The Bed Head Chronicles

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

Today, I want you to think about what are the rules that you set for yourself for things like being able to feel proud? Or being able to feel joy? What does it take for you -- or what do you have to accomplish in order to feel proud of yourself? Is it having to accomplish some long-held dream or goal that you've had? Or is it smiling at a stranger that makes you feel proud of yourself?

I want you to think about how easy, or how hard, you make it for yourself to feel certain good feelings that we all deserve to feel. Joy, for example. Do you allow yourself to feel joy by watching a butterfly fly by? Do you allow yourself to feel joy by finding a feather at your feet as you're out for a walk? Or does it take accomplishing a huge goal that you had? Or does it take having something magnificent happen to you or to someone that you love?

How easy or how hard do you make it feel these incredible feelings of joy, pride, happiness -- whatever it is -- these feelings that we all deserve to feel all the time.

I'm someone who just experienced such deep joy by having my horse see me on the other side of the pasture and walk towards me. Or being out on a run or walk and smiling and saying hello to someone I pass that might not seem happy. When they smile back at me, it brings me joy.

I feel proud when I think of something that is going to help me or help another. I feel proud when I'm able to turn a bad situation into a good situation. I feel proud when my dogs are well behaved when a neighbor comes over.

These are the things -- I make it really easy for myself to feel proud of myself. Or to feel happy and joyful. We all deserve to feel these amazing feelings -- and it's right there in front of us!

It's kind of like 'Grace'. Grace is something a lot of people think or wonder they will see or experience at some point. But all you have to do is look out the window. Grace is everywhere. Just the fact that we are here. We've got these beautiful beating hearts in our chest that keep us alive and allow us to live this beautiful gift of life. Grace is everywhere if you open your eyes to it.

Let's think about the rules that we have for ourselves and make it easier for ourselves to feel joy and pride in ourselves. To be able to acknowledge that we did a good job in something, even if that something is super small. Let's make it easier to enjoy and appreciate and truly happy, in good times or bad, because we have this incredible gift of life. Let's live it the way we dream of living it. It's totally up to you.

Thank you, everyone. Have an amazing day.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Today, I want to talk about loneliness. How many of you have had moments where you feel lonely if there's no one else around you? You try to find something to do -- try to watch a movie, read a book, you call a friend or you just try and do something to fill your time?

What if that moment of loneliness is an invitation for you to connect with yourself? To connect with your soul, the things that you love, the things that you dream of or are proud of, or the things you wonder about in the world? What if that loneliness isn't necessarily a bad thing? What if it was a reminder or invitation to connect with yourself on a deeper level?

I know throughout this process, I've had so many opportunities to connect deeper with myself. And I have had some of the most powerful moments I could ever imagine with myself. Again, that means getting out of your head and getting into your heart. Thinking about why life matters to you -- the things that you love, that light up your soul, or dream and wonder about, the things that you want to create in your life. Connecting to your soul and getting a real sense for what life is or has been about -- what you want your legacy to be in the future and what matters to you.

These moments, connecting to my soul at a deeper level, have been so powerful for me.

A common feeling for a lot of us is that feeling of we're not enough or we're not loved. Or that we have to do things, give something or be something to be loved. But the fact of the matter is we ARE loved. We were put on this Earth because we were loved. And we are loved by all of those around us.

These feelings that we're not enough or not loved are all coming from the mind.

But when you connect deeper with your heart and soul, you come to realize just how loved you are. Not just by those around you, but also by the one you believe created you. I know I am loved by the God and Universe that I believe in. You come to recognize and feel the truth and certainty of how loved you are, and how special you are. But I truly believe that the love we all crave the most is our own. Our own affirmation. Our own self-belief. Our own love and devotion and unconditional love. That desire for ourselves to treat us the way we dream of being treated. With love and kindness and acknowledgment. Feeling seen, heard and appreciated by our selves is so incredibly important.

Often times, we think or know that we're good enough if someone else says that we are. Or if you get a certain grade on a test, a certain result on a race or even achieve a certain something. That is what will let us know if we're good enough or not. And we get stuck in this place even though the only affirmation that we need is from ourselves.

It's when YOU know. You can look at every action that you've taken and the good intention behind it. How hard you worked, the effort you put in, the attitude that you give, the intention that you have or the presence that you've given others -- feel grateful for that. Acknowledge, appreciate and love yourself for that. The affirmation that we all need the most is from ourselves. And I truly do believe that the love that we crave the most is our own.

