Zali Steggall · 42 min
From a lonely base camp in the French Alps to the Australian Parliament, Zali Steggall reveals how elite sport forged the mindset that carries her through every challenge life throws.
Hear this story
Zali Steggall grew up between two worlds: Manly and the French Alps, where her parents taught her to try anything without fear of failure. At eight years old, a coach told her she wasn't talented enough compared to another girl. Instead of accepting that verdict, she decided to prove him wrong. It became the moment that shaped her entire life.
For thirteen years, Zali trained every weekend and school holiday while her friends at Queenwood did normal teenage things. She was utterly isolated, spending months alone at base camp in Europe after races, learning to shed bad performances and move forward. That skill, forged in solitude, taught her how to handle difficulty for decades. She learned to control what she could control and let go of everything else. She learned that anger and happiness were her most successful emotional states, though anger exhausted her quickly. She learned that winning a world championship in 1999 meant nothing if she had no one to celebrate with, sitting in a middle seat on a plane going nowhere. That taught her something harder: the outcome is not the point. The months of training, the process, the work itself is what matters.
She brought those lessons into law school, the bar, and Parliament, treating each like a race day where you stand alone and trust your preparation. She brought them into her second marriage with Tim, learning to accept that parenting five children from two families would not go the way she had envisioned. She still brings them now to ultra trail running, signing up for 100-kilometre races and a 161-kilometre run that forces her to stay present and think clearly.
Zali's story is about learning early that the crack in your life is not the breaking point. It's the beginning of what comes next.
“my resilience was did not come out of adversity. It came out of challenge.”
“that was literally like a red rag to a bull for me because it was absolutely a moment where I do remember of I'm going to show you.”
“loneliness is absence of self and solitude is presence of self.”
The hero, today
Zali learned early not to fear failure because she was raised in an environment where her parents supported her to try anything, and this willingness to give things a go became her greatest asset. She broke down the work of becoming an elite skier into what she could control and what she could not, letting go of weather and opponents and keeping her outlook positive no matter what happened before a race. The skills from sport, law, and politics are fundamentally the same: you prepare thoroughly, you stand alone when it matters, you trust what you know and think on your feet when things shift. She stopped believing that winning the race or achieving the outcome would make her happy when she won the world championship in 1999 and realised there was no joy in it; now she focuses on enjoying the months of training and the process itself. With her children, she had to accept that parenting would not go the way she planned and learned to see each child as an individual with their own needs rather than trying to push them toward her own standards.
Yes. Zali Steggall is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Zali learned early not to fear failure because she was raised in an environment where her parents supported her to try anything, and this willingness to give things a go became her greatest asset.
She broke down the work of becoming an elite skier into what she could control and what she could not, letting go of weather and opponents and keeping her outlook positive no matter what happened before a race.
The skills from sport, law, and politics are fundamentally the same: you prepare thoroughly, you stand alone when it matters, you trust what you know and think on your feet when things shift.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 00:03
Welcome to the Grit Diaries with Mon and Maz, a place where we share real stories meets real transformation. Each episode, we share the journeys of everyday people who's faced life's hardest moments and found their way to hope, healing, and purpose. May their courage inspire you and in the world around you. Let's get inspired!
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 01:43
Hello, you're listening to Grit Diaries: Grit to Grace with Mon and Maz.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 01:48
Hi Maz, how are you today? Hey, Marn, I'm excellent. I'm loving your background. Looks fabulous.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 01:55
Yeah, I'm happy with it too.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 01:57
I just think I'm so excited today because we have Zali Steggall online and to interview you.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 02:03
I admire you from a long distance and I witnessed my mum stepping across from her previous political position to putting on a t-shirt and, and getting really involved with you, Zali. So, Zali, I would really— I'm just so grateful to have you here. Thank you for being on Grit Diaries. Thank you. Lovely to chat. Lovely to be here. Thank you. Look, we're going to go into a story for you. We want to hear a little bit more about you on Grit Diaries. We want to hear what was it like, you know, growing up. You've got such a story of resilience, particularly in politics. I mean, that's the true test in this country, isn't it? Particularly a female in politics and, and everything else that goes on. And but way before that, I mean, you were an Olympic gold— well, world ski champion, winner of a gold medal in '99. The year before, slalom bronze Olympian. That takes loads of resilience and loads of tenacity. Tell us a bit about, you know, how, you know, growing up, what was it that shaped you in that area?
