Topics: Growth Mindset, Embracing Failure, Fitness Motivation for Women

 

Growth Mindset and Fitness Motivation for Women with Angela Gargano…

 

This is your motivation to go for the challenge that feels impossible—the one you’re most scared of—and to move past what’s holding you back by embracing failure as fuel for a true growth mindset and lasting fitness motivation.

I sit down with Angela Gargano—founder of Pull Up Revolution, six-time American Ninja Warrior, former biochemist turned Miss Fitness America competitor, and keynote speaker—who’s made a career out of showing up for the impossible.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, sidelined by self-doubt, or like you’re winding through life on autopilot, Angela’s journey will ignite your “just go for it” energy and boost your fitness motivation. From tearing her ACL on national TV to conquering multiple stages, she shares how embracing failure and leaning into a growth mindset helped her push through mental blocks and make her goals happen.

 

 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Ultimate Motivation: Conquer the Challenge That Scares You Most
01:37 – Build Resilience Through One “Impossible” Habit
02:52 – More than Fitness Motivation: The Power of Mastering Pull-Ups
08:05 – Torn ACL on National TV: Angela’s Identity-Shifting Setback
15:54 – Feel → Frame → Finish: Angela’s 3-Step Comeback Formula

 

Listen in and discover:

• Feel → Frame → Finish: Angela’s magnetic formula: lean into the doubt, set a deadline, then celebrate every small step.
• “What If It All Goes Right?” Mindset: Swap “What if I fail?” for a question that refocuses your brain on possibilities with actionable steps.
• Shedding the Crutches: From ACL braces to resistance bands—when you need to let go of the “crutches” that you no longer need to succeed.

 

🎧 Listen for BIG inspiration. No life-overhauls required—just small steps and the courage to take your first unsteady rep toward your goals and dreams!

 

 

 

ABOUT ANGELA GARGANO
Angela is a 6x Ninja Warrior & keynote speaker, helping women crush their first pull-up & leaders build resilience, confidence & peak performance in life. She is also the host of the podcast, What if It All Goes Right?

 

CONNECT

Instagram: @angela_gargano
Website: www.angela-gargano.com
Podcast: What if It All Goes Right

 

LISTEN TO NEXT
Episode: The Sky Was Never the Limit (ep #307)

 

RESOURCES

7 Steps to Feel Good Nakd book
The Rio Home Workout Plan
Podcast Mentorship

 

CONNECT
Instagram: @itschardet

 

 

MORE ON THIS MOTIVATIONAL PODCAST EPISODE

 

“I’m not special. I just never gave up—even when it felt like I was getting absolutely nowhere.” – Angela Gargano

 

• Confront Your Impossible
• The “What If It All Goes Right?” Mind shift
• Shedding Crutches & Building Comebacks

 

 

 

What If It All Goes Right? The Habit That Builds Growth Mindset, Embracing Failure & Fitness Motivation

 

What if the only thing standing between you and the life you want is one rep?
One moment of discomfort. One challenge that feels too big. One habit you’ve been avoiding because it scares you—or worse, because it makes you feel like a failure.

In a recent episode of the Feel Good Nakd podcast, I sat down with Angela Gargano—six-time American Ninja Warrior, fitness coach, and founder of Pull Up Revolution. But this conversation wasn’t just about athletic milestones. It was a window into what happens when you choose to meet fear head-on and commit to your growth.

This blog? It’s not a recap. It’s your invitation to see how one tiny habit can unlock your growth mindset, teach you the art of embracing failure, and light a fire of lasting fitness motivation inside you. Let’s dive in.

 

 

Why Growth Mindset Starts With the Thing You Fear Most

 

Most of us tiptoe around the hard stuff. But Angela’s story flips that instinct: what if the challenge you’re avoiding is the exact one that’s meant to expand you?

“If you’ve ever felt stuck… Angela’s journey will ignite your ‘just go for it’ energy.”

Real growth isn’t always visible. It happens in the moment you decide to keep showing up, especially when nothing seems to be working. A true growth mindset isn’t about being better than someone else—it’s about becoming better than you were yesterday.

The magic? It’s in choosing discomfort on purpose.

 

 

Fitness Motivation Isn’t About Willpower—It’s About Identity

 

Angela calls the pull-up a “Trojan horse”—what looks like a physical challenge becomes an entry point to emotional transformation.

Women come to her wanting to do “just one pull-up,” but what they’re really craving is to feel strong, capable, and empowered. Each rep becomes a daily reminder: “I can do hard things.”

