The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Becoming the only person to win the Boston and New York marathons AND medal in the Olympics, Meb Keflezighi stepped up to the challenge by remembering his father’s sacrifice. His father fled war torn Eritrea carrying only a canteen, stick, sack of barley and matches to ward of hyenas; Keflezighi is grateful for regular aid stations to ease his way. He and his family made it to the United States via Italy and through hard work and perseverance all became successes in their respective ways. Keflezighi details his inspiring journey in this episode.Lessons: 1. Frame of reference can push you towards your goals. Running a marathon with the luxury of aid stations is nothing compared to hiking hundreds of miles through hostile lands to save your family. 2. A goal bigger than yourself, that impacts people in a positive way, is an excellent motivator. 3. It’s not about winning, but getting the best out of yourself.

How does one, like Evan Dollard, become an American Gladiator? The frank answer, according to him, is that you don’t. Instead you make all the preparations within your power; go where the action is; pursue your passion to the fullest; make yourself known and talk to the right people and do everything to put the odds in your favor. If it doesn’t work out chances are that you’ve created an environment where something else, maybe even something better, will. This is the way to live a fully realized life, one without regrets. Dollard is living it and he has some valuable wisdom to help you live it too.Lessons: 1. It’s worth laying the groundwork when pursuing an opportunity because even if it doesn’t pan out, you’ll be ready for the unexpected opportunity that may be around the corner. 2. The riskier path is worth it even if you don’t meet your goal since it means eliminating the “what ifs” and “if onlys” and living a life without regret. 3. Always move forward: If you see a stagnant pond you don’t drink from it but instead seek out the fast flowing stream with the freshest water.

Mike Reilly is the voice of the Ironman. He has lent his voice to over 1000 events and his declaration, you are an ironman, has helped transform lives. Reilly takes great care in choosing his words because he knows they’ll have not just an impact on the racer’s life, but everyone around him as well. Reilly is a firm believer in the power of the individual to shape their own experience, but this doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t benefit from some words of encouragement to propel them towards the next finish line.Lessons: 1. If you live by the adage, “you’re the cause of your own experience,” you’re on the right path. 2. Experiences, unlike things, permeate to other people which makes them more valuable. 3. Live from the inside out and everything else falls into place.

As one might expect from the author of the “Four Hour Work Week,” Tim Ferriss has a solid, well established routine. He awakes, meditates, exercises, journals, blocks off four hours for creative work, then frees himself for meetings and phone calls. This well balanced approach has taken him far. When the inevitable drudging task comes around he slogs himself through it by building momentum with “Scooby snacks,” short, fun activities preceding the boring ones. From the start of this interview it quickly becomes apparent that Ferris is a wellspring of great advice for anyone who is aiming to build a successful business or life.Lessons: 1. Narrow things down to one or two things to focus on daily. 2. Volunteer for great organizations then go the extra mile to stand out. 3. Find a small but fast growing company to work for and observe the deal makers at work. Note the kind of questions they ask to get ahead. Example: “I know its impossible, but if there was a way to make it work, what would it be?” 4. When things start going well in business, to maintain focus, separate the great opportunities from the potentially overwhelming number of good ones. Ask yourself, what it the one step that will make all the others irrelevant.

Forget what your first grade teacher told you, according to Kelly Starrett, owner and cofounder of Mobility WOD, children should never sit still in class. He believes that we learn better, are healthier, and by burning more calories are starting to reverse the obesity epidemic when we are standing. Even healthy adults who work out regularly suffer from the negative affects of too much sitting. Starrett, through his crossfit gym, encourages the type of holistic practice that will prepare an elite athlete, or a normal person, for any situation. In this episode, he describes how in depth.Lessons: 1.The benefit of having a good conditioning program is not learning how to suffer but learning how to problem solve in the face of discomfort. 2.There’s no way to solve the obesity epidemic without tackling sitting and inactivity. 3.If we can’t use the lessons of elite sport to help the layman, then sport is just folly.

Travis Macy, an avid ultrarunner, wrote The Ultra Mindset after he learned a valuable lesson himself. He was working to become a school principal, a respectable position and by all means a sensible decision, but stopped in his tracks to write the book. Pushing forward in the wrong direction for the wrong reasons would’ve left Macy unfulfilled. Raw perseverance without deep purpose is not enough. Lucky for us, Macy channeled his mental toughness into the right endeavor and he shares a number of strategies for you to do the same in this podcast. Lessons:1.When things get tough it’s helpful to focus on why you’re doing something and not on the drudgery of the task.2.Training is equally important for developing a strong mind as it is for getting fit.3.Quitting is okay when you find yourself on a path that doesn’t align with your values, but if you are on the right path, don’t give up.

To be a success, or even to survive, emotional intelligence often trumps raw IQ, as Jordan Harbinger discovered while being detained and interrogated in Serbia. He used his humanity to escape. Similarly, being empathetic and genuine is just as important in finding and keeping friends and lovers as it is in advancing in your chosen field. Harbinger taught this through his Art of Charm podcasts and life coaching, and now on his "Jordan Harbinger Show.". As he describes in this episode, it's not so much the skills you add that are important, but the bad habits that you subtract in order to expose your best self. Lessons: 1. Unless you are at the top of your field or a workhorse, relationship skills are the key to advancement. 2. If you want to present your best self you need to silence the self criticism. 3. External sources of validation (fancy cars, houses, etