Show Notes Episode 19 – Gabby Reece

The world probably knows Gabrielle (Gabby) Reece best as a volleyball legend – competing at the highest level of beach volleyball throughout her life, becoming the first female spokesperson for Nike and the first woman to design a shoe for them.

She is also a former professional model, New York Times bestselling author, inspiring lecturer, oh and she’s married to surfing legend Laird Hamilton to boot.

Gabby has been incredibly successful!

But, as she will tell you, her greatest and most valuable achievements in life are about life itself, relationships and learning to be a parent to a successful parent to her two children.

This episode of Living 4D with Paul Chek, Gabby and Paul dive deep into those challenges and explore what she has learned about life, love and parenting.

Show Notes

  • Why Gabby didn’t succeed in her transition from professional beach volleyball to golf. (3:43)
  • Who and where does Paul call for help? (6:04)
  • Being 6-3 at age 15 for a young woman was difficult. (9:43)
  • For many women, beauty is their currency, but it’s limiting and short-lived. (11:38)
  • “I think it was very hard for me to learn how to win, to beat other people. It’s never really been my thingâ€Ļ” (15:11)
  • Meeting her future husband, Laird Hamilton at age 25. (22:05)
  • Mastering sustainable happiness. (29:34)
  • Paul and Gabby discuss the tragic deaths of their fathers and the effect it had on them. (33:50)
  • Paul meets a bobcat. (39:51)
  • “I’ve tried to substitute fear for curiosity and other things as I’ve gotten older.” (45:40)
  • Gabby never felt “overly worthy” of the attention she received as a professional athlete. (49:06)
  • All of Paul’s skills will be put to the test in raising a teenage daughter in the future. (56:36)
  • The relationship between Paul Jr. and Mana is loving and painful. (57:49)
  • The challenges and responsibilities of being a step-parent. (1:03:59)
  • Gabby and Laird had their own children only after they nearly divorced. (1:06:02)
  • Gabby learning how to be nurturing on her own terms and even developing a new language for it. (1:08:20)
  • Recognizing and owning bad parenting choices is more important to Gabby than being right. (1:11:07))
  • Gabby fights to maintain her individuality and identity as a person. (1:12:02)
  • The experience between men and women as parents and partners is very different. (1:18:02)
  • The emotional dynamic between Laird and Gabby. (1:23:21)
  • Penny and Mana have a special and loving relationship. (1:27:25)
  • There’s lots of information available on good parenting and maintaining relationships, but much of it is bad. (1:31:25)
  • Are men as a whole being villainized as a gender for the abusive, unacceptable behaviors of a few? (1:36:47)
  • Going deep into the Alpha male. (1:42:25)
  • Athletes who cheat on their partners believe Paul will teach them how to be better at cheating. (1:44:07)
  • “I can’t be a good therapist if I live on a stack of lies.” (1:46:34)
  • “Penny told me in the beginning, ‘I don’t care if you have seven wives, as long as they all cook, clean, contribute to the bottom line and do not talk too much.’” (1:47:32)
  • “The thing I learned after 17 years in a monogamous relationship was that it was very important for me to be brutally honest with myself about who I am and not be somebody else or it was going to cause trouble.” (1:53:43)
  • Can you imagine Paul not being able to have an erection for a year? (1:58:42)
  • Adults tell kids all the time not to be so afraid to be truthful, yet it’s hard for older folks to practice what they preach. (2:01:29)
  • Gabby’s high school years in a Christian high school as its only “unsaved” student. (2:05:39)
  • “Never let your memories be greater than your dreamsâ€Ļ” (2:15:54)
  • None of us can do anything meaningful without help from others in some way. (2:18:45)
  • Penny kept the CHEK Institute going and Paul inspired, even living through a midlife crisis. (2:21:15)
  • How Gabby fights being “flat.” (2:27:21)
  • How does one make a “big life,” yet keep it simple? (2:30:29)
  • Gabby vows to interview Paul when his daughter becomes a teenager. (2:40:29)

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