This isn’t about chasing aesthetics or punishing your body into submission. It’s about choosing a kind of fitness motivation that feels aligned, powerful, and sustainable.

“Mastering one ‘impossible’ pull-up move becomes your secret gateway to grit, resilience, and the daily consistency that transforms every area of your world.”

That’s the kind of motivation that sticks—not because you have to, but because you want to.

Embracing Failure with the Feel → Frame → Finish Method

Let’s talk about failure—not as a detour, but as the path itself.

Angela’s ACL tear on national television could’ve been the end of her story. But instead, she used it as a powerful beginning. Through her own comeback, she created the Feel → Frame → Finish framework:

• Feel it fully. Don’t bypass disappointment or mask your pain.
• Frame it clearly. Set a deadline for how long you’ll stay in that space.
• Finish it strong. Take one action, no matter how small, to move forward.

“Lean into the doubt, set a hard deadline, then celebrate every small win.”

Embracing failure doesn’t mean loving it—it means not letting it define you. It means using the fall to fuel your rise. And that shift changes everything.

 

The Growth Mindset Power of “What If It All Goes Right?”

When we’re scared, our brains love asking worst-case-scenario questions. But what if we started asking better ones?

“What if it all goes right?”

This single question rewires your internal dialogue and supports a true growth mindset. It pulls you out of fear loops and into possibility. It asks you to imagine success—and then reverse engineer your way toward it.

“When you start asking better questions, you start creating better outcomes.”

Whether you’re facing a big leap in your career, trying to heal from something heavy, or even just thinking about your next pull-up attempt, this question is your invitation to expand.

 

Let Go to Level Up: Embracing Failure, Shedding the Crutches

Angela’s recovery journey taught her a powerful truth: the tools that help you at first can later become the things that hold you back.

She learned to walk without her brace. Her clients learn to train without their bands. And each time they let go, they uncover a deeper layer of strength and trust in themselves.

This is where embracing failure becomes about bravery—not just facing what’s hard, but releasing what feels safe but stagnant. The moment you choose to ditch the crutch (physical or mental), you create space to rise.

“If you never try without it, you’ll never know how strong you really are.”

 

Your First Rep Toward Growth, Strength & Fitness Motivation

No need to flip your whole life overnight. Angela’s story reminds us that transformation happens in the smallest, most repeated acts. So if you’re wondering how to begin…

Start here:

• Choose one “impossible” goal.
• Feel what’s scary about it—and then frame it.
• Celebrate small wins.
• Ask: “What if it all goes right?”
• Drop one crutch that no longer serves you.

This is where fitness motivation meets life motivation. It’s not about the bar—it’s about who you become by reaching for it, even when your arms are shaking.

 

Don’t Just Read About It—Feel the Full Shift: More than fitness motivation for women

This blog only gives you a taste of what’s inside the full Feel Good Nakd episode with Angela Gargano. The full conversation is raw, powerful, and filled with “me too” moments that will light something up in you.

Whether you’re struggling with a setback, dreaming bigger than your current reality, or just need someone to remind you that you can begin again—you’ll find your fire here.

So go listen. Let it move you. Let it remind you: it’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about not giving up.

Because the question isn’t “Are you ready?” It’s “What if you are—and everything goes right?”

 

 

 

Full Transcript on Growth Mindset and Fitness Motivation with Angela Gargano

 

Chardét (00:00)
Are you ready for the ultimate motivation? Not just fitness, but in general, that thing you have been wanting to do, the one that you’re scared of, the one holding you back. This episode, this conversation is about moving you through with an incredibly inspiring guest. Angela Gargano is a motivational speaker, founder of Pull Up Revolution, where she shows women how to do pull ups. We love that. And she is a six time American ninja.

If you have never watched that show, you’re gonna wanna watch it after this because it’s an incredible amount of strength. This is a conversation that I know is going to get you to do that thing. I’ll see you inside.

Get ready to feel good naked. I’m your host, Chardét, and if you’re here right now, it means that you are ready to strip away all the crap, all the rules holding you back from feeling good in your body, in your mind, and in your life. Let’s get into it.

Thank you so much for being here on Feel Good Naked Angela. I know like what you’re doing, it’s about strength, but it’s so much more. So I’m excited to learn more from you.

Angela Gargano (01:17)
Amazing. Yes. I’m so excited to tell you more about the bigger mission that we have here. And I think so many people see it on the outside and maybe looking in and think the mission is one thing when it’s actually completely different. It’s kind of like a little Trojan horse type situation.

