Becoming Your Warrior

Worth Beyond Winning - with World Parkour Champion Sydney Olson.

• Emma Ritchie • Season 4 • Episode 12

Share episode

Send us a text

What happens when 20 x world-class athlete and Hollywood stuntwoman discovers that real power isn’t in achievement, but in peace?


In this episode of Becoming Your Warrior, I sit down with Sydney Olson.  Professional stunt performer, parkour champion, and mindset coach to unpack the journey from pressure to purpose.


From being literally set on fire on set to learning that her worth was never tied to winning, Sydney reveals how to move beyond fear, perfectionism, and performance into genuine freedom and self-acceptance.

Sydney now uses her experience as a high-performance athlete to help other top performers achieve from a place of power, not force or pressure.

You can find Sydney here:

https://www.instagram.com/sydney_o_coaching/


With love,

Em xx


You can follow Emma at:

https://www.instagram.com/emmaritchiewellness/
https://www.facebook.com/emmaritchiewellness/

https://www.youtube.com/@emmaritchiebecomingyourwarrior


SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Becoming Your Warrior podcast. This is the place where you get to feel inspired and empowered to step into your very best life. Today on Becoming your Warrior, I am joined by Sydney Olsen, a professional stunt woman, mindset coach, and former pro-parko athlete who lives by the truth that you can do absolutely anything you decide is possible. Sydney has competed across the globe, earning more than 20 first place titles in parkour. And for the last 11 years, she's worked in the stunt industry, doing everything from wire work to being set on fire to playing characters on TV. Alongside this incredible career, she's also dedicated herself to personal development, first to excel in competition and later to find peace with herself beyond achievement, which is the big one. And today, Sydney helps others push past fear and step into freedom through her mindset coaching. And I am so excited to have you here, Sydney, and to dive into your stories. So welcome.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much, Emma. I'm so glad that we get to be on each other's podcasts and get to be friends because you're just so amazing and such a light. So I'm really grateful to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, thank you so much. What a lovely, what a lovely reflection. Thank you. I really appreciate that. And um yeah, just so excited to have you here. I mean, you know, talking about achievement, and I know we're going to be talking about the peace that's underneath that as well. But I mean, you have on an achievement level achieved so much. But what do you think for you has been the biggest lesson that you've learned about mindset through your experiences?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think there's a few, but uh, one of the ones that steps out at me really is just knowing that you can actually do anything that you want to do. Um, and a lot of what we believe we can't is just limitations that we have in our mind. And then the other thing I want to add, because it just also is very prevalent, um, and I was thinking about it a lot as you were asking the question, is that our value never changes throughout our life, no matter what we accomplish. And I think that's been a really hard lesson for me. I've had to learn it over and over again. And it's also a really beautiful one. So it doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or you're homeless on the street, it the value never changes throughout your entire life.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it is a big one. We will definitely dive into that a lot more. So, I mean, for somebody like you, that again just coming back to that achievement and obviously the value that runs through that, but coming back to that achievement, you know, you know, for you, it's like there's this there's had to be some sort of drive in you to go and get these things, to achieve these things. Where do you think that drive first began for you?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, my mom told me that I was so ambitious since the day I was born. She she said to me, and it's one of the sweetest things that she's ever said, is out of my kids, I always knew that if someone was going to do something spectacular, it would be you because everything you did, you just did with so much purpose. And this was true for video games. I remember I got a PlayStation when I was like seven years old, and I was obsessed with getting past this final boss. I don't know. I would just write down how I could do it the next time. I'd like very much learn quickly from mistakes. But I think what really forced me into this drive was gymnastics. My gymnastics background, having a coach that first was abusive and then going into sort of a different environment after having dealt with that. And then I got a different round of coaches that were very much of the mindset that you are not your limitations, you have to work past every single limitation that you have, which was really beneficial in a lot of ways, but it also came with this comparisonitis that I constantly faced and still do sometimes in my life. But um, we were in a rank. Uh so that was the hardest part is uh we would have a rank at the gym. So I would usually sit at like top three, and I'd always want to be at number one, and so I would do anything possible to do that. I think I made a time capsule when I was 10 years old asking myself, are you first in rank? So it's really funny to look back at, but it was very serious for me at the time. And I think I just everything that I wanted to do, I wanted to be the best at it. It wasn't even that I wanted to be the best for myself, I wanted to be the best. And so the drive for that was very serious for a long time. And it drove me to to achieve so many things. But then the issue that then arises as you accomplish all these things and you get to say that maybe, oh, I was a world champion at something, but it doesn't actually give you that peace that you think it'll give you. So, or at least for me, it doesn't give me the peace that I think it'll bring me. So that has been kind of the start of my journey, really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I mean, it it are there are there times when you know when you say like, you know, achieving that title, you know, being the best. I mean, w when you are actually awarded that, is there a moment in time when you get to experience it? Or because you said it you just it doesn't give you that piece.

