Apolo Ohno - Hard Pivot: Embrace Change. Find Purpose. Show Up Fully.

Praise for Hard Pivot

In Hard Pivot, Apolo Ohno guides readers as they embark on their own journeys of transformationoffering valuable insight and techniques, and giving you the courage to keep moving forward.

Billie Jean King

World-renowned tennis champion & author of All In

Like so many of us who are professional and Olympic athletes, Apolo Ohno is no stranger to overcoming incredible obstacles, self-doubt, and failureand all in the public eye. But its his skill for applying these seemingly outward experiences to our inner worlds that is truly unique. Hard Pivot shows all of us how to discover what brings the most meaning and value to our lives and how to keep those things front and center as we face challenges or crossroads along the way.

Jeremy Bloom

Olympic skier, NFL player & author of Fueled by Failure

Apolo Ohno lives a life where he works every day to train his mind and spirit for peak performance. In this book he takes us there with him on that journey, and he shows us how we can do it too.

David Creswell, PhD

Professor of psychology & neuroscience, Carnegie Mellon University

As a culture, we tend to have a collective discomfort around endings and loss. And yet these painful experiences happen to each and every one of us at some point in our lives. Based upon Apolo Ohnos lived experience, Hard Pivot offers a courageous training program that will help anyone navigate the inherent turbulence that arises when the game of life requires us to let go and face the reality that nothing is permanent.

Douglas Jowdy, PhD

Author of The Gold Medal Mind

In these times of incredible uncertaintyfor individuals and businesses alikeits even more important for us to stand in our strength, adapt proactively, and lead with heart. With Hard Pivot, Apolo Ohno invites us to see the process as the prize itself and to show up again and again to what life has to teach and offer us.

Lauren Sallata

Chief marketing officer for Ricoh North America & former chief marketing officer at Panasonic North America

We all experience struggle in our lives, especially around times of transition. With his Five Golden Principles, Apolo Ohno offers a system not only to find our way again but to rediscover our purpose.

Dr. Jason Wersland

Founder of Therabody

All transitions come with challenge, and Apolo Ohno reminds us that its within the struggle that we find growth. That were in control of who we are and who we want to be. In Hard Pivot, he shows us, through his honesty and humility, that we are not defined by just one label, person, or professionwe can be many things. Apolos refreshing take on the unknown, taking risks, and having the courage to do so will inspire and relate to readers from all walks of life, in any season of change.

Janet Evans

Five-time Olympic medalist & motivational speaker

Also by Apolo Ohno

Zero Regrets: Be Greater Than Yesterday

Apolo Ohno

Sounds True

Boulder, CO 80306

2022 Apolo Anton Ohno

Sounds True is a trademark of Sounds True, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author and publisher.

Published 2022

Book design by Karen Polaski

BK06432

Original hardcover ISBN: 978-1-68364-932-8

Barnes & Noble signed edition ISBN: 978-1-64963-070-4

Books-A-Million signed edition ISBN: 978-1-64963-071-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ohno, Apolo Anton, author.

Title: Hard pivot : embrace change, find purpose, show up fully / Apolo Ohno.

Description: Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021043176 (print) | LCCN 2021043177 (ebook) | ISBN 9781683649328 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781683649335 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Change (Psychology) | Motivation (Psychology) | Perseverance (Ethics) | Self-realization.

Classification: LCC BF637.C4 O436 2022 (print) | LCC BF637.C4 (ebook) | DDC 158.1dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021043176

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021043177

For my father, my godmother Maria, and my soulmate Bianca

The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet.

Lao Tzu

I was just twenty-seven years old when I walked away from my dream, from the only life I had known for the previous fourteen years. Just twenty-seven when I shed the skin (or skinsuit) that had come to define my entire identity: Apolo Ohno, Olympian. The fastest man on ice. Sports Illustrated cover model. Phenom. Champion.

I didnt make any sort of big announcement. There was no teary press conference, no parade in my hometown of Seattle, Washington. No major media interviews. In fact, I didnt really tell anybody what I was doing. But I knew I was done.

I had no doubt in my mind that I could still compete at a high level. If Im being honest, I still feel that way. My confidence, which is one of the things that fueled my success as an athlete, hadnt wavered when I walked away from the sport. What changed was what was in my heart.

I knew how close to the sun I had flown all those years, and I remembered all the sacrifices I had madeall the outrageous things Id demanded of myself in pursuit of my Olympic dream. And because I knew everything it took to achieve what I did on the ice and the toll those sacrifices exacted from me over four Olympic cyclesphysically, mentally, and emotionallyI also knew what it would take for me to maintain and surpass that level of performance. And when I looked into the mirror, I knew it was time for a change.

I didnt know what it meant at the time, but I was headed for what Id later call the Great Divorce.

As an athlete, especially an Olympian, I knew that Id been fortunate. I had the incredible honor of representing my country in three Olympic Games, and I had achieved my dream of becoming a champion. If theyre lucky, most Olympians sacrifice and train like I did and only make one Olympic team, and most athletes who aspire to make the team give it everything theyve got for years and years only to fall short of that goal.

Regardless of how much longevity and success one finds as a competitive athlete, the harsh truth is that all of us have a relatively short shelf life. The average NFL career is less than four years; the average professional baseball career is rarely more than six. And no matter what sport youre in, it hardly ever ends on your own terms. So many athletes reach the end of the line due to a limiting injury. Others get unceremoniously cut from the team, are traded to squads in locations theyd never choose to live, or stick around in diminishing roles as their abilities continue to decline. No matter how it happens, the end of an athletes career rarely goes the way theyd planned. And when an athlete loses the one thing thats provided structure and purpose to their lives since they were a small child, theyre forced to look into the mirror and ask questions that arent easily answered. Questions like, What now?

Typically, we dont ask,