Chardét (01:32)
What is the Trojan horse then like what’s the outside thing and then what is the deeper one within it?

Angela Gargano (01:37)
Yeah, so I feel like everyone will go to my page, right? And they’ll be like, okay, this girl teaches women how to do their pull-up, which is a really specific niche thing that we do. But the Trojan horse is the pull-up. So we’re getting you in with that. But the deeper meaning behind it and the deeper mission is that working on something that feels impossible, working on something that feels extremely challenging that you need to show up for every single day, even when you don’t feel like it’s working well.

is a translation to all other pieces of your life. So if you’re able to show up for that one thing and you’re able to continue to commit to that, as you show up for that, you get more confidence on the bar and then you also get more confident in your life. So for me, I kept going with it because I saw the transformation that these women were having internally and externally in their life. And I was like, there was something really special here. And it’s something way different from the fitness industry, which is all about let’s…

get smaller, let’s talk about weight loss and fat loss and all these different pieces. This is an empowering way to bring you in to be like, no, we’re going to empower you to be strong, confident, independent in your body by working on this one move. And all those other things come with it, but that’s not the main focus. So it’s a different way of seeing things.

Chardét (02:52)
When you say it now, it makes so much sense to though, because it is like that in fitness where as women specifically, we are all about like, how can I get smaller? How can I lose more of me? And that relationship to strength is often not there, but with a pull up specifically, you’re not doing that because you want to like look super pretty or anything. You’re doing it because you want to feel strong and badass.

Angela Gargano (03:15)
Any woman I ever talk to, even when they don’t even know what I do, I’m like, oh, what’s your goal? I’ve just always been, I wanna do one pull-up. Why? I was like, why do you wanna do one pull-up? Oh, because that just feels so amazing and empowering. And I see the other woman in the gym doing that and I’m like, ooh, that’s awesome. So, whole other realm of what this one skill can do for your body and your mind.

Chardét (03:34)
It opens up to, cause we’ll go a little bit deeper cause I know that your work extends well beyond this. I feel like it’s interesting too though the point you just made about like seeing other women doing it and what we think only men can do. of course if I see a man do a pull up I probably don’t even blink twice. But seeing a woman do it is like, wow. You know, she’s in the middle of all those big guys and she is doing her thing.

Angela Gargano (03:58)
Yeah, in the gym for sure. And I think it was so cool. The other day I was with someone that I helped get her pull ups. She went from zero to like multiple pull ups. We were hanging out, working out. She came into town. We’re cranking out our pull ups and there’s women on the back on the bikes cheering her on. They’re like, what? Look at this girl on the bar. And I was like, how amazing is that? Seeing it in real time.

Chardét (04:18)
It’s so funny because someone might be like, well, who is this person to teach pull-ups? And I feel like there isn’t really anyone better that could be teaching them. If we can start with like, what is your fitness journey been about? Has it always been about strength, empowerment? Did it shift? Like what were the shifts for you? Because you’ve achieved some incredible things.

Angela Gargano (04:36)
Thank you so much. Yeah, it was wild as I actually started off as a biochemist. So I didn’t even start off in fitness, which is always really shocking to so many people when they actually do again come to my page because they’re like, this girl must have been doing fitness her entire life. But yeah, I was a biochemist. I was working the 12 hour overnight shift. I was trying to get my PhD. Like there was all sorts of things that I was doing in that end. But while I was doing that job, I in college was a college gymnast and I was noticing that no one ever told me.

how it feels to not have your sport after college. How to not have, like after gymnastics, like there’s really nothing really to go into, right? You see these at maybe other sports where there might be some rec leagues for adults and there’s just really not a lot after that. And I didn’t realize how that was for me. So now I’m in doing biochemistry every day. But then after I’m like, what am I, what do I do? So people are like, oh, you’re gonna go to the gym. And I’m like, the gym, like, I don’t have a coach who’s gonna like tell me what to do or like a,

cool routine I need to learn or anything along those lines. So I was searching for whatever that next thing could potentially be for me when I was in the biochemistry realm. And I was asking everybody and I wind up, you know, meeting this woman who introduced me to my mentor who helped me with so many things in my life, obviously introduced me to fitness competitions. So I actually got into fitness competitions because in that fitness competition, you do a whole routine on stage and you flip around. It’s not just like

