From the time I can remember, I have
loved setting goals for myself.
For example, when I was five years old,
I set a goal to ski down the mountain faster than any
of my siblings.
I'm the youngest in my family, and apparently my parents
thought it would be a good idea if I went really slow while I
was learning to ski because they chose not
to put ski wax on my skis, which obviously makes them go faster.
So, naturally, I snuck out of bed,
and I put the ski wax on my skis like I'd seen
my dad do many times before.
And the next morning, with sheer terror in their eyes,
my parents watched helplessly as I flew down
the side of that mountain, past my siblings.
[LAUGHTER] I remember my parents yelling, "Pizza, Noelle, pizza!
Put your skis like a pizza!
Not French fries, like a pizza!"
As I grew, my goals grew.
You know how your parents used to say
that they walked to school a mile uphill
both ways in the snow?
Well, in high school, I set a goal
to achieve a full scholarship in track and field.
I remember waking up hours before school
began so that I could run the mile to school in the sun,
rain, and snow, only to run uphill and downhill and uphill
again on the stadium bleachers, with the hope
that the additional training would align with my goal.
The hard work eventually paid off.
Along life's journey, we can't always
have what we want, regardless of how hard we try.
Many of my goals have been thrown off course.
I never expected to get hit by a 1,600-pound bobsled when I was
first in the world in the sport of skeleton,
or to finish a very disappointing fourth place
in my Olympic debut.
I never expected to miscarry our little girl at 18 weeks,
and then a boy at 16 weeks, or another girl at 17 weeks
pregnant, and doctors never could understand why.
Trials can stop us in our tracks.
They can literally take our breath away.
When this happens, what do we do?
How do we move forward?
Throughout these trials, my husband, Janson,
and I have often thought, "This chapter in our life
has ended, so how do we turn the page?"
When I showed up to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics
in Sochi, Russia, I knew it was the pinnacle, the highlight,
the moment of moments, and the finale to 15 years of hard work
and constant drive towards this Olympic dream.
As I crossed that finish line, jumped into the stands,
embraced my husband and my kids and my family,
and had that medal draped around my neck,
it was an indescribable moment in time.
I was leaving my legacy.
I had given it my all, and it had proven to be enough.
But was that it?
Was that moment that had passed the legacy of my entire life?
What was next?
We've all faced major changes in our lives.
We've all faced the point in time when a door in our life
closes, right?
Janson and I wondered, "How do we move forward?
What do we do now?"
Although it was a significant sacrifice of time, energy,
and money, we realized that a big portion
of what we loved and missed about the Olympics
was that our Olympic journey had allowed
us to create connections with people
from a variety of cultures, countries, religions,
backgrounds, and ethnicities.
Through these relationships, we realized
that life is much too short to be caught up in comparing
ourselves with others.
Even in a career where the lens of the world was focused on me,
and comparing me to everyone else in the field,
I realized that our talents are not
meant to be compared with another's, but they're
meant to be individually developed, disciplined,
and discovered.
Despite the Olympic chapter in our life coming to an end,
Janson and I knew that we never wanted
to stop progressing forward.
We knew that we never wanted to stop developing the talents
that God has blessed us with, no matter how small or seemingly
insignificant they might seem.
So to answer the question that had filled our minds following
this Olympic finale and our Olympic journey,
we asked ourselves, "How do we move forward?"
We realized that in order to move forward,
we had to look forward to a bright future.
We had to be willing to push our fears aside,
and we had to be willing to try.
We had to continue to learn and to have
hope for and faith in another great chapter in our lives
ahead.
So with an appreciation for the experiences behind us,
we sat down together and we looked forward to everything
that we had always wanted to learn, do, see, earn,
or have in this life journey.
Together, we decided to create the ultimate bucket list--you
know, like, what do you want to do in your life before you kick
the bucket, right?
We decided to create a strategy that would help
guide us to reach our goals.
Following the Olympics and the loss of another pregnancy,
I became pregnant with twins.
They are now four years old.
During my pregnancy with the twins,
we continued to add to this ultimate bucket list.
And at the top of the list, Janson
wanted to earn a master's degree in business administration.
And I wanted to learn how to speak Spanish.
So the only logical idea we could come up with
was to sell our comfortable house of nine years
and move at 33 weeks pregnant, with twins, to Costa Rica
for a master's degree program.
It definitely was not convenient by any means.
But it was definitely worth it.
[SPEAKING SPANISH] I love you too!
Although I don't speak Spanish perfectly,
and I don't understand everything that's being said,
I am willing to push aside my fears, and I am willing to try.
I have built many relationships because of my willingness
to try.
