For entrepreneur and triathlete Mark Congdon, it was his discovery of triathlon that turned out to play a key role in his transformation story that landed him where he is today. It all started when a lifelong struggle to manage stress led him to turn to junk food and alcohol, and he eventually found himself overweight and unhealthy, and not the person he wanted to be for his newborn daughter. During his career in Transportation Logistics, Mark had developed his own framework that helped him be successful. He wondered if that same framework could work to help him focus on his health. The experiment was a success, as he lost 60 pounds within a year by improving his nutrition. At that point, he was looking for a way to incorporate exercise into his life as a way to manage his stress and continue his weight loss. He stumbled upon a video of a Kona Ironman World Championship, and he recalls: “When I saw 70 year olds out there toeing the same line as professional athletes, I knew it was something I wanted to get into.”
The value of coaching was a core belief of Mark’s, so very soon after getting into triathlon, he hired a coach to help guide him on his new endeavor. Over the next two years, Mark completed several races – starting with a sprint distance and culminating in Ironman Florida. The success he found in getting healthy and competing in triathlon convinced Mark that his framework could be applicable to other areas of life outside of business. “My triathlon journey was a big part of me realizing I had something to share, something that can help people.” So when the pandemic shut down much of the logistics world, Mark took the opportunity to create his own company, The Ideal Life.
The Ideal Life is a platform that connects people who are looking for direction with the coaches who know how to help. As Mark explains, “We are passionate about the neuroscience of the inner reward system. We believe that the best way to experience joy is by learning how to control and harness the stress in our lives and applying that toward the pursuit of growing as an individual toward the kind of person that we want to be. And the best way to grow is to have a relationship with a coach who can help guide us forward and show us a path toward that vision of our lives.” The company is building a community of coaches across life roles like work, wealth, family, community, health, wisdom, and faith, and then connecting people who are seeking personal development in those areas to the coaches that can help them.
The company is currently teaching people how to apply their framework to their own lives through a best-selling book (The Ideal Life, available from Amazon) and workshop (www.theideallife.com). And they continue to develop resources and build community for their growing network of coaches across those life roles.
In addition to his work through The Ideal Life, Mark is thrilled to be back in the triathlon world and working with Coach Brad Johnson at Axes after taking some time off with a back injury. Mark credits his training for helping him manage his panic attacks. He explains: “I love getting to the point in a workout when my body is telling me I need to stop, and then really leaning in to that moment and completing the workout as prescribed despite the physical feedback. So in life, when my stress gets the better of me and my mind and my body are telling me to stop, I remind myself that I have the willpower to keep moving. And I get that in a big way from triathlon.”
That’s where you’ll find him today: a triathlete in training. From a kid who never considered himself an athlete, to an Ironman finisher, to the head of his own successful company, triathlon played a critical role in his journey. His dream goal is to compete in Kona one day, and he plans to do another full Ironman down the road. But this year he’s focused on training for Ironman 70.3 Nice this summer. And, of course, helping more people pursue their goals, one coaching relationship at a time.