posing and bodybuilding type stuff. And then you also do like some of that bodybuilding and then you do like an interview. So it was called Miss Fitness America. It’s like very much like a Miss America pageant. I was off to the races with that. And as she was teaching me how to work out in the gym properly, how to eat properly, she was also just giving me all this confidence and teaching me that I can have control of my life. There’s all these different pieces that she taught me. I want others to have this feeling that I’m having from this person, from this coach. So I started helping the people in

my at my job and then I started to realize, wow, actually, I think this is what I’m meant to be doing, which is a really interesting place to be. So I’m like, my goodness, I thought I was going to just be doing science for the rest of my life. I didn’t think anything more of it. So got my certification while I was working the overnight shift. I put it in this submission video for American Ninja Warrior when I’m accidentally getting on the show, fell in love with it. And now while I’m coaching these people,

They’re asking me, wow, like you look so strong. You’re doing all this fitness America said, but I’ve just always wanted to be able to do a pull-up. And it just started there. That one person who said that, then it was the next woman who said that, ⁓ you’re doing Ninja Warrior. Like I want to pull up too. So it started to evolve into those different pieces. And I got on to season 10 of American Ninja Warrior. Now this is like when I’m feeling super strong, super confident in my body. I’m flying through this course. There’s people who are like, my goodness, this is the next hot female. I can remember seeing like all the people that I looked up to in Ninja.

Then when I got made to the final obstacle, I went up tearing my ACL on national television in front of everybody, which is a wild thing to happen. Then that whole identity thing happened again, where I was like, oh, well, now I don’t have the Miss Fitness America thing. And now I don’t, I can’t really walk with my leg. Now I don’t have Ninja. I’m like, who am I? Who am I? How can, like, how am I going to be able to get past this tough obstacle in my life? Yeah. When you think about someone who

is maybe the perfect person to be able to teach women pull-ups. Definitely a ninja warrior, probably. But I think more importantly and more authentically is somebody who truly understands what it feels like to just show up to do something that feels absolutely impossible.

Chardét (08:05)
Because yes, you’ve got definitely the credentials in terms of what you can do physically. And at the same time, it can feel like to someone who, if you had never had that injury, if you had never had that failure, it might be harder for you to relate to someone who’s like looking at that bar and feeling, how could I ever possibly build the strength for this? I am so far away from my goal.

You know, self-doubt, self-consciousness, staying small, right? Like not trying to expand into something deeper. So I feel like, yeah, I could see how having that happen was almost like even more you can relate to people.

Angela Gargano (08:40)
speaking on stages and all these different people, they’re just wanting that real true authentic voice of somebody who’s literally lived it, who has gone through it so that they can see themselves in you and be like, my goodness, because she didn’t give up or because she was able to push past this, maybe I can too. Like maybe put in my resume for that job that I’ve always wanted, but I didn’t think I was good enough to do it. Like there’s so many ways that this can relate to.

so much deeper than, again, just pull-ups or life skills. But I think people right now are really wanting true, authentic people and true voices like that that they can relate.

Chardét (09:12)
Challenge

my limits a little bit more. I want to see if I can do things which were not usually for me or in my space. I want to, I see her and I see how incredible she is. Feel that I could be part of that too.

Angela Gargano (09:24)
I’m no different, I’m not special, like I’m not. I think the biggest piece is the fact that I just never gave up, even though I have literally exactly the same feelings as every single person who comes up to me again for their pull-up or whatever it is that they’re going through. But the one thing that I keep doing is I keep going. And it was really interesting because when I was first sharing my journey, even coming back from ACL, I had like this big brace on and I was showing my workouts and everything I could do with my brace on that was around the leg.

And I was just doing that for myself. I needed something to get through how I was feeling. And what I noticed is when I was actually sharing the journey and posting on my Instagram, a little vulnerable, I’m really honestly nervous to share that I was going through this really tough time. People were opening up to me and sending me messages like, wow, just because I saw that image of you today with that brace on and you doing bicep girls on a bench with your leg up, I decided that, wow, I can actually focus on what I can do versus what I can’t do. So it’s really interesting. feel like some people maybe don’t want to share.

their stories and the struggles that they’re going through, but they don’t realize how helpful that can be to others around you. And it’s also helpful for yourself. It was an outlet for me to allow these feelings and things I was going through to really actually move through them instead of just staying stuck in my mind and ruminating and just not doing anything.

