Ep 238: Danielle Prince / Mark Holden

Summary: My guest today is Danielle Prince. On Instagram she's @danniprince, follow her there and let her know that you heard her here.  Danielle is a Commonwealth Games and Olympic Rhythmic Gymnast. In her words - rhythmic gymnastics is the absolute fusion between athleticism and art. It is the sport that is designed to make the impossible look easy.  And Danielle's story is one of how much time, effort, focus, and dedication it takes to do just that, to make the impossible look easy.  Spoiler alert - relentless focus, practice and repetition.  But I'll let her describe it.  Because there are no shortcuts to mastery.  Danielle has an incredible athletic career, she's made history as the first female gymnast to represent Australia at 3 consecutive Commonwealth Games, and has represented the country as the only Rhythmic gymnast selected to get to the Olympics in Rio.  Danielle not only works with the Layne Beachley foundation, but Danni has developed her own scholarship to nurture young athletes to continue to strive to be their best.  And in this conversation, you can hear how she not only deals with the incredible successes that she's had in her career, but also the times she missed the podium - which, let's be honest will happen more to an athlete than not.  This is an emotional conversation. Twice while Danni was telling me her story I started to cry. Her grace and dignity in describing how even though she missed out on the athletic goal she'd set for her self, she emerged as a victor from a competition that she didn't succeed at - it's one that moved me and I'm certain will move you.  It's the first time I"ve met someone who's retiring at 25 from the thing they've done their entire life. And so I was fascinated to hear how someone who's done nothing but dedicates their every waking second to a particular outcome now changes course and pursues something else.  You may never twirl a ribbon while doing a reverse scissor leap, however, what Danni's been through and the lessons she has to tell you today will change the way you look at what you stand to win even when you look at the scoreboard it says that you have lost.   She's a remarkable young woman, find her on Instagram @danniprince and wish her a happy birthday on Tuesday - and enjoy this conversation with Danielle Prince.