Division I Baseball, Three Cancer Battles, and Building Resilient Personal Greatness | Ep. 65 Chris Vasami

Most people talk about resilience. Chris Vasami has had to live it — three times.

Chris Vasami is a former Division I baseball player at Notre Dame and Elon University, a Colorado Rockies draftee who achieved his lifelong dream of playing professional baseball, a three-time thyroid cancer survivor, keynote speaker, and founder of Vasami Training — a coaching company he built from the ground up at 20 years old and has run for more than two decades.

His story isn't about one defining moment of adversity. It's about what happens when adversity becomes a way of life — and you choose to grow through it anyway. Three separate cancer diagnoses. Ongoing hypothyroidism management. A business to build. A family to lead. And a message that has taken shape not in spite of all of it, but because of it.

What Chris calls "resilient personal greatness" isn't a motivational framework. It's a lived conviction: that true performance comes from clarity, ownership, and discipline — and that you have to lead yourself before you can ever lead anyone else.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Chris to talk about what resilience actually costs, what identity looks like when adversity keeps showing up, and what it means to stop waiting for someday and start showing up on purpose.

In this episode: — The biggest lie culture and the sports world sell athletes about identity and resilience — What fighting cancer three times while building a business taught Chris about what performance actually requires — What "resilient personal greatness" means beyond motivation — and why clarity, ownership, and discipline are the real foundation — What it means to lead yourself before you attempt to lead others — What coaches and parents need to understand about developing the whole person, not just the player — What anyone facing ongoing adversity needs to hear about choosing growth every single time

This one is for every athlete dealing with pressure they didn't see coming. Every person navigating adversity that won't resolve itself neatly. Every coach and parent trying to build something in young people that lasts beyond the sport.

Connect with Chris: Website: chrisvasami.com Vasami Training: vasamitraining.com Instagram: @chrisvasami

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Good morning, team. Welcome to the Standard Podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call out the lies or misconceptions that nobody else will. This isn't motivation, this is a movement. I'm Thomas Furrow, joined by my host, Aaron Charles, and today we're sitting down with Chris Vasami, former Division I baseball player at Notre Dame and Elon University, drafted by the Colorado Rockies, cancer survivor, and that's really important for you to understand, team. I really want Chris to get into this, who fought the disease three separate times, keynote speaker and founder of Asami Training, who helps athletes develop from the inside out. Chris has a story that proves resilience is not something you talk about. It's something you built in the face of adversity and proven through actions. He achieved his lifelong dream of playing professional baseball with the Colorado Rockies. Then in the prime of his life, he faced far greater opponents. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and fought the disease three separate times while also managing ongoing hypothermicism. Oh boy, this is a big SAT word. Hypothrumatism. I nailed it. At 20, Chris founded Vasami Training. And far more than for more than two decades, he has translated elite athletic discipline and hard-earned life perspective into transformational coaching. His experience navigating cancer multiple times and ongoing health challenges redefined how he approaches performance, blending mental fitness, resilience, lifestyle, and human connection into what he calls resilient personal greatness. As Chris puts it, when I was diagnosed, I had a business that was just starting to hit its stride. And suddenly I was being told to slow down. The moment flipped something inside me, stopped waiting for someday, and started showing up on purpose. Today, Chris speaks to the audience about his mindset, identity, and what it really means to lead yourself in front of others. His message is about moving from pressure to purpose, from surviving to owning it. He doesn't get on stage to perform. He speaks because he lives through adversity and comes out swinging. We're diving into the truth behind what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life. Let's get into it. Chris, we're so stoked you're here joining us today. Can't wait to hear your story. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Cool.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Dude, awesome.

