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The financial collapse of 2008 cost American households an estimated $16 trillion in wealth; one quarter of U.S. households lost at least 75 percent of their net worth. The final keynote speaker at the 2024 Fall Conference in New Orleans was among those Americans whose financial lives were upended by the Great Recession. James Lawrence – the record smashing extreme endurance athlete known as the Iron Cowboy – delivered a presentation during the afternoon General Session on how losing it all as a mortgage broker led him to a new path completely different – and far more rewarding – than anything he’d done before.

Lawrence began his remarks with an admission: “’Iron Cowboy’ is a stupid nickname.” But, he said, it stuck because it was given to him after he began wearing a cowboy hat during races so his young daughter could spot him. “It’s even more stupid because I am allergic to horses and hay,” Lawrence laughed.

Raised in Calgary, Alberta, Lawrence’s first foray into pursuing records was in his twenties during the Calgary Stampede. This was a time when he was trying to figure out his life and took on the challenge of sitting on a Ferris wheel throughout the entire 10-day Stampede. Lawrence said he watched others attempt the challenge, but leave because, in his words, “They weren’t comfortable having conversations with themselves.” That was a revelation: that mental toughness matters and that it’s a muscle that can be built like any other. Lawrence won the contest – luckily, because while he was on the Ferris wheel, his mother at one point stood on the ground below holding a sign informing him that he’d been fired from his job.

Lawrence would go on to begin intensive training to break records and raise money for causes important to him. One challenge was to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. After insisting that he was not a mountain climber, the challenge was revised to riding his bike to the top of the mountain. Kilimanjaro is straight up and down; Lawrence regretted his decision immediately. At a base camp, he met a group of veterans and mentioned how badly his legs were hurting. It was only after he said it that he realized one of the veterans was missing a leg. From that moment, he decided to keep a smile on his face until he reached the summit.

Lawrence’s lesson – in sport and in life – is to get out of both our own comfort zones and our own heads. “Say ‘yes’ to things that are uncomfortable. Find your passion. Don’t wait for it to find you.”

Date

October 23, 2024

Category

ACEC NEWS / FALL CONFERENCE

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