So, take those moments where you might think that you're lonely. It's not necessarily loneliness. You are craving your own attention and love. You are craving to get to know yourself better and have a deep connection with you.

I hope this makes sense. I woke up thinking this and I wanted to share it. I really hope that there's something in this that matters to you. I felt really drawn to share this message because it has been changing my life on a daily basis. I'm taking that time to truly connect with my heart, soul, self-belief, and love for myself. So I hope that you'll all do the same.

Thank you, everyone, and have a wonderful day.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Today, I want you to recognize the power of your thinking. The power and the energy you put out into the world, every single day.

Have you ever had a day where you started thinking, "Ugh, it's going to be such a hard day... Ugh, these things that I have to deal with...these people that are problems..." And inevitably, it's a hard day.

The energy that you put out there -- the experience is going to vibrate and match that vibration you're putting out and send you the same vibration.

In the journey I'm currently on, I recognize that the energy and vibration I put out every day are going to match the experience that I get back. Every day I wake up and think about how I'm going to live this day. I'm going to feel as good as possible and live in a beautiful state. And I felt amazingly well for what I'm going through...and it's all about our energy.

When you're thinking, try and recognize and acknowledge the thoughts that you're having. If those thoughts are making you feel down and heavy, change that thought and bring that vibration up. Instead of saying, "Ugh, I'm meeting with all these people today. It's going to be a hard day." Try, "I'm meeting with all these people that really challenge me. They are bringing out the best in me, and I'm going to learn a lot through dealing with them."

Or, if you have a hard task at hand that isn't enjoyable, you can say, "I'm looking forward to challenging myself to take this on because I know it's going to take me to a place of strength."

Whether it's in regards to a family member or friend that comes to you talking about the hard time they are feeling and brings you down, just consider it an opportunity to help this person change their own vibration and energy. Help them see results that match that new higher energy, greater results, and happier times.

One of the things that I'm doing, that a great friend of mine, Mary Ghertz, reminded me of something I did when I was an athlete. When I first started triathlon, I remember I got this cover of Triathlete Magazine and Karen Myers had just won the World Championship and she's running and the title was 'On Top of the World'.

I took this cover -- sorry Karen, but I took this cover and I put my face on her body and I created a vision board around it. Exactly eight years later, my cover came out and the title was 'On Top of the World.'  There was me and my body and I had just won the world championship.

This is a form of a vision board and my friend Mary reminded me of the power of these vision boards. So what I've done --  I've got about 15 magazines and I'm cutting out words that energetically resonate with me. Words like "beauty," "strength," "travel" and "beautiful sunsets." I also included pictures of the things that I love, like me riding my horse, my beautiful wife and I up on top of a mountain after running up to the top, my family, my mom and I on the beach in Mexico. And on this board, I'm putting all the things that I know I will be doing in the future. My favorite things that I know I'm going to be sharing with the people I love most in this lifetime. Pictures of me up on stage and doing what fills my heart with so much joy and that sharing my story and making a difference in people's lives.

So, this board has everything that I dream of. Everything that I want to create in my future.

So, I encourage all of you, whether you're going through something beautiful in your life right now or you have a challenge ahead. Create your own vision board. Be able to see what is ahead of you. Be able to see the beauty, the magic, the incredibleness of this beautiful gift of life that you personally are creating through your thoughts, your energy, and your vibration that you're putting out there. Create this vision board. It is so incredibly powerful. It helped me become a world champion after not even knowing how to swim eight years earlier. It is going to see me conquering cancer.

So, take this on. It's an incredible project. It's a creative project. It's going to connect you to your heart, your soul, your passions, and what you love. It's going to give you so much incredible energy that is going to see you reach that place and be able to enjoy this beautiful, incredible gift of life the way that you dream of.

Thank you, everyone. Have an amazing day.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

So, I now have a clear plan of what my next few months are going to look like. What I've discovered is, probably around February 14th, I will be going into the hospital to get prepared for my stemcell transplant and recover from it. Once I can leave the hospital, which will be about 2-4 weeks after the transplant, I have to live in Denver so that we're in close proximity to the hospital. We've rented an apartment there so we're all set to go, really.

But for those of you who know me, you know this is going to be hard. I'm a home-body. I love my home. I love my animals. I love our horses. I love living on the ranch. We run Believe Ranch n Rescue and take care of 23 horses. And nature is my favorite place in the world to be because it centers me and grounds me.