Chardét (10:36)
When someone who you see in the public space that seems untouchable, like I was such a big Ninja Warrior person watching everything, like, ⁓ these are superheroes, like so amazing. You never imagine that they have.

lives too, which sounds silly, but you never imagine that. And then you never imagine some of the self doubt that might happen when you get an injury or things like that. And the identity stuff, you never think about it because you just see these people just flying through things that seem almost like how could you ever do that? And then I think to see like what you’re sharing of this is me getting through my day, doing my bicep curls.

Angela Gargano (11:13)
Yeah, and then like, know, at one point I had a blood clot. So I’m like stuffing tissues up my nose because I’m taking blood centers. The story just kept getting crazier and crazier. And all I could do is sit there and be like, you know, I could be frustrated about it. I’m like, you know what? I’m just going to share it because at this point, like, this is what it is. There’s so many people I look up to, maybe the same. I look up to them and I finally meet them. And I’m so like freaking out on the inside. like, my goodness, I’m finally meeting this person. And only to find out they’re human.

Chardét (11:38)
that people especially listeners hear that because I always feel like having had conversations like this for a few years now and and seeing people that initially yeah they do seem a little bit impenetrable because when they’re kind of just talking about what they know but then when you hear their story like you feel that too you’ve gone through that doubt too you might even be going through it now it’s just really makes you realize that yeah we paint up in our minds about other people being perfect but somehow we’re not fool

Angela Gargano (12:07)
again myself and people who are also like extending the public eye, they have all that if they have the inner roommate also.

Chardét (12:13)
Because it’s definitely one of those things that reminds you of the connection between possibility and your thoughts, which might stop someone from achieving something in their career or in the case of what you’re working with, like a fitness thing. I think about even now. So I remember when I first started to do pull-ups, it took me, it was like eight weeks where I was literally, Angela, was just shrugging. I was just like shrugging. I wasn’t even getting up. And I remember thinking, this is such crap. I’m never going to get this.

And that almost did stop me because the mental side is as much as the physical because you’re just sitting there and you’re like, I keep failing. I keep failing. I keep failing.

Angela Gargano (12:50)
getting any closer to like what I want to get to. You’re just like sitting there like, what am I doing? Yes, absolutely. It’s such a metaphor for life. It’s absolutely insane.

Chardét (12:59)
But I think too, like I wanted to speak to you more about the psychological side of strength, even beyond fitness, because I know that when you’re on stage, that you’re going a little bit beyond that. So what is kind of the message you’re spreading when you’re getting up on a stage and you’re trying to empower, especially women?

Angela Gargano (13:15)
I

actually just spoke at a women’s group with 750 women. It was absolutely incredible. It’s great to be inspired. I love that my story is inspiring, but I want people to be able to take action. Like women, I want them to actually be able to do something and have something they can tangibly do. Like cool, leave inspired, excited. And the next day you’re like, wait, what do I do? Like I want, I wanted to have actionable steps for them. But yeah, when I was overcoming my ACL surgery, I had all those thoughts in my head and I was really.

down in the dumps for a very, very long time. Like you hear this story, I went through my story very quickly. This was a long timeframe. I want to be very clear about that. And, you know, I was showing up to work as a strong woman with a strong face on because that’s what we strong women do, right? We show up, we go to work, we keep going. Even if in the inside we are literally, I was crumbling. I was going home. I was just so down in the dumps. I mean, there was points where I was like, I don’t even want to live anymore. Like I don’t, I’d like, what am I doing here? Like, no, all those thoughts in my head. And then finally,

a friend came up to me and said, you’ve been here for a while. It’s cool. I want to let you know, it’s totally cool. You can feel all this stuff that you’re feeling, but I don’t want you to get stuck there. And that was like this aha moment for me that clicked. Sometimes you just need that one person at the right time to say the right thing to help push you through. And why I want to reference this is because it’s exactly the beginning to where I start when I, the things that I talk about on stage, right? Because

I had that moment, that aha moment that, okay, this is maybe not where I want to be anymore. And then I was like, cool, how do I get out of this now? The more depths of it is the in-between. It’s this hallway that we’re going to literally be most of our life in. There I was sitting with my leg, having all these thoughts, and now I’m in the hallway. like, cool, I know that I want to have a comeback, but like, I don’t know how it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, is the door going to open? Like, I don’t know what that next thing is. You’re in this like uncertainty type area. So.

