type of athlete that I didn't need a
push from someone. Right. And I think that's
when I learned one of the more important lessons
that success comes from internal drive, is really
an internal drive rather than an external pressure.
Because once you get to that point of being externally
pressured. and you're waiting for someone to
motivate you, I think you're already behind,
right? Compared to someone that does that willingly,
and they have that obsession, and they have that
drive. I completely lost count of the takeaways.
There's so many of them. Hey, the good thing
is it's a podcast, so you can always listen back.
Absolutely, and you need to listen back to everything
that Paul just said. Okay, so let's recap. The
first thing that you can... Takeaway from that
is mentors can show you through their behavior
what is needed from you. It can be fundamental
for the situation you're in. For example, your
goal is to compete internationally, nationally,
wherever it is, whatever it is. It is a game
changer in that situation. It is not only a game
changer, it's crucial and fundamental. And you
know how I started this episode. People have
been inspired by athletes. So you don't have
to be actively part of a group, a team, etc.
to be inspired and to follow the behavior of
someone. At least not in this era. And the third
thing that I absolutely want you to remember
is, to quote Paul, obstacles are your teachers.
So whenever you are facing a challenge, an obstacle,
you have to readapt, right? You have to find
a way to pass it, to move through it. So they
are incredible teachers. Because most likely...
Paul, can you tell us more about your high school
years now? High school, for me, is where that
trajectory sort of like shifted from being...
you know, in school a lot of the time, which
it was the case in middle school, but I started
to, you know, go six months a year, seven months
a year traveling with the team. And it was the
case of identifying that I was more interested
in biology, how the body works. I wanted to understand
the science behind performance. So I started
doing a lot of... reading about that but i created
a really good foundation of good habits you know
discipline just became something automatic early
mornings were something that was i wasn't necessarily
looking at that being something tough because
i had in mind that late gratification and i knew
that down the line i'm gonna i'm gonna sort of
be happy with those choices And saying no to
things just didn't seem like it's hard for me
to do at that stage because it was just who I
was essentially, right? And, you know, just sort
of like looking specifically at a few things
there, you know, with regards to like consistency.
That's where really where it started being really,
really important for me because... One thing
that I learned during that time. And a lot of
these things I haven't actually reflected on.
I look back in hindsight, right? But at that
moment in time, I wasn't necessarily conscious
about this, right? But consistency oftentimes
beats intensity, right? And what I learned was
that I didn't necessarily need perfect days,
right? Perfect training sessions. You just need
good weeks. You know, being consistent with good
weeks, you know, having a bad day is fine. Absolutely.
Right. There's no problem with that whatsoever.
You need then from there, you know, good steady
months, let's say. And that's where really the
magic happens, because when you have small daily
choices, right choices, right, those will stack
on top of each other. And you're just creating
those good habits. As an example, a kid that
trains, let's say, consistently at 70 % capacity
will always be above someone who trains 100%,
but he's just training from time to time because
he's naturally gifted. And I've seen this over
and over again with people being not exceptionally
gifted, but they were lazy because they knew
how good they were and then they fell behind
purely because of that. mindset and mentality
and now you have someone who's really consistent
who trains maybe you know a bit less in terms
of capacity but he goes steadily every single
day every single day every single day and that
normally that person will overtake that naturally
gifted person eventually with time right and
you know pain is there's something to be discussed
about pain with consistency because it's not
easy to be consistent without struggling at some
point right and that's where sort of like pain
comes into into the picture here but that can
be really used as information you know not necessarily
thinking about it as punishment because if you
look at it from that perspective you tend to
step back a bit and you know you know taking
as an example when you get hurt when you fail
and i put air quotes here fail you know for for
the listeners when you because it's more of a
lesson right always is rather than looking at
it as a failure but when you're rejected that's
not necessarily again the universe saying you're
not good enough it's what it's saying is showing
you exactly where you need to grow it is you
know what you need to do further sometimes you
have to figure that out but you know i tell my
younger self to And sit with that discomfort
instead of running away from it. Because that's
how you become a better person. That's how you're
going to grow. Absolutely. And eventually what
you're going to find as an athlete or going through
that sort of like middle school, high school
years. And I think as human beings, we try to
please people. It's just naturally embedded in
our DNA. And you'll soon learn that. You're not
going to be able to please everyone, and that's
fine, right? So you can even stop trying pleasing
people, although it's hard, right? And we all
know because we're all going through that process.
