Today, I am talking to Cole Seely who is an American professional motocross racer. His impressive career includes turning pro in 2009, debuting at the 2009 Phoenix Supercross, winning 5 Supercross Lites races, premier class winner, 2015 Rookie of the Year, and represented the US in the 2017 Motocross of Nations. 

In this episode, we discuss Cole’s mental health journey through his career and how he has had to adapt to life in retirement. Cole shares how he would use his anxiety in his career to enhance his races through excitement and stimulation, and now in retirement he had to find new outlets of release. 

Cole speaks about his mental health training and how it is just as important as his physical training. He discusses how he has created a regime of therapy, journalling, diet, and physical exercise to live his best life, both mentally and physically. 

Cole’s mental health struggled through injury and recovery to find enjoyment out of his career. The desire to retire on his own terms helped him to commit to his rehabilitation and reignited his passion for racing. We discuss how patience is very important and how mental health is not something that can be fixed straight away.

TOPICS WE COVER AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:

[01:52]: Sam shares how he has been seeing a clinical psychologist and how positive the experience is so far. 

[03:00]: Don’t wait to speak to someone until you hit rock bottom. You may just be in a funk or not feeling your best - it doesn’t have to be life changing to help. 

[05:24]: Sam gives a background on Cole and how they met through instagram. Cole discusses the post that initiated the connection and how he struggled when he retired from racing. 

[08:48]: Cole shares how he found a way to use his anxiety in his career to amplify his excitement and nerves, and when he retired he no longer had an outlet for it and it became difficult to handle. 

[10:40]: Cole discusses the best highlights of his career.

[12:44]: The adrenaline when you are doing extreme sports is different and comes with a very intense high. Cole shares how it was difficult to adapt to retirement without the heavy adrenaline in his everyday life. 

[16:24]: Patience is very important, mental health is not something that can be fixed straight away. 

[18:56]: Cole talks about how he was sponsored by Honda for most of his career and how grateful he is to them. 

[20:59]: Cole shares the scariest time of his career and how he injured himself extensively in a race that resulted in a 6 month recovery.

[24:08]: Cole talks about his 6 month recovery and how his mental health declined in this journey, particularly while he was in a wheelchair and dealing with needing painkillers to get through the day. 

[25:22]: The desire of retiring on his own terms became his fuel to make it through his recovery. 

[27:45]: Cole discusses how grueling his training schedule and regime is before a race. 

[29:55]: As an athlete, you are very hard on yourself and constantly think about what you could have done better. Seeing a therapist helped Cole to dissect his experiences to put everything into perspective, and not only focus on what had gone wrong. 

[31:06]: We often focus only on the physical training and don’t give the mental health training the attention it deserves. Speak to a mental health professional even if things are going well because your mind can change very quickly if you don’t keep up the training. 

[32:19]: Your mind is the most powerful muscle in your body. 

[32:46]: Journal your thoughts and write everything down as you remember it better. Cole breaks down his thoughts on paper and reflects on if things go wrong, “how can I fix them?” instead of dwelling on the negative thought.  

[34:02]: Cole talks about how he will use his mental health training in the next chapter of his life. 

[35:37]: Cole shares how not having his time planned out anymore is challenging as he previously liked his life planned out and having stimulation. 

[36:31]: I talk about Ryan Hughes’ thoughts on neck and knee braces with Cole and how he felt the neck brace can lead to more injury but the knee braces are definitely helpful.

[37:44]: Cole discusses his Youtube channel and how it started with building a bike that can ride on the street to the supercross track. 

[41:30]: Cole shares the best advice he has received in his life - Live in the moment! 

[42:18]: Cole shares the worst advice he has received in his life - Buy a house and it will go up in value.

[42:59]: Cole shares the top things he does to look after his mental health: therapy, journalling, diet and nutrition, limit alcohol, and limit coffee. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coleseely/
https://www.instagram.com/seelyspeedfactory/ 

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ColeSeely/ 

Thanks for listening to another episode of It Ain’t Weak to Speak with Sam Webb. Please rate the show and leave a review if you enjoyed it. 

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