SPEAKER_00:

Is there a second or is there a minute where you can I would say I would say that's a great question. I remember standing up on first place podiums and every time I would be so elated up there. And so it's not as if I didn't have the experience of it. I definitely did, and it would last like a day or two, and then it would instantly come up with an anxiety of I have to do this or better next time because people are gonna come after me and I need to make sure that I stay on top. So it came with this constant anxiety of performing and realizing that I'd have to keep the title, which is harder than getting in the first place sometimes. Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_01:

And and I mean, so so what is what was because I know you've done so much work around this and you coach other people around this as well, but you've mentioned the word anxiety. I mean, what's it like to live in that world where it's like, you know, you're number one, you've smashed it, you've achieved this goal, um, but then you know, there's this pressure to maintain it. I mean, what what what was that like for you living in that world?

SPEAKER_00:

It was stressful. It came with a lot of pressure. I mean, there was a lot of it that I really enjoyed because it made me such a good athlete. And I would go out with all this intention to train and I would be able to do everything that I wanted to do, but it just came with this underlying fear that if I didn't accomplish this, I wasn't going to be loved for who I am. I needed to prove my worth. And so that was kind of the lesson that I hadn't quite learned is that my worth was innate. So I believed that worthiness is tied to achievements, and this would show up in so many ways, even outside of my athletic career. So I think, yeah, it just it to walk around in a world like that, I could just the one word I would use is just pressure, like don't fuck it up. I hope it's okay that I said fuck. You leave it out. Um but basically just don't mess it up, um, always have to be better, like look out for that person, everyone's a threat. It's just that was kind of the world that I was living in.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And so I mean, how and obviously it's a journey that we're all on as well, but how did you first go about because I think, okay, here's the question. I think a lot of people think, well, if I do the mindset work and clear that that pressure, say, out of the way, then that means I'm no longer gonna perform. I'm not gonna perform at the same, you know, I'm not gonna have the same drive. How how has that journey been for you, like removing that and still performing?

SPEAKER_00:

