As a child, Colton was bullied, mocked and called “titty boy.” Now Colton is on the precipice of becoming the first American man to win gold in Judo. On this episode we discuss overcoming pain, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and what it takes to bounce back.

So many things that look easy require serious mastery. - Christopher Lochhead

Takeaways

At the start of the show, Colton shared his legendary story, how he overcame the pain of herniated discs, making weight and how he got onto the Olympic team. We also shared on his craft, “if you’re doing the right thing it will look like your opponent just slid on a banana.” He shared on what it feels like to know he’s going to compete in the Olympics in 2020, and what separates athletes who bounce back from losses and the ones who don’t. Towards the end of the show, we talked about future hacking and having a singular focus.

Colton also shared on:

At the highest performance level, the difference between athletes’ physicality, skills and conditioning is 1%. What actually influences winning is mindset, psychological work and the ability to overcome challenges, losses and obstacles. It’s important to have a singular focus on an objective, and have the right outlook about the pressure - it is a privilege. Mastery will look easy to everyone else, but what it takes is hard work, and the need to succeed by any means necessary.

Guest Bio

Colton Brown is an American judoka. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men's 90 kg. Follow him on Twitter @colt_forty_5.