But essentially what I'm trying to say with that
is just focusing on becoming the person you respect
and the person you see in the mirror, right?
Essentially, you're going to attract a lot of
people around you that will vibrate with you.
And that will happen naturally. You don't have
to try to attract people through trying to please
them. And everyone else will have an opinion
about things. And if you focus on their opinion,
you're just wasting your precious energy on someone
else rather than... putting that energy to use
towards your goals. So focusing on you, it's
really, really important. There's a lot of struggles,
you know, that made me who I am today. And if
I would have understood earlier that failing
well is a skill that matters more than succeeding
easily, because when you succeed easily, you
tend to... Not learn that much from it. But when
you go through those daily struggles and you
fail, the best way of looking at it is reflecting
at it, understanding what's happening, understanding
the process behind it, and then learn from it.
And then you're going to improve that craft.
So you mentioned elements that are crucial and
they are applicable to your own life. Yes, you
who are listening to us, whether you're practicing
any sports or not. So Paul mentioned consistency,
rejection, pain, failure, learnings, successes,
and being your best self. So let's take one of
them. Let's take consistency. And the example
that Paul mentioned, someone who is super good
at any class, let's say math, biology, whatever
it is, versus someone who gives a certain number
of hours. dedicated to those homeworks that are
given to you that are assigned to you and even
go beyond and that person does that consistently
will catch up with that gifted human that gifted
human who's probably not practicing every day
so if you take it in your own hands you can make
it through those difficult classes day by day
with the resources that you have, which I mentioned
in past episodes. So leveraging YouTube, online
classes, content creators who are helping you
understand the topic better, or even listening
during your classes and staying focused. And
if we take failure and learnings, those are the
things that you can face at the beginning of
those classes, throughout those classes. But
keep in mind what Paul said. Use that information
to identify where you need to go, what you need
to do further, and sit down with that discomfort
to then only go upwards. Paul, do you have any
last closing remarks? Learn along the way. Be
consistent. Be disciplined. And things will,
you know, once you create a really strong foundation
of... good habits that you can apply on a daily
basis, you can apply that in any situation, you
know, whether it's academics, whether it's learning
a sport, whether it's learning an instrument,
you know, those are really transferable skills.
And I would say, you know, there's really the
foundation of Setting yourself for success. And
that's something that I would say, you know,
it's a really big takeaway. Thank you so much,
Paul. So can you now tell us a bit more about
your studies? You studied PE, physical education.
So this is an interesting one because I didn't
necessarily choose the direction I ended up going
into. I look at it as it shows me, but I made
that once it happened, I guess I made a conscious
decision to pursue it with intention, right?
Because I was very unsure what I want to study
further at university. And that happened to come
my way. And I said, sure, you know, let's do
it. I was competing professionally. So it made
sense to be. in that field of study, right? Physical
education, you know, specializing on something
during my university and sort of getting that
degree in physical education. And it happened
and I chose to pursue it intentionally and I
sort of made that commitment and conscious decision
to sort of finish that, obviously. And again,
I was on the road. A lot of time, six, seven
months a year, came back, had to catch up with
studies. So it wasn't straightforward. A lot
of bumps, a lot of setbacks, a lot of things
happened. And I was sure I was competing in luge,
but also I was aware that at some point, and
especially with a sport like luge, which is,
you know, crazy tough, that... anything like
an athletic career can become fragile and can
end up quite abruptly. You know, because injuries
happen, right? Injuries happen, politics happen,
you know, sometimes you're, you know, hundreds
of a second away from a medal which happened
and, you know, you crash and something happens
and, you know, things happen, life happens, right?
So it was just a case of... looking ahead and
thinking okay once i finish my once i'm done
with sports like what do i want to do what's
my direction in life and i i seriously didn't
know and this is something like if any of my
former team members will listen to this they
will recall this conversation because i was constantly
discussing about okay i'm you know At that time,
20, 22, and I was thinking, well, you know, I'm
looking down the line. If I'm going to be 35,
let's say, you know, I finish my luge years,
my professional sports, you know, what am I doing
then? Like starting fresh from scratch at 35,
38, 40, you know, some people are competing,
you know, over 40 years old. And my thought and
something that not bothered me, but constantly
came back as a question in my head was, what
are you doing with your life, Paul? Which direction
are you going into? And that sort of stuck with
me for a number of years. And I did not have
an analyst for many years to come. And eventually,
you know, I competed in Vancouver in 2010 at
the Winter Olympics, then finished my degree
after that, you know, 2012, then went to my master's.