It really started off with the first piece, which was actually recognizing and feeling, allowing yourself to actually feel those things. Because again, as strong women on here and strong women who might be listening to us right now, we so often just want to brush it off to the side, not feel it or think we can’t feel it because we have to set to keep showing up. But that’s your humaneness. That person gave me that permission I needed to feel those feelings, which was very powerful. But she also made me set a deadline to it, right? So you’re not.

just constantly stuck in that victim mindset for like months and months. So the release I had from that, my goodness, that permission, it actually helped me get through it faster. So I just, was allowing myself to not just be so resistant to it. I was like, all right, I feel awful. I’m to put a name to it. And then after that, I said, okay, cool. After this deadline, like I’m going to get up and figure out what the first next step is.

Chardét (15:54)
when you’re having the difficult thoughts, that’s when you tour the ACL publicly, right? On television, that was when you started thinking like, my gosh, what am going to do? This was my dream and then my body’s not cooperating anymore, et cetera. That’s context, correct?

Angela Gargano (16:08)
contacts. Yes. Like I’m like, like, I mean, what a great actual visual moment to see it right for somebody else. It might not be an ACL tear, right for you. might be you worked so hard to get this on this job, and they fired you. So it could look like very different things that that moment.

Chardét (16:24)
And then to the point of what you were saying about allowing, giving yourself permission to experience the emotions around it. I love that because I think it’s like emotions are meant to be processed. They’re not meant to be bottled. If you bottle them, it’s like you are going to feel that mentally or physically or both later on. But then too, there’s the timeline. Like I can’t be feeling these emotions forever because emotions are not meant to be permanent.

Angela Gargano (16:49)
Exactly.

And I think you might see some friends, I mean, who are like that sometimes, or you maybe you keep having conversations with them. And I want to say like, I was that friend for a little while too, like, you just keep talking to them. And they’re literally still in the same place. You’re like, I just heard this from every single time I’m seeing you, you’re still here. What’s the way that we can take that first step forward? And then after you process it, it’s also knowing that you’re not going to go from what that feeling for me again, just feeling awful to like, super empowered.

So, and that’s where we put more pressure on ourselves. Like, cool, I felt it, but now I need to feel perfect. No, no, it’s like, what’s the next step up from that?

Chardét (17:21)
And two to what you just said about how expecting that it’s going to be this linear path that you just jump from A to B and it’s all good. It’s not even jumping from A to B because sometimes you fall back to like negative A and you think like you’re not changing or healing at all. What was the kind of next thing after this though? So if we’ve gone through the processing and we are kind of in that messy middle hallway you’re talking about, where do you usually lead people from there when you’re speaking?

Angela Gargano (17:48)
We call it the right brain work. What if it all goes right? Which is exactly what my whole keynote’s called, my podcast, everything. Recognize and feel the next pieces, identifying what you’re in control of. Because we’re sitting there the whole time, dwelling on the thing that happened. I’m sitting there being like, replaying the ACL tear over and over again. But I can’t go back in time and change that. What can I actually do right now? And I realized, cool, I don’t have my knee, but what are some things that I do have, right? I have my arms, I have my core.

I have my mindset. I have an opportunity now to work on the things that I’ve been not working on, right? For me, it was sitting down and writing exactly the phrase that we just said for my podcast, which is what if it all goes right? And I still write that every single day. There was something about saying that to myself. I was like, well, what if it goes right? And then I started to ask myself, what does going right look like? And I realized I had no idea. So I’m sitting here frustrated and angry and mad.

I started to look up, let me see other people who’ve been in my situation who’ve actually gotten through it so that I could actually borrow some belief from them and I could see real proof, because maybe you don’t have to prove from yourself right now that this is actually possible. So for me, obviously ACL tear, I’m like Googling now, who has ACL tear, big athlete, whatever. And I started to see these people have their best years the next year after their ACL tear. And I was like, ooh, identifying what you’re in control of and really truly asking yourself what if it all goes right.

Also giving the permission to that, to not being super sure fully at first, it might be blurry, but every single day that you think about it a little bit more, it’s gonna become more more clear as to what absolutely you are in control of and what can actually happen next for you.

Chardét (19:26)
the name of your podcast and the thing that you’re writing every day, you what if it all goes right? I was thinking about how that phrase also, I don’t know who this is from. So the quote was the quality of your life.

depends on the quality of your questions. And so when you start to ask questions like this, well, what if it goes right versus what if it goes wrong, which is the default, then you can actually explore other things that you could do that are not available to you if you don’t start asking that question. So I think it’s an amazing one to remind you. If you wonder when you have a transformational conversation with someone, if you really think about it, a lot of the times it’s because they asked you questions that you didn’t think to ask.