SPEAKER_04 2:32

I really appreciate you guys having me. I I've been excited for this ever since, you know, our discovery call. You know, it's just one of the beautiful things about life is just finding people that that kind of have the same purpose and and the same mission and the same values. So I'm ready to get going.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yeah, you that's so true. I think that when you're one of our first guests that Aaron and I looked at each other when we had a discovery call and we said, wow, we got to get Chris on. Usually we kind of warm up the relationship, but right away we wanted to get into it. So, Chris, you're a former Division I baseball player at Notre Dame and Elon, drafted by the Colorado Rockies, and you fought cancer three separate times while building Vasomic training for over two decades. When someone asks you what makes you different, your story speaks for itself. What does raising the standard mean to you having lived through all of these experiences?

SPEAKER_04 3:25

I would say that raising the standard comes from the fact that you when you hit rock bottom, not only does it give you an appreciation for rock bottom, it gives you an appreciation for really being able to sit in struggle, sit in moments that you have zero control. And I think it really allows you to reformulate your plan in what I call your non-negotiables, so that you can figure out how to move forward. And the beauty is that as you start to move forward, the standards start to raise themselves along with expectations.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

For sure. And what do you think is the biggest lie that the culture of the sports in this industry has sold athletes about identity pressure and what it really takes to handle ongoing adversity and build sustainable success?

SPEAKER_04 4:18

That we don't have time. Yeah. You know, I think as as social media has come into play, as you know, the the college landscape has changed from, you know, like when I was going through the whole process of getting recruited, I was an all-American at the time. And my whole recruiting process went from July 1st after my junior year of high school, and I committed to Notre Dame September 14th of my senior year of high school. Wow. That's you know, two months in change. Whereas, you know, we had a time period for a while where eighth graders were being recruited and verbally committed. And now it's kind of shifted back a little bit, but I still think it's still happening probably way too often, just based on the fact that we need time to develop. And so what's ended up happening is that I'm sitting there having conversations with parents of 10, 11, 12-year-olds who are thinking about stopping playing baseball because they don't see a future. That is absolutely ludicrous. Right. And so when I have those conversations, the first thing I say is, hey, just to kind of level set expectations, these conversations didn't happen 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Right.

SPEAKER_04 5:30

Because there wasn't this travel industry. You played for your local rec league, you had a blast, and if you happen to have such a passion for it, and oh, by the way, you were pretty good at it, you moved on to the next level. And that's just kind of how we navigated these things, as opposed to now, if you're not in Houston, Texas, on November 18th, playing in the biggest tournament in the country, like you're a failure. And I think it's just it's it's totally messed up the fact that we have to understand that as athletes and people in general, behavior change and development takes time. So, really, it's getting back to allowing ourselves the opportunity to have the time to fail and reflect and then move on.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yep, no question. You nailed it. You know, one of the things Darren and I do when we talk to athletes and uh parents, because sometimes we'll get uh requests for junior high and ninth graders, and we say, just let the kids have fun. Just let them play sports and have fun. You know, they're gonna figure this out whether they want to continue to take it to the next level or not. And to the pressure of being wrangled into these, you know, these, you know, thousand dollar camps in order to showcase it is. It's a it puts a lot of pressure on the families, financially, and it puts a lot of pressure on the young athletes as well. You've achieved your lifelong dream of playing baseball for the Colorado Rockies. Then you faced thyroid cancer three separate times. How did fighting cancer multiple times change your understanding of what resilient personal greatness really means?

SPEAKER_04 7:10

It puts it all into perspective about the things that, I mean, really truly matter. Right. But I also would be remiss if I didn't say that I took so much of the skill set that I built becoming a professional baseball player and a college player. And after about two years of being the victim and waiting for doctors in science and medicine to do their job and nothing was working, and I wasn't doing anything of my part in the relationship to help things along when it came to my progress and my care team. Once I realized that I already had a lot of these tools in my toolbox, I just kind of forgot where it was. It allowed me to understand that, you know, the same questions that we would ask ourselves, or that I asked my athletes, or that I asked my my executive corporate coaching clients is three things. Are you committed? Are you interested, or are you obsessed?

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Right.