And those were, from a competition perspective,
those were my best years. And that happened after
the Olympic experience. Because everything that
I learned and I acquired throughout the years
helped me to look fundamentally different at
how I was competing. And I stopped focusing on
the outcome and I started focusing on the process
more. And that's when really that perspective,
that shift happened for me. And it really helped
with competing at the... vastly different level,
essentially. Once I was done with my studies,
once I was done with my career, it was the case
of what am I doing now? And it ended up quite
abruptly for me because before Sochi in 2014,
Winter Olympics, I fractured my collarbone in
a training run. And that, again, hit me hard.
And it was, again, the same thought that I had
for many years. What are you doing if that will
happen? And I was home for a while, not for too
long, actually, but less than six months, probably.
And then with my then girlfriend, now wife, we...
And this is like a crazy story because... We
bought a one -way ticket to London and we had
very little money in our pockets and we had no
place to stay and we had no jobs. Okay. And we're
like, okay, let's just go. So we somehow found
a common friend that had an apartment, had a
spare room in their apartment and allowed us
to stay for like three weeks. And within the
first couple of days, it's interesting because
I went with that mentality that it's going to
work out. And I knew I was 100 % sure that I'm
not going to return back to Romania and be like,
what was that? What was in my head, even thinking
that I can make it that way? There's that gut
feeling that people are talking about. That gut
feeling for me was, it's fine. It's going to
work out. And the first couple of days, I spent
them online looking for jobs. My girlfriend did
that as well. And then I came across supply teaching,
right? Which is like substitute teaching for
some people listening to this. And I had no clue
that that was a thing even. Like back home, that's
not a thing. And I'm like, oh, that's interesting.
Maybe I can teach a bit of PE in different schools.
And that's how it started for me, going into
education. That's how it started. And that's
why I'm saying, I said at the beginning, I didn't
necessarily choose it. Like not even the studies
and not even my profession. It happened that
way, right? And again, it's just about, I guess,
in a way, attracting those things. And I started
doing a lot of supply teaching and then eventually
got a... A full -time job, a contract in a school.
My girlfriend did the same because we met at
university. She had the same studies. She used
to compete in handball. She used to do handball
back home. And we got into teaching. You know,
fast forward to 2017. We came across two PE roles.
physical education teacher's roles in Beijing,
in China. And I said, you know, let's jump into
it. Let's try it out. Let's see how it goes.
China sounds interesting, right? And yeah, we
moved to China. But before I sort of go into
that, with that fracture that I've mentioned
earlier, with that collarbone fracture, that's
not how my career ended. So... Before I sort
of like go into that experience with moving to
Beijing, when that fracture happened, and that
was again before Sochi 2014, I just didn't want
to stop that way. I wanted to remember my experience
and looking back, knowing that I ended up on
a good note in that sense. I didn't want to look
back and say, yeah, so, you know, I ended up
my professional career by fracturing my collarbone
and that was it. Like I just, I didn't want that
for my story. And because I was doing supply
teaching in London, that gave me the flexibility
time -wise to go back and train with national
team and to go back in the season. And, you know,
I was doing doubles and my partner was available
and we're like, let's just give it another shot.
Let's see how it goes. And that was a great decision
because those... few months back with the team
and I only did half a season and I'm going to
get into why I did half a season only but those
couple of months were the best months of my career
and we had multiple podium finishes in Nations
Cups which are the qualifying races for the World
Cups and It just gave me that confidence again
that I can still do it. I went back to that very
track where I fractured my collarbone and I went
down back on it and I just wanted to prove myself
that I can still do it and I can overcome that.
And that's not an easy way to, or not an easy
thing to put yourself through because it really
takes you outside of that comfort zone. It really
stretches your mental toughness. And that's exactly
what I wanted to do. And I proved myself that
I can still do it. We essentially got into the
last World Cup of that first part of the season.
We got into the seed group, which is the top
10 in the world. So we managed to get in that,
which is quite an elite. the elite half of the
athletes within the circuit. And that was a major
achievement for us at that stage. And then when
we managed to do that, I said, I'm done. I'm
getting out. And they were like, what? How? Why?