That’s really what it comes down to.

Angela Gargano (20:08)
The therapist is never truly giving you the answer.

Chardét (20:12)
You had mentioned you’re like, you’re going to keep asking that question and initially it’s blurry what you can control, what you can do. So what was the blurriness like for you when you that first year as you’re healing, as you’re thinking through stuff?

Angela Gargano (20:26)
it’s really easy for an athlete to really be able to figure out what their next step is because you know exactly what you’re working towards. Like I know for Ninja Warrior, I’m trying, I was trying to get back on Ninja Warrior course. had this date, I was reverse engineered it. Like this is how I’m going to get there. But then when I have no idea what that actually was, I didn’t have any of that. It was, I was lost. I was so lost because I had no idea what I even saw for my future now because that was so wiped clean and everything that I thought I

knew everything that I showed up perfectly for and did was no longer existent, right? So I was trying to really figure out what that was and what I want for myself in general without all those things. Like, who am I without all those things? How am going to make money? I have no idea. Like, no idea.

Chardét (21:12)
When you found clarity, when you got through the blurriness, what did that look like for you then? then kind of this will be second to last question. What did it look like when you figured it out? And then what do you think it’s looking like for the future as it keeps evolving?

Angela Gargano (21:27)
getting that game plan. So the G is the game plan. Let’s actually like figure out what the game plan is. And that’s that those steps are and reverse engineering. Like we just said what it was. Cause if you’ve reverse engineered anything, maybe it was for like a work deadline. If you, if you’ve reverse engineering something for sports, can reverse engineer literally anything. It’s important to do that because you could just focus on your first step rather than again, your step like hundred.

Chardét (21:48)
the game plan, you came up with a game plan reverse engineering to it, which is really kind of an athletic way of approaching it, interestingly, right? Because when you’re going to compete and you’re starting with this brand new athlete, you know, maybe they’re like six years old or 10 years old or whatever, you don’t have them do the final thing. They have to learn the conditioning exercises and then they start building up foundationally until they can do the ultimate goal.

Angela Gargano (22:14)
Yeah, I mean gymnastics we always had to do that and I was I was always hated it I feel like I want to do I remember I want to do this vault called a Sukhara and I told the coach I want to do a Sukhara and I do it today and he’s like no this drill first this drill next and I’m like, okay So I’m doing each drill and then for weeks and weeks and weeks like just irritated but getting better at the drills and then finally I remember when he said, okay now we’re gonna bring it all together Look at all these drills how they mend together and then one day after doing all the drills and never doing a Sukhara He says it’s time and I’m like what?

and any y’all that you’re making these little pieces of steps and then they’re the one coming together to something. And most of the time it’s even more than you imagined. I’m so happy that I did all the other things to actually move myself to get here that it doesn’t even matter what the end result is when I got on the course again.

Chardét (22:59)
you

go on the course again then at the end of that?

Angela Gargano (23:02)
I did, yeah, 11 months later, I made it. I got back up on there and it so dramatically very TV. I walked up with my brace and I took it off and I threw it. It’s so interesting because a lot of times you become really reliant on things and what I learned from ACL tear is that some people become really reliant on the brace and it’s important obviously through the pieces of it, but they were saying that you want to be able to feel confident standing on those two feet again without the brace and not rely on it. So that’s a huge piece of why I was like, you know what? I’m not going to use it. ⁓

Chardét (23:32)
feel like too, because the whole brace thing that is like you’ve already started to kind of talk about, it feels like something that is really relevant outside to other areas of our lives, things that you get used to using as a crutch to not really achieve or do what you will need to do. I mean, I’m thinking specifically with pull-ups, like how people get…

⁓ Really like reliant on using the bands, right? Like they stay on the bands as their crutch and then they never actually progress after that. But it’s the same thing in life. Like you use something which stops you from really reaching that final goal, that potential.

Angela Gargano (24:07)
tell

the girls all the time, like, we’re gonna be off this band a lot. the band is a crutch. does hold, if anyone’s trying to their pull up, it does hold you back from getting your pull up. I’m not saying it’s a bad tool. You get, like you said, so reliant on it that you’re never able to get off of it. You try and get off it and you go nowhere. So I make our women attempt the pull up without the band multiple times a week, even when they suck.

