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If you want to achieve at a high level, it takes more than ability. 

While ability can help propel you to success, it’s only a small fraction of success. 

To compete at a high level over the course of many years takes discipline, focus, and the proper mindset. 

On the latest episode of the Inner Edison Podcast, with Ed Parcaut, we talked about what it takes to stay on top in any field. 

Whether you’re talking about business or athletics, mindset plays a crucial role in becoming successful over the long term. 

We spoke with Whitney Jones, a three-time Ms. Olympia champion, serial entrepreneur, and fitness coach. She shared stories about becoming Ms. Olympia, and what it takes to remain on top.

I never wanted to be average. 

Growing up, Whitney’s parents always encouraged her and her brothers to reach for the stars. However, she didn’t fully embrace that mantra until she was in her mid-twenties. 

She recalls working in advertising and spending most of her time with businesses and clients. In her heart, she wanted to deal with people! 

While advertising offered her a nice living, it wasn’t completely fulfilling. She found herself training friends and family members after work for nothing but the sheer love to help people grow. 

She realized that fitness was a passion and that she wanted to use fitness to make her mark in the world. 

I quit my job to earn minimum wage. 

Realizing that her heart was in training others, she left her cushy, corporate job and became a personal fitness trainer at a gym making minimum wage. 

Although she felt empty in her purse, she was living with a full heart. Never scared of a challenge, she took the calculated risk to start her fitness journey, and it paid off. 

Today, she owns the largest personal training gym in the state of Arizona! 

Hard lessons created a strong resolve. 

Overcoming challenging circumstances uncovered her unwavering resolve. 

In her early thirties, she was learning how to become a business owner, dealing with the loss of her best friend and mother, and navigating divorce with two young children. 

She states that in those days, it was all about surviving. Her motto was fake it until you make it.

In hindsight, these hardships taught her how to become a better mother, business owner, and athlete. 

Pushing boundaries is her passion. 

At the age of 31, she decided to enter a local fitness competition. 

Within a year, she had earned professional status by competing on the international stage with the best fitness athletes in the world!

Since 2010, she has been awarded Ms. (fitness) Olympia three times, earning her last Ms. Olympia competition in 2021 at the age of 42! Move over, Tom Brady!

The desire to win starts with mindset. 

While Whitney has earned three Ms. Olympia championship titles, she has no intention of slowing down.

Her passion is so strong that she was able to win her last title with a broken leg! While warming up for her two-minute routine, she performed a flip and hit a wall, breaking a bone in her leg. 

Never willing to give up, she performed on her broken leg and didn’t treat her injury until she went home from the event! 

She says her passion for success starts with her mindset. 

Now I inspire others through my businesses. 

While her Ms. Olympia status is intact, she’s also focusing on inspiring others through her five businesses, which include a gym, online training business, fitness apparel, an events production company, and women’s retreats. 

If you’re looking for excellent interviews like this one, please follow the Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut. 

We release a new episode each week. Tune in to listen to inspiring interviews about business, entrepreneurship, and more.