Because you're crazy. Like, that's not how it
works. I'm like, no, that's how it works for
me. Yeah, that's exactly how it works for me.
That's where I want to stop. That's where I want
to exit. And I realized, you know, because I
stepped away a bit from the sport with the injury
and getting into teaching. And I wasn't in that
environment for a few months. And I realized
that I didn't necessarily love the sport. I liked
it because I've done it from such a young age.
I didn't necessarily love it. And there's a lot
to unpack there, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily
the conversation for today, but the realization
that I don't love the sport made my decision
so much easier with stepping away from it. And
then just immerse myself into going back, move
to Beijing, go into teaching, and, you know,
just... That's where I am from 2017, essentially.
Four years in Beijing and four years in Shanghai.
So yeah, that was sort of a lot to unpack there,
I guess. But yeah, I hope that made sense. It
did make sense. And to unpack everything, I'll
start from the beginning. It was very impressive
to just hear you saying you went to London with
your partner. You didn't have any plan and you
just trusted the process. You trusted your gut.
So my question to you is how do you build the
confidence to go for things when there is so
much uncertainty waiting for you down the line?
I think once you build that really strong foundation
and you have a discipline, you have a structure
in place, you're... building that consistent
habit of doing things because that's the right
thing to do not because they're easy but it's
because they're the right thing to do and you're
exposing yourself to being outside of that comfort
zone is the case of going for it and what's a
better time to go for it than when you don't
have responsibilities like a family to look after
You know, because it's a different conversation
if you're in your 30s. It's a different conversation
if you're 16, 17, 20, in your 20s. Right? And
that's the best time. That was the best time
for me. Like me now, you know, with a family,
with a child, to do something crazy like moving
to... a new place getting a one -way flight ticket
and moving to a new place you know that's not
necessarily feasible right because there's so
many different aspects and looking after the
family and providing and all that kind of stuff
but it's sometimes it's not even necessarily
having the confidence but it's listening to that
gut feeling knowing that this is the best time
to try and make that And take that step because
what's the worst that can happen? Like what's
the worst outcome here? If you think about it
and if you really want to turn it on all faces,
you're thinking about, well, if it works out,
great. If it doesn't work out, well, it's not
the end of it, right? Because I'm young, I can
do other things. But at least you've tried it
and you're not going to leave with that regret.
that you haven't tried it, right? And then when
you're in your 80s and your 90s and hopefully
in your 100 and something, you're looking back
and what's the self -talk that you're going to
have at that stage? Are you going to be happy
that you didn't go for it? Or are you going to
be like, you should have, right? You should have
taken that risk, right? Because now I'm certainly
happy that I've taken that risk when it was the
case of risking it. And that's when it's the
case of risking it. When you're young, when you
have less responsibilities and when you can afford,
again, air quotes, a failure, right? If it doesn't
work out, you're going to learn from it. It's
not in vain. I mean, it's really something that
you're going to learn from it and you're going
to adjust into whatever you're going to be doing
moving forward. But again, consistency. really
beats talent and is looking at essentially finding
a way of listening to that gut feeling having
that right mindset and really having the the
belief that it's going to work out right risk
it like you know whatever it is just go for it
uh try it out you know normally generally speaking
and oftentimes it will work out And then you're
just on the way, you know. Okay, so hear me out.
What I'm getting from this is that if you try
hard things when you're young, when you're younger,
and obviously depending on your situation, you're
more likely to take bigger risks when you're
older. Because you've been putting yourself outside
of your comfort zone for so long that... Moving
forward with putting yourself outside of your
comfort zone but to the next level completely
makes sense for you. So trying hard things or
putting yourself outside of your comfort zone
can mean something different to you or the person
next to you or to the people around you. It can
mean taking a very difficult class, putting more
hours to learn about a new skill, a new class,
a new course, trying a sport. don't think you're
good at and still pushing through, seizing more,
or it can be seizing public speaking opportunities
as someone who doesn't feel comfortable with
that. But here the idea is that the more you
try and the more likely you are to find things
that interest you. Or eventually you'll feel
comfortable moving abroad because you've done
difficult things. Your mindset really determines
your ceiling, essentially, right? If you have
the right mindset, if you fix that self -thought,
if you fix that self -talk, then, you know, that's,
I mean, the sky is the limit, really. Live by
that. The sky is the limit. So everything that
is in your control, work on it. Everything that's
outside of your control, forget about it. But
move forward. Paul, you were mentioning obstacles
earlier. Can you tell us about learnings you
have? How did you manage to work around them,
with them, through them? Tell us. Sometimes we
cannot really see past the obstacle. But what
we can do is focusing on what's in our control.