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She stopped believing that winning the race or achieving the outcome would make her happy when she won the world championship in 1999 and realised there was no joy in it; now she focuses on enjoying the months of training and the process itself.
This conversation includes growing up between two worlds, a coach tells her she's not talented enough, the choice to stay in france or come home to ski for australia, spending weekends at the snow while friends party, alone at base camp after a bad race and discovering anger and happiness work best in competition.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 03:07
What—
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 03:08
tell us a bit about you. Oh, thank you. I guess it's— if I go back and think about it, as a kid, I grew up in a fairly traditional family, mum and dad and an older brother. My parents had what we called the, you know, they loved the snow. So even though we lived in Manly, they always looked for winter and went looking for skiing and snow. So we had this slightly unusual upbringing of going and living in the French Alps in a ski resort where we were the odd Australians, really. We weren't, you know, like I grew up as a French kid speaking French, thinking it was my first language, but we were Australian and I had this unusual name, like Zali did not sound normal. But I was incredibly lucky that my parents really instilled in me that I could— anything I wanted to have a go at, they would support me. So to give everything a go. And my personality is, I am an Aries, so that probably explains a lot. I am an April, and I've jumped off the Aries. So I was always very competitive but also just very up for a challenge. So never daunted by the task of having a go at something. And I think probably early on developed that I didn't have a fear of failure. Now, when you're a kid, you're very open to opportunities, and you don't fear failure, so you actually give it a go. And because I was so athletic and so focused and determined, I tended to reasonably quickly do well at sports. So I used to do running, skiing, windsurfing, judo, athletics. Like, I did so many sports.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 04:44
Your parents would have been busy, Zali.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 04:46
Very, very busy. But that is a key to developing resilience, is actually being prepared to put yourself on the start line and accept the outcome of whatever the sport is that you have to do. And I feel a little bit sheepish in explaining this, in that this is not resilience in the hard sense of people that have to meet adversity, right? This is simply, as a kid, I grew up in an environment where I was the foreign kid in France, and so I wasn't the local, you know, the local darling. I was the Aussie upstart moving, you know, the French kids out of the way by winning the races. And so I had a couple of moments when I got into ski racing where, you know, coaches— I actually had a coach say to me when I was 8 years old, look, you've really got to pick your sport and you've got to stop doing all these other things. You've got to decide if you're going to really be focused on something. And then I did have a coach when I was 8 or 9 say to me, look, you're determined and you're hardworking, but unfortunately, you know, this girl is actually just more talented than you. So you're just going to have to accept that you may not do as well as her or you're going to have to work a bit harder at it than her. And that was literally like a red rag to a bull for me because it was absolutely a moment where I do remember of, I'm going to show you, let me show you. So, you know, I'd say my resilience did not come out of adversity, it came out of challenge.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 06:17
And that's important to highlight there, Zali, right on that exact, you know, it was like a red flag to a bull. There was There's two ways that you could have gone with that, what was, what you were told, and it could have made you recede. Yeah. It's actually going to catapult you forward. And I think that's really important to note.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 06:33
Yeah.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 06:34
Yeah.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 06:35
And because I think people, you have those moments in your life where there are going to be obstacles and people might want to pull you back and, you know, hold you back. And so having that determination or the, you know, that fight or flight reaction of, are you going to take it on or are you going to accept that and maybe don't back yourself? So as a kid, I was a fairly forthright— I mean, I do credit my parents that they were incredibly supportive. I was very competitive with my older brother, so poor Zeke got, you know, pesky little sister syndrome. You know, I used to openly compete with the guys, the boys who were older than me. I would look to compete and to win. So Yeah, I mean, I, I have mellowed a little bit since then. That was very much me as a kid. Yeah. And so then when I— to get into skiing, I guess, you know, I came back to live in Australia, went to school in Australia. Obviously living in Manly, this is not a ski resort town. It required quite a bit of challenge to continue with that. And there was a real crunch time where I had to decide would I continue with skiing as a sport when I had won— I'd come first in slalom and third in giant slalom as a sort of under-15 junior championship when I was still living in France. And the French Federation had actually offered that if I stayed in France, that I could ski for France and ski for France at the Olympics if I agreed to change my nationality. And we said, oh no, that was much bigger commitment than we had ever thought about, and we were coming back to live in Australia, and I was going to ski for Australia. But I really had no understanding of what that meant in terms of living in Manly, traveling to the