On Episode Twenty-Two of Mindful Warrior Radio, I am joined by Hank Wise, an elite waterman, surfer, and coach who is the reigning King of the Catalina Channel—a 32km open water crossing from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland—that took him just under eight hours to complete. A Stanford graduate, Hank is the founder and director of Swim Focus and SWIM Long Beach and the Head Coach of Rocket Fish Swim School and SWIM Long Beach Masters. Happiest when he’s sailing, diving, paddling, kayaking, rowing, body surfing, and teaching both in and about the ocean, Hank knows a thing or two about assessing risk and finding flow. While he has a commanding physical presence, it is his open heart and generous spirit that has the greatest impact. A day with Hank in and around the water is magical.
In this episode, Hank and I discuss a range of topics: how to maintain mental discipline when the end-goal is not in sight; how to interrupt and manage fear; how to commit, submit, and find excitement in challenges; how to prepare for and build into flow; the role that love, gratitude, curiosity and humility play in well-being and success; and how to embody being a warrior with an open heart.
Mindful Warrior is hosted by Kami Craig, a former elite athlete, Olympic champion, and performance and culture design coach at Mindful Warrior.
Our guest on Episode Twenty-Two of Mindful Warrior Radio—Hank Wise—is an elite waterman, the reigning King of the Catalina Channel, and the founder and director of Swim Focus and SWIM Long Beach.
Hank reflects on commitment when facing challenges: “Once you are trained and ready there’s this idea that you submit: you submit yourself fully to the task at hand. You not only submit but you lean in. You really lean in. And embrace it. So much so that you look forward to it. You give yourself so wholly to the task that you are like, ‘I am in, I am so in right now.’”
Hank describes his approach to embodying love as a warrior: “I look at love like it is an effervescent flow in my heart—like a fountain in my heart. The more love that I give, the more love that comes back. That is true giving to yourself. That is true giving to others. And that is true sharing what you have to share with communities. If you can tap into the power of love, then you have tapped into a source that is so powerful, so regenerative, and the laws of karma are in place. Love is so powerful.”
Hank talks about the power of curiosity and humility: “The goodness is out there you just have to be curious. A word that I oftentimes put together with curiosity is humility. Because if you are curious and you’re humble that is the secret sauce of going forward. The humility allows for future experimentation and education.”
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