So through that and making just tiny incremental
improvements, that will get us closer and will
help us go past that obstacle. And I'll give
you an example. My first training camp that I
did with a national team, we went to Germany
and out of 50 runs, I crashed 46, 47 runs during
the week. Within a week, I was bruised everywhere.
I couldn't eat. I just lost appetite, right?
Because I was stressed. I didn't even know what
stress was at that stage. I just knew something's
wrong, but I didn't know what it was. Right?
So I was stressed. I couldn't eat. I couldn't
sleep properly. And I knew that the next day
I'm going to wake up and I'm going to go back
up. I'm going to try again. And if it doesn't
work out, it doesn't work out. I'm going to try
again. And if it works out, it works out. But
the idea is, I didn't quit. I took one run at
a time. And I've tried to understand what's going
on, what's going wrong, what can I do, what's
in my ability, what can I control in this situation
that can help me go past that obstacle. And that's
something that I focused on until it worked out.
But it was a very hard lesson and a painful one.
And that really held me with that mental toughness
and held me with that perception of looking at
what is in my control. rather than focusing on
the obstacle. Because if I went back up to the
track and started a new run and then thinking
about that obstacle that will come at some point
in that run, I wasn't controlling what's in my
control. I was just fixating on that, on that
problem, on that obstacle. And if you take that
focus away from that, which is very hard to do,
If you take that focus away from that and you
actually focus on what you can control, you generally
have better chances to succeed in that situation.
That's how it helped me and that's how it built
that confidence to carry on and to not quit.
And I didn't. And for that reason, from then
on, it was just a case of... improving every
single year but it was a lot of hard lessons
of a lot of crashes a lot of setbacks and that
mentality that perception about controlling or
focusing on what's in your control and not fixating
on the goal because again it's not about that
destination it's about the journey along the
way and that's what's going to get you to where
you want to get Okay, so what's the biggest takeaway
here? Focusing on the problem, the obstacle,
the challenge won't help you. You need to identify
the steps to move forward gradually towards a
solution. Let's take another example. You had
exams in one class and the past two exams you
didn't. Your grade was not as good as you hoped
or as good as you aimed for. So what's the first
step you can take? You can either go to your
teacher and ask for some feedback, some guidance.
Another step can be readapting the way you have
been approaching those exams, practicing more,
looking into online content, videos, written
formats, asking someone to support if you can,
and so on and so forth. If you focus on the opportunities
you have to reach the next step, a better situation,
etc., you'll get there. So continue to ask yourself
questions, what you have done, what is missing,
what you can do, and what hasn't worked. Paul,
can you tell us a little bit more about your
Olympic experience and more about luge as well
as a whole? For those not familiar with luge,
it's actually a sled, right? It's a French word
for sled. It's a... It's a winter sport, one
of the fastest sports on ice, actually. And it's
really a crazy sport. And I got into it because,
you know, my dad used to be the coach for the
national team and he did that for many years.
Now he's retired. And, you know, essentially
my experience of the Olympics was a really interesting
one. the race itself was maybe not you know what
i was hoping for but there's a lot that i've
learned from that and that helped me with really
becoming so much better in the in the following
years of my career and helped me to improve my
craft and Just the whole experience, generally
speaking, you know, from entering the stadium
and representing your country and waving at people
and, you know, all that experience in the Olympic
Village. And it's something really, really special.