snow, traveling to Europe, and being very isolated. It's hard to explain this to kids now, but, you know, this is a pre-internet era. So I used to go to Europe for 4 or 5 months at a time. You know, phone calls were expensive. You didn't have mobile phones. I used to have to do my studies by correspondence and fax my assignments back to my mum. You know, you didn't just switch on the internet, turn on Facebook and follow your friends. You're very isolated. So, you know, it took a lot of dedication to persevere with skiing from Australia because I actually ended up doing 13 years of winters in a row. So 26 winters in a row, Australia and then Europe and back. And, you know, there's a I went to my first Olympics when I was 17 years old, and I actually had to quit Year 12 from my HSC. I had to leave the girls halfway through the year at school. I was at Queenwood, and I had to basically defer to have a shot at going to the Olympics and being selected, and then come back and do my HSC by correspondence the year after. So it's not hardship in the way many people have hardship, but They were key decisions I had to make at a young age where I had to be very clear about why I was making that decision, the sacrifice I was making for the goal of trying to go to the Olympics, and what work and hard work it was going to take to achieve selection. But then also, you know, my contract with my parents was that I could focus on skiing as long as I still studied and did well. Like, Plan B had to keep moving along. I had to still do my studies. Yeah, which you did and became a lawyer. So you, you know, you managed both. How did you do that? You know, that's, that's a lot of good hard work. Yeah, look, I mean, as you know, as a kid I went to Queenwood. I used to spend every weekend at the snow training and every school holiday. So, you know, the parties and all the normal teenage stuff you don't do. There was no time for that.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 10:32
All your friends, what were they doing at the same time? Because yours sounds like, you know, it was a lot of discipline, a lot of dedication. You had a focus. What were all your counterparts doing? Were any of them like built like you, or everyone was off party mode?
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 10:44
Not in Australia, I'm going to say. So that— no, the girls in, you know, in Australia, my friends, there were some that were sport and study and academic, but no one was quite doing what I was doing. And it's a very individual sport. So you're— and again, Australia is a summer country. We didn't have much of a focus on winter sports in those days. So when Australia is watching the cricket, I'm over in Europe ski racing and no one's knowing, caring about it. So you were always very at odds with what was happening in mainstream Australia. My friends at school didn't really understand it, especially when you don't have social media or phones and you didn't have an online presence to stay connected. So my friends would literally— I'd come back 4 months later and they would accept me back in like I hadn't left. But it was very, very different, very Isolating. And so it meant that you had to be that much more determined and I guess resilient about the highs and lows that you experienced. But self-reliant. I mean, really self-reliant. I think there's a beautiful statement that loneliness is absence of self and solitude is presence of self. You clearly got a sense of who you were at a young age and a sense of, you know, you could be alone and be in solitude and be in presence of yourself. That's a pretty mature thing to, you know, it's a gift at such a young age.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 12:12
Yes.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 12:12
Yeah. Look, I look back on it now and having as a mum, you know, I look at how protective I was of my kids as teenagers. And I think of my parents that agreed to send me off for when I was 14, 15 for 4 or 5 months at a time to Europe, you know, getting a phone call maybe once a week. You know, I didn't even have a driver's license at some point, so I relied on lifts and other teams helping me out. It was quite a— I mean, I had some incredible opportunities and experiences, but some really daunting experiences as well, which at times could have broken me, or really, you know, you, you could have thought about doing something a bit easier at the time. Yeah, it was always about finding a, I guess, finding a way through. But you're right, Simone, in terms of that, there were times where it was lonely in that you felt quite isolated in that environment because the European girls that I would compete with, they would go home to their towns, to their, you know, to their friends and families. I would go back to my base camp on my own and just have to, you know, work. And if you've had a great race, if you've had a good day, it's easy, right? If you're on a high, you've got the endorphins, everything's good, you're feeling good. But you have a bad day, you have a bad race, and you come back to your base camp and you have to take stock. You have to learn to shed, you have to learn to let go of the bad day and then focus forward. So as a result of all my years of sport, I am a very forward-facing person. I tend to analyze very quickly the outcome of something— good, bad, what I could have done differently. 'How did it go?' And then I don't dwell on it. I kind of move on to what's next because that's what you have to do in sport. You can't stay stuck in the past. You have to keep focusing on what the next step is. So I think there, in so many ways, my skiing are key to my character, I think, but also to my, you know, they taught me my work ethic and how I respond to situations.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 14:34
Yeah, that's amazing. I'm absolutely loving that. And I'm curious, when you— just going back a little bit— when you were going back to base camp, were you on your own? You weren't over there with a host family of any description? It was on your own?
