races and endurance sports. In 2019, Armstrong cofounded a venture capital firm called Next Ventures. Raising $ 60 million for investment, Armstrong has backed 20 startups so far in the sports, fitness, nutrition, and wellness markets.
A testament to the human capacity to endure, adapt, and grow amidst adversity, his story is a narrative that many leaders and entrepreneurs can relate to: the relentless pursuit of success, the harsh light of public scrutiny, and the humbling experience of failure.
During an exclusive private event with top-tier clients, TMT’ s CEO and Founder Robin Robins sat down with the legendary cyclist, philanthropist, and investor to find out how he mentally and emotionally endured the tremendous adversity and how he managed to bounce back. Here are some highlights from that conversation.
OWN IT, LEARN FROM IT, AND MOVE ON
Armstrong acknowledges his mistakes; however, he also believes these are part of what made him who he is today. He accepted the consequences of his choices, admitting,“ I knew I was going to be put into time-out.” But rather than retreating, he took his lumps and kept going.“ I messed up,” Armstrong said.“ Look, the entire brouhaha cost me 105 million bucks between lawsuits, legal fees, loss of endorsements, settlements, and so that stung. But I’ ve been a survivor and a fighter my whole life, and I wasn’ t going to quit.”
CONTINUE DOING THE THINGS THAT PRODUCE EXCELLENT RESULTS their health and wellness, their families, and their lifestyle, Armstrong didn’ t do that. He focused on his family and maintained his love for cycling. He continues to cycle to this day.“ I remained optimistic,” he said.“ I embraced the suffering and embraced my own health and wellness.”
KEEP UP WITH YOUR MENTAL FITNESS
Armstrong, who prefers the term“ mental fitness” to“ mental health,” continued to do the things that made him feel mentally strong. For him, this meant pushing himself physically through exercise.“ Even when I’ m having days where I’ m grumpy, or something’ s on my mind, or I’ m trying to work through something, I do the same thing,” Armstrong said.“ I go for a long bike ride by myself and just work it out. Or I still love to swim. In these moments of getting in that zone of suffering and pushing yourself is when my brain totally turns on.”
CREATE AN OPEN-DOOR POLICY
Offering a profound glimpse into how to navigate personal crises with family, Armstrong stated that guiding his family through this storm has been the most challenging part. When he made his 2013 confession, Armstrong had three children in school and two toddlers. He faced the daunting task of explaining his actions to them.
ROBIN ROBINS, INTERVIEWING LANCE AT TMT ' S TOP-TIER PEER GROUP EVENT OCTOBER 2023 IN NASHVILLE.
As the financial damage kept racking up, Armstrong worried about how he was going to feed his family. However, he continued working the processes that had produced successful results and vowed not to repeat his mistakes.“ I love process,” Armstrong said.“ Whether it’ s how I start my day, the process of a workout, or building a business. I decided to just keep running my routes. I knew that if I did, at some point, life would throw me a ball, and this time, I wasn’ t going to drop it.”
EMBRACE THE SUFFERING
In a time when most people would curl up in a fetal position and lose
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