And I think every athlete is one of that top
goals, top experience that anyone can have in
their athletic career. right, as an athlete for
the most sports. And it's something really special,
you know, that will stay with me and will stay
in my heart from, you know, for the rest of my
life, I guess. With that Olympic experience,
you know, things change fundamentally because
you become, I guess you become a different person,
you know, you could say. Not necessarily better,
not worse, but just different. It just, it changes.
perspective on a lot of things and it just humbles
you put things into into perspective so look
with the with the Olympic experience it was something
very special right from the moment of knowing
that you can represent your country in the Olympics
right the whole process of qualifying prior to
the Olympics that whole process of qualification
that's That's something that's quite a tough
one. And if you make it through that, it's an
achievement in itself, right? Because in Luz,
there's four different World Cups that you have
to qualify and you go for that qualification
criteria. And at the end of it, if you're in
the top 20 in the world, then you can essentially
get to represent your country at the Olympics
in Luz. So that experience was quite fascinating,
you know, but I didn't necessarily aim with my
partner for Vancouver. And we were that 29, 2010
season, which was the Olympic season, was our
first full year as seniors, right? We were, prior
to that, we were part of the junior. team and
we were going for the junior circuit and the
start of the track was a bit lower so we had
to adjust to all this different new it's almost
a different environment that we had to adjust
to and we just said you know together with our
coach we said let's just go for it let's see
how it goes and we eventually made it and it
was an incredible experience from the qualification
standpoint from the actual race at the Olympics
which was very special you know with the crowds
with the television obviously we were used to
that because you know world cups and world championships
but it's a whole new level right when you're
when you're speaking about the Olympics the Olympic
village and the experiences you're getting there
you know from seeing other olympians and other
people that you generally see on television you
know skiers ski jumpers you know you name it
and it was such a such an interesting experience
that changed me fundamentally and helped me again
with becoming a better person and becoming better
in the craft that i was doing with luge and essentially
finding that Finding that mindset where you focus
on what you can control rather than the outcome.
And I've mentioned about this, but I think that's
something that fundamentally changed how I looked
at competing. Because now you're going from passive
to sort of like active in the sense that you're
going for more in a race. you're controlling
what you can control. But now you're not just
trying to, you know, let's say after the first
run, you're on the eighth place. You're not just
trying to protect that eighth spot. You're trying
to go after seven and six. And there's a constructive
aggression, I like to call it, that helps you
to really, really focus on the things that you
can control. Not necessarily focus on the outcome,
but try within the run to be 100 % present in
the moment. Control those variables that you're
able to control in the moment that will most
of the time generate a good outcome and whatever
you're aiming for. But again, you know, from
the good, from the bad, you're learning, you're
reflecting, you're learning from that and that
helps you with. just becoming better, moving
forward. And that's why I keep talking about
reflection, creating that consistency with regards
to, you know, what you're doing. And that will
help you to stand out because you're the one
that works on that daily craft on a daily basis.
So now it's your turn. You have identified a
problem, a challenge, something that's preventing
you. from reaching a specific goal, your responsibility
at this stage is to break down potential steps,
potential solutions that are taking you gradually
closer to a solution. And if it's studies related,
you have so many episodes on studies, how people
face difficulties, how they manage to move forward.
So use that information. to identify how can
you go for it. Paul, can you walk us through
your process once you're about to compete? What
is going through your head? How are you preparing?
What are you thinking about? What are the things
that the people who are listening to us could
duplicate to their own preparation before an
exam, before an interview, before something that
is very important to them? Essentially, We're
going through this practice of visualization
because luge, it's a sport that doesn't allow
you to do a lot of runs on a daily basis. The
physical demand of doing a run is quite considerable.
And most of the times we're doing two, three
runs, you know, there's a lot of G -forces. It's
just that the toll is taking. on your body it's
quite significant and to compensate for that
lack of repetition that we can do on a daily
basis we're going through this visualization
process and that really looks like this you're
sitting in the changing room you close your eyes
and you visualize that perfect run right because
with luge you cannot really consciously make
a decision saying, oh, I went a bit late in this
corner, so now I have to sort of drive this way.
It doesn't allow you because of the speed, because
by the time you consciously think about that,
that corner is gone, right? So going through
that visualization process helps us with not
just memorizing the track and knowing every single
centimeter of the track by heart, but it helps
with that muscle memory. And what that creates
when you're actually sliding down this track,
now you're able to almost unconsciously drive
the sled, to put it in very simple language,
drive the sled down successfully and not having
to think consciously about what you're doing
next. Because again, it happens so fast that
you cannot think that way, right? muscle memory
so we're going through this visualization process
we're doing that separately but we're also doing
that as a as a team right so with my partner
so we would go through the verbal process of
right we start now we're in the next corner can
you make sure you're doing this make sure you're
doing that so it's just the case of wording the
visualization process which is very interesting
but It allows you, and there's a lot of science
actually behind this, you know, actually tricking
your mind into thinking the mind is doing that
very thing. And that's exactly what we're doing,
right? We're just going through that process
of going down the track at that same exact speed
that allows us to trick essentially our mind
into thinking that we're doing that. And when
it comes to doing it in real life, Now you're
familiar, you're accustomed with that feeling,
right? So that's how, in simple terms, it looks.
