Jesse Thomas: Personal Improvement is the Basis of Competitive Athleticism - R4R 239

When you have a talent, a gift, or awards to your name for a sport, it is easy to rely on those to get things in life. Of course, you work hard, but you also are boosted with constant praise and recognition for what you can do.   When that sport is removed by personal choice or external force, there is a reckoning that happens. Who am I? What do I do now? Do I even matter anymore?   I've had few guests on the podcast who understand that experience similar to mine. I believe that most can relate to the feeling of having to back off from something you love or even step away entirely, which is crushing but voluntarily choosing to when you could keep going to work on a business, that can be hard to admit. While no one is judging you, it can feel like you are wasting your talent, that people are going to be disappointed in you.   And our guest today knows that all too well. Jesse Thomas is a former professional triathlete, CEO of Picky Bars, podcast host, as well as father to Zadie and Jude and husband to Lauren Fleshman.   We talked about struggling to feel like you are enough, figuring out your identities, and how being an athlete of any kind(and I mean athlete in the sense of anyone who participates, not professional) can help make you a better person and better at what you do outside of your sport. How We Define Ourselves While Jesse is well known as a former professional triathlete, entrepreneur, and podcast host with his wife Lauren, he shares that the largest part of how he defines himself personally is just his family. The most important thing to him is being a great dad.    “Priorities ebb and flow. We have specific times in our lives where we have the best chance or ability to achieve a specific goal that is finite. And in order to put time into that, you do need to sacrifice other things for a little while,” he shares.   “As long as you're communicative about the length and duration and depth of that sacrifice, then you can often get through it.” Primary Parent During Jesse’s time focusing on racing and Picky Bars, Lauren was the primary parent, and now they’ve switched. With Lauren working on a big project, Jesse is the primary parent.    “We certainly hope that we’re teaching them lessons about self-care and the pursuit of things that bring you joy and hopefully make an impact in the world.” “Retirement” Writing a blog and doing a project with Triathlete Magazine made Jesse realize the emotion he was carrying in the decision to stop racing professionally. “I'm super thankful for everything, but I'm gonna move on to the next phase of my life,” Jesse said. “It felt really good. It felt it was a relief. Like I can now fully pivot into the next phase of my life, which was around becoming a “professional” “unprofessional” CEO for Picky Bars as the majority of my focus.” Confidence is key Confidence is the tool Jesse says he learned from racing and it transcended into life with family and with running Picky Bars. Confidence that it’s going to work out regardless of the challenge you face. As athletes, we ride such roller coasters with injuries, training, and races. But that teaches you a lot about business, especially when it comes to identifying what you can and can’t, and believing everything will work out in the end.  Picky Bars Picky Bars is a reflection of Jesse, Lauren, and Stephanie, the founders. It’s a brand that promotes positive messages and in doing things around healthy positive body image, sustainable relationships with food, and inclusion.    "What what we want to do now is build it too, to a place where it's making a super positive impact on all of our communities with, great product, great messaging, great givebacks, and making it an amazing place to work. “      Resources Jesse Instagram  Picky Bars Website Picky Club  Work, Play, Love podcast  Triathlete Magazine Article  Lauren Fleshman on Running for Real    Thank you to my wonderful sponsor Tracksmith, Athletic Greens, and Momentous for sponsoring this episode of the Running for Real Podcast. Tracksmith is a Boston based running clothing company that truly cares about the quality and care of their running clothes. Running can be a demanding lifestyle for our clothes, they definitely go through the wear and tear to where we may be purchasing new clothes constantly. Tracksmith designers truly work with the finest materials and think of you as a runner in mind with spots for your keys, phone, and fuel. You can go here to check out my favorites! You can get $15 off your purchase of $75 or more, click here and enter code TINA15.   Athletic Greens is a simple and easy way to get 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food source ingredients. Just to help my immune system be stronger and greater! It is so simple to make and it tastes good as well. I used this for my prenatal and I am still using it while breastfeeding. Now you can get up to a YEAR supply of Vitamin D3 and K2 for free with your first purchase of  Athletic Greens through my podcast. Visit here to learn more!   Being a tough year with additional stresses on top of an already overwhelming situation means sleep can often be lost...but it is the one thing that we know would help us. Being a former insomniac, I know the frustration going to bed early, yet being unable to switch your brain off can bring. These Momentous Elite Sleep capsules are fantastic and contain Melatonin, Magtein® (Magnesium L-threonate), and Wild Jujube Seed Extract which together will help reduce nighttime anxiety, gently fall asleep and improve circadian rhythm to achieve higher quality sleep.  Go here and use code TINA for 20% off. Thanks for listening! We know there are so many podcasts you could be listening to, but we are honored you have chosen Running For Real. If you appreciate the work that we do, here are a few things you can do to support us: Take a screenshot of the episode, and share it with your friends, family, and community on social media, especially if you feel that topic will relate to them. Be sure to tag us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram If you are struggling through something a guest mentions, chances are, others are too, and you will help them feel less alone  Leave an honest review on iTunes or your favorite podcast player Your ratings and reviews will really help us grow and reach new people Not sure how to leave a review or subscribe, you can find out here. Thank you to Jesse, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the show.