Even when they’re like, I can’t go anywhere. I’m like, I want you to do it and I want you to get off that band and it’s such a powerful thing to do. It’s like that symbol, it’s like symbolizing that you don’t feel confident in your body just yet. It gets to a point where it’s like, it’s time to take it off. Huge symbolism there, again, with life as well.

Chardét (24:46)
What is the vision that you have now for let’s say the next six months to a year of what you want to help women achieve or the message that you want to share?

Angela Gargano (24:56)
Yeah, it’s been so interesting. I’m definitely in an in-between right now. And I just, I’ve been sharing it so much on my podcast. I’m like, I’m just going to share the whole story and like what we’re going through. I have been helping women get their pull-up now for, since 2017. This was a very, very long time. And for me, this has turned into, like we said, so much more and so much deeper than that. And I couldn’t even on my Instagram anymore. Like I can’t even post like another pull-up tutorial. I’m like, I just can’t. Like, it’s just like, it’s just like, I just can’t do it anymore. So.

⁓ so the next six months for me is the pull program. It’s, running on autopilot. Now we’ve got amazing coaches who run it. I run, I’m still in there and I’m still doing stuff like that. But for me, I have a bigger mission than I’m here to conquer. And that is going all in with my keynote speaking and speaking on stages. The reason I want to do that is because I can see when I’m speaking on these stages, the energy that I’m bringing that is really impacting thousands of people of lives. And I can be one of those voices. I just feel like I’m meant to do so much more with that. So.

My goal is not to only help women, but to help individuals, to help leaders, especially in a time right now where things are changing, where there’s uncertainty, where these impossible things are coming up. I want to be able to be that authentic energy that comes up there to help them get through that and by taking them through this, the framework that I now created, the right framework. So for me, it’s wild. Like my vision, my podcast is out and I’m just feeling so deeply about the podcast and the messages sending.

And then obviously to write the book, I’ve had like half of my book written. just haven’t actually been able to put the time into it. So I just see myself doing that. And it’s so wild. Cause again, all these thoughts come in. Cause there’s like, I keep asking myself, can I actually do this? Like there’s so many people with a book and a podcast and all these different pieces. And then again, I am having conversations with the mind. I’m like, well, why not? Like, why not do it? If this is going to be a bigger mission, that’s going to be helping all these people. Like there’s a reason that you want to do this and you need to go for it.

Chardét (26:48)
I love everything about that because I feel like there’s the tangible immediate thing people notice the pull up, but then it is so much bigger what you are working on and what you’re building. How can people connect with you and specifically to where can they listen to the podcast? What should they search for? Because they can do that right after this episode.

Angela Gargano (27:06)
Yeah, absolutely. So you can me on Instagram at Angela underscore Gargano. Feel free to message me if you want to listen to this. love when, because so many times you probably don’t hear like what your listeners are thinking. I’m like, please message me. I want to know like what resonated, what felt good for you. Send me a message. First speaking, you can go to Angela dash gargano.com slash speaking. I have all my topics on there, my real, and we can connect and see how I can help you in your next event. And then for podcasts, it’s Angela dash gargano.com slash podcasts. You can listen to the podcasts.

We actually just put a series out and I love it. name of it. I’m seeing this word come up a lot. Maybe it’s just cause it’s like in my head right now, but it’s called the get unstuck series. So you can start on part one and it will literally walk you through my framework and you just, all you have to do is like listen to the episodes and I have action steps at the end of them. So hopefully it can help move you through wherever it is that you’re stuck or feeling stuck right now.

Chardét (27:55)
Thank you for being here and being so incredibly motivating. I don’t know if everyone will see the video, but like you can even hear in your voice the energy you’re giving. And it’s amazing that you’re going to bring that to more stages so people can really feel that. So thank you.

And thank you so much for listening. Remember, if you want that extra inspiration right now, go listen to that unstuck series that Angela has on her podcast, What If It All Goes Right? And let her know, you know, if it was helpful, if this message was helpful, if you feel like it’s inspired you to do a pull-up or something bigger or something that has always been in your mind, sending you lots of motivation, lots of possibilities, and I will see you in the next one.

Follow Feel Good Naked in your favorite listening app. And if you’ve enjoyed the lessons that you have found here, check out my book, Seven Steps to Feel Good Naked, Health and Body Confidence Without Dieting. I guide you through how to create gentle nutrition, movement that works for you, self-care you can do even when you’re busy. This is how you make a roadmap to health without all the struggle.

You can find a link to the book in the show notes, or you can go to feelgoodnaked.com, Naked Without the E.