So it's really funny because that was my exact thought for a long time. I would be afraid to like work on it just enough to like get past certain things because I wanted to still be able to win. I thought that if I worked on it too much, it would go away. And then uh once I did start working through it anyway, because basically I just decided nothing's worth this uh what I'm feeling. Like I didn't feel like it was worth it to feel this terrible about myself. If I was winning, it didn't like I said, it didn't bring me what I thought it was going to give me. So why pursue that if I can't, you know, show up as who I really want to? So basically that was what inspired the work. But then the interesting thing was I had a competition that year later, I thought I was gonna be done competing, but decided to do one more and I went in completely just to have fun. And because I had taken all that pressure off of myself, the first day I actually ended up in second place, and I hadn't felt what that was like in a long time. And I was okay with it, but I was also there was this other part that was like, yeah, but if you want to, you can still win. And so it was realizing that I had done this work, I could accept the fact that I might not be in first place and that would be okay. But then there was also this thing, this side of me that was never gonna go away. Still, still wanted to be competitive, still wanted to win, because the other benefit to it is that I was pushing everybody else in the sport as well. So everyone else was getting better because I was competitive and vice versa. Like everyone that was really competitive with me made me a better athlete too. So there was this dance between not putting too much pressure on myself, but also knowing that if I really want to, this is for me too. Like I have just as much of an opportunity. So I ended up winning the whole competition, and it was the first time that I had done it from a place of total acceptance for whatever outcome was going to happen. So then any other competition I took place in after that, and I did lose a couple of times and it it was fine. I realized it didn't matter, and uh that the entire time it was just a facade and it was just this lie that I had told myself that I have to win, otherwise I wouldn't be accepted for who I am. But really, what I had a hard time understanding is whenever I looked up to anybody, it didn't matter to me if they got second place, third place, last place, whatever. If I looked up to them, I looked up to them, but I just couldn't see that with myself.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And and that that sort of journey, I mean, even you know, we've touched on like value being attached to achievement and not being accepted as yourself unless you were winning. I mean, where where does where for you, you know, you know, as comfortable as you are to go into it, where do you think that comes from? Because you said as a baby your mum was like poof, you were just like off, you know. But where where do you feel that sh first showed up in your life, this idea of like not being accepted unless you were achieving something?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think partially is to do with I'm a middle child. So I think when my brother was born, and I absolutely adore family, I know that it's uh I just want to preface that because I know that my parents are amazing and they absolutely did the best they could. But I think that when my brother was born, I think I had to compete a little bit more for attention from my parents. And they honestly did give me a bit more attention when I was doing really well in gymnastics, and it was cool, it was that one thing that I had. And I remember my sister was in gymnastics before I was, and I looked up to my sister, so that's what made me want to go into it in the first place. So my dad told me, you can become a gymnast if you get a perfect cartwheel. And so, you know, well-meaning, of course, and I'm five years old and I'm out in the front lawn and I'm working on my cartwheel every day for hours, and I finally get it and it's beautiful, and then I start adding on, I see what my sister's doing at the gym, and I want to try that too. And so suddenly I'm doing like round off back handspring backflip, and so they have to put me on team right away because I've already learned all the moves that she does, and so then uh because I joined gymnastics, my sister ended up quitting because she's like, Oh, my sister's already better than me and she's three years younger. So I think there was this yeah, a little bit of competing for attention from my parents, competing for attention from my coaches, being put in a rank amongst other girls and constantly being compared. And then yeah, just basically realizing that I have this kind of ability. Like I don't know, people kept calling me gifted, that kind of stuff. And so I think it was just like this pressure that I then put on myself being like, oh, I've got to keep this up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And you know, and you know, I I see it with my clients as well, and I can I can hear it in that. It's just like when you're getting that attention, when your value is like, oh, you've won again, or you're perfect, or you're doing the perfect cartwheel, and then the rewards there, and it's all well-meaning, of course. It's praise, but it's praise for the achievement. So so what what's been your I guess your journey of discovering your value outside of what you do?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's been a long journey, and occasionally it still flares back up, thinking that my value is tied to things that I do, and if I'm not doing enough, then I'm not valuable, which is just a hundred percent a lie. But I think it really just has been this deeper work on myself, um, realizing, I mean, Peter Crohn was a lot to do with this too, because I think that was always the missing piece that I had. I would do all this self-development work, but it would come from wanting to be better and be the best version of my limited self. And so when I when I came across Peter, I think the thing that really helped me was how rooted he is in understanding and acceptance. And that was the missing piece is I had no acceptance for who I was, where I was, all the the bad things about me, all the things that I didn't want to look at, all the things that um when I was younger, I was also made fun of a lot by other girls at school, that kind of stuff. And a lot of those things were kind of put in my shadow, things that I didn't really want to look at. And so when I finally made the space for all of me, then it was so much easier to just realize that my worth is just inherent, and so as everybody else is, realizing how connected we are and how everything that has happened just basically has happened. It couldn't be any other way, and it's just it's all very connected. And so I think realizing that things couldn't be any different and that I'm happy with where I'm at is ultimately it's okay. Yeah, he's a wise man, that Peter Crone, isn't he?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, because it's it's really interesting because uh I'm sort of being connected to you but in a different way because I know I actually watched a video of you being coached by Peter at one of his events. Um so that was before we even met, and then we got to meet at the retreat in person. So um, yeah, I mean just just seeing that transformation just in you, just in that coaching session. And um, but yeah, it's it's so you're you're so spot on because I think that's the thing, it's you know, we want other people outside of us to love and accept all of us, but if we don't do that for ourselves, if we don't like that bit about us, that judgment piece that like if we judge ourselves or if we're harsh to ourselves or if we're a cruel critic to ourselves, if we can't even love and accept that it that that is part of us and deny it or not like it, then how can we expect everything on the outside to um to love and accept us? And I think this is where people struggle a little bit as well. Yeah. Um and and so you sort of mentioned like with the kind of the achievement and the thinking your worth was attached to, you know, your achievements, and you said that filtered out into other areas of your life as well, outside of what where else whatever you feel comfortable with where else did that show up for you?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean it showed up in probably every single thing, especially relationships too. I used to be very jealous, and it's mostly because I just thought everybody else is a threat, and so it wasn't even just a worthy thing, too. It was like, is this person better than me in any single way? And it was just like I said, constant comparison, everyone's a threat in some way. And so I think once I stopped chasing the validation from other people, first of all, and really started to get that better relationship with myself and uh being more aware of why I was feeling this way in the first place, I think that's really when the change came about. And you're right, it is it is really difficult to be in that space where you're wanting love and acceptance from other people, but you're not really even giving it to yourself. You're basically saying something outside of me has got to give me what I'm but desperately craving from myself. So um, but to answer your question, because I know that you asked if where else it would show up. There was other things too. Um I would get mad if people that didn't work I'm saying this in quotation marks if people aren't viewing this, but um if people didn't work as hard as I did, but got rewarded more, I would think that was really unfair. And so I had another constraint that was like life is unfair, um, without and the that one really played a role for a long time because that was also value-driven. It was saying that the more time you put in, the more effort you put in, the more authentic you are, the more in integrity you are, the better you should be rewarded. And it's like, where did that come from? You know, and so there's always just these things that come up that we can look at that are so so helpful. But I think the life is unfair one, that one, that one drove my life for a very long time.