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 14:50
On my own. And that was from like an age of a 15, 16-year-old.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 14:55
It's not prison, but it—
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 14:56
but when you talk about it, you're on your own, on your mat, on your single bed. Without community, except for when you're skiing with them and then you're competing with them. And then you're competing against them, right? They're not overly fussed about how well you're doing.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 15:09
When you were back out, when you were actually skiing, because we're hearing your determination and your dedication, when you were actually out skiing, was it the love of skiing? Like, what was it? Were you just like, oh my gosh, I feel like home? Like, what was it about skiing as opposed to other sports?
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 15:26
Um, it's— oh, it's hard to describe. There's a sense of freedom and speed and flow that comes from seeing and trying to do the perfect run, the perfect turn. It's a little obsessive, which most sports people are, right? The reality is, to become excellent and elite at something, you have to dedicate the 10,000+ hours, and you have to become quite obsessive about every little detail to get it to perfection. And so in— obviously the perfect run for skiing was, you know, I would go out and do many, many hours of training, and you would analyze every turn and every aspect and try and develop the nervous and the reactions and the technique and all the technical elements that would go into it. Keeping in mind skiing is an outdoor sport, lots of elements you don't control. You don't control the weather or the conditions or what your opponents are doing, or the course you're on, and it's a different course every time. So I learned really early that you have to worry about what you can control, learn to let go what you can't control. Don't let the things you can't control impact your outlook on the possibility of a day, right? You know, so if you're at the start of an important race and something has happened that's beyond your control, you can't let that impact the opportunity of that day, right? You can't say, oh, you know, my chances of winning are gone. Like, you have to stay, you have to keep that positive outlook. So look, I've got to be, you know, I did not know how to do this from the start. These are things you develop over time through trial and error, through some races go really well, some don't. Some seasons were really tough, some were good. And I worked with professionals to help me understand how to break it out, break it down. You know, identify what are the things I can control, what are the things I can't control, what kind of mood should I try and be in to have my best outcome on a race day. And funnily enough, with my coaches, we identified that my two moods that were most successful were either happy or angry, which is tough because angry, you're fired up.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 17:45
Yes.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 17:45
But that is a very tiring state of mood state to be in. You can't be that all the time. And you can tip it over to a point where it's not successful. Whereas happy and upbeat and getting endorphins flowing was something you could control better. So that was what we would focus on. They do say the gift of anger is insight. You know, often it's only when you finally get really angry about something that you get that real aha. You know, "Aha, I've got it," you know.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 18:19
So it's— so I would imagine, but yes, it is way more exhausting as an emotion than—
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 18:25
It is. Anger can help you break down inhibitions or self-imposed barriers. So if you're holding back in some way or you've got an inhibition or you're, you know, not quite prepared to step up, anger can somehow nearly emotionally override your caution to put a bit more in, which can make a difference in sport. But as I discussed with many a sports psychologist, it is not an ideal state of emotional. So, and I'm just thinking back on your detail too, learning the detail of every turn. I'd imagine that would have helped you in your legal career and also now in politics, because you've got to, you know, read detail of recommendations to Parliament, etc., etc. So I would imagine that detail focus that you had as an Olympian would have helped you in your legal career and today? And how would, would you agree? Yeah, look, the sport definitely— so I went from obviously 13 years, 14 years of sport to— I wanted to be— I loved debating at school, so I wanted to be a barrister, an advocate. So I did a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications during my skiing years by correspondence, and then when I retired from skiing, I studied law while having kids. I was always very keen to multitask, so I had kids at the same time as myself in the mosh pit. Yep, absolutely. I was always keen on the bar and going to court and being an advocate on behalf of, you know, clients, and I really enjoyed that. It is very adversarial, which ironically is very similar to sport. The bar, you are a sole practitioner, you are there on your own. It's like your race day. You stand up in front of the judge and you have to trust your preparation think on your feet and do the job in the moment. You have to be comfortable with the responsibility of the task of what you're doing on behalf of your client, and then be, you know, problem solve as things evolve and happen. So a lot of similarities, ironically, with sport. And I actually think the perfect mix, sport to law to now be politics, is actually what I do now is a perfect mix of everything I had to do before because it is about, you know, you have to problem solve, you have to do the planning and the training and the preparation, but you have to be okay in the moment where you do have a strong fight or flight reflex in some situations, you know, live interviews, Parliament Question Time, you know, forums or debates. They can be challenging environments, but you have to, you know, I think the more you practice your resilience and your ability to cope with being uncomfortable, the more you can handle it. But I mean, I find politics has been— it's an opportunity to, rather than helping one client at a time as a barrister, I'm sort of trying to go to the system behind it. And, you know, we can help more people by having better laws. So Parliament is where we form the laws and the policies, So trying to impact, have a bigger impact. Fantastic. So, Zali, tell us a little bit about a story or any kind of moment, a moment of resilience that you really had to really drive. And yeah, just share something that is memorable to you and impactful and made you the person you are today. Oh, look, there are many moments, I think, for everyone in their lives, and I think I've been incredibly lucky. Throughout my life, so I am truly appreciative of that. I guess through sport, my Olympics, I went to my first Olympics when I was 17, then when I was 19, and I remember going to those Olympics in Lillehammer and the media were often quite hard, especially, you know, I'm a 17, 19-year-old, you're doing your best, and I remember some journalists were really making fun of, you know, really ridiculing it. My performance and what was I there for and that I was embarrassing Australia. And at the time, I think that's quite confronting because, you know, but not letting that impact my sense of belief that I could still do more and keep performing. But by the time I got to my third Olympic Games, it really was make or break time of having to succeed or not. So to me, that probably was a moment of resilience. I think through my legal career there were moments through, you know, court cases where it's not going well or you've made a mistake and you're having to really own up to it. And look, the breakdown of my first marriage wasn't easy. I, at the time, was nearly through my law degree. I had a 3-year-old and a 10-month-old. And so fairly challenging. But I think again, for me, pretty much everything I approach with, okay, what's the— how do I break this down into manageable pieces and baby steps, right? You can't solve everything straight away, but baby steps will get you there. And actually, they get you much further. All of a sudden, you're so much further along than you realize. So look, I was incredibly lucky again, though, to meet my husband. We've been together for 19 years now and put together a modern family where, you know, 3 stepdaughters and 2 sons and 5 kids. We had 5 kids under 8 while I was finishing.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 24:00
You outstripped the, um, the Brady Bunch.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 24:03
We were, we were a Brady Bunch without Alice. We needed Alice.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 24:08
Everybody needs an Alice. I want an Alice.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 24:12
But I think the most confronting part of That was also learning that, you know, giving up time with your kids, having to not be in control of those things. Again, someone like me where I had had a fair amount of control over most things in my life. But learning that your parenting journey is not going to be the one you had envisaged for yourself and having to accept that it's going to be different and making the best of that situation. I think that was certainly, you know, something to learn to handle with. And I've been incredibly lucky to have my husband Tim. You know, we've had a— it certainly hasn't always been easy, that modern family journey. But again, having that true partnership does make it an incredible journey.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 25:02
Yeah. Oh, sorry. Yeah, I love what you're sharing. And, you know, even just sort of that generational you know, how things are, you know, the arc of your parents, you know, maybe it gives you an appreciation for your parents that have given you all these opportunities. And a lot of that was actually leaning into a lot of trust and uncertainty to allow you to go overseas to follow a passion, follow a dream in an age that is very different to what we've got now. And because of that, you could create and achieve and really amplify what was obviously naturally within you. And now, as you, you know, you sort of traverse, you know, your own career, you know, looking after the children, juggling it all and just saying that, wow, you know, there's so many things that, you know, I want to control, but I can't. And, you know, it's just what you were allowed to do, what this generation is allowed to do. And I think what came to mind when you were talking was as we've changed the model of parenting over the years and, you know, now they have access obviously to the social media platforms, etc. And now we're about to go into the 36-month part of that where we're— the ban on social media is, what are we going to allow them to be doing now as a result? Because in theory, they're not going to be on their devices as much. So are we going to be okay with giving them more control over their lives?
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 26:28
Yeah, well, also, you know, what is the opportunities and challenges of their lives? Like, there's that huge sense of responsibility of I know I've had so much opportunity, making sure the next generation has that same opportunity, but also managing my expectations. Elite athletes are not known for being the easiest people, and so checking that a little bit as a parent, not try— you know, trying— making sure that I don't put that expectation on the kids as well. You know, there's plenty of dragon parents, and everyone has different resilience and acknowledging and seeing everybody's individuality in that. And that's where, you know, I still, I probably still have a long way to go because I, you know, I've got my own focus and being able to focus on others. My husband seek to understand before being understood, and that always applied to the kids, especially when they're going through teenage years and trying to, you know, listening and understanding their and one of our big steps as a family is we bought a round table. And that was because symbolically we wanted everyone to be at the table, and we used to do the highs and lows, and that there was no one at the head of the table, that everyone was at the table. It really does— the round table makes a big difference.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 27:49
And, you know, as an executive search recruiter for 30 years, I've always asked the question, what was it like growing up around your table, your family table.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 27:59
I would imagine that question to you, Zali, with your parents just giving you that get up and go, go for it.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 28:05
They must have also—
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 28:07
you might have had physically a round table with them, but they surely gave you that sense of, you know, that sense of autonomy and ability to sort of make big decisions and go for life. It must have been kind of a round table upbringing. It was an incredible supportive nuclear family and stayed really close. And I think for every generation it's that, you know, what kind of, you know, parent you're going to be, and then what kind of partner are you going to be, and what kind of friend are you going to be? Where are you? Like, I think all those roles do define us and what we put into them. It's a fascinating journey. I'm 51. Yeah, well, I love— I'm just towards the end of my 50s, and I think it's been my favorite decade. So Yeah, bring it on. I think the 50s are just something magical with wisdom. I want to also make commentary, Zali, when you think about the stories of resilience you've just shared with us, they're quite public. You know, it's like, it's not like you were going through a quiet resilience story. The stories you've shared had quite a big impact on a lot of people, like around, you know, if you're fronting up to the Olympics and everyone's asking why, why are you there and are you representing Australia in the right light. In court cases, it's also quite public if you're making mistakes. It's not like you can hide.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 29:28
You're so beautifully aligned to be in politics because you've had to, from early age, deal with large public groups, I suppose.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 29:39
Yeah. Well, also to deal with public scrutiny and judgment without letting it impact you personally, I think, you know. So especially in this day and age with social media and the amount of commentary. And, you know, the rhetoric in politics is not a very positive one, which is part of why I got into politics, was trying to— can we do this differently? Can we have more respectful debate? Can, you know, our message for here in Warringah was 4 Ps, that everyone in our team has to be focused on being polite, positive, prepared, and purposeful. So our campaign is all about the 4 Ps. And that really is really good guardrails and good grounding for how you engage with every situation and trying to stay focused on those 4 Ps. I think my previous careers were perfect training grounds for this crazy ride. Yeah, isn't it? But then keeping in mind, it's still important to have a balance and having, you know, what are the things that give you joy, what are the things that help you decompress from the stress of the job. Because there is a huge amount of responsibility of, you know, from the big existential problems of worrying about where are we going as a nation, security, defence, climate change, you know, to health issues, to individual cases of trauma and problems. You know, the office here in Manly, we are NDIS, aged care, Centrelink, People only really come to us when something is going wrong in their life and they need help fixing it. So it is, how do you let go of the negativity of that?
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 31:29
Yeah. So what do you specifically do? Could you share with the audience as techniques, strategies, tools that you personally use to help?
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 31:37
Yeah. How do you defrag and get into the third space? Well, my active mindfulness is still through sport, so I am still very linked, I think, with the physical endorphins of being physically active. I think phys— sport allows you to release endorphins that help with mood and mental health and everything. So for me, I know if I am not active, I very quickly get unhappy. My hobby is ultra trail running, which is a little bit crazy, but I feel as I get older, you get slower. So I figure if I'm going to I can go for longer, so I can run long distances, trail running, and I like the challenge. So I sign up for these races at 100 kilometers. I've actually signed up for a race coming up at the end of November, which is 100 miles, so 161 kilometers.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 32:30
Wow.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 32:30
In one go. So it means you have to, for 4 to 6 months before, you have to plan and train. So you have to be very committed and dedicated. It gives structure to your physical training and your activities. It takes up a lot of time, as you can imagine. It means I go out on the trails and I— you have to be in the moment. So if you're on a rough surface on a, you know, bush track like around Manly Dam, you have to concentrate on the track or you trip and fall over. So it forces you to be in the moment, which is really good, active. But because I'm out there for significant periods of time, I haven't got time to think about other things, to think about what might be troubling me at work, you know, workshop solutions. I often think through questions I might want to ask in question time while I'm out doing a run in the morning. Because I start, you know, when you're thinking about what's just the right way of saying something that won't come to you in the moment, but if I've thought about ahead of time, I'll be able to do it better. So my downtime is still very much going out there and challenging myself.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 33:43
Yeah, I love that. I can really relate to what you're saying, Sally. I've run since I was about 14, and it's been a silo activity, but I— like you, I problem solve. The endorphins are going nuts, you know. I get clarity, and what was a problem before, and I might have been feeling a scattery, everything is clear by the end of it, and I come back a better human as a result. Interestingly enough, I couldn't exercise like what I used to when my mum was sick, and I could only walk. I only had the energy for walking, and I noticed that my mood was going down quite significantly. And I thought, what is the missing piece in my life that I'm not as buoyant as what I used to be? And it was I needed to get back to that running and it's just been, you know, getting back to that and you feel the just benefits of it. It's like, oh yeah.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 34:36
So, Zali, it's been wonderful to hear just a little bit about a snippet of your life and some stories of resilience and tenacity and both at a, you know, through your personal life and political life and as an Olympian. Tell us, what are your— what are some sort of real gold nuggets, some real learnings or insights in your journey? I mean, I can already imagine a few of them as, you know, let go of things that you have no control over and, uh, learn to let expectations go cuz they're only resentments in advance. So what are some other real life learnings that you'd like to share with our listeners? I think probably the one of the first ones that comes to mind is you've actually gotta enjoy the journey, not be just focused on the outcome. Outcome. And I think that's something I've had to learn over the years. I was always a very outcome-focused person. You know, for me, the happiness of a day depended on if I'd won the day. But when, you know, I will always remember, I remember winning the World Championships in Val in 1999 and then sitting in a plane stuck between two people in the middle aisle seat on a plane going back to Europe the next day. No celebration, no hoopla, no nothing, and thinking, wow, I've just become world champion and that's it. So I can remember feeling like all that expectation, and this is— and so it really taught me of actually you've got to enjoy the process of what you're training and your journey for it. And it's the same with the long trail running or politics, you know, the outcomes sometimes you know, it's gradual, it's incremental change that happens, but the process and the work that goes into it is important. So I think, you know, make sure you enjoy the journey, not just focus on the outcome. As you said, you know, worry about what you can control, not what you can't control, because that will drive you crazy. And don't be afraid of failure. You've got to be prepared to fail to succeed. Like, you have to give it a go. I firmly believe, you know, when we all get to the end of life, you're not going to look back and think of the things that didn't work out. You're going to think, you know, you'll only ever look back and regret the things you weren't prepared to have a go at or didn't try. So I think, you know, back yourself and give it a go is really important. Don't be afraid of failure. Failure is the first step towards success. Like, it really is. It's how you learn about yourself, what you can do better, how you break it down, how you do things better. Yeah, what do they say?
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 37:14
First attempt in learning is fail.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 37:17
Yeah, and also some people make it look easy, right? There are people out there that make it look like it all comes naturally, it happened first go, easy as. The reality is that's probably not true. Most people have had to work at it. There's years and years of of hard work to ultimately— if you ultimately get to success. So I think, you know, it's really important for people to appreciate that. Yeah, and I love what you say about enjoying the journey because I know, you know, all of us who've finished an exam or something, it's that after, oh, okay, it's— I've done it, I ticked that box, but what's next? Whereas, yeah, really trying to just enjoy the moments. I know Maz and I have enjoyed the journey of trying to get together and make a radio show and a podcast. It It wasn't so easy, was it?
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 38:04
We had lots of giggles. Yeah, and I think to your point, Sim, and backing on yours, Xali, is when you have to fight for something to make something happen and you have that little buzzy feeling, or you've got this desire and sometimes you can't see how it's all going to fit together, how it's actually going to come together, when you kind of have to fight for it, whether or not it's because of what's going on in between these two fingers, or it's your social circumstance, it's people around you that aren't backing you. People are saying you're dreaming. The environment that you grew up in, you didn't necessarily get all the tools that you needed to, you know, learn so much about yourself. When you have to kind of fight for it, for that dream, that little fire, that thing that just keeps at you, you treasure it so much because you know what it took to get you to that other side and actually make something happen. I think that's how we found—
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 38:59
I can just see you sitting in that plane between the thinking, yes, what, what just happened? Yeah, well, and also because you have to go to the next race. I mean, I appreciate it so much more now with the trail running because you're training for months, hours and hours and hours of training, to then you get into this bubble of an event where for 24 or 30-odd hours it's going to hurt and you're really going to be tested. You're going to really find out, you're going to go to a place that's hard, right? Some of the people in Trauranga called it the pain cave, where you're going to have to, you are going to hit a wall and you're going to have to really think about, do I want to continue, don't I? How do I problem solve this? Why am I doing this? All these things are normal, but it's part of it. The moment of crossing the finish line is like a teeny tiny moment compared to everything else. Pushing through. Yeah.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 40:05
And it's that analogy for life, isn't it? And that's, I think, to what you're talking about, Zali, is, you know, as you're going through that run, you are going through all the phases that it takes to actually make a dream, a desire actually unfold. Because there's going to be those moments. There's an excellent— good old Les Brown, one of his takes on how that journey goes on the run and those moments that you want to just give up, just give up. And then there's this moment of breakthrough and, you know, you know, you've got this and it's just— it's still hard, but you, you know it, you believe it, you're, you're all in and off you go. But it takes so much before that. Zali, thank you so much for being on our show today, and we look forward to watching all the things that you've got in store for the local area and to spend your time here. I have to say, I have twins that are competitive dancers, and I can't wait to actually share this interview with them as they're about to head overseas with their dance. And there is so much wisdom in what you've had in your journey, and to actually sort of see how the pieces of the puzzle kind of fit together to be where you are now. Completely inspiring and so valuable to so many people that'll be listening and watching. Thank you so much, Xylie. Fantastic.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 41:19
Thank you.
Mon & Mazz (Host) · 41:25
Thank you for joining us on The Grit Diaries: From Grit to Grace.
Zali Steggall (Guest) · 41:30
If today's story has moved you, share it with someone who needs a little hope. Remember, from From grit we can find grace, and from grace we can find inspiration. Until next time, look for the joy, keep safe, stay grounded, and never forget that there is a strength within your own story. Take care.
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