Go Be More Podcast

Five-Time Olympian Amy Acuff on Living a Full, Balanced, and Multi-Faceted Life (Ep 77)

Episode Summary

It’s always refreshing to meet someone who approaches life with a hunger to learn and a drive to find creative ways of connecting skills with passions. Amy Acuff has done just that.

Episode Notes

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“I always keep thinking about high jump at some level, or the technique, and part of what drew me to the event was the analysis and the refinement and trying to settle and find what is the ideal, best way to do it.”—Amy Acuff

It’s always refreshing to meet someone who approaches life with a hunger to learn and a drive to find creative ways of connecting skills with passions.

Amy Acuff has done just that.

In this episode, her Olympic achievements are the impressive background to the fascinating conversation she has with Jon and Bryan. They cover topics ranging from early Olympic dreams, a “tiny” mentor, the inevitability of failure, developing iPhone apps, and a reason to preserve free speech.

(2:33) A weather crisis during a pandemic…

(8:03) Athlete psychology is often like the psychology of winning the lottery…

(11:01) “Training for athletics is a lot like being a farmer.”

(12:33) The nature of always wanting more… “It's like you're climbing a ladder and the bottom disappears so that you never see all the distance you came. You only see what's ahead of you.”

(16:23) The mindset of pushing and pushing and pushing…

(17:43) Formulating a wish to be an Olympian…

(20:42) History-rich UCLA experiences…

(22:25) A tiny but powerful mentor…

(25:59) “There can only be one Olympic champion every four years. And there's only one world record holder at a time.” The inevitability of failure…

(27:44) Picking a new area to learn…

(32:30) Landing at the intersection of sports, health, and technology…

(37:03) An argument for free speech…

(38:22) Performance enhancement through technology…

(45:30) What does “Go Be More” mean to you?

If you liked this episode, check out our interviews with Bruin legend Willie Banks and Olympic high jumper Jamie Nieto.

Recorded February 19, 2021.

References:

Leta Andrews (Amy's basketball coach) - Wikipedia

iAnalyze (iPhone app) - App Store

Guests:

Amy Acuff - Wikipedia