How to give your pain meaning, with Nike athlete Tunde Oyeneyin

I remember feeling guilt for feeling joy

I think it was after I lost my dad. It took me acknowledging that none of my many emotions

were going to bring him back. And as hard as that may sound, there was freedom in that

Hi, I'm Tunde Oyunain, Peloton instructor, keynote speaker, Nike athlete, and New York Times bestselling author

It's the sound effects for me. Where has pain served a purpose in your life

Whoa, that's a good one. I lost my little brother when he was 19 years old

And then three years after that, I lost my dad. And then three years after that, I lost my mom

So I lost half of my immediate family members before my 30th birthday

I'd hit rock bottom and then I'd hit rock bottom again. And then I was cemented in rock bottom

Like they took concrete and poured it over my rock bottom. And I think I could have stayed there

Like the people around me would have excused me for it because they knew my story

and the struggle and the pain that I was in. It wasn't until I entered this space of realizing

that I still get to be here that I still get to attempt at life attempt at chasing my dreams attempt to accomplish

all of the goals that I've put in front of me. I still get to attempt. In losing them

I stepped into the greatest version of myself. And for me, my power, my purpose, it's to lead

to lead. It's why I'm here for as long as I get to be here. And I was able to realize that

tap into that, move into that through pain. I swear I lift weights for a living. There we go

what do you imagine other people assume about you? I think people assume that I just love myself and

I wake up every single day confident in my skin and in my body and what I'm doing and what I'm

saying. I think people assume that I'm not as human as everybody else. I hope that people see

my struggle. I think that my purpose and my reason for being here and existing in this space in this

moment in time is so that people can see themselves in me. I think it's really difficult

for people to see themselves in you if the version that you portray of yourself is crystal clean and

perfect I hope that I put my real self out there Not all of myself because some of that is just for me but I hope that within the pieces of my story that people see I hope that they also see my struggle Next up

See if I do better this time. Oh. When have you let go of a deeply held conviction

Ooh. So I teach cycling classes to tens of thousands of millions of people every single week

rewind to seven years ago. I was a makeup artist at the time. I lived in LA. I took my very first

cycling class, which changed the trajectory of my entire life. I had what I call this divine

downloaded information. And I realized in those five seconds that I'm going to cycle for the rest

of my life. I'm going to also teach. And without even knowing what Peloton was at the time, I knew

that I would be able to impact the lives of millions of people by virtue of a bike. And while I, in

this moment, had this crystal clear knowing of what was coming next, once that faded, the overweight

tuned day that had been teased and made fun of and picked on as a child, she came forward and she

said, no one will feel encouraged by you. The sound of your voice is annoying. You don't look like one

of them. And I believed her. I told myself that I couldn't be good enough. And because of two friends

that really believed in me, I decided to try. I decided to attempt

That was the last time that I fully doubted myself I doubt myself at least once a day But like the ultimate one like the heavy

the heavy one that can sit over us. I struck her down a long time ago

Who would you be if you dropped all your identities? I think that when we come here to earth

I think that we know who we want to be. For example, when I was in kindergarten, I remember idolizing my kindergarten teacher in school and knowing that that's what I wanted to do

I wanted to lead. And very quickly, my dad shut down that idea. He said, you don't want to be a teacher

You'll be overworked and underpaid. Shout out to the teachers. I think what's funny now is I was a makeup artist for 15 years

And within the cosmetic world, I was an educator. I've led cycling classes for just about six years now

A coach, a teacher, a trainer. And I published my first book last year

Again, teacher sharing stories. I say all of that to say, at the essence, the core of who I am

I think that all of those, I think all the versions of me would still show up

I've still found a way to tap into the Tune Day, the version of Tune Day

the many versions of Tune Day that I was put here with the intention to be

And so who would I be without my many identities? Well, I wouldn't be Tune Day

See if I can catch it like this, like real chill. Nike athlete, what

Didn't say it was coordinated