SPEAKER_04 8:05

And to be totally honest, you know, I was sitting there, you know, you don't have to be a baseball or a softball guru to understand this, but I was waking up with two strikes on me every day.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:17

Because one, I had cancer, and two, I had a terrible mindset. So the question was, you know, I was just interested in getting better. But when I truly became obsessed with getting better, that's when everything changed.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Yeah, no question. That's I mean, that's a great perspective. You know, when a mentor told me once that, you know, in order to achieve your athletic dreams or any dreams, you can't just be obsessed, you have to be possessed. I mean, it's gotta be, I mean, you've got to be laser focused. On that one, I'm gonna turn it over to Aaron, which is segment two, which is identity and legacy. Aaron, take it away.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Okay, thanks, Chris, again for joining us today. I want to peel back all the layers, and I want you to just tell our audience who is Chris beyond all the accolades that Thomas has shared, beyond beating cancer. Who is Chris?

SPEAKER_04 9:05

Chris is a I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband. I'm a father to two little girls. Laney is seven, Georgia is right behind her, she'll be six in a couple months. I'm a lover of life. I'm a realist, but also I I am lucky enough to see all the beauty in this life that really truly comes from human connection and community and support and struggle. And so, you know, my joy in life is truly being able to be a servant leader and being able to help people achieve whatever it is that they that they say they want. And so I'm a and I'm a very deeply curious person, not just about who we are and and and what we want, but you know, why are we here and and how do we make the best out of this gift that we've been given?

SPEAKER_01 10:04

I love that. That's so beautiful. Yeah, I remember when we first talked, what always resonated was you being a girl dad for me, having two kids of my own. So I love that. And I think girls are incredible and super special as well. Having a daughter of my own. Not that my son isn't great. So, Jake, if you're listening, mom loves you too. So you say that when you were diagnosed, you stopped waiting for someday and started showing up on purpose. What does legacy beyond baseball achievement and business success mean to you, especially when you're helping other others navigate pressure and adversity?

SPEAKER_04 10:43

I think the first thing is to understand that if everything has to be a transaction and everything has to have a condition attached to it, we're doing it for the wrong reasons. And so, you know, not only do I do I challenge myself with that, but also I challenge that, you know, whether it be, you know, during a keynote, a breakout, or or just a one-on-one session is how can I encourage you to be more interactional in your life? Every transaction that we have really is an opportunity for interaction. And you just don't know how you're gonna change somebody's day or how they're gonna change yours just by going out of your way, just you know, one or two percent. And then the other thing is, you know, to live unconditionally and to live without expectations. If it's on your heart to go and do it and say it and be of support of somebody else, and you do it without any ego or or expectations of getting it in return, just knowing that one day life will give it back to you, and God you know already knows your heart and he knows your mind, then fulfillment is is absolutely around the corner for us.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Oh, I love that. Yes. If God placed it on your heart, there's a reason for that, and he's gonna help you fulfill that. So I think there's an ease we can sometimes have if we know that. And I love your mission it with your company to help athletes become great without losing who they are. So, what separates athletes who handle pressure and adversity with character from those that don't? And what's the identity piece that most development programs are missing?

