Grant Giles on Why Anxiety Needs Your Permission to Leave

Former pro triathlete and high-performance coach Grant Giles about anxiety, endurance sport, and influence. Grant explains how he suffered from pervasive anxiety and discovered that accepting and embodying it, rather than resisting it, reduced its power- a lesson he now applies in both sport and life. He describes his evolution from 1990s professional triathlon into a coaching career that integrates psychology, mindfulness, embodiment, and neuroscience, heavily influenced by the example of Mark Allen and the legendary 1989 Iron War. Grant outlines his coaching methods with triathletes, fighters, and big wave surfers, focusing on grounding in the body, breathwork, visualization in the “felt sense,” and preparing mentally for key “pinch points” where things get hardest. He closes with his coaching mantra of authenticity, honesty, integrity, and truth, arguing that stripping away personal “bullshit” and being fully yourself is the real source of influence and performance.

Takeaways:

Accept, don’t resist anxiety Grant explains that trying to get rid of anxiety makes it stronger; accepting and fully feeling it (like a wave that comes in and goes out) allows it to subside and become manageable.

Performance comes from embodiment and flow High performance in Ironman and other extreme sports comes from “becoming the process”—using felt-sense visualization and staying in the body rather than overthinking, which enables flow even during very hard efforts.

Real influence is grounded presence, not tactics Grant defines influence as the steady, calm “ground you hold” for others—being authentic, honest, and present—rather than clever strategies; athletes respond most to a coach’s integrity and grounded energy.

Quotes:

"What I found out about anxiety is the more you try to get rid of it, the stronger it gets. The more of it you can accept and embody and feel, the more it pulls back." Description: Grant reframes anxiety as something to be accepted and felt, not fought, showing how non-resistance reduces its power.

"Be with the process. Don’t try and escape the process." Description: Grant’s core performance principle: instead of wishing discomfort away in sport (or life), immerse yourself fully in what you’re doing.

"Influence to me is… the ground that you hold for other people… so basically, at the end of the day, it’s just be more of yourself, and there’s influence." Description: Grant defines influence as grounded presence and authenticity, not strategy or tactics.

Timeline:

0:00 – Anxiety as a Superpower Grant explains his history with anxiety and how accepting it (not resisting it) changed everything.

1:00 – Who Is Grant Giles? Anton introduces Grant’s journey from pro triathlete to high-performance and mental skills coach.

4:07 – Old-School Triathlon & Ironman Basics They compare 90s triathlon to today and break down Ironman race distances.

6:06 – Hypnotherapy, Embodiment & Flow How visualization in the “felt sense” and non-resistance helped Grant take 45 minutes off his Ironman time.

9:42 – Anxiety in Racing and Life Grant’s “wave on a beach” metaphor and the principle: what you resist persists.

10:59 – What Real Influence Means Influence as the calm ground you hold for others, not tactics—rooted in Grant’s experience coaching a pro squad.

15:01 – Iron War & Mark Allen’s Impact The 1989 Iron War story and how Mark Allen’s psychological approach shaped Grant’s philosophy.

20:52 – Coaching Fighters & Big Wave Surfers Grounding, breathwork, and becoming an “immovable object” when safety and fear are on the line.

28:56 – Ironman as an Internal Battle Handling the darkest patches of the race and training to cope with “feeling bad,” not just feeling good.

36:27 – Grant’s Coaching Mantra: Authenticity Grant closes with his core values—truth, honesty, integrity, and being fully yourself as the real source of influence.

Conclusion:

Triathlon and high-performance coaching become a lens for understanding anxiety, influence, and leadership in everyday life. Grant Giles shows how accepting and embodying discomfort—rather than resisting it—unlocks flow, resilience, and better results, whether you’re racing Ironman, fighting in a ring, or leading a team. His methods of grounding, breathwork, and visualization in the “felt sense” turn abstract talk about mindsets into practical tools anyone can use. Above all, Grant argues that real influence isn’t about tactics; it’s about the authentic, steady ground you hold for others. Sport, in his world, is just the arena where we practice being more fully ourselves.