Get All Access for $5/mo

Lessons in Greatness: One Woman's Journey From Heart Condition to Climbing Mt. Everest In this podcast, adventurer and leadership professor Alison Levine discusses her personal struggles and the lessons she has learned along the way.

By Lewis Howes Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When Alison Levine was a child, she used to tell her family that "it feels like there is an elephant on my chest." But they always told her, "toughen up."

Yeah, she came from a "tough love" sort of family.

At age 16 she passed out during soccer practice. While at the hospital they learned that she suffered from a rare heart condition.

Three surgeries later, she climbed to the peaks of the highest mountains on every continent and skied the North and South Pole.

This week on the School of Greatness, we have an amazing athlete, adventurer, professor of leadership and New York Times Bestselling author on the show. Please welcome the inspiring Alison Levine.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio or TuneIn

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • About The Adventure Grand Slam: The Seven Summits – Tallest Mountains on Seven Continents and The North and South Pole – Skiing to the Ends of the Earth
  • The amazing story of how health problems inspired her greatness
  • How to overcome heart surgery like a champion
  • Why Mike Krzyzewski seeks out big ego players for the USA Olympic Basketball team
  • How to identify and build teams around Performance Ego and Team Ego
  • Conversations about failure with Pete Dawkins
  • Differentiating those willing to fail from those who simply under perform
  • How the acclimatization process of scaling Mt. Everest is a metaphor for succeeding at anything
  • Why Alison sees power in practicing sleep deprivation (Sleep defender? Listen to Ameer)
  • How to simulate extreme conditions to prepare for uncanny adventure
  • Lessons learned from Kilimanjaro
  • Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome and recovering from 3 heart surgeries
  • Unbelievable stories of near death experiences
  • About the importance of team dynamics in physically demanding environments
  • What she realized at the top of Mt. Everest
  • Plus much more…

#insert RSS here#

Lewis Howes

New York Times Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, Coach

Lewis Howes is a New York Times bestselling author of The School of Greatness and The Mask of Masculinity. He is a lifestyle entrepreneur, high performance business coach and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and two-sport All-American, he is a current USA Men’s National Handball Team athlete. He hosts a top 100 iTunes ranked Apple podcast, The School of Greatness. Howes was recognized by the White House and President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under 30. Details magazine called him one of “5 Internet Guru’s that can Make You Rich.”  Howes has been featured on Ellen, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The New York Times, People, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Health and other major media outlets.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Leadership

Overnight Success as a Startup Is Unrealistic — Embrace the Uncertainty and Try This Instead.

The startup norm of "move fast and break things" is short-sighted. Here is why being patient will serve your business in the long run.

Travel

Reduce Business and Personal Airfare Costs by Saving Big with Matt's Flights

This week only, you can get a lifetime subscription for just $80.

Money & Finance

How Top Financial Leaders Excel with Increasing Responsibilities

Hear from CFO Leadership Council founder and president Jack McCullough for tactical lessons from some of the world's best CFOs.

Business News

'I've Never Regretted Leaving the Corporate World Behind': This Former Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.