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. How nice is to come out the other side of that. And and and you know, it's still still um it can still show up from time to time, right? It's it's kind of the ever-evolving I just feel like we work in cycles and it's kind of these things can come up again, but it's like now that you've broken through it and you've got that awareness, do you feel like when it does show up, it's easier to kind of bounce back from it?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, massively. I mean, first it was there was no awareness. So I think the awareness being the first step is really important because once you're aware, it's you can't not be in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes it can flip by you without you really noticing, but most of the time, um, whether you're reflecting on it later in the day or whatever, you realize that this is happening. And it's like, oh, it's just that part of me. And so once I was able to like give that part of me love and attention um for whatever it feels like it missed out on or whatever fears are arising within me, then I don't have to worry so much. But I think it is exactly what you said. It's just it's night and day. I mean, it used to just like plague my existence. I would be really struggling mentally, but now I just when it comes up, it's almost gone as quickly as it arrived.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's so beautiful. It's so beautiful that work. Um let's talk a little bit about fear. Uh because you know, you know, um as I mentioned before we started recording, you know, I look at your Instagram, which is like just insane. Some of the stuff that you do, like with your body and how you push yourself and the the the things that you have achieved with your body, but also from a place of like, you know, in everyday life, people have fears. They have fears around starting a business, putting themselves out there, being seen, um, you know, fears about the future, all of that um kind of stuff. Can you using all of your experience in both mindset and with the work that you've done with your body, can you talk to me about your own experience about fear and coming through it?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Um, and thank you for the compliment that was very nice. Um, but I think it's it's interesting because a lot of people believe that I'm fearless and I'm just totally not. I am probably just as terrorist terrified as the next person trying to do the things that I'm doing. Fear isn't something that just goes away from me, it's something that I work with rather than against or trying to get rid of because I don't think that you can really get rid of fear. It's a good response to have, actually. Um I'm just gonna preface this real quick because this was something that recently happened to me. The times that I show up without any fear to a stunt job is not good. It's actually really dangerous. And I recently had a job where I wasn't worried at all about something that I was doing, and looking back, I mean, probably should have been, like just a little bit. But anyway, sometimes I can get overly cocky, and I went for this move and I ended up hitting my head really hard on a metal grate, and I got concussed and I knocked myself out very quickly. But uh it's always those times where I'm not in fear at all that I actually have a response like that because I'm not totally looking out for myself in some ways. So I know that's a different sort of segue, but basically what I mean is fear is something that we can change our relationship with. It's not something that we're trying to get rid of. But if you change your relationship and see what it's trying to protect you from, it's a lot easier to work with it. So most of the time, if you look at the moves that I'm doing, there could be a fear that arises of like, oh, I could get hurt. But most of the time, every single thing that you've seen me do on Instagram, I have worked on so much before I ever came outside to concrete. And so it was always done into a foam pit and then onto some mats and then onto a floor and then onto concrete. So everything was um a progression. And so that's what I like to think of as also progressions. Like, of course, there are going to be certain things like putting yourself out there is a really scary thing for a lot of people, and it was scary for me when I started my coaching business too. I mean, I could, you know, be set on fire, I could fall 30 feet, whatever, but put like saying, hey, I want to offer mindset coaching was terrifying. And it took me several months to actually like, no, so years. I mean, it took me years to actually go for it. Uh, but it was great too, because it also allowed me to get more experience and um learn a lot more before helping other people. But besides all that, I can still be absolutely terrified before doing something like that. And I think one day I just decided, you know what, this imposter syndrome, this fear that I have, all that is never really gonna go away. But maybe I can work with it by just taking that next step. What is the next step that I can do? It's like, okay, I've done all of the things to get ready for this. It's time to just finally jump off the cliff and tell people that I'm gonna be offering my services. And the worst that happens is that people don't react to it and it's not a problem. So I put it out there and it's it's been great. But at the same time, I also acknowledge the fact that fear is really just what we're projecting onto the future. It's uh like Peter always says, past hurt informs future fear. So the fears that I have of putting myself out there in that way is probably just something to do with the fact that when I was a kid, I would get made fun of for putting myself out there in a way. It's like, okay, so is that what's happening? No. Is it going to flop like that? I mean, it could, but at the same time, also I could end up just getting clients and getting to work this really cool thing that I really like to do. So it's realizing that both scenarios are possible and just as real as each other. And it's just like which one are you going to focus on? So fear for me is two very different things. Because obviously, there's the part of me that really needs the fear to be in touch with what I'm doing on some of those bigger stunt jobs. And then there's the part of me that has to work through that fear because, like I said, it's not really going away most of the time. It's just as you're doing it, it it tends to dissipate.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I I love that example of kind of, you know, that even with the stunts that you were doing, it's kind of been a process. There's been like, you know, you've been doing it with support, you've been doing it into a phone pit, and then it's like, and then you go out and actually do it. And it's the same with like, like you said, like launching your business. It's like for months you can be like one step forward, one step back, and you know, I'm just using it as an example, but it is a process, and I I do think like with a business or you know, stepping into a new relationship or whatever it is, um, there is a process of like taking steps forward. It's it's not just like I'm gonna set up a business and be amazing. And I think this is uh what I see a lot is people who are extremely successful selling like courses on how to do things and the strategies there, but if your mindset isn't there, that's the struggle. Right? Absolutely, yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. I really I really love that. Um so so talk to me a little bit now about you know what what are you up to? Because, you know, I see all this stuff and I you know I know that you're still working with your body, but tell me a little bit more about the coaching side of what you're doing as well now and who you're working with.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, I just recently started my mindset coaching business back in June. And as I said before, it's something I'd wanted to do for many years and finally took the steps to do that. I I started it during kind of a slow time at work. Things had been slow in the stunt world, and I was like, okay, finally this is this is when we're gonna do it. So I f I I get the courage, I do that. And then pretty much right after I started mindset coaching, I got a stunt job that was happening for the next seven weeks. And so over the summer I worked on this really cool job. I can't quite say what it was yet, but it's something really cool, and that'll be coming out in February, so I'll definitely let you know when that airs. But um, as of right now, for mindset coaching, I tend to attract high performers, and I think I haven't really niche down yet. I haven't done all that, and I know there's like that pressure out there that I could subscribe to of like niching down, but I haven't done that yet. But mostly I attract a lot of high performers that want to accomplish really big things and they put a lot of pressure on themselves. So that's who I'm working with is people that have been through exactly what I've been through.

