841 Bethany Hamilton on Embracing Challenges and Becoming a Champion

GRIT CANNOT BE TAUGHT. What does it mean to be unstoppable? No matter what knocks you down, you stay the course for your goal. It’s not enough to just withstand the struggle. You have to embrace the struggle. That’s what I did when I played football, and it’s what I do in my career today. Fall in love with the pain associated with your passion. On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I talk about the power of grit with a champion surfer with an inspiring story: Bethany Hamilton. Bethany is a professional surfer, author and motivational speaker. At the age of 13, Bethany lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her dream career as a surfer. However, one month after the attack, Bethany returned to surfing and within two years had won her first national surfing title. Bethany’s foundation of faith has been her backbone; her source of truth, hope, and strength. At 17 years old, she realized her dream of surfing professionally, and she is still an active surf competitor to this day. Bethany talks about her journey to become a mother and what it’s taught her. She also reveals the lessons her parents taught her that allowed her to get back on the board after losing her arm. So get ready to learn all about how to be unstoppable on Episode 841. If you enjoyed this episode check out the video, show notes and more at http://www.lewishowes.com/841 and follow at www.instagram.com/lewishowes. Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 841 with champion surfer Bethany Hamilton.

• 0:08Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Maya Angelou said, "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." And Osho said, "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move." I'm super excited about this one. We've got the inspirational Bethany Hamilton in the house. And man, is this individual an inspiration. If you don't know who she is, she's a professional surfer, author, and motivational speaker. And at the age of 13, as a rising surf star, she lost her arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her dream career.

• 1:14Lewis Howes?

  However, one month after the attack of losing her arm, she returned to surfing. And within two years, had won her first national surfing title. This is unbelievable. If you guys remember this story when it happened, at 17 years old, she realized her dream of surfing professionally. And in 2016, beat a six-time world champion and the top-ranked surfer in the world at a major World Surf League competition. In 2017, she was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame. And her film, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, is the untold story of the heart of a champion. And her resilience against all odds to become one of the leading professional surfers of our time.

• 1:59Lewis Howes?

  And it's out in theaters right now. So make sure you guys check it out. It's so inspiring and moving. So make sure you guys watch this movie. In this interview, we talk about where she Finds the courage to tackle bigger and bigger waves. How motherhood has both challenged her and changed her for the better. Her accident and how empowered her rather than hindered her. The lessons she hopes to teach her sons. What she does to stay grounded as a wife, a mother and a competitive athlete. And so much more. You're going to be moved. You're going to be inspired by this interview. Bethany is just a delight. And I'm so glad I got to sit down with her and connect with her because she brought so much wisdom to this interview.

• 2:44Lewis Howes?

  And without further ado, I'm so excited about this. Make sure to share this with your friends. Text someone while you're listening who might find this inspiring and interesting. Just send them the link right to the podcast app that you're listening to. Be a hero and a champion in someone's life today by sending them this message. Without further ado, the inspirational Bethany Hamilton.

• 3:09Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone back to the School of Greatness Podcast. We have the inspirational Bethany Hamilton in the house. Good to see you. I've obviously heard about your story when I was in college, I think, when you had your accident and it was all over the world, the information about you. And people were so inspired when you decided to go back into surfing, which was crazy. And you have a new movie out right now. I watched the trailer for it. I'm going to go to the theater and watch it, but I watched the trailer and I had the chills. Cause you're on a massive wave. Coming down and I'm like, how are you even doing this? I can't even, I was telling Dale, I was like, I can't even surf a five foot wave without feeling like I'm going to suffocate getting out. And you're doing like massive waves.

• 3:53Lewis Howes?

  With one arm, it's, it's super inspiring. So.

• 3:55Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 3:56Lewis Howes?

  Congrats on everything.

• 3:58Speaker 01

  Doing what I love to do.

• 3:59Lewis Howes?

  Doing what you love to do. What's been the biggest lesson for you? In the last, uh, since the accident, which has been what, 15 years now? Biggest lesson you learned about yourself in the last 15 years?

• 4:13Speaker 01

  Oh gosh, you're starting with a hard one. I think a lot of what I've learned in the last 15 years has just been finding community and people to support in a positive direction. I feel like it's been like, not, I mean, I grew up with an incredible family, but then once I became an adult, it's like, you're still, I'm so attached to my family still yet, but like, meeting my husband and like, just creating a team of like-minded people to help me achieve what I want to achieve and, yeah, there's just been so much that's happened in the last 15 years. It's mind-boggling, entering into motherhood and, yeah, learning to communicate properly.

• 4:55Lewis Howes?

  You couldn't, you couldn't communicate properly before?

• 4:59Speaker 01

  I would say no. I mean, especially once you enter into a marriage, it's just, you're constantly challenged to communicate properly and this is the person you love more than anyone, but it's like you get the most comfortable and you can get almost like lazy and I would say like just finding like healthy communication has been a big one.

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow, what's been the hardest part of marriage for you?

• 5:21Speaker 01

  I would say communication. I mean, we've had such a beautiful marriage, we're coming up on, shoot, six or seven years now, this month, August. We've had a really beautiful marriage and, I mean, Adam kind of came into the Bethany world, which is a bit chaotic. It's like super rad and fun, but like, he had a time of adjustment and-

• 5:44Lewis Howes?

  It wasn't his life anymore.

• 5:46Speaker 01

  No, yeah, and like, just adjusting to, you know, I don't know, we make such an incredible team and we have so much fun together and we really like, we mesh well, but there's just, life's hard and you're always just growing together and getting through and just trusting God and-

• 6:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 6:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's, it's been so awesome.

• 6:08Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 6:09Speaker 01

  And then having kids too is like a whole nother like-

• 6:12Lewis Howes?

  How long were you married before kids?

• 6:16Speaker 01

  A year and like two months.

• 6:17Lewis Howes?

  Okay. Do you wish you would have had a few more years?

• 6:19Speaker 01

  We were aiming for like four years.

• 6:22Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:22Speaker 01

  So when we got pregnant, we were like, oh wow.

• 6:26Lewis Howes?

  What's happening?

• 6:27Speaker 01

  So that's a part of my new documentary. I was mid filming my documentary and then I found I was pregnant. And we were like, should we even do this? Should we keep going? Then we did. So that became part of the story. And yeah, it's a pretty cool aspect. I'm excited to share because I get pretty like raw and real. And I wasn't, I didn't feel ready for motherhood.

• 6:49Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:49Speaker 01

  I wasn't like embracing it, which I'm like kind of an embracer. So for me to kind of reject this like God given beautiful gift felt. I look back on it now and I'm like, that's okay. But I don't like agree with that Bethany now. I'm like, oh my gosh, motherhood's amazing. I love my son Tobias made life that much better.

• 7:12Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 7:13Speaker 01

  Now we have Wesley and he's like throwing us for a roller coaster. But he's amazing too.

• 7:18Lewis Howes?

  So did you feel like you weren't ready for it or you were?

• 7:21Speaker 01

  I think I just had, I was at a place where I was like pushing my surfing the best I had ever surfed. And just at this place of progression and growing and just kind of rocking it. And then all of a sudden I'm pregnant and I'm like, oh shoot, like.

• 7:38Lewis Howes?

  It kind of throws one thing off of the track to focus on another thing.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  And I was just kind of like, oh, I wanted a few more years with you, hon. Like before the baby, but it's been amazing, so not looking back.

• 7:53Lewis Howes?

  Is there anything in your life you would change differently? Like the years you got pregnant, when you got married, like the accident? Would you change it? Would you wish, I wish I had four more years before the accident? Do you wish anything differently?

• 8:05Speaker 01

  No, because I love my life now and I'm so thankful for where I'm at. And I'm like, gosh, if I changed it. Like there's some things I'd look at like in the younger years of my competitive surfing career with Winarmia.

• 8:18Lewis Howes?

  Like 16 years old or?

• 8:20Speaker 01

  Like six, well more like 18 to 21. I just wish I had found like the right support and like really hunted down people to like really support me. I was like surfing at that time was just growing to be more like professional-esque.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  Professional-esque. Because surfing has come from more of like a cruisy background. Whereas now the sport of surfing.

• 8:48Lewis Howes?

  There was money involved.

• 8:49Speaker 01

  A part of the World Surfing League is like legit pro. Like you're making good money or it's just very professional now, kind of. It's just so different.

• 8:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 8:59Speaker 01

  But.

• 9:00Lewis Howes?

  You didn't have the right team?

• 9:01Speaker 01

  But then, yeah, I just didn't. I don't feel like I had the right support then. Or people to kind of give me. Like I was just doing good in competition, but not quite where I could have been.

• 9:12Lewis Howes?

  Like, was it more of a coach? Or is it more of like family support, friend support?

• 9:17Speaker 01

  Coach.

• 9:17Lewis Howes?

  I didn't have the right coach.

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Like coach and just people to like help.

• 9:21Lewis Howes?

  Training.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  Bring out the drive in me. Because I already am like naturally driven, but I just. But then I took a break from competitive surfing and then that's when I met my husband. So it's like, why would I change that when I'm like really happy with the man I get to share every day with? And the father who is absolutely incredible. And now we're doing all kinds of stuff and I'm still doing contests. And yeah, I'm still surfing better than ever.

• 9:48Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 9:49Speaker 01

  As a mom of two.

• 9:50Lewis Howes?

  Now you're surfing better than?

• 9:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure.

• 9:53Lewis Howes?

  When you're 24, best shape of your life, whatever.

• 9:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, better now.

• 9:56Lewis Howes?

  Free, no responsibilities.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, maybe it's the maturity or just. It just goes to show if you work hard, like, I don't know, you can keep going after you have kids, so.

• 10:08Lewis Howes?

  Wow, inspiring. So you're surfing better. Do you just feel like a sense of wisdom? Like you understand how the ocean works better? And you understand which chances to take? And you know your body more or what's?

• 10:23Speaker 01

  I think it's kind of a combination of everything. Especially just kind of hunting down opportunity. So I look for what I want and then I just like go get it.

• 10:35Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 10:35Speaker 01

  So. It's fun.

• 10:37Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. Was there ever a time where you really doubted yourself? Cause I know, I think I saw you were back on the ocean like four weeks after the accident. Is that true or is it?

• 10:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, four weeks later.

• 10:48Lewis Howes?

  You're back in the ocean with stitches.

• 10:50Speaker 01

  I mean, I was in the hospital and I was like, I don't know if I can surf and I don't know what my future looks like. But then I talked to the guy who had lost his leg to a shark and he learned how to surf with one leg. So that was my first hint of inspiration and that was before I left the hospital. So I had already set my mind to try surfing. I didn't know if I could do it, but I was gonna try and get out there. And then as soon as I got up on my first wave, there was no turning back. And yeah, I'm thankful because the ocean is so much fun. It's for sure the funnest sport in the world.

• 11:23Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Did you ever doubt yourself though?

• 11:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, just last week I doubted myself, like you're always like going up and down.

• 11:30Lewis Howes?

  In the ocean or?

• 11:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I was in two contests and I did not succeed in either event.

• 11:37Lewis Howes?

  Where was, where was the contest?

• 11:39Speaker 01

  It was in Southern California. And so like there's a sense of like, ah, like that is just not feeling good. But I was also like, the conditions were absolutely terrible. Well, one event was okay, but the second event was like the waves weren't breaking. It was like, and I'm like a big girl, like tall, almost six foot.

• 11:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 12:00Speaker 01

  So when you're put in like really little, little waves, not even as high as my knee.

• 12:05Lewis Howes?

  It's hard to get up, right?

• 12:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, I need a little power behind it.

• 12:08Lewis Howes?

  You need a little more momentum too. I mean, you have to be able to use your arms faster in a smaller wave, right?

• 12:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's like my favorite waves to surf are waves that like I literally cannot even paddle into the wave. Like I position myself and lean into it.

• 12:19Lewis Howes?

  Just stand up, right?

• 12:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 12:21Lewis Howes?

  I've surfed like three times in my life, Waikiki Beach or something, like fifteen, twenty years ago or something, yeah. I tried to surf out here one time, I can't remember, like near Carlsbad or something.

• 12:31Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 12:32Lewis Howes?

  And I just was, I could not get up. I think the board was so small.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  Oh, you need a big board. Like learning, you gotta start on a big nine foot.

• 12:40Lewis Howes?

  I'm a giant.

• 12:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, you need a, you need a big board for sure.

• 12:43Lewis Howes?

  It needs to be stable, I need to like, yeah.

• 12:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's like, you need to spend probably a year on a big board unless you were going like every day.

• 12:51Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 12:52Speaker 01

  And then you like slowly work your way down.

• 12:54Lewis Howes?

  Like a month or something. When I come to Kuwait next, you'll have to I'll have to come out and watch you and I'll take the big board next to you, a little tiny board.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, let's do it.

• 13:02Lewis Howes?

  Do the baby waves.

• 13:04Speaker 01

  You can surf with Tobias.

• 13:05Lewis Howes?

  Okay, perfect. A four-year-old, yeah. He's probably better than me. Is he surfing right now?

• 13:11Speaker 01

  He's pretty good.

• 13:11Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh, I don't want to surf with him. I'll find some teacher out there and like show me the basics. That's crazy. So when you're up against a world champion who's next to you in a competition, or someone who's top five in the world, what do you think about when you're about to drop in the wave, or you're going up against someone like that? When they're able to swim faster and able to maybe do something that you're not sure if you can do right now? What do you think about?

• 13:41Speaker 01

  Well, it's interesting because the sport of competitive surfing, I literally, it's more about the ocean than my competitor. Like it's mastering the ocean, it's adjusting to the conditions you have, the waves you have, and like performing the best you can on the waves you're given. And like with surfing now too, you end up taking turns, so I mean, there is a bit of luck, there's a bit of there's a lot of strategy, but it essentially comes down to mastering the ocean, which is like the more daunting aspect really, because the ocean is always the ocean is always humbling you and kind of like putting you in your place.

• 14:26Speaker 01

  So that's more of what I'm thinking about. And of course, like when you're going up against a world champ, okay, yes, you are like, okay, I got a tough heat at hand. I really got to master the ocean to like the best of my ability because they're a world champ for a reason. So like there is thought towards them, but like really it comes down to mastering the ocean.

• 14:49Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 14:49Speaker 01

  And like succeeding in a short window of time and like, yeah, doing well, so.

• 14:56Lewis Howes?

  How do you, when you're, you see a forty foot wave, I saw this in the trailer, forty feet, is that what it was, the wave?

• 15:02Speaker 01

  I guess so.

• 15:03Lewis Howes?

  It's something huge, right?

• 15:04Speaker 01

  It was big.

• 15:05Lewis Howes?

  Massive. I was like, is that even, I didn't even think that was you. I was like, is that possible? It was massive. How do you have the courage to go and try something like that? Like bigger and bigger and bigger, knowing that if you crash, like it's gonna keep you under for a while, isn't it?

• 15:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, well.

• 15:23Lewis Howes?

  Do you ever get scared about, I mean like?

• 15:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I have a lifetime of training to prepare for this moment.

• 15:30Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 15:30Speaker 01

  And then I also grew up in a family of chargers. Like people that like, both my mom and dad surf big waves, my brother surf big waves. My, especially my middle, um, my one up brother. He charges like crazy slabs. Slabs are like, kind of the mutant waves that don't even look like a wave.

• 15:52Lewis Howes?

  Freakish waves.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  They're like, like I remember one session, I was like, he's gonna die. Like I was crying in the car like, I love you, like.

• 16:00Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:01Speaker 01

  If you die, like, I love you. Like, that sort of thing, so.

• 16:06Lewis Howes?

  Laird Hamilton style, like crazy.

• 16:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, but even like more mutant, like Laird surfing waves that you can actually like surf.

• 16:12Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 16:13Speaker 01

  He's like going after these like mutant waves.

• 16:15Lewis Howes?

  It's gotta be towed in.

• 16:16Speaker 01

  There's like a small like number of people that are into these mutant waves that are just like death, death waves, but. So I've grown up in like this environment of charging and trying to keep up with my two older brothers and also on an island where there's really great waves and all winter long we're getting huge swells. So as I grew up, I would like continually kind of build up in bigger and bigger surf and and then I, I was talking to someone the other day, I have a really good breath hold, but I've been training my breath hold since I was like seven years old. My dad would take me to this like local lava rock pool. And we would go underwater and like try to swim the whole pool length and then once we made it to the end, we'd try to swim the whole pool length and back.

• 17:00Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 17:01Speaker 01

  So it's like kind of this, you take a lot of confidence in your preparation for this day so that when you finally get that chance to surf something crazy. And ginormous is what I call it to my three, four year old, I say ginormous. Then you are ready.

• 17:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you're more ready.

• 17:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, and then for sure, you wanna be mentally like just spry that day, but.

• 17:25Lewis Howes?

  What do you do when you're in the situation where it feels like you can't get out? How do you, where does your mind go? Where does your heart go?

• 17:32Speaker 01

  I've kind of trained myself to stay calm underwater.

• 17:35Lewis Howes?

  Just kind of relax.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  In like certain types of waves where you're not as worried about like dying underwater.

• 17:43Lewis Howes?

  The ones where you're worried about dying underwater, what do you think about?

• 17:46Speaker 01

  No, no, but the waves you're not worried about dying underwater, you practice. So you practice kind of like staying calm. You're getting like kind of ragdoll, like a doggy ragdoll and a dog. A doll. And so you practice just like, okay, I'm just relaxed about body, the muscles.

• 18:01Lewis Howes?

  Let the waves take me wherever.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  Wait it out. And so then when you get to the really heavy waves, you're like, already have that practice of like just letting it. Cause you can try to like fight it and come up and the ocean's just, you, either way, you gotta kind of wait.

• 18:15Lewis Howes?

  Stay down.

• 18:15Speaker 01

  Like sometimes maybe you'll get like two seconds up faster, but like really you just gotta wait it out until the water like calms. So, yeah, you're just, I just kind of take that.

• 18:26Lewis Howes?

  Meditate, relax.

• 18:27Speaker 01

  Over into the just like calm down. But sometimes you're like, and I don't know if you know much about breath holding, do you? Like, so your ribs start to kind of like convulse.

• 18:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  So it's like if your ribs are convulsing, which I have never had a hold down where my ribs started convulsing. So, you know, and I know that I can, like my, one of my longer breath holds is like over four minutes.

• 18:52Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  So I'm like, okay.

• 18:53Lewis Howes?

  Under pressure?

• 18:55Speaker 01

  No, this was like static calm. So, but I still like take confidence in like, well, I technically could hold it for three, four minutes, but like granted, it's way different when you're getting ragdoll. But like, I'm like, okay, I could do a good 45 seconds, you know?

• 19:12Lewis Howes?

  Wow. What is your greatest fear?

• 19:15Speaker 01

  Oh, I don't know if I have like a greatest fear.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  I take motherhood pretty seriously, so just, I don't like decide off of fear, but I kinda just don't wanna blow it, you know?

• 19:35Lewis Howes?

  What would blowing it look like?

• 19:37Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, my husband and I talk a lot about like just caring for our relationship first and foremost, cuz I think that speaks more louder than anything for our kids. So having us have a healthy relationship and loving him well and making sure we get time together. And then just being present and a part of my kids' lives and like just sharing fun times together. But also like, I just, I don't know, I just want my boys to be like respectful, kind, young men and... Yeah.

• 20:14Lewis Howes?

  Every mom wants that, right?

• 20:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, but many of our decisions as mothers, like in how we raise them, will hugely affect that. So being that mom that kinda guides them towards those. Which Tobes is like, he's so amazing. I mean Wesley's amazing too, but Tobes has this sense of like chivalry already.

• 20:36Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 20:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:38Lewis Howes?

  Do you feel like you taught him that or is your dad?

• 20:40Speaker 01

  I think I've taught him a bit, but I also think he, it naturally comes to him too. Like he's very thoughtful towards other people. And lately I've noticed like he held the elevator door for me cuz I was like just taking too long in the elevator. I'm gonna say why, but. And he, I was like, can you please hold the elevator? And then I was like, thank you so much. And I looked at him and he was like, had this like huge smile on his face. Like he just held the elevator door.

• 21:11Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  He was so happy. So we'll see though.

• 21:15Lewis Howes?

  What's the, what's the greatest lesson your mom and dad taught you?

• 21:20Speaker 01

  Oh, man. I mean, they encouraged me in my faith in God, which has been such like my rock and my place of like refuge and peace. Especially when I lost my arm, I just think, how did I have such peace? I was so at peace with the situation.

• 21:37Lewis Howes?

  Really? Right afterwards?

• 21:38Speaker 01

  Right after, like it's kind of bizarre.

• 21:41Lewis Howes?

  In the ocean or like in the hospital?

• 21:42Speaker 01

  Kind of in the ocean and the hospital.

• 21:44Lewis Howes?

  In the ocean, you're like, okay.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  I was very calm and I was, even as a 13 year old, I was like praying like, God, help me get through this, like.

• 21:51Lewis Howes?

  In the ocean?

• 21:52Speaker 01

  In the ocean, like while I'm like dying, you know, like 60% of the blood out and.

• 21:59Lewis Howes?

  Crazy.

• 22:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, and then in the hospital, I was pretty at peace and just like okay with it. And my mom always kind of encouraged me to be thankful for just the fact that I was alive. And so I immediately kind of went into the whole scenario of like, life is different now, but I'm thankful I'm alive. Like, there's so much more to life than the arm, you know, like. So I would say my mom taught me a lot about like just my, like encouraging me in my faith in God and trusting that God has a greater plan for this and that good will come from this. And I look at it and I'm like, no doubt, good has come from like what seems like such an awful thing. So imagine if all of us believed that like, hey, good's gonna come from our terrible situation.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  We might get through our situations with more hope and like direction of that like something good is gonna come out of this. I don't look back and think, oh, I wish I had my arm and I wish my life was way different. I'm just happy with where I'm at.

• 23:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's inspiring.

• 23:03Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 23:03Lewis Howes?

  Wow. And what about your dad?

• 23:06Speaker 01

  And my dad, he's like the super supporter. He came to my contest last week.

• 23:12Lewis Howes?

  Nice.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  He's like, I'm not gonna come to the premiere of Unstoppable, but I'm gonna come to the contest the two weeks later. He loves being a part of my surfing especially and he's a great grandpa too, but and great dad and another thing my mom or both of them taught me a sense of adventure, which is just so fun. I live life looking for like the next adventure, like whether it's going to the park in a few minutes, going on some crazy surf trip. So they're so adventurous. Like I'm gonna go camping when I get home with my family. We're going kayak camping and we're just kind of like, I've kept, they've ingrained that adventurous spirit in me and my mom's really like

• 23:53Speaker 01

  on the fly, spur of the moment, whereas I'm kind of a planner, but then I'm also on the fly, spur of the moment. I'm like, hon, let's do this, like, let's go to trampoline world tomorrow, you know, stuff like that, like just go get some energy out. Especially when we're in California, we're just like, where's the adventure?

• 24:10Speaker 01

  Drive on 405.

• 24:11Lewis Howes?

  Right, that's crazy, roller coaster.

• 24:14Speaker 01

  But then we go home and we're like, okay, back to like outdoors and

• 24:18Lewis Howes?

  Chill adventure, yeah, chill adventure.

• 24:20Speaker 01

  Adventure. So I love that they like gave me that. Like we grew up going camping all the time and just they supported traveling and traveled the world. Once I started getting into competitive surfing and yeah, they were just amazing parents, really.

• 24:38Lewis Howes?

  What's a lesson you wish they would have taught you?

• 24:40Speaker 01

  Ooh, maybe finances and like taxes and stuff like that. And I'm also thinking the school systems should teach that too, but yeah, I'm definitely gonna make sure my kids graduate high school knowing like a little bit about finances, taxes, like all the essential things.

• 24:59Lewis Howes?

  Did you learn the hard way?

• 25:01Speaker 01

  Kind of, but I kind of just learned to like pay people to do it for me.

• 25:06Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 25:06Speaker 01

  So I haven't had like bad scenarios. I just like wish they had taught me a little more of that, but then I'm also like, I should go teach them now. Not that I have it all figured out, but.

• 25:21Lewis Howes?

  Your boys are eighteen and twenty-three, I guess, twenty-two. What do you wish that you have taught them that they have now created in the world?

• 25:32Speaker 01

  Oh, I just hope they're content where they're at. I hope they're patient for a nice girl.

• 25:41Speaker 01

  Maybe I hope they're like living out their passions. So I hope their job comes in something that really gives them like passion and drive and excitement. And that they're like gentlemen and that they have a sense of adventure. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's gonna be so fun. I can't wait to be a grandma, so.

• 26:02Lewis Howes?

  Already? Can't wait already to be a grandma?

• 26:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:05Lewis Howes?

  How old are you now?

• 26:06Speaker 01

  I'm twenty-nine.

• 26:07Lewis Howes?

  Twenty-nine. You wanna be a grandmother already?

• 26:09Speaker 01

  No, I don't wanna be a grandma already. I just look forward to being a grandma someday. I think it'll be easier than motherhood.

