The Mindset of a World Cup Champion | Carli Lloyd
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast. It is the World Cup. I know this because a lot of people are talking about it and I see it on TV everywhere. And we were at the drive-thru for McDonald's the other day. My kids were being maniacs, and my son asked for a World Cup happy meal. And I thought, oh yeah, the World Cup's happening. I don't know that much about soccer, and you can tell that because I call it soccer. I've been to an Austin FC game. It was very cool. But what is the connection between the World Cup and stoicism?
Well, back in 2023, we had one of the greatest American soccer players of all time, Carly Lloyd, on the podcast. She had retired in 2021. She's in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. She's a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a two-time Women's World Cup champion, two-time FIFA Player of the Year, and a four-time Olympian. 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020. Crazy. And we were talking stoicism, what it takes to be a great athlete, what it takes to perform at the highest level. And... She's also a starring character and subject of one of my favorite books about leadership and sports, Sam Walker's The Captain Class. I think the subtitle is A New Theory of Leadership, but also The Driving Force Between Some of the World's Greatest Teams.
Great book. I think you'll see from this episode why Carly Lloyd is in there. Carly has her own great memoir, When Nobody Was Watching My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter at Carly Lloyd. And let's get into it. Going to obstacles and sort of the growth mindset, I was thinking about this as I was preparing. It's 20 years ago that you were cut from the under 21 team. And you've talked about this. That's kind of amazing. But you thought that was that was it for you. Like you've talked about how you thought that was the end of the road. Obviously, it wasn't. But talk to me about that moment where you're sort of like, is this as far as this thing takes me?
Or, you know, am I going to double down and figure out who I'm going to be and how I'm going to get past this?
It was a pivotal moment in my career, in my life. And I kind of break up my life into two halves. The first half, you know, being born and then up until this U21 point of getting cut. I was one player in person. I relied on my talent a lot. I had a lot of coaches who supported my talent. And even though one day I would show up and give 80%, it was still better than most people's 100%. And whether that was right or wrong with some of the coaches that I had, they would constantly play me. They would constantly need me. I was the best player on every team I played on. And I never really kind of went through anything that was a little difficult or a little challenging or hit an obstacle, per se. And I was pretty lazy, in fact, and didn't have the best workout ethic, pointed the fingers, blamed a lot of people.
There was never that... again, that growth mindset, that internal motivation to say, all right, I'm going to look myself in the mirror. What do I need to do to be better? It's not anybody else's fault. What do I need to do? So when I got cut from the under 21 national team, The easy way out for me was to quit. Of course, my parents didn't want to see that happen. They had, you know, spent numerous weekends and hours and money giving me the opportunity to kind of lay this foundation. And they did know that I loved it. So I finally figured out that I just had to face it. And I really believe that the only way through any challenge and obstacle in life is through it. And you become better when you just go through it.
Exactly. I remember that from your book. And so I started to just change my mindset, started to work hard, started to work on a lot of things that I wasn't necessarily good at. I got myself fit, hated running, but I just, I just did it. And I knew that I had to do it and have now grown to love running.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:39
2
What insights does Carli Lloyd share about handling pressure in sports?
4:39–7:01
3
How did Carli Lloyd overcome challenges in her early career?
7:01–21:39
4
What role does discipline play in achieving athletic excellence?
21:39–34:26
5
How does Carli Lloyd define success beyond winning?
34:26–38:59
6
What impact has Carli Lloyd had on women's soccer?
38:59–46:28
7
How does Carli Lloyd view the evolution of women's sports?
46:28–52:56
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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