SPEAKER_01:

I wonder why you attract that kind of person. Gosh, I wonder why. Oh, that is awesome. That's awesome. And you know, I know you can't tell us about, but just for a little bit of juice, you know, because you and it's not to focus on what you've done, you know, it's it's who you are. But um give us a little bit of juice. What what kind of movies, what kind of sets and things have you worked on in the past? Like who have you doubled for, if you can share?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, there was a show called Stargirl. I doubled Breck Bassinger, she's she was um, I think no, she wasn't a teen actress at the time, she was a little bit older than that. But anyway, she plays a teenager. So um it was a superhero show, and I did season two of that. And then there was I actually just posted about something that came out today. I mean, I've done a lot of different things, but I worked on the show Monster that's on Netflix, and it was only for one scene, and it was a chainsaw scene where like everybody's getting murdered by a chainsaw. And it was like one of the most gory days of work in my life. It was so gross. There was just blood everywhere, but not not real blood, but it was just like it took me days to get that out of my hair. Um I worked on the new Twisters movie. I got to um t test all the wire stuff for that, which was really cool. Um, I love wire work. I get test or I get hired a lot to do things like wire work and anything where I just kind of get slammed against the ground. I tend to get a lot of like uh hard-hitting jobs. So um yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I definitely I think you posted something on Instagram recently, and it was like all the kind of like when things like kind of didn't go to plan kind of thing. And there's one shot where you're doing like a parkour. Am I saying it right? Parkour, yeah, yeah, you're saying it right. It's fine. Um but you're doing this one move and it's like it's and you just land in such a way, and I was just like, oh, city. It just looks so brutal.

