#UnbreakableYou

 

Having faced problems ranging from depression to addiction, Jeff Bearden has had life try to break him many times. For as many successes that seemed to come his way, there were even more failures and
disappointments to go along with them.

 

Students today face a wide variety of problems, including bullying, thoughts of suicide, depression, frenemies, isolation, drugs, and alcohol, but many of them do not see that there is another way and that their current reality is but one small piece of the puzzle of life.  Through Jeff’s life and the people he met on the road as a professional wrestler, he has personal experience with many of the issues that students are dealing with, giving them a judgment-free voice to encourage them to develop an unbreakable mindset and get back on their feet.

Takeaways:

  • How to understand, disarm, and deal with bullies.
  • How to embrace yourself for the unique person that you are, no matter how many setbacks you face.
  • Overcoming the feeling of isolation that many students face.
  • Realizing that you are not alone.
  • How to objectively analyze your life and see it for what it is, rather than assuming that people don’t like you, that your life will always be this way, or that alcohol and drugs are better than your reality.
  • How to stop letting others define who you are and realizing that only you have the power to do so.
  • Developing an “unbreakable” mindset.

#UnbreakableHeart

 
As someone has been married six times—with five divorces and one (almost) perfect marriage, Jeff Bearden knows a thing or two about getting back on your feet after a failed marriage or relationship. In his #UnbreakableHeart talk, Jeff discusses the keys to a successful marriage and the many mistakes and pitfalls to avoid, as well as how to overcome heartbreak and be open to love again. Too many times, people allow their failure to hold them back from finding happiness and starting over. By finding yourself again and moving on, you can be happy again.
 

Takeaways:

  • What not to do for a successful relationship.
  • How to stop repeating the same mistakes in relationships.
  • How to see the other person for who they truly are.
  • Keys to a successful relationship.
  • Getting over heartbreak.
  • Finding “you” again after you are no longer part of a “we”.
  • Opening yourself up to a new relationship and not allowing your baggage to stand in your way.

#UnbreakableAthletes

Jeff Bearden has an extensive athletic background, having played high school and college basketball, as well as one pro season in Belgium. His father was a girls’ basketball coach who went into the Texas Panhandle Hall of Fame for leading his team to several state victories. Growing up as a coach’s son, he is very familiar with all of the pressures that athletes face, as well as some mistakes that he made turning down some of the large colleges that courted him in favor of staying close to his girlfriend and family (the girlfriend dumped him the day after graduation, and his parents moved the next month when his father got a new coaching job). He can also relate to missed opportunities with pro teams, as he had been told that he would be drafted in the fourth or fifth round to the Atlanta Hawks, and, after staying up all night, he received a call that Ted Turner had decided to draft two Russian players to boost his Goodwill Games.

Despite setbacks, he did have some good role models along the way, including Dory and Terry Funk and Dick Murdoch, who told him that he would not train him to be a wrestler until he went to college, so that he had something to fall back on, which is an important message for athletes. After many years of wrestling and many injuries, he is very grateful that he received this advice.

Takeaways:

  • Dealing with the pressures that athletes face in high school and beyond.
  • Recognizing opportunities and taking advantage of them.
  • Dealing with the disappointment of missed opportunities and other setbacks that face athletes.
  • The importance of staying grounded when success does come.
  • The importance of education and not relying solely on physical talent.