• 26:15Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 26:16Speaker 01

  But like, it's gonna be fun. I get to go like go take the kids surfing and then like bring them home and be like, okay, you put them down for the nap.

• 26:24Lewis Howes?

  On a scale of one to ten, ten being the hardest, how hard is motherhood?

• 26:28Speaker 01

  Oh, it's the hardest thing for sure. I don't have a scale, but it's but it's like the best things in life are often the hardest things. So think of that, weigh that out, you know? It's the best thing, but it's also the hardest thing.

• 26:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  Cause it like just keep you're always kind of on. But they bring so much joy and excitement and adventure and challenge. And I think they make you a better human, cause you just you're now responsible for another little human. And they see every action that you take and they see every kinda um. They're watching you all day long, so. Yeah, there's been times where I like I wasn't dealing with stress well and just maybe my plate was a little overfilled and. I could see Tobes, he was kinda worried about me, you know, like. But then we got past that and realized, okay, slow things down, like mellow things out a bit, like don't do too much.

• 27:25Speaker 01

  And it's okay now, but you know, he's like watching everything and soaking it all up. So it kinda challenges me to be thoughtful in everything.

• 27:35Lewis Howes?

  How do you prepare for day to day as a competitive athlete, as a mom, a wife, running a business, traveling the world? How do you stay grounded with it all?

• 27:47Speaker 01

  I go surfing.

• 27:48Lewis Howes?

  That's how you stay grounded?

• 27:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know, there's a lot of things I do, but.

• 27:53Lewis Howes?

  Cause it seems like a lot, it seems like a lot of energy.

• 27:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:56Lewis Howes?

  And there's a lot of moms out there who have one, two, three, four kids, and they've got a career, and they've got a lot of things happening.

• 28:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:04Lewis Howes?

  And I admire it because it's, I don't know if I could do it, so how do you do it and prepare for it?

• 28:09Speaker 01

  Moms are the ultimate multitaskers, but yeah, sometimes I'll, you know, I'm on social media and whatnot, and I try to be active and commenting back. But like I'll see comments like, how do you do it all? Like, you're so amazing. And I'm like, well, I do have a husband and we teamwork everything. He's like full-time dad, but I'm also kinda full-time mom.

• 28:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:31Speaker 01

  Like we really like live together every day and we're very like, you know, we teamwork everything, so it's like. And plus we have a team of people that help us as well, who are very like-minded and, you know, involved every day. So it's just this ebb and flow of balance, but kinda how I prepare is just, you know, having some moments of quiet. Praying, asking God to just guide the day and I also feel really good when I just get a surfing, get in the ocean. The ocean definitely grounds me and like rejuvenates me. Having quality time with my husband that's not like work-focused is really cool. We've been. Doing dance lessons, like we're learning like ballroom dancing.

• 29:15Lewis Howes?

  Salsa.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  Salsa, Roomba, Waltz and Swing.

• 29:20Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 29:21Speaker 01

  So we're kind of tackling those.

• 29:22Lewis Howes?

  In Hawaii?

• 29:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:23Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 29:23Speaker 01

  We have like a private dance instructor. She's amazing. Laura Bocelli. Her dad, I think, is like some film person over here, but.

• 29:31Lewis Howes?

  Oh, okay.

• 29:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's so fun. So just finding things where you can't think about what's going on. Surfing, it makes you present. Like dancing, you're just thinking about moving and like learning your next step and enjoying like my husband. So, yeah, it's kind of just finding times to have quiet. We always like have coffee dates and. Yeah, and getting some, getting some exercise, getting your workout in is really helpful, but that doesn't happen every day. And then travel kind of throws everything off too. So when you're traveling, just trying to find some like moments of just calm.

• 30:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 30:10Speaker 01

  Sometimes I'm like, okay, kids, like calm down. Like the four year old be like screaming, making all kinds of noises. I'm like, no, we need like some peace right now. Like, let's calm this down.

• 30:21Lewis Howes?

  What's missing for you in your life?

• 30:23Speaker 01

  Ooh, currently, there's like, we've just kind of come off of like a six year project of making my documentary Unstoppable. And so that was like a big undertaking and a lot of like, it was a big passion project. So. We're kind of in a place of like redirecting the future path. So like definitely the last. Six to nine months, I had this feeling of what am I reaching for? Like, what am I doing right now? Of course, like, yes, I'm being mom and that's, I'm constantly reaching for that, but like I've always been a very goal centric person and.

• 31:03Speaker 01

  Always working towards something. And I am like still working on my surfing too, but it just kind of went from like working so hard. For like five years to getting the film out and then it was just like, it felt weird. I was, I do not feel comfortable right now with this feeling. And I have a friend who's like integrative health doctor and he was in like, him and his wife were in a similar situation too. He just graduated more schooling and he just doesn't have a goal kinda. So kinda feeling goalless felt really awkward. And I can't say I have a very clear goal now, but yeah, dabbling with some surf contests, I'm competing, I'm still pushing my aerial game. So it's like progressive surfing.

• 31:49Speaker 01

  Like especially in the sport of women surfing, we aren't incredibly progressive above the wave surfing. So doing airs and stuff, but for sure 10 years from now, like girls are gonna be going crazy.

• 32:00Lewis Howes?

  Jumping and flipping.

• 32:00Speaker 01

  Going to town. So it's gonna be really cool. So I've been pushing that aspect of my surfing and, and then I'm working on some like kinda business. I look at it as like business, but it's, I mean, it's a lot of kind of the work you do, like empowering people to live their best life. So we've been working on this Unstoppable Year online course.

• 32:20Lewis Howes?

  Of course, right. Sounds cool.

• 32:21Speaker 01

  Which I feel like young people are in this place of just constant distractions, like they don't know who they are. They're constantly bombarded with not so positive messages on, on all the medias. And I think we're kind of in this weird era of what are these kids like? Who's our future leaders? And I know this might sound negative, but I just have a passion for young people and wanting to help them just find their boundaries, but also find their passions, goals and like how to reach them, how to get through life. Unstoppable, so to say. So I'm really excited about this course I've been working on.

• 33:02Speaker 01

  So that's kind of been like a big undertaking too and we've been working hard on that, like my husband and team and I. So that's kind of the next like big goal, but oh yeah, I didn't even get to the question. You said what's missing, yeah?

• 33:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, what's missing. Is a goal, is a big goal missing then?

