I’m so excited that today, athlete and entrepreneur Ian Warner is empowering us all to #fuelpersistence through sharing his story, passions, and life lessons. Ian reached out to me through Twitter and after connecting with him through email, I had to invite him to share his story on The Self-Disovery Retreat. I love his passion for life and how he created a company with his brother, also a fellow athlete.

Ian Warner grew up in Toronto, Ontario, where he attended the athletic powerhouse, Birchmount Park Collegiate. There he won provincials 8 times and earned himself an athletic scholarship to Iowa State. At Iowa State, he excelled as an entrepreneur by raising $150,000 from an angel investor. The same year as that investment, he became an NCAA All-American and made the 2012 Canadian Olympic Team.

As the Director of Athletics at Ryerson University in Toronto, Dr. Joseph leads the university’s sports community of 12 varsity teams, more than 20 multi-tiered intramural leagues, several sports clubs, and other extensive offerings.  He shows the participants how to be their personal best athletically and mentally, both as individuals and as a group.

In his former role of recruiting student athletes, he was often asked what skill he was most searching for when looking for potential members to his teams; was it speed? Strength? Agility? In Dr. Joseph's TEDx Talk, he answers this question, explaining how self-confidence is not just the most important skill in athletics, but in our lives!  Watch Dr. Joseph’s talk here:

Today I'm honoured to  feature Claire Hutchinson (a former fellow University of Toronto Varsity Blues Rower) in my "Profiles of Perseverance" series.  Claire was on the Varsity team while I was a Novice.  I never had the chance to really get to know her, as I only saw her briefly at practices and competitions.  I have had the chance to connect with her electronically since my depature (due to graduation) from the team.  Claire is an incredibly strong athlete and person!  I really respect her, and  I am blessed that she took the time out of her busy training schedule to share.  Thanks Claire!  

A couple of summers ago when I was doing recreational rowing, I was scared to tip the single as I didn’t want to fall into the lake and get wet.  I also thought tipping meant that I was a bad rower, so I tried hard not to tip.  Little did I know: tipping happens to everyone, regardless of their abilities. I used the pontoons way longer than I should have, because I wanted to be safe.  It took awhile, but I finally took the pontoons off – my coach insisted.  You know what? I didn’t tip that night!  It took another couple of weeks before I finally did tip.  Tipping wasn’t so bad.  Yes, I was drenched; but it was a hot summer night, so I felt refreshed.  Now, I’m not afraid to tip. So, I go out on the water with no fear. I should have just tipped at the beginning so that I wouldn’t have wasted time and energy being unrealistically fearful. 

Michael Fear grew up in a small town in Indiana. Being an aspiring athlete in a small town brought its own disadvantages. There was no easy way to find and connect with the proper coaches or instructors that he needed to get better. After many months of searching, instructors were found through word of mouth. Michael and his dad were forced to drive 4 hours roundtrip, for hitting lessons. Michael thought, "There has to be a better way!" Therefore, he developed his own business, Get Better Today.

I'm delighted that Elaine is sharing with us her thoughts on perseverance. She has extensive experience in education and sport, which gives her great insight on these topics. Thank you so much, Elaine! I contacted her earlier this year, as I am interested in positive organizational climates and reducing bullying in sport. I suggest you check out the program after you read her interview below. The work being done is very well needed!

Today, Danelle Kabush, is sharing her experiences of perseverance with us, as she is a professional athlete and mental performance consultant. Danelle combined her love of psychology with her other lifelong passion, sports, and completed her doctorate in Sport Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2007. Along with competing, she works as a mental performance consultant to many different athletes in various sports. You can check out her website at http://danellekabush.com. Keep up the great work Danelle! Thanks for encouraging me to persist. I'm really glad I connected with you! Read Danielle's interview below!

Today, Wade Wilson, is sharing with us his thoughts about perseverance.  Thanks Wade!  His message is really valuable and insightful.  I suggest you read it.  Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Self-Reflection is a wonderful but scary process. It is difficult to objectively look at our faults and acknowledge them, however being able to learn from past set-backs is necessary to achieve excellence. We can self-reflect on both positive and negative experiences to find strength to persevere.

Today, Marie-Hélène (M&H) Thibeault, a Canadian Alpine Ski Team alumnus and the Executive Director of Fast and Female, shares her thoughts on perseverance with us.  Fast and Female was created by Chandra Crawford (Canadian Olympic Gold Medallist) in 2005.  Through partnering with Olympic athletes, it is dedicated to the empowerment of young women through sport. As a female athlete, I'm a proud supporter of the work that they do and have written about them on my blog in the past.  I'm delighted that I get to promote them on here as I fully believe in their vision.

I'm excited that Loren Fogelman has decided to share with me as part of my series on perseverance.  Loren Fogelman is author of The Winning Point and founder of Expert Sports Performance.com, a company devoted to teaching elite athletes how to consistently achieve high performance, maintain focus during competitions and create the confidence to reach their BIG goals. Having been a psychotherapist since 1985, she knows how to identify core issues -- the challenges that are getting in the way of your game – and how to tackle them with a laser-focused approach. During courses and coaching programs, Loren teaches her clients proven strategies for reaching their goals by working smarter, not harder. Psychology, physiology and productivity strategies when combined create a comprehensive training program, boosting performance.

I was really saddened to hear this afternoon of the passing of Champion freestyle skier and fellow Canadian Sarah Burke.

Sarah died today, nine days after she crashed at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah on Jan. 10.  She sustained life-threatening injuries which placed her in a coma.

She was a pioneer in her sport and such an inspiration to many people all over the world.  Her energy and her passion for her sport were evident every time you saw her.  I loved her bubbly attitude and her strong presence in sport. She was a role model of mine and I admired her accomplishments.  She was instrumental in getting ski halfpipe into the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

"If your life was a book, how would you want your story to go?"

This was the question Amy Purdy asked the audience at the beginning of her TED Talk.   Since I referred yesterday to this year being the year of No Limits for me, I thought I would share the talk a friend shared with me today.  Amy Purdy is a pro-snowboarder who lost both her legs when she was 19 due to an illness.  She has not let that obstacle prevent her from going after her dreams and living her life to the fullest.  She is truly an inspiration.