I know I will never speak Spanish as well as some dear
friends of mine, but God does not
expect us to be like someone else
or to compare ourselves with them.
He expects us to have faith in Him, and He expects us to try.
After a couple of years away, we have since
moved back to the United States with a lengthened bucket
list, which continues to grow.
Thirty days at a time, Janson and I
have decided to dedicate an average of 10 minutes each day
to becoming who we want to become.
I easily found 10 minutes in my day
once I removed social media from my devices,
and now I have to intentionally log in each time.
So when I was in elementary school,
I remember seeing a guy come to an assembly,
and he could juggle really well.
And at that point in my life, I said,
"Oh, that would be so cool if I could juggle," you know?
So I went home--some of you guys are like, "Yeah,
I did this too."
So I went home, I grabbed some socks, and I start juggling.
It's like, plop, plop, plop.
I gave up.
I was like, "OK, I guess that's for,
like, those that are talented in juggling," you know?
So, earlier this year, Janson and I
added juggling to our ultimate bucket list.
[APPLAUSE]
You guys are too nice.
So within a couple of intentional days,
we were able to learn how to juggle, and after 30 days,
I was able to get my goal of learning how to do 10 tricks.
I don't know if--there we go.
Oh, you can clap, you can clap.
There we go.
[APPLAUSE] I am not as good as that guy at my assembly,
but I am willing to try.
And I am happy with what I can do.
The following 30 days, we set new goals for ourselves.
So how many of you guys took music lessons
when you were younger, only to quit
before you could become what your mom really
wanted you to become?
I see a lot of hands, a lot of smiles.
Wow.
So what you do is, you get one of these things, OK?
Here's a little secret.
It's called a kalimba, or a finger piano.
And you can learn a song within five minutes.
I'm serious.
Five minutes.
You can send a video to your mom, your loved
one, your old piano teacher, and be like, "Hey, look,
all those years of music lessons really paid off!
Thank you so much!"
OK?
This one's for you, Mom.
Oh, see, I'm going to mess it up.
There we go, there we go.
I'm not perfect.
[PLAYING TUNE] Ah!
[APPLAUSE] See, all those years of piano lessons paid off, Mom.
I may not be able to tie as many knots as a trained Scoutmaster,
but recently Janson and I set a goal from our ultimate bucket
list to learn how to tie 20 knots and learn their uses.
And now I know how to tie a bowline,
and I can get someone out of a really, really deep ravine.
I hope I never have to use that one.
Or when we happen to sail across the ocean in the middle
of the night--that hasn't made it on our ultimate bucket list
yet.
But this past month, Janson and I
set a goal to learn 20 constellations
and their mythology.
So now we know that if we're in the Northern Hemisphere,
we can find the seven bright stars, which
is Ursa Major; follow over to Polaris, which is the North
Star; part of Ursa Minor, arc down to Arcturus,
a bright star within Bootes, which is the Herdsman.
From there you can find Canes Venatici, Corona Borealis,
and Leo the lion.
[APPLAUSE] Yeah.
OK, guys, I will never start a YouTube beatboxing channel,
but I will see what my best can be.
[BEATBOXING] [APPLAUSE] OK, do you think I was nervous to do
this in front of you all?
Uh, yeah, OK?
Are there people here that can do every one of these things
better than I can?
I am sure of it.
I am sure of it, OK?
Do you think because I'm an Olympian, I can do anything?
Maybe anything really fast on the ice, since that's
super useful, right?
But I am willing to try.
I am willing to push aside any natural thoughts and fears
that I have that you all might be judging my mistakes
and critiquing my technique.
You were, weren't you?
Once we realize that this life is never
meant to compare ourselves with others,
but to connect with them, our fears
of perfection and judgment will fade.
Develop your talents, whether you believe
you're talented in them or not.
We aren't just leaving a legacy at every major chapter
in our lives, but we are leaving legacies
throughout each and every page of our lives.
Our legacy is left by sharing our talents and skills and what
we have learned with others and by helping others
to become the best version of themselves possible.
Life is not meant to be endured; it is meant to be lived.
If we want to move forward, we must look forward
to a bright future.
If I could leave a challenge, it would
be to make a list of who you want to become.
What do you want to learn, read, do, or see?
Create your ultimate bucket list.
Break your goals down to a 30- to 90-day goal,
and hold yourself accountable each and every day.
"Doubt not, fear not."
We don't have to be an Olympian, the best in the world,
or even great at a specific talent
to become who God needs us to become.
We just have to be willing to push our fears aside, have
a little bit of faith, and try.
Thank you so much, you guys!
[APPLAUSE]