SPEAKER_04 12:32

I would say the first thing is living fully present. I mean, it's not always the easiest thing to do, but I I use the example all the time that, you know, a player will come in for a hitting training session and I'll say to them, Hey, how'd you do in your last game? And the last game was yesterday or two days ago, or maybe three days ago, and they have this blank stare on their face. And then it's well, I don't know. And then they look at their parent and like, hey, how'd I do? And I go, Were you there? And they go, Well, yeah, I go, but no, but you weren't there. Because again, if you were there and there and you were, you know, committed or even obsessed or possessed, you would know every little detail. And so then I I ask them, I go, Hey, let me ask a question, do you think it's weird that I'm 41 years old and I can tell you an at-bat I had when I was seven or eight? And they go, well, kind of. And I go, well, is it weird that probably 99% of the people that I played college and professional with can do the same thing? And they go, Oh, no, I guess not. So that first thing is to absolutely be present in in what we're doing. And not just from a physical standpoint, mentally and emotionally. I mean, it's just it's all data that we need. And so the set and then the second thing would be, you know, from a place of of learning and and reflecting. Because resilience comes with, you know, putting myself in positions that I don't necessarily need to be in and see how I react to it. How do I come back from it? How do I, you know, strike out, you know, with the bases loaded to end the game, and then your first at bat the next day, you hit a home run. It's probably just not a gift that that was bestowed upon you, more of just the the reflection and the taking in and understanding and not allowing failure to be final, but allowing it to be feedback and then understanding the plan that goes forward the next day. And then I think the third thing is you know, allowing players and athletes to develop multiple identities all at the same time. So who are you on the field, who are you off the field, who are you away from a training session, who are you in the classroom, who are you with friends, who are you with family? Do you have a faith component to your life? You know, I think it's it's giving them the permission to be able and grow all those different identities at the same time, not just one, and then who I am is directly tied to my performance.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah, that's such a great answer. I kind of have a follow-up to that. Um my daughter plays softball, uh, so I I can relate to the baseball. So, how do you balance that being present? But then, you know, what I see her and her teammates struggle with a little bit is that beating up and not forgetting and being present in the next moment to like so it doesn't hinder that trajectory where they can live in the failure a little too long, or that really rattles them. And so, kind of what's the kind of what's the answer to that? I guess the opposite side of what the example you had given us.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

So, my question is how is it helping you? How is it helping you in in your third at bat of the game and you're still remembering the first at bat because either you missed a pitch you were supposed to hit or the umpire made a bad call. It's uh how does it help? And most of the time they go, well, I guess it doesn't, right? Because the beautiful thing about most sports is that there are natural breaks. And so it's it's really becoming proficient in understanding how to use those natural breaks for the feedback loop, for the reflection loop before we move on to the next one. But if if I have a a habit of kind of holding on to it or holding on to the grudge, or a lot of times there's ego involved, even just you know, little things like somebody looks stupid doing something. Well, I mean, did the next opportunity come or did it not come? And so, like, how does how am I how is being embarrassed still helping me get ready for the next the next opportunity? Usually it doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

No, that's so great. I love that. That's good feedback. I might clip this and give this to her so she can watch it. And my final question before I toss it back to Thomas is what's one truth you wish every athlete, parent, and coach understood about dealing with pressure, failure, and adversity that you're hearing or maybe talking about.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

I would say that you are who you say you are, not what your stats say you are, not what your performance says you are. You are who you say you are. And I think a lot of times we just don't give ourselves the chance, even from a young age, to really truly know and and understand and who who we are. That'd be the first one. And the second one would be you know, what I always like to say is pressures for the unprepared. So if you know fully in your heart that you did everything you possibly could to prepare yourself for that moment, then it's really just up to whatever happens. And I can be totally comfortable with the results that I get or the results that I don't get. And the and you know, baseball and softball are very unique sports in that when you fail most of the time, like you're still really good. And so, you know, we don't get as much success as some of the other sports do. But I even, you know, I still love that that Roger Federer when he when he gives the the commencement speech and he says, you know, as amazing as I was, I still only won 58% of my points.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Right. Yeah. Wow, that's such a profound thought. Jay Thomas, I'm gonna toss it back to you.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Very cool. Yeah, it's pretty amazing, Chris, with with respect to baseball, especially in Major League Baseball. If you're at 30, 35%, you're in the Hall of Fame, right? I mean, think about that, those numbers. Chris, this is segment three, advice across stages, and this is one of my favorite questions. If you knew then what you know now, if you could sit down with yourself as a young athlete chasing that professional baseball dream, before you understood about cancer business building and helping others to teach them as well as mentors for you, what advice would you give that younger version of Chris?