SPEAKER_00:

It looks so brutal, but um, yeah. I know what video, it's funny. That video, um, every once in a while I repost like a lot of my clips, like bails, things that went horribly wrong, and that's just the parkour related stuff. Um, not so much stunts, but um yeah, that one specifically is funny because all those all those clips, like I'm actually really proud when I look back on those, mostly because almost all of them, like there's only a few that I actually got hurt. There's one where I broke my hand, there's one that I broke my ankle, and then I think there was one where I hit my head, but I think because I don't remember. Um but most of them, I I actually it was the result of me pushing myself in a way that I was like, I was terrified and I worked through it. And then most of them were like, they were scary, but I didn't actually get hurt, so it was it was just the next step to take. So I know that it seems like horrible and things didn't go to plan, but um really when I look back on it, I can't help but just be a little bit proud because those are usually the result of like a girl that's just working really hard and she's just trying her best.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and so now, like when you when you approach things, you know, from this new perspective that you have on your life, you know, this this version of you like that is being rather than like just forcing or or doing like like how how do you view yourself now? Like when you when you sort of talk to yourself, like how how do you talk to yourself now?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, a lot softer, a lot kinder, um just with a lot more reverence for who I am as a person, just the things that I've faced. Um, I actually did a journal and exercise very recently because sometimes I have the tendency, and this is also I prescribe this to one of my clients too. I have the tendency to only be able to be proud of myself in hindsight. Uh some so like a couple years later I could look back and be like really proud and stuff and then um it was so interesting because I realized there's like a two-year lag or something like that. I'm like, oh like I could be proud of what I did in 2023. It's so strange. So then um I did this journal exercise where I pretended it was 2027 and I was looking at the things that I'm doing right now, the things that I'm being right now, and I just was so proud. I realized like the the change from that very driven sort of masculine energy to achieve everything and feeling like that is my peace to being able to have peace regardless of my circumstances is a massive one, and it doesn't always show up externally. Um, and I think that's the hard part sometimes is that worthy driven self, like the one that thinks that my worth is outside of me, can really get in the way of seeing that internally and externally I'm totally different. And it's it's been an adjustment and quite an identity crisis at times where I'm still like, but but there's a part of that that I miss, but for the most part, I'm so much kinder to myself and a lot softer and easier on myself, and I can yeah, I can do things because I love to do them rather than feeling like I have to because it's gonna give me something or that I think it's going to give me something.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I love that. And and for you know, for your sort of high performing clients, and maybe that that's part of it, but like if somebody's coming to you and they're kind of like super under pressure, super high performer, like how how would you even begin? Like, what would be the first thing that you would say to somebody like that or you know, coach them through to help relieve that pressure?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, first I'd just have them explain everything to me. I just want to know kind of what their story is, how they've arrived at this, um, why they believe this about themselves. And then I would just meet them with a lot of compassion because I really know what it's like to struggle that way. And from there we would start to kind of peel apart the layers of why they believe that about themselves, that they have to achieve this in order to be happy or to gain acceptance or love or whatever it may be. So we start peeling back the layers and we start realizing like, oh, actually everything is okay as it is, and everything that's happened is meant to be that way. There's nothing that needs to be different about that. Everything about where I'm at right now is totally okay. Nothing needs to be different about that. Everything that's gonna happen, nothing that needs to be different about that. So I think it's just really being able to create that space for that person, uh, whoever it is, and realizing that we all come from different walks of life, but a lot of us just have these same similarities.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think I think that can be such a because just listening to you describe that, there's like a sense of peace that just washed over me as well. Um, but I think when you're in that place, you know, when you're like stuck in there and you you have those these blind spots that that we both know exist, um, it can be so hard to understand how could I ever possibly get to that place where it's just like acceptance and space and um things like that. But that's the journey like we've both been on as well. And it is very possible, but it's it the work continues, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely, the work always continues. And it's funny because you say that, and one of my clients, um, I think her issue that she constantly has, she just doesn't believe that whatever she wants is achievable. And so one of the things that she brought up is that she wants to travel but isn't in a place right now that she could do that. I said, Okay, um, obviously this is not financial advice, but I said, What if that's just not true? What if right now you could actually go to Tahiti or Maldives or whatever it is that you wanted to do? I'm sure you could actually find a way if you knew for certain that you needed to be there next week, you could probably find a way to do it. And she realized like how true that is. She goes, Oh yeah, like if I if I knew I was gonna meet my future husband there, I could probably just put it on my credit card. And so it wasn't this financial advice, but it was realizing that most of what we say just isn't true. Yeah, that if you really wanted to, you could, but it's just not the priority right now. And so I think that was just something that I wanted to add for some reason. But uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it makes so much sense. It's it's just a limitation, right? It's it's kind of like well, when I have we know this, it's like the outside. When I have the money, then I can travel and then I can go to Easy and meet my dreams. Like or when I have the partner, then I can feel love, or when I have the financial situation, then I'll have peace. And it's just like find it first, and this is the unraveling that you know, I know my work um does as well, is like just the unraveling of that, but get the feeling because it's inside you first, and then things on the outside will will appear the way that they they do. So yeah. Um one sort of well coming to the end, but one sort of final question. If you could stunt double for anybody, who would it be? Who would be your dream person to like stunt double for?