It's fascinating because for you, you have to
practice visualization because of the impact
of that training on your body. But for people
who are not competing, who are not athletes like
us. Practicing visualization is fascinating because
we have our own challenges. For example, we don't
have enough time prepared for an exam, for an
interview. So trying to practice visualization
can actually help us ace it. Yeah, look, visualization,
it can be applied in everything in your life.
And I think it's stuck with me from my loose
days because... then you can visualize an outcome
at work, or you can visualize becoming a great
artist, or playing the guitar, or whatever it
is, right? You can do that, not just in sport,
you can visualize the outcome of something. And
that's such an important thing. And it's almost
like having an edge. things because now you can
practice in your head if i can put in that simple
language you can essentially you're practicing
in your head you know whatever that skill may
be or whatever if you want to become something
that you're not currently that visualization
process can really help you And are there any
tools or the techniques you've been using or
any other advice you would like to share with
us? You know, if I would have, I guess, an advice
for the listeners and especially for the younger
ones, right? It's small daily habits that matter
much more than perhaps your talent. Because the
reality is the secret to success, not just in
sport, in life, you don't have to be a genius,
right? You just have to be consistent. You just
have to do things repeatedly, consistently, and
you just have to become good at that. And you're
creating that discipline. And it's just a snowball
effect, right? Because from there, you're just
improving. It's like we said earlier, it's that
compound interest on discipline, right? Because
once you establish that discipline, everything
will just be compound interest. And don't wait
to feel ready. And that's important because oftentimes
we wait to be motivated. delay things i'm gonna
start tomorrow i'm gonna start next week and
the thing is the reality is you might never feel
ready like you might never feel both physically
and mentally ready and it's just the case of
start it now see how it goes start small tomorrow
you're gonna do it again um a week later perhaps
if you're doing it on a daily basis you're gonna
start you know, noticing some improvements, you
know, maybe you're playing a new instrument and
you're learning that way. If you're doing it
on a daily basis, it's going to show in a couple
of, you know, a few short weeks. And then thinking
about discomfort, that discomfort is not your
enemy, right? It's essentially a feedback system.
The moment something feels hard, most of us will
stop, right? Because naturally, we just don't
like discomfort. We just like to be in our bubble.
We just like to be in our comfort zone, right?
But that's exactly what you should be paying
attention to because the hard moment, that hard
moment is, again, the universe showing you that
you need to grow and it puts you through that
discomfort. And if you're pushing through, It
just helps you to become better at what you're
trying to achieve and to set those great daily
habits. And I guess lastly, you know, your character
is the only thing nobody can take away from you.
Because whatever you're building as a character,
and we're referring back to that daily habits,
to the consistency, to putting yourself through
discomfort, that shapes who you are, right? That
will build your character. That's going to build
your identity around you and around, you know,
who you are deep down inside. At the end of the
day, you know, you can lose races, events, jobs,
whatever it is in life, right? Money. But if
you build essentially a character based on doing
the right thing, you know, that's what truly
matters because that's going to be with you forever.
You know, it's going to stay with you. It's going
to stick with you. So I guess, you know, you're
listening because some of you want more and that's
great. And you should go for more. You should
find ways of growing. Because you're capable.
Yes. And you should believe in yourself that
you're capable. Yes. And that's really important
to believe in yourself and not allow other people
to think differently. Because just follow your
intuition, that gut feeling. And essentially,
every single one of you listening now. you're
capable of so much more than you think. Absolutely.
So just start today and just keep proving it
to yourself because that's all that matters.
Always is. In approaching life the way you have
been doing has opened so many opportunities for
you. You're currently living in China and you
first live in Beijing where you had an incredible
opportunity to coach the Chinese Olympic team
in Luzh. Can you tell us about that experience?