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Stay laser focused on myself and and and my process. I spent so many hours trying to figure out what somebody else's thoughts were of me and my career and where it was going. And I I really lost a lot of time to just be present and enjoy the process of being an all-American and going to you know top programs and playing against top people and the competition of it and the camaraderie of it. So, yeah, that would be it, man. Just, you know, like just drown out as much noise as possible. And I think it's an even more important skill to have today because there's more noise than there's ever been because of social media and Twitter, you know, at any moment in time, I can go, you know, kind of look at at who I think my competition is and look at their curated highlight reel of their life.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

What about current athletes who are dealing with pressure setbacks and or major challenges? What do they need to understand about moving from pressure to purpose and maintaining their identity through adversity?

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Uh first and foremost, it's our ability to grieve and have gratitude at the same time. Yeah. You know, we we're so easy to play the victim so quickly. You know, it it wasn't my fault. I can't believe the universe did this to me. Injuries, right? Like, I mean, just you know, it's being able to grieve that process and also have so much gratitude because life is bigger. There's so much more purpose to life once once we know who we are and and and what we want and the gifts that we've been given, and how do we be able to go out and share those with with the rest of the world? And you know, I just think they're both a skill set that we need to practice, no different than going to the gym. You know, I I joke that with my players, I go for every workout, you should send a gratitude text.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 21:41

And you know, it takes 30 seconds, and you're smiling while you do it, and the person who responds is probably smiling. There are a few caveats, you know. Sometimes the response is, oh gosh, what'd you do? Um, but it's just a a quick I appreciate you, I'm grateful for you, and I'm so glad you're In my life.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. You know, one of the terms that Aaron and I have coined is we have fringe athletes that have the mental acuity, but maybe not the mental, and vice versa, that have the physical, but not really the mental. So you work with athletes to enhance both their physical abilities as well as their mental and emotional resilience. What advice would you give to coaches and parents about developing the whole person, not just the athletic player?

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Help a player fall in love with the gray areas of their sport. Okay. Not just the black and white results. Because every sport is so unique. You know, I tell the story that when I went out and tried out for the Junior Olympic team. And against the top hundred people in the country, I hit 550 for the week and didn't make the team.

unknown 22:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

And again, because it's it's a subjective sport. You know, maybe the person who was picking the team didn't like that I was from New York and didn't think New Yorkers could play baseball. Maybe he didn't like the way I tied my shoes. Maybe, you know, they were best friends with, you know, somebody and they had to pick somebody else in my spot. Just so many, again, subjective ways to even think about this.

SPEAKER_03 23:21

Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:22

But on the flip side, you know, you were I work with the Queen's University swimming team. And I say, gosh, you know, how empowering is it to be a part of such an objective sport? No matter how you swim, whether your coach likes it, doesn't like it, whatever it is, you touch that wall first, like I can't really say anything. Yeah. And so I say it would be amazing if you know the subjective sports had a list on the wall that said, hey, Chris, if you hit 500 this week, you're on the Olympic team. Right. No different than you know, time trials. I go, so every sport is so unique in what they have. And so I think it's a matter of helping these athletes fall in love with the gray areas. Right. You know, what's the work that you put in? What have you learned? You know, how have you grown? And, you know, did you did you can you look at, you know, when you lay your head down on at in bed at night, you know, can you answer the question that I did everything possible to get better today?

SPEAKER_02 24:28

No question. No question. You know, a buddy of mine, he actually rode in college, and they had to row for their seat every week. There was no guarantees. Can you imagine a football, basketball, baseball? You had to like, you had to do some type of curriculum to earn your spot. I mean, you'd start seeing a lot more athletes show up, that's for sure. What about for anyone facing their own major adversity, whether it's health challenges, career setbacks, or life transitions? What's the one thing you want them to understand about choosing hard and showing up with purpose?

SPEAKER_04 25:03

When we when we choose hard, there is a physiological effect that happens to us. You know, we start to actually build these new neurological pathways in our brain, and it becomes our our new roadmap to success. So the next time that I'm presented with an obstacle, there's no retreat. I I I truly am aware that I've been here before and I've accomplished it. So the only way is through. And I I want people to choose resilience when they don't need it. I want people to choose joy when they're not searching for it. I want people to do these things so that way when it is presented to them, they're fully prepared. You know, I call it putting, you know, basically uh you're building and putting on this mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional armor so that something, when it comes your way, you're prepared. You know, I another way I like to ask is how are you using your sunny days? Do you even know how many sunny days you have? Or are you the type of person that turns a rainy moment into a rainy day and then that turns into a rainy week? And before you know it, you know, something really sad and catastrophic happens and you have no way of being equipped to deal with it. You know, look, we are we're either going in a storm, we're in the middle of it, or we've just come out of it.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Right.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

So the idea is that on either side of that storm, how are you using the things that you've gone through to truly prepare yourself?

SPEAKER_02 26:37

No question. No question. On that one, we're gonna turn it over to Aaron, which is segment four, the rapid fire round. Aaron, it's all yours.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Awesome. Okay, Chris, this is a fun little section. I just start a sentence and you're just gonna finish it for me, okay? So discipline equals open doors. Leadership equals faith equals.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Legacy equals impact.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

What is one thing that you would never compromise on?

SPEAKER_04 27:26

My family.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

And what's one message if you could put it on a billboard for the next generation of athletes? What would it be?

SPEAKER_03 27:38

You're exactly where you're supposed to be.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Oh, I love that. That's good. Okay, with that, Domus, it's back to you.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Awesome. Thanks, Aaron. Chris, we're getting into our closing segment. And before we wrap up, we'd like to turn it over to the guests and just kind of leave an open floor. Is there something we didn't touch on today that you feel athletes, parents, or anyone facing adversity needs to hear about moving from pressure to purpose and showing up with purpose?

SPEAKER_04 28:06

I think number one, it's it's communication.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

You know, continue to have these conversations with not just the echo chamber of people that you surround yourself with, but have conversations with people in other sports, have conversations with people who have done it, have conversations with people who truly have an objective stance when it comes to your family and and and your child and and the athletic journey that they are on. Because if you know, if you keep surrounding yourself with the people and everyone just keeps telling each other, you know, what should be done, but it's coming from a place of fear, that's absolutely not going to be the right path. And it's not gonna have a it's not gonna allow us to have a clear mind to absolutely make the best decisions that we should be making, not just for our athlete, but also parents, like from a family standpoint.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Right.

SPEAKER_04 29:05

You know, I it you know, it's if faith is important to you and you wake up on on a Friday or a Saturday and you go, you know what, like I know we have a tournament this weekend, but I really just think we need to go to church. And you can't go to church because you're afraid of what that might mean for for your child's place on the team, like we're we're on the wrong team.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Right.

SPEAKER_04 29:29

And so, you know, I just I encourage parents to you know just communicate and have as much conversation as you can, and then we can find the commonalities and we can find the the common themes. And sometimes the common themes are just they're negative. And I think that's a red flag that we need to we understand we need to understand. Because at the end of the day, you know, it's like that age-old saying, right? 99% of athletes are gonna go pro in something else, right, if they even get to college.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Right.

SPEAKER_04 30:02

So I think it's a matter of helping these these athletes realize that we should be learning life skills, you know, resilience, purpose, mission, values, joy, where to put your energy, how to surround yourself with the right people, and how that then completely translates, you know, to the rest of our life for you know, hopefully 50, 60, 70 years after, you know, your last game. Right on, right on.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Chris, you're a man of faith, you're a family man, husband, father, former baseball player, entrepreneur, cancer survivor, and now a published author. Tell us about your book.

SPEAKER_04 30:46

Yeah, I'm I'm super excited. It's it's called Wake Up and Be Great. Somebody's got to do it. We're looking at a mid-July, end of July release date. And it's just one of those things where you know you you you have these thoughts, and and for somebody who I love to speak. And so, you know, being able to sit down sometimes and put those thoughts on paper, they don't always come out the way that that you would speak them. So that's been an awesome, fun challenge for me. It's definitely been a whole new level of choosing hard. But I'm just super excited. You know, it it's based off of my the the 4G framework that I built when I was really kind of at my worst. And I I had this metanoia moment one day where I was literally walking around my neighborhood here in Charlotte. It was a December day, it was freezing cold, but the sun was shining and the skies were blue. And I was on a walk and something told me to take my shoes off. And so I took my shoes off and I was just walking barefoot. And for the first time in almost two years, I could literally just feel everything and be totally present. And I could feel the sun shining on my face, and I could hear the birds chirping in the trees, and I could feel the cold gravel underneath my feet. And I just knew this was, you know, kind of that wake up moment of, what are you doing? You know, you could have been dead three times by now. It's it's it's it's just not time to waste anymore. And so this was a you know kind of a beautiful opportunity. So I I kind of sat down and through reflection and figuring out what matters to me and what am I in control of and what skills do I have, I came up with my 4G framework, which is grind, grit, grace, and gratitude, and and ultimately how that leads to growth. So that's you know kind of the premise of the book.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Tell us the title of the book one more time.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

Yeah, it's called Wake Up and Be Great. Somebody's got to do it.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

That's right. Well, Chris did it, and now we're hoping the audience does too. Chris, you went from the rapid fire to the hot seat. I listen, I love asking this question, especially of former athletes. What are your top three sports movies of all time, according to Chris? Art imitating life.

SPEAKER_04 32:50

Oh, sports, movies all together.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Any genre.

SPEAKER_04 32:55

Yeah, first and foremost, Field the Dreams. There you go. You know, just my dad's 73 years old, and and I'm lucky he's still around. And so any chance that that we get, we we still, you know, I still grab him and and try to play some catch. I would say, you know, the any given Sunday, I mean that that monologue that Al Pacino throws out there at the end, you know, kind of out, you know, about you know, that that one inch, I get chills every time.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

And then man, I would say I'd say probably Mighty Ducks too.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

There you go. I love it. What a range. Usually from somebody a bit like a baseball player. What's interesting is when we when we have athletes on that played, you know, a specific sport and they just pick three different movies from other sports or genres. We're like, wow, that's interesting. For me, number one is Miracle, never played hockey, but I just love the the message behind it. Number two is Rocky, talk about an underdog. And three is Hoosiers, just awesome. Everything else behind that is to me is an honorable mention. Chris, thank you so much. Where can people get a hold of you? Whether it's a website, your social media handles, or an email, whatever you want to share with our audience.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, feel free to reach out anytime. I'm always always open to a conversation, always open to connecting and learning about you know, just people. I love people. And and so you can find me. My website is ChrisFasami.com, Instagram is Chris Fasami, find me on LinkedIn, connect on LinkedIn at at Chris Fasami. And yeah, as I said, you know, there's there's never a bad time to reach out. So looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

Awesome. I love it. Chris, thank you so much for showing up and showing what it looks like to move from pressure to purpose and choose hard every time. Tim, if this conversation hit you, we need you to do two things. One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. An athlete dealing with pressure and identity, someone facing their own adversity, a parent or coach focused on developing character alongside performance. Two, connect with Chris at Chrisvasami.com or check out Vasami Training at Vasamvasamit Training.com. If you need someone who understands what it means to overcome adversity while building others up, Chris brings the real experience and authentic message you need to hear. And if you're a parent, athlete, or coach ready to raise the standard, check out Aaron and I at blueprintbluechip.com. And team lastly, if this episode has resonated with you, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps us reach more athletes, parents, and leaders who need to hear this message. This is the standard podcast, and this movement only grows when we raise the standard together. Down and fades, but truth endures. Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, become the standard. Chris, Aaron, thank you guys both so much for joining us. Team, we'll see you next time. Awesome, Chris. That was badass.