How do you come back from your biggest mistakes? When confronted with losing everything, some people give up—while others use those setbacks as inspiration to reach new goals. In cycling, Lance Armstrong was the “comeback king” when he overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times. In the process, he became one of the most well-known athletes in the world. However, his biggest comeback was not athletic but personal when he came back from the doping scandal that stripped him of his Tour de France titles. After going from hero to zero, he worked hard to take responsibility for his mistakes, learn from them, and rise again with his new podcasts and organization WEDU.
David Goggins : US Navy SEAL
This Navy SEAL pushes himself to maniacal lengths to raise money for veterans’ families. David Goggins lives in a world where there is no easy button. This man says he “hates” running—but then bangs out a marathon before sunrise. The 33-year-old from Chula Vista, California, has recast himself as an elite ultramarathoner, a philanthropic machine, and an accidental role model by pursuing a running life that’s truly unrelenting.
Jim Kwik: Bright Brain, Brighter Life
Jim Kwik is the founder of Kwik Learning and a widely recognized world expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance, and accelerated learning. For two decades, he has served as the mental coach to students, seniors, entrepreneurs, and educators, and as advisor to many of the world’s leading CEOs and celebrities.
James Lawrence: The Iron Cowboy
James Lawrence is a top motivational speaker, endurance world record holder, triathlete, and subject of the documentary The Iron Cowboy: The Story of the 50.50.50. Known to the world as The Iron Cowboy for wearing a cowboy hat during Ironman races, James completed the greatest feat of human endurance: 50 full distance triathlons, in 50 states, in 50 consecutive days (50.50.50).
Andy Frisella : The MFCEO Project
Andy Frisella is the CEO of 1st Phorm Internation, a nutritional supplement company that takes in more than $175 million in revenue each year. He started the business in his early 20s with a friend and has become a star entrepreneur and business leader.
Janine Shepherd : Aerobatics Pilot and Former Skier
Janine Shepherd’s story reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie. An Australian national champion skier in training for the upcoming Olympics, she was hit by a truck on a bike ride, suffering multiple life-threatening injuries.
Heidi Hanna, PhD : Performance Coach
As a performance coach and keynote speaker, Dr. Heidi Hanna has trained thousands of individuals on practical ways to incorporate nutrition, exercise, and positive psychology strategies to improve their health, productivity, and performance. Her vast experience and passionate coaching style help motivate individuals and teams to develop sustainable success at both a personal and professional level.
Michelle Gielan : Positive Psychology Researcher
Michelle Gielan, national CBS News anchor turned positive psychology researcher, is the bestselling author of Broadcasting Happiness. Michelle is the Founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research and is partnered with Arianna Huffington to study how transformative stories fuel success. She is an Executive Producer of “The Happiness Advantage” Special on PBS and a featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course.
Tony Horton : P90X
Tony Horton is the master behind the best selling fitness program in America P90X®. Tony helps people get fit all over the world by keeping them motivated in health, physique, and lifestyle.
John Elway : NFL Superstar
Elway became the first quarterback to start five Super Bowls, was selected for the Pro Bowl nine times and in 1987 was voted the NFL’s Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press. By taking risks as a passer, he made plays other quarterbacks couldn’t. John Elway closed his career with an MVP performance in the 1999 Super Bowl.
Eric Schlosser : Fast Food Nation
As an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser tries to explore subjects ignored by the mainstream media and give a voice to people at the margins of society. Over the years he’s followed the harvest with migrant farm workers in California, spent time with meatpacking workers in Texas and Colorado, told the stories of marijuana growers and pornographers and the victims of violent crime, gone on duty with the New York Police Department Bomb Squad, and visited prisons throughout the United States.
Deepak Chopra : Alternative Medicine
Deepak Chopra is the author of numerous books on alternative medicine, Deepak Chopra was born in New Delhi, India, in 1947. After attending the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, he eventually ended up in Boston where he began his career as a doctor. After becoming disenchanted with Western medicine, however, Chopra turned to alternative medicine. In 1995 Chopra, already a prolific book author, founded the Chopra Center for Well Being in La Jolla, California.
Dan Buettner : Live Longer
Dan Buettner is an internationally recognized researcher, explorer, New York Times best-selling author, and National Geographic Fellow. He founded Blue Zones®, a company that puts the world’s best practices in longevity and well-being to work in people’s lives.