Yeah, absolutely. That was a really fantastic
experience because and it started with that visualization
process. It's interesting because I knew the
head coach that was training the national team
here and I started wondering you know what if
what if what if and I was there very close to
where they build the loose track and I just shoot
him a message and I said look I'm I'm in China
now and you know if you ever need any support
with coaching with on the track you know I'll
be happy to help out and yeah we met briefly
and then Long story short, I stayed with the
team for a season, and my school in Beijing agreed,
and they were very flexible with this, but I
was doing four days in Beijing at school, and
then three days I was at the track. And I did
that, essentially, for weeks and weeks and months.
That experience, the coaching experience and
what I was doing there, it was such an easy way
of spending my time because I go back to my athlete
luge days, although now I was in a coaching position.
So slightly different, but I enjoyed it a lot.
And that's why I didn't see it as work, essentially.
That's the only way I could do four days there
and three days there for a long period of time
and not having essentially a day off because
I didn't see that as work, right? I enjoyed that
process so much. I think that's a key takeaway
here would be if you do something that you enjoy
a lot and you're able to earn from that. that's
essentially a cheat code to life because you're
just doing what you love and you're getting paid
for it, right? And not too many people can claim
that they're doing that. It's something that
a lot of people are struggling with and, you
know, it's the nature of how society is built.
But yeah, if you can find that one thing and
get paid for it, happy days. It is a cheat code.
This is amazing. Congratulations for this amazing
opportunity that you decided to seize. You decided
to go towards that person that you've met, offering
and then making the most of it. So for you who
are listening to us, hopefully you'll find that
cheat code, whatever it means for you. Let's
find it out. So we are coming to an end. Thank
you so much, Paul, for everything that you've
shared with us so far. So to wrap this chat up,
let's try to find three takeaways, three pieces
of advice you would like to share with the people
listening to us. It's hard to narrow it to three
things. I will create a couple of things. Number
one, consistency. You know, consistency beats
talent. And that's going to be key in everything
you're doing in life. If you're not consistent,
you're going to fall behind. It's as simple as
that. If you're consistent with whatever that
looks for you in terms of what you're doing and
what you're trying to achieve, consistency will
get you there. It's about that small daily habits,
that compound, as we were saying earlier. And
that, I guess, leads me to the second thing.
which is habits are the compound interest of
self -improvement. And actually that comes from
a book. I'm not sure if you're familiar with
Atomic Habits from James Clear, but that comes
from that book, which is a great book. And if
you're interested in learning more about daily
micro habits, consistency. You know, discomfort.
That's a great book to read. Yes. And then a
third thing, let's see. I guess the third thing
would be start small. They're all sort of like
connect, right? But start small. You know, don't
wait for the right moment. Start. figure it out
on the way don't wait for the perfect moment
for the perfect day the one thing that if you're
a bit tired your training won't count or your
guitar lesson won't count or your whatever that
is just do it anyways because down the line it
will make a difference and it's better to do
even 20 % of it, then 0%. That's always, it's
math, right? That's always going to be better.
So just start small. Learn along the way and
figure things out along the way, you know. Every
small choice, I would say, you know, it's working
towards that person you're trying to become.
everything will have an impact and will be beneficial
down the line. So I'll stop there. And this is
the perfect way for closing it. This is a call
to action. So start small, start somewhere, but
start. You can make it. Thank you, Paul. Thank
you for everything you shared with us today.
Thank you for the countless takeaways. And thank
you for the countless takeaways. Hey, look, it
was a pleasure. Thank you for having me. I really
enjoy these conversations, you know, I have to
say. Every time, it's rare these days that, you
know, there's a lot of small talk everywhere,
right? It's very rare that you sit down for a
coffee with someone and actually have that person.
active, 100 % listening to what you're saying
is rare. And having conversations like this can
really make a difference. And hopefully people
will find a key takeaway. They might find something
valuable in what we covered today. And for me,
it was a pleasure. So thank you for having me,
Alistair. And the pleasure was mine. Thank you
to you. Thank you for listening to us. Thank
you for waiting until the last moment to still
continue to learn, to continue to take notes.
We wish you all the best for the upcoming year.
So may it bring you more habits, more discipline
and more visualization. And wherever you're listening
to this podcast, please don't forget to rate
it, obviously five stars and give it a follow.
Oh and also to share it with the person you think
is definitely going to learn from this conversation.
See you next week!