SPEAKER_00:

That's uh that's a really good question. Um, I think I would love to double Reese Witherspoon because I just was I was just loved her growing up, like absolutely loved her. And we actually are the same height. So it would be really amazing just putting it out there in case anyone knows, anyone. But I would just love to double Reese Witherspoon. Um, not that she does like a ton right now, but it doesn't matter. And then yeah, just for me personally.

SPEAKER_01:

Come on.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we should we gotta do an action movie. Not that she really does this, but um, yeah, just really also just as a role. Um, the one that I recently did was my absolute dream role, so I'm very excited about it and I can't wait to share what it is.

SPEAKER_01:

Very much looking forward to hearing that. And Sydney, where can people find you if people are looking for your work?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, if people are looking for my work, you can go to my website. It's just Sydney Olson.com. Olson is spelled O-L-S-O-N, not like the Olson twins, which is an EN. And if you want to follow me on Instagram, you can go to at Sydney Olson One, and then my coaching page is uh at Sydney underscore O underscore coaching.

SPEAKER_01:

Amazing. Yeah, and I highly, highly recommend going to your Instagram page and just seeing you in action and and seeing all that you do. Thank you so much for coming on today. Honestly, it's been so beautiful just finding out a little bit more about you and you know, just I know what you've shared and your experience and everything that you know, everything about you is just offering so much value, and you're such a gift, and I'm so so happy that our paths have crossed. And um, yeah, it's just an absolute pleasure to speak to you today and get your message out there and yeah, you're just wonderful. So keep doing what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, you're so sweet, and I feel the exact same about you. You're just so amazing, you have an incredible energy. And when I met you in person, from the moment I met you, I was like, oh, who is this lovely person? I just wanted to be around you, so I'm really glad that we get to connect and get to know each other more. So thank you for that, and thank you for giving me the space to just speak. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

And yeah, thanks to Mr. Peter Crown for bringing this together. Love again. We do, we really do. All right, we will talk very soon and lots of love, and thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. Thanks for listening today, and if this episode helped or inspired you, just remember to share it to friends or family who could also use some inspiration today. We are all about sharing the love.

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Aubrey Marcus Podcast Artwork

Aubrey Marcus Podcast

Aubrey Marcus
Eckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings Artwork

Eckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle