TEDx Billings 2023 is coming to Billings on Oct. 7, 2023. The theme: Moving Mountains, something organizers say is easier done as a community, and that’s why they are inviting the public to the Babcock Theater to meet some of the most inspirational speakers, including Andrew Lindley.
“When I saw the theme for TEDx Billings was Moving Mountains, I smiled a little bit,” says Lindley, a 2023 TEDx Billings speaker.
Lindley is not only moving mountains, he’s conquering them. In fact, he just completed The Rut Mountain Run in Big Sky, with his family cheering him on.
“It makes sense. If you want to do big things, you’ve got to do it together,” says Lindley.
So with his family by his side, and a mountain full of volunteers, he took off on the six-hour-15 minute trek to finish the 28K mountain run, more than 17 miles, climbing three peaks with a total elevation gain of 8,000 feet.
“It's a very exposed race,” says Lindley. “You’re running above the tree line up to the top of Lone Peak. For those who know trail running in Montana, there isn’t really much harder than the rut.”
It's a race so grueling, runners are offered free tattoos at the finish line to mark the major accomplishment.
“As you can see, I did finish this year,” says Lindley as he rolled up his sleeve to show his tattoo. “So that was a pretty fun thing.”
But big success is often preceded by epic failure, like the year before when Lindley didn’t finish the rut.
“Last year I set a very big personal goal that I didn't achieve and it was a pretty traumatic experience,” says Lindley. “One that I had a hard time recovering from.”
He did recover, and now he’s ready to share his success with the public in his talk titled: ‘The Secret to Overcoming Failure.’
“If you set big enough goals, you’re going to fail, so figuring out how to handle that in a good way,” says Lindley.
That means learning how goal setting and failure affect mental health and mental state so you can confidently set goals worth chasing.
For more information on TEDx Billings, tickets and to view the entire speaker list, click here. The event is expected to sell out.