• 33:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, there's a sense of like my competitive surfing. I would say of all the aspects of my surfing, competitive's more of my weaker side. And with board sports, there's so many angles you can go at it. Like, I've thought of myself as like a free surfer the last five years because I've just been going on like amazing surf trips.

• 33:39Lewis Howes?

  What's the difference? What's the different types of things you can do in surfing? Free surfing, competitive surfing?

• 33:44Speaker 01

  Competitive surfing, like there's hipster surfers, there's like big wave surfers, there's like crazy slab surfers, like, you know, like there's all these different kind of genres within the sport. But I've been kind of working towards being the most well-rounded. So I'm trying to tackle it all, so to say. Like, I kind of tackled it all the last five years, or the last lifetime.

• 34:09Speaker 01

  So, but like competitive, I've had like amazing success at the same time, but I'm also like, I feel like there's room for more success in that area. I just, I don't know, I'm still in this state of not fully goal-setted. Like, no goal has fully been set. It's just like this feeling of like, okay, let's figure out what is it that I want? Like, and then maybe head that direction. I'm still figuring it out. Like, I mean, of course I want to be successful in my sport, but I'm also like, especially in my last two events, we were like, I just don't want to surf six-inch waves. I want to surf like some decent waves, so.

• 34:47Lewis Howes?

  Six-foot waves?

• 34:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, six-foot waves, at least. But the World Surfing League is so incredible right now. And I don't know, there's, there's opportunities. The opportunities are endless, it's just like zeroing in on what I want. And I just don't have that fully dialed in. I'm just, I think it's okay to have a time of figuring things out, not having the goal, like, take a little break, take a little breather, like, just have fun. And I'm still like working on so many things and like have the kids full-time. Like, gotta change the diaper probably in like two hours from now. So, it's busy.

• 35:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, okay.

• 35:24Speaker 01

  But yeah, as far as something missing, I mean, I could see more babies down the road. So it's like, like, I don't feel like the family is complete, which is crazy. When I had our first kid and then our second kid wasn't conceived yet, we were like, ready. We were like, okay, second kid.

• 35:39Lewis Howes?

  Already, wow. You want another kid now?

• 35:41Speaker 01

  Not, not now. The little one's like, just barely sleeping through the night. So it's like, it's like, good, a year of sleep, a year of sleep first. Like, I thrive on good sleep and I have not had that for like, four years. So, let's have a year of good sleep and then go from there.

• 35:58Lewis Howes?

  How many years do you think you can be competitive for?

• 36:01Speaker 01

  Well, have you heard of Kelly Slater?

• 36:03Lewis Howes?

  He's like forty something.

• 36:03Speaker 01

  Have you heard of him?

• 36:04Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah. I've actually been messaging.

• 36:06Speaker 01

  Have you talked to him?

• 36:07Lewis Howes?

  We've been messaging back and forth on Instagram.

• 36:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, he'd be amazing.

• 36:10Lewis Howes?

  He said he wants to come on the show, but he's not in L.A. for a while, so, or maybe he is now, I'm not sure.

• 36:15Speaker 01

  He will be a fun conversation. The guy's amazing.

• 36:17Lewis Howes?

  He's like forty something, right?

• 36:18Speaker 01

  Pushing fifty.

• 36:19Lewis Howes?

  He's a machine. He's like, what, twelve, fifteen time world champion?

• 36:22Speaker 01

  So it's like, who's to cut off the like, pushing or surfing? I mean, I think of him frequently and I'm like, okay, well, we still got some time.

• 36:30Lewis Howes?

  You got time. He's a good friend of yours, you know a lot of these people?

• 36:32Speaker 01

  No, I'm not like, super tight with him, but like, I mean, we would sit down and chat, you know, but not like, best friends. But, um, I would say like, the last five years, since podcasts were invented. And actually, if I had your podcast downloaded, I just haven't listened to it really.

• 36:50Lewis Howes?

  You listened to one recently?

• 36:51Speaker 01

  I was like, oh, I want to listen to this. And then I just never really got around to it, but it's been in my like, podcast.

• 36:56Lewis Howes?

  It's good. I like it.

• 36:57Speaker 01

  I know, no, I've really enjoyed, like, we listened to a bunch of your short ones. I love that you do short ones, because some of these guys, like, they only do an hour and a half. I don't have time for an hour and a half, but if it's really good, I'll like, find a time.

• 37:10Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  I was super stoked on some of your stuff. It's just like, good to hear like, encouraging, encouraging words.

• 37:17Lewis Howes?

  That's right. Let you know what you're trying to do with your course too, right?

• 37:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 37:21Lewis Howes?

  Is it designed for, for younger people, for older people?

• 37:25Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, I think anyone could do it, but I definitely like, have a heart for teenagers and young adults. I think it's just such a time of figuring yourself out, figuring life out. And, you know, teaching these, I mean, I don't know if grit can fully be taught, but like, teaching them some.

• 37:43Lewis Howes?

  Isn't that interesting? It's, you know, everyone's talking about grit. And the TED Talk and the books and all these things, but it's like. Like as an athlete growing up, you either have it or you don't.

• 37:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, no, like I was talking to someone just recently about how they're like, oh, I got so pounded in the ocean and then I was over it. I was like, I guess when I was little, I would go and get pounded for fun. Like that was what we did. So my grit was like, I got taught to enjoy being pounded as like a five, seven year old.

• 38:14Lewis Howes?

  You fall in love with the pain of your sport or the thing that you're into.

• 38:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:21Lewis Howes?

  The pain of like your, your passion that you're into. I remember playing basketball, football, baseball, growing up and it was just like, how much pain could I endure as a kid? It was fun still, but it was like, okay, it's not enough. I've got to keep shooting and keep training and keep working out. Cause I loved it so much and I wanted to be better.

• 38:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:38Lewis Howes?

  I think you've got to have that for whatever the thing you want to be doing.

• 38:41Speaker 01

  Like I still have that I want to be better.

• 38:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 38:44Speaker 01

  So I think that keep continually drives me. And then there's this whole movement now. Think with the internet and like phone access. There's a whole movement of like longevity health.

• 38:55Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 38:56Speaker 01

  So there's like, you can constantly be educating yourself on all that and like doing stuff to like, I'm like really into just natural, good health. And so like, well, I guess I could like keep myself young, like a little bit longer.

• 39:09Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  And I've like had two kids, so I've gotten past that. Like that to me is like, if I had another kid, it's fine, you know?

