What do you do when you want to solve a problem? You simplify it with a powerful metaphor.

In this week's ZoneTalk podcast episode, I sat down with Matthew Cartisser, a resilient and successful young athlete who is currently prepping for college, with aspirations of being a surgeon.

Matthew is no ordinary athlete. First, he chose to take up trap shooting, a sport that none of his friends participated in. And second, he started his life behind the eight ball, so to speak, with a benign cancerous facial growth at 12 months of age. He fought back with incredible strength during multiple surgeries only to get Lockjaw after facial reconstruction. At that moment, his simple dream was that someday he would be able to chew a gumball – and he successfully climbed that mountain. 

From that day on, Matthew has represented every new goal and challenge in his life as just another "gumball"...win competitions...make the national All-American all-star team...graduate from college...become a surgeon. Matthew talks to us about his journey, his challenges and the gumball machine he received from his surgical team.

Regardless of your sport, there are some great take-aways in this podcast that are applicable to development-level athletes and their coaches as well as other athletes on aspiring to great success in your sport, school and life.