When I was 12 year old, I wanted to become one of the best bowlers in the world. People in my small town of Dyer, IN would look at me like, “Who do YOU think YOU are that you think you can become the best in the world at anything?” 

But, I was just crazy enough to actually believe I could. So I did.

Fortunately for me, my parents were amazing at giving me opportunities, supporting my crazy dreams and helping me live them.

During my career. I went on to win many gold medals and I’ve reached the highest levels in bowling. But that’s not why I feel successful now. I feel successful today because I have been able to positively influence people, to show them what is possible.

I define success by having impact.

I am grateful for all of those wins on the lane though. Without that traditional success, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to connect with you here. I wouldn’t be able to leave my mark as easily.

I’ll be honest too, in those moments, during tournaments, my primary goal was to win. To be the best that day. Whenever I am on the lanes, I am thinking about that title. I have always been in it to win. Most people aren’t winning to be influential or to have impact.

But the greater significance of those on lane successes is clear to me now. My success now is about where I’ve reached people beyond the lanes. By being the best, I’ve been able to lead people and guide people in a positive way. And that, to me, is the ultimate win.

I have found that in order to be the best in anything, you have to be a little bit crazy.  Now I want to lead with my crazy, inspire others further with it. I’m now leaning into my crazy, instead of doubting it. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people grow up without that opportunity to go after their dreams. We are often surrounded by a culture of no. We hear, “no, you can’t do that” more often than we hear ‘yes, you can.”  I heard it too as a child when I first developed an interest in bowling. Growing up in a small town, a crazy girl focused on becoming a world champion bowler, people would just look at me and say, “who do you think you are that you think you can become the best in the world at anything?”

You DO get to choose though.

Everybody has control over their own life. You get to choose your own adventure. The decisions you make every day can create your story. And that’s empowering to people who take that seriously.

I have lived my life with the belief that we can choose to be as good as we want to be at anything in life. People have tried to say that I was simply gifted on the lanes. But that’s not fair. It’s easy for people to dismiss someone else’s success, saying that person is just gifted, born that way, the skills were not earned. The truth is that there is a lot of hidden, hard work and will power behind my lane successes and that is also what I’m sharing with my community. You see, most don’t see the journey. They just see the result. I’ve always lived with a growth mindset.

I created my Elite Youth Tour to empower young bowlers, to show youth what they can be. I wanted them to see that they can truly make a difference in the world and be anything they want to be too. Because the truth is, when you’re a kid, you don’t even know your own power. Sometimes they just need to be shown the way a little, given a chance. My greater pursuit off the lanes now is showing others what is possible and setting them up for success, in life as much as in bowling.

It has been a major success milestone creating (and continuing to build) this community around me, where I can give back and lead others.

While I began to have fans and followers early in my career, empowering others through the Elite Youth Tour and beyond has meant so much more than any earlier wins or accolades. As I mentioned in my last post, surrounding yourself with the right people is so essential. So creating and fostering this inspiring community to help others has meant so much to me, and it is how I see myself continuing to define success into the future as well.

It wasn’t until towards the end of my full-time bowling career that I had the opportunity to really look back and reflect on what it had really meant for me and make that connection. I didn’t realize the significance of creating community or having impact when I was in the height of my championship career. I think it’s okay though to acknowledge that in those moments you don’t necessarily need to grasp the greater meaning. Later on, you can give yourself some space to step away from it and you reflect back on your journey, and that’s when it all becomes really clear.

Now that I can clearly see the bigger picture, I’ve never felt more successful or fulfilled. 

What crazy dreams do you have? How are you living them out?