• 39:17Speaker 01

  I feel like there's still a lot of time.

• 39:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 39:19Speaker 01

  But and I'm very motivated that regardless of if I'm like a professional surfer, I want to just surf well and like be able to surf really well as long as I can as a grandma.

• 39:29Lewis Howes?

  There you go.

• 39:30Speaker 01

  So there's a lot of like, kind of, I have like grandma goals.

• 39:33Lewis Howes?

  Grandma goals already. I love it. What was more painful for you, having a baby or having the accident?

• 39:40Speaker 01

  Oh, for sure. Having the baby.

• 39:42Lewis Howes?

  It's more painful than the accident?

• 39:43Speaker 01

  Childbearing and I did all natural, like, you know, nothing, nothing.

• 39:47Lewis Howes?

  Than a shark biting your arm off?

• 39:49Speaker 01

  Shark bites are so traumatic that your body goes into shock. Haven't you heard that?

• 39:54Lewis Howes?

  You can't even feel it. It's just like, uh.

• 39:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure. Childbearing. You're going through hours and hours and hours of like severe, like crazy cramping that is like, you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna die. But you know you're not.

• 40:06Lewis Howes?

  So it's more painful having a baby.

• 40:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:09Lewis Howes?

  Than having your arm bitten off by a shark? That's crazy. Was there ever pain afterwards, like when you were actually allowed your mind to calm down?

• 40:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm really thankful. Like, I had a little bit of what they call phantom pain. So right now, I have phantom feeling. So it's like, I can feel my hand down there.

• 40:28Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 40:29Speaker 01

  My fingers, my wrists especially.

• 40:31Lewis Howes?

  Can you feel it?

• 40:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, I can feel it. Like, my nerves have that remembrance or whatever.

• 40:35Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 40:36Speaker 01

  But it doesn't hurt. So I call it phantom feeling, because some people, but some people, it's really unfortunate.

• 40:40Lewis Howes?

  It's really painful.

• 40:41Speaker 01

  They have, like, severe pain. I think it somehow has to do with how their nerves were lacerated or whatever.

• 40:47Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy.

• 40:48Speaker 01

  Okay, we're getting a little too gory here, but, uh, yeah, so I know some, I've had, like, I've met a lot of amputees and people have been through traumatic injuries and they have to take drugs to kind of deal with that pain. Because it's really, so I'm so thankful. I'm like, oh my gosh, thank goodness, like, everything came clean. But, um, yeah, it's, child marrying is no joke. But the thing is, as a woman, you know your body can do this.

• 41:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 41:17Speaker 01

  God has created your body to bear children. Like, you can do it. So it's like, kind of like mentally preparing it. To me, like, being an athlete, I've heard athletes can have a hard time because they have a hard time letting go of, like, you know, control, but...

• 41:32Lewis Howes?

  You're surrender almost.

• 41:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, you have to just let go, but...

• 41:38Lewis Howes?

  It's kind of like being in the wave, too.

• 41:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I, I think I did a good job of letting go, because both my births went really good.

• 41:45Lewis Howes?

  Oh, that's good.

• 41:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, the pain is over now. I'm probably gonna forget about it in a year or two and then have another.

• 41:52Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 41:53Speaker 01

  But yeah, someone have really traumatic births that are so hard, and so I have a lot of compassion. I'm like, finally, and you, once you've had a kid, you like, understand women so much more. Because it's like, wow.

• 42:05Lewis Howes?

  You just have a level of respect, yeah, for your mom. You're like, I love you. You're amazing, yeah.

• 42:09Speaker 01

  Or like, the people who have, like, a tiny kids, you're like, oh my gosh, you're incredible. Like, how do you do that? Unless they're just like dragging up and like they don't feel it. Okay, then like, well, they're still, that's still amazing too.

• 42:21Lewis Howes?

  Still hard, yes. Well, you've got your movie out right now. How long is it out for? It's called Unstoppable, right?

• 42:28Speaker 01

  Unstoppable, it's out now, July, August 1st.

• 42:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 42:32Speaker 01

  I think it's one of the last weekends, so.

• 42:35Lewis Howes?

  And then eventually it'll be online, hopefully.

• 42:36Speaker 01

  Hopefully, yeah, like Netflix or Prime, you never know.

• 42:39Lewis Howes?

  But people can go to your website to learn more about that. And the course, where can they go to learn more about it?

• 42:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, at BethanyHamilton.com. And yeah, the Unstoppable Year is gonna be awesome. I hope it, or I believe it's gonna be life-changing for myself and everyone who does it, so.

• 42:55Lewis Howes?

  When's it coming out?

• 42:56Speaker 01

  We're starting this summer, fall, September-ish.

• 42:59Lewis Howes?

  Okay, and it'll be on your website, they can sign up to learn more about it.

• 43:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, just head to the website, you'll get all the information there.

• 43:05Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool.

• 43:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm really pumped to just share my life and all the things I've learned along the way with people. And yeah, I've been in this place of kind of inspiring people since I was 13 years old. And then now I'm kind of stepping into that role of equipping and just really giving more.

• 43:23Lewis Howes?

  Educating more, yeah.

• 43:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:24Lewis Howes?

  What is something about you that most people don't know?

• 43:28Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 43:29Lewis Howes?

  That you're really proud of?

• 43:30Speaker 01

  Ooh. I don't know. I have a prosthetic arm that helps me play ukulele.

• 43:40Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 43:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:42Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  But I broke it, so I gotta like send it in for repair. So right now it's like kind of down. And I'm not really good at ukulele, but I can like strum a song.

• 43:50Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's cool, I love ukulele.

• 43:52Speaker 01

  Me too, and I grew up playing guitar and ukulele. So that felt really hard for me when I lost my arm. That was one of the harder challenges, because I was passionately in love with like music-making and like just loved just picking it up and playing a song and like. So yeah, finally I went and got a prosthetic to just see what it'd be like. And it was a little awkward, like it didn't feel completely natural, but it's still really fun. Like it felt like, I definitely had some tears at some point, so.

• 44:21Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 44:22Speaker 01

  That's like a fun little like side project I've had in the last couple of years.

• 44:26Lewis Howes?

  That's great, that's awesome. This question's called the three truths. So I want you to imagine that you're the great, great grandmother that you dreamed of being. And that you're so excited to be, and you've created everything you want to create in your life. You've accomplished all the dreams, all the big goals you set. You make them happen. You've got the family of your dreams. You've done it all. But you've got to take everything with you. So whatever you created, your books, your movies, your... The things you put out in the world, you've got to take it with you. So no one has access to your information anymore. All your social media content, it's all gone now.

• 45:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:03Lewis Howes?

  But you get to write down on your last day, the three things you know to be true about your life, and the lessons that you would leave behind. And this is all people would have to kind of remember you by, are these, these lessons. What would you say are your three truths?

• 45:18Speaker 01

  Oh my gosh.

• 45:22Speaker 01

  Is it the things I want?

• 45:24Lewis Howes?

  Do you want people to like, there's like, you know, always be honest. Here's a lesson, here's a truth. Like, always give your best, or...

• 45:31Speaker 01

  Okay, one of the first things that came to mind was like, faithfulness.

• 45:36Lewis Howes?

  Be faithful in what?

• 45:38Speaker 01

  Just to the people in my life and to God.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  And then my second, oh gosh, this is deep. I feel like I need to put like some months of thought into this.

• 45:50Lewis Howes?

  You can come back in the future and let me know, but what's on the top of your minds? You know, three things you'd want to leave behind, yeah?

• 45:57Speaker 01

  Maybe... Can I bring surfing?

• 46:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think just having a sense of peace. Well, these are the things that I kind of cherish. I don't know, I don't really care like what people like remember me as. I always get that question. I'm just like, whatever, like, whatever like empowers them, you know?

• 46:20Lewis Howes?

  What would you want them to, lesson would you want them to know?

• 46:24Speaker 01

  Oh, I think that we can be unstoppable. No matter what the challenges that come our way. I mean, I always think of like, wow, well, I mean, I've faced an immense amount of challenge, but some people have faced a lot more and a lot more pain. And I really take that to heart and know that like, maybe I don't fully understand all the pains of the world, but I just believe that like, in my own life, my passions have driven me to overcome, and that's my faith in God and surfing, and now my family, and these are the things that continually push me forward. So I hope that people can find their passion to overcome their challenges and...

• 47:05Lewis Howes?

  Give me one more, yeah. That was, I saw, the first one was be faithful.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 47:09Lewis Howes?

  Second one I heard was be unstoppable.

• 47:11Speaker 01

  Okay, so that kind of like goes in the unstoppable category. Third one, just enjoy the moment and like, get some adventure in you.

• 47:20Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, okay. So what I'm hearing is be present and adventure. I like it.

• 47:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:30Lewis Howes?

  So good. I feel like those are what you've been representing for a long time.

• 47:33Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 47:34Lewis Howes?

  Adventure, like you have to be present when you're on the waves.

• 47:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's funny, like, I've noticed with like, social media. I like try to do something funny and people will comment like, on the funny thing, they'll comment, "You're so inspirational." I'm trying to be funny here, like, not inspirational.

• 47:51Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 47:52Speaker 01

  So it's just funny how it's like, you can't really change people's perceptions of you even if...

• 47:58Lewis Howes?

  No matter what you do.

• 47:59Speaker 01

  Part of making my film Unstoppable was actually to like, be like, hey, like, I'm way more than just like, the shark attack survivor girl, like, the shark bite girl. Cause I'll be called like, weird stuff like that. Like, hey, like, look at my surfing, or...

• 48:11Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 48:12Speaker 01

  Down on mom, like, either way, I'm just Bethany, but...

• 48:16Lewis Howes?

  Well, I want to acknowledge you, Bethany, for your inspiration, because you have done so much for so many people, especially young girls, who I think look up to you. You continue to be yourself, you continue to bring a lot of joy, and you're just grateful for your life. And I think that is a powerful message that everyone can have, no matter what adversity, challenge.

• 48:37Lewis Howes?

  Comes our way, like continuing to pursue the passion that you have is inspiring a lot of people. So I acknowledge you for your your childlike joy. You just have like a pure joy about you and it's it's really cool to connect and meet you.

• 48:50Speaker 01

  Thank you, Lewis.

• 48:52Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah.

• 48:52Speaker 01

  Fun chatting.

• 48:53Lewis Howes?

  Fun chatting. I have a final question for you and that's what's your definition of greatness?

• 48:58Speaker 01

  I think just kind of loving, loving or making the most of what you've got and just like loving life and enjoying it.

• 49:09Lewis Howes?

  Amazing. Bethany, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

• 49:12Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 49:13Lewis Howes?

  You rock.

• 49:18Lewis Howes?

  There you have it, my friend. If you thought this was inspiring as much as I found it inspiring to sit down with Bethany, then make sure to share this with one friend today. Be a hero in one friend's life. Just shoot them a text. Put this in a WhatsApp group message. I don't care how you get it to your friend. Send them a Facebook Messenger link, whatever it is. Send this to one friend who might be facing some challenges in their life, who might be facing a setback, that this could help inspire that friend, overcome it and achieve great things in their life as well. Send it to one person, lewishouse.com/841. Or you can take the link right from the Apple Podcast app where you're listening to or on Spotify and share it with your friend that way.

• 50:03Lewis Howes?

  Make sure to tag me on Instagram, at Lewis Howes, and tag Bethany Hamilton. She would love to learn more about what you thought about this. So share it out there. I'll be resharing these stories over on Instagram as well when you post. So just make sure to tag me and Bethany Hamilton. And please leave a review. If this is your first time here, subscribe to the podcast. We do this three times a week where we bring you some of the most incredible minds in the world. All for free. Over on Apple Podcasts, so go subscribe there and please leave a rating and review. I don't care if you leave a one star or five star, I don't care what you say on the review. I just want to hear from you. I want to hear how we can make it better, how this has improved

• 50:45Lewis Howes?

  your life, how it's impacted you in any way, shape or form. So please leave a review and let me know. We would love to hear from you. We want to share this with our audience. We want to share it with our internal team. And every time you leave a review or rating, it helps create more awareness of the School of Greatness podcast as well. Again, Maya Angelou said, "You may not control all of the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." I want you to remember this. There are events that are going to happen in your life that you are unable to control them happening, but you can control the way you react and you don't need to be reduced to those events. You can rise above them. This is key for all of us. It's so important to know that

• 51:30Lewis Howes?

  you can rise above any challenge in your life. You are not dictated by those events in your life. And as we bring it back to the beginning, Osho said, "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move." I hope you feel joyful, loved, and full of light today. I love you so very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.