Obviously, the thought of being in the hospital for up to a month and not being able to go outside is a terrifying thought for me. I'm doing everything in my power to do what I did as an athlete -- leave no stone unturned. That meant I would do everything in my power that could make a difference for me, as an athlete, that I could do. That meant I would do rest and recovery, eat well and eat the right things, do all forms of recovery from massage to salt baths, and all those things.

So, what I'm trying to do now is leave no stone unturned to prepare for what is probably going to be the toughest part of this whole journey. I know it's going to be tough and I know that I'm going to be challenged. But I also know is that my hope is to arrive at the hospital on that day with everything I need inside of me -- mentally, physically and spiritually -- to handle it as beautiful as possible.

Let's relate this to an athlete going into their A-race. It's the world championships. What I always say to my athletes is that we need to build up your mental reservoir of strength. It's usually about 4-weeks out of the main race, and at this point, we want to keep as balanced as possible. We don't want to train so hard that we're having to dig deep into our mental reservoir of strength, toughness, and grit. We want to build up that reservoir so on race day, we can dig deeper than we've ever dug before. And there will be so much to get out of there, whether it's courage, bravery, toughness or strength. Whatever it is you need, you can dig deeper than you have ever dug before because you have built up that mental reservoir of strength.

And that's kind of what I'm doing here.

I have been chemo all week and I thought to myself that suffering is optional. I don't need to assume that this is going to be awful, I'm going to feel terrible and that I'm going to be lying around all day. If I feel good, I'm going to go out for a walk. If I feel great, I'm going to go out for a run.

This morning, I went out for a run after my chemo. Well, I'd probably call it a jog, but I don't care anymore. I just want to be out there in the fresh air and that cool wind on my face. I want to be out in nature, feel my strength and feel the health that I have. It was the ultimate gift to give myself.

So, what I try and do every moment is, when I have the energy, I'm going to go out with the horses and do all the things that are going to fill me up. I talk about this so much. Do all the things that fill you up. Make more time for those things. And in my mind, most importantly, I needed to consider that even being on chemo, I needed to feel well enough to do these things. That I can get on my peloton bike and do an easy ride. That I can be outside with the horses and feed them their hay.

Because, really, we determine how we feel. Yes, certain things are going to affect us. The chemo is going to affect my energy and how I feel. But mindset-wise, I can believe that I can feel well enough to do these things. And if I do feel well enough, I'm going to do all the things that I love. I am simultaneously filling up my reservoir of joy, happiness, fulfillment, strength, health, and energy. This way, when I do go to the hospital 4-weeks from now, I'm going to have everything I need to dig deeper than I have ever dug before.

So, why does this matter to you?

I think that in life, we know what we're going to be going through. When we're going to have a challenge ahead that we need to be at our best and strongest for. Sometimes in life, we sit and worry about that challenge and how hard it's going to be. It leaves us paralyzed to a point that we don't do anything to prepare ourselves for it. We just sit in the dread that this is going to be happening, I'm so sad and I am dreading this. But that's NOT what you want to do.

Instead, think about filling yourself up the best that you can with everything that you love. Give yourself everything that makes you feel alive, strong energized and joy. Fill yourself up with those things like you would fill up a car before a long trip. Fill yourself up with everything that you need so that when that challenge begins, or when that A-race comes, you have everything you need inside of you to dig deeper than you have ever done before to have that most incredible performance. Or to have that most incredible trip. Or solve that big problem or challenge in your way. Or, for me, achieve my greatest triumph which will be getting completely and permanently healed.

So, this is what was on my mind today. I hope it helps all of you. Thank you for tuning in. I love you all and thank you for your thoughts, love, support, and prayers. It brings me so much. It really is helping me heal, and I appreciate you more than words can ever express. So thank you. I love you. Have an amazing day.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

I am headed to the hospital for Day 3, Cycle 2, for treatment with my amazing, A-team wife wearing her Bed Head Chronicles sweatshirt. She's taking me once again, every day. I'm so deeply grateful to have her love, support, and devotion. And as we were driving, I was thinking about certain beliefs that we developed growing up.
Maybe you had a teacher that you informed that you wanted to be a scientist but said, 'There's no way. Your grades aren't good enough. You'd never be a scientist.' Maybe you had a coach that said you're not good enough to make the team. Or maybe you wanted to go to a certain college but everyone told you that it's impossible to get in there.

So, what are some beliefs that you're still holding on to that aren't even our own?

I remember early on in my triathlon career, I was doing a race in Paris, and one of the other athletes ran by me at the end of the race when I got to the finish line, and she said 'Oh, you run pretty good for a big girl.' What she was basically saying is 'that's as fast as you're going to get for a big girl.'

We have a choice in those moments. We have a choice to accept what they are saying about us and believe it. I could have said, 'Yeah, I'm a big girl. I'll probably never be fast enough so I'll just be happy coming in 28th place.'

Instead, I chose to create my own belief about who I am, what I have inside of me and what I'm capable of. But sometimes, we don't even know where these beliefs came from. What I encourage all of you to do is explore your different beliefs. There may be people out there that say there's no way you're going to make it through with this disease that you have. Well, that's their belief, not mine. I believe with all my heart that I'm going to get through this. That I'm going to be completely and permanently healed. And I will do everything in my power to make that happen.

People told me that I couldn't be a great triathlete. That I was too big. That I didn't know how to swim -- that was the biggest thing. But that was their belief, not mine.

I believe that everything is possible by leaving no stone unturned every single day, doing everything in my power to be the best that I can be to learn and to grow, to fail but to get back up and dust myself off and get back in the game again.

So, for you, what are those things that you've chosen NOT to do because somebody told you that it was impossible? Or somebody told you that you're not good enough? Or someone said that's not for you? What are those things that you put aside because somebody told you it wasn't for you?

Let's explore those beliefs. Let's free ourselves and give ourselves permission to do and be anything we dream of being and do anything that we dream of doing. Because you all have everything you need inside of you. I have everything I need inside of me. Take a chance on you. Choose your beliefs. Choose beliefs that serve you and bring out the best in you.

No matter what anyone else says, it's what YOU believe. Believe in things that will make your life absolutely extraordinary because THAT is what we all deserve.

I love you all. Thank you.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

Today, I want to talk about how often we ask ourselves the question, "What am I doing wrong? What have I done wrong? What am I missing?" The question of lack. When really, the question should be "What am I doing right? What do I have? What do I need to continue to do? What's wonderful?"

For some reason, we all tend to focus on the negative when it should all be focused on the positive.

For example, I got through the first cycle of this incredible clinical trial I've been on. I've made such great progress. But I need to do another cycle.

Now, in my high-achieving brain, I was really hoping to get into remission after just one cycle. It's really crazy. Well, not crazy... I mean it's great to have a dream and hope, but that would be a real long shot to be able to do that in one cycle.

This morning, I found myself thinking "what am I doing wrong?" But the real question should have been "what am I doing right?" Let me think about all the things that I do every single day that led me to make such incredible progress in this first cycle of treatment?

I started thinking, "My goodness, Siri! It's all about what have I done? What do I need to continue to do? What's been working? What's been going great?" Because everything has been going great. I've been making such great progress. I am going to keep doing the things that I have been doing, and that is trying to live in a beautiful state in as many moments as possible. It's staying possible and recognizing the thoughts that cause me pain. It's recognizing and acknowledging those, but then replacing it with the truth.

That truth: I am so blessed to have the health, energy, and strength that I have now.

So what can I need to do that's going to continuously allow me to feel this energy, strength and good health?

I'm going to continue -- if you look up an amazing guy, Dr. Gerry Tenant -- look up Healing through Voltage -- doing a lot of stuff through voltage and maintain the voltage of my body so that I'm getting everything that I need to every part of my system. Maintaining my positive thinking, praying, do the bio charger daily, walk every day with my mom, wife, and animals, spending time with the horses who are so healing. I am going to continue eating all the right things and taking some of the juices that help my immune system. It's doing all these things that have led to such tremendous progress in the past month.

So, in your life, instead of looking exactly where you want to be at this point and time, remember where you started. Remember when you had not even taken that first step. Then look at where you are now. Feel proud, grateful and celebrate you. Celebrate the effort, energy, time and intention that you've put into this journey. Then ask yourself, "What can I continue to do that I've been doing that has led me this far? What can I continue to do that has led me to feel as good as I feel? What can I add to make me feel even better?

Don't focus on what's missing. Focus on what you have. Don't focus on the problem. Focus on all the positive or potential solutions. Don't focus on what you feel you can't do. Focus on what you can do.

I'm going to focus on my health, energy, strength, vitality, belief in my doctors, nurses and the hospital, my belief in your love and support and how that's healing me. I'm going to believe in me. I'm going to celebrate how far I've come, the great progress that I've made and build upon that.

You can't always think about what's missing or where you haven't arrived yet or where you feel you should be. Focus on how far you've come and everything great inside of you -- your magic, your energy, and your intention.

'Intention' is a huge work, actually. I want to speak about this because the intention that we put into everything is very important.

You can say 'I love you' to the person that you love. They can be just words or you can say it with the intention of them truly feeling how deeply you love them.

What is your intention when you wake up in the morning and go to work? Are you just going through the motions and go to work? Or do you say 'I am going to be the best that I can be for every one of my clients or the people that I work for? Or I'm putting my heart and soul in this mission that I'm on.'

Lay out that intention and you will get so much more out of yourself. The impact will be that much richer, deeper and greater for those around you.

Everything should be done with great intent.

If you take on a goal, you will intend to do everything in your power to put everything you have into this goal and see you achieve it in the future. Recognizing that your intention includes wanting to grow, learn, be stretched and maintain the right mindset that will allow you to make that happen.

So, to all of us, live life with great intention, gratitude and celebrate you every single day. Celebrate how far you have come and the love and inspiration that you give. Celebrate the example that you are. And in that, realize your intention that you take into every single day. You are an example and inspiration for others. Most importantly, you're there for yourself to bring out the best in you.

Focus on all your greatness. Celebrate you. Be grateful.

Thank you. I love you all so much.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

Today, I'm going to give you a little bit of an update about my health. But I'm also hoping that the story that I share will help you with some of the things you're going through in your own life.

So, I have just finished the first cycle of my clinical trial. Now, my dream is that I would be in remission after the first cycle so that I can go into my bone marrow transplant. This would mean that I am moving forward and getting closer to being healed, which is the ultimate goal. I had my hopes set on that.

I found out yesterday that I had made such great progress, but I'm not quite there yet. So, I'm going to enter into another cycle of this amazing clinical trial that I'm on.

Now, my first reaction is disappointment. I started crying and I was so upset that I wasn't there yet...

Then, as I was thinking about it, I understood that the best way that this transplant was going to take, work and lead to my permanent healing is if I enter the transplant in the best condition possible. I needed to accept it. I was close, but not quite there yet.

I'm so deeply grateful that I'm going to go through another cycle. It's worked so amazingly well the first time, so I'm hoping that this is just what I need to get to remission and in a month I can go directly into the transplant.

Think about it this way -- if you are training for a race and have three races on your schedule, the first two are preparing you for the ultimate 'A' race. In the first race, you hope to have your best race ever. You're hoping to smash it and have it be amazing. You go, but it's not quite the race you hoped for. You're going to feel disappointed.

But the gift in this is -- what if you piqued in that race but you got overconfident and didn't do all the right things? Then when it came to the 'A' race, you weren't at your best.

Not being at your best for the first race of the season means you'll know exactly what you need to do. You'll need to work on this particular strategy or your mindset or your recovery. You'll find out all the things that are going to take you to the next level. By the time you get to that ultimate race, you are going to have the race of your life.

For me, I'm being given an opportunity to truly fine-tune my body and get it to the point where a month from now, even with the extra support and medicine I'm taking, I can put myself in an even better position to have a transplant that is really going to stick, and that will be what heals me.  I believe it with all my heart.

Yes, we can get really disappointed when things don't work out the way we hoped for, but someone very special in my life taught me that life is not a straight line. It never is. When we have what we believe are disappointments, let's look upon this as a gift or opportunity to gain something more that we need. That will lead us to be even better.

That's what I'm doing in this situation. That's what I'm hoping all of you do in any of the things where you fall even a little bit short of where you hoped to be. Recognize it as an opportunity for you to create something even more special than you could ever dream of in the future.

Have a great day, everybody.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Good morning, everyone and welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

Today, I want to talk about being afraid and feeling fear. We all feel fear. When something matters to us we feel fear.

I used to feel fear going into every single race that I raced, every school session that I did in preparation for those races, and I feel afraid, now, going into or being in the midst of the biggest challenge of my life.

The reason why I want to talk about fear so openly is that we all get afraid. We all feel fear. But the key is to not have that fear paralyze us as it can. When I was younger it would paralyze me and it kept me from being able to do the things I wanted to do. But what I learned throughout my journey and triathlon is it you need to embrace that fear.

Let's reframe fear as something that's good.

What if fear was that thing that truly allowed us to concentrate to mobilize everything we have inside ourselves to bring it to whatever task is at hand? To whatever it is that we are afraid of are wanting to do well at or wanting to succeed? What fear is what gave us the ability to mobilize all our strengths, all our abilities, everything we have inside of us to be successful?

What if fear was a good thing?

Tony Robbins always says, and I used to say this as well, "Dance with your fear." Instead of fighting against it or pushing up against it or trying to pretend that you're not afraid, acknowledge the fact that 'yes I'm feeling this fear and it's because I care."

Right now I care about living. I want to live this incredible gift of life. So I get afraid, of course, I do, but one of the secrets is that when you replace that fear and reframe what fear means to you, that can be really helpful.

But also, another thing Tony Robbins always says is gratitude is an antidote to everything. Gratitude is an antidote to anger. Gratitude is an antidote to fear.

So in the moments where I get really afraid and I feel like it's almost about to paralyze me, what I do is I switch my brain to think about everything that I'm grateful for. I am so grateful that I have my beautiful wife and my incredible mom by my side every single step of this journey. I am so grateful for all of you and the love and support that you're showering upon me that's giving me so much strength. I'm so grateful that I'm in the most incredible hands with my doctors and nurses at UC Health. I am so grateful for the health, energy and vitality and the strength of mind that I have now. I'm so grateful for my mindset and my ability to be able to recognize negative thoughts but replace them with the positive one that I truly believe in.

So as we all get afraid, remember we get afraid because we care. We care about making a difference. We care about succeeding. We care about doing a good job. We care about the people we love. We care about our health. We care about our life.

So being afraid is natural. We're all human. But it's how we look and define that fear and what we do about it. Dance with your fears. Acknowledge it. Have it allow you to mobilize everything you need inside of you to approach the task at hand with all your best ensuring that you will do a great job or that you will succeed. Then be grateful instead of being afraid at the start line of this big race that you're going to do. Be grateful. 'Wow. I did what it took to arrive at this starting line. I'm arriving at the start line fit, strong, fast and ready to race. I'm grateful for that.'

Be grateful. It will dissipate the fear and it will allow you to tap into your strength and be all that you need to be.

Thank you, everyone, and have an amazing day.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Bed Head Chronicles.

Today, I woke up thinking about this and I'm just going to use a couple of examples. My mom is absolutely incredible. She's 76 years old and she runs a dog grooming parlor in Boulder. And it is like the best dog grooming parlor I've ever seen in the world. She loves on the dog. She does such a beautiful job. Her groomers do such a beautiful job. The dogs are happy to come and sad to leave and it's absolutely amazing.

So, because it's so amazing, she gets amazing reviews all the time. But every once in awhile, she'll get a bad review or somebody will complain about something. My mom will then get absolutely so upset about this one negative comment. And she'll forget about the thousands of other amazing comments. All she'll do is dwell on that one negative comment and make that her reality.

Now, we all do this at some point in time. Think of it... you athletes out there. You're training amazingly well. You're doing a great job in all your sessions. But one day, you have a horrible session and you get so depressed about that session and suddenly you're telling yourself "I'm not fit. I'm doing something wrong. I'm never going to make it." And you dwell on that one session that wasn't your best.

Why do we do this? Why do we torture ourselves in this way?

I know yesterday the reason why I'm thinking about this at all is that yesterday was a big day for me. I had my third bone marrow biopsy. I'm praying for good news. Probably, won't know for a few days, but, all through the day, I'm being positive and I'm thinking about getting in remission so I can move forward into the next step. And I'm thinking about that I feel good and I feel strong and I've got energy and these things. And then in one moment, I had this horrible vision of things not working out. I started crying. And I started getting so afraid. And I started getting so scared. And I was dwelling on this one thought. And I work on my mind 24/7. My entire day is spent trying to keep my mind in a place that is going to help me heal. Help me release the things that I no longer need or that are getting in the way of my healing. And take on the thoughts and the focus and meanings that are going to help me heal and help me be my best self.

So, why do we do that? Why do these negative thoughts or negative emotions, or negative beliefs take over?

Well, they only do because we allow them to. This is all a mental practice. It's like building a muscle and I've talked about this before. When you have a negative thought or a bad thought, the muscle we need to build is replacing that thought, most likely, with the truth. Like with my mom, for example. She is loved and that shop is loved by everyone. And if there were a thousand people that had an incredible experience and one that didn't, she can pretty much -- she has the proof that she's doing an amazing job. And not one negative comment can motivate her to be even better if we want to use it in a positive way.

For the athlete, you've got all the proof. You've had great sessions every day. You're improving every day. One bad session; that's normal. It happens. You have to have those days so that you appreciate the great days. They're necessary. You've got to have the highs and the lows. It's all a part of being able to really appreciate and embrace life for what it is, which is such a beautiful gift.

And, for me, I need to practice forgiveness, which I talked about the other day for my mind bringing in a thought that's not serving me. A thought that caused me pain, and recognize that, and appreciate, and let it go, and understand the truth. And the truth is that I know with all my heart that I'm going to make it through this victorious. I know with all my heart, that if I take care of my thought processes, what I focus on, taking care of myself, doing everything I can, to help myself heal. That I will be healed.

So, what we have to do is build the muscle of learning how not to dwell on those negative thoughts, that we know, only bring us down, that is untrue. These beliefs that don't serve us. Release those. Be kind to yourself and accept the fact that it's quite human to have these thoughts.  But let it go and remind yourself of the truth. Remind yourself of who you are. Remind yourself of what you've been doing every single day. Remind yourself of how special you are and that you are capable of creating and doing anything you dream of if you set your mind to that. And release the thoughts that don't serve you. You can appreciate them. You can acknowledge them, but let them go and release them. And hold on to that, which brings out the best in you every single day.

For athletes, you have two things you can control; that's your effort and your attitude. Those are two things we can control; our effort, that we give certain things and our attitude. Not only about the job itself or the task itself, but the job we're doing and what our intention is. And what we believe in, and how much heart and soul we give to that.

So, to all of you, I hope this helps. I feel like it's a little bit all over the place, but it's so very important, that -- to go back to another Bed Head Chronicle from a week ago, I think. Perfection is impossible. You can't have an amazing training session every single day. You can't make everyone around you happy. Perfection is impossible. So, don't strive for perfection. Strive to be the best that you can, and doing the best that you can with what you have in every moment. Just do the best you can with what you have whatever that is and acknowledge that you're going to have weak moments, but don't stay there. Don't live there. Change the channel. Go to a better channel that serves you and brings out the best in you.

Have an amazing day everyone. Thank you.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/

Today, I want you to think about those moments in your life where you achieve something that you'd always wanted to achieve. Or you accomplished something that you don't make dreamed of accomplishing before. Or you made it through a really tough time and you got out the other side. Think about those moments in your life that you can feel so proud of yourself and look back and see just the incredible magic and strength that you have inside of you.

I was doing an interview the other night and this woman asked me when she looked at a picture of me winning the World Championships in 2001. She asked, "What is what is this make you feel when you look at this?"

It took me a few seconds because it hit me so profoundly and I felt this deep emotion of pride in this memory of what it took to achieve that impossible dream. Knowing that I even started not really believing that I could do it, but doing everything in my power to make it happen. So, a small part of me must have believed for me to make the effort to do everything in my power. To fall down millions of times over and over and get back up again and dust myself off and get after it again.

My reply to her was "Wow, this reminds me that I have everything I need inside of me to make this seemingly impossible dream come true -- and that's being completely healed, permanently healed. It reminded me that I have everything I need inside of me. It reminded me of how strong I am.  It reminded me how many times I got so afraid or failed over and over again. But in the end, I succeeded. In the end, I was victorious. In the end, I proved to myself that anything and everything is possible.

We all have those memories to draw upon -- the proof of those times when we were going through a difficult situation that we thought we'd never get through. But we did. Those times that we fell down and think we couldn't get up again. But we did. And we came back stronger than ever before.

We all have those memories and experiences -- that proof to draw upon.

I was so grateful for this woman for asking me that question because now, anytime I feel any sense of doubt, I will look at that photo and remember that I am going to make it through this. I've proven in the past in my experiences that there are many times where I've felt like this but I made it through. I succeeded in the end.

So, in those moments of doubts, fear or reluctance to take that first step, remember and go back to the proof of the many times that you didn't think you could, but you did. Or you made it through something that seemed impossible, and here you are today. Go back to your proof and remind yourself of who you are. Remind yourself of everything you have inside of you and go take that step forward knowing that you got this. You're going to make it, and so am I.

For more tips and advice about living an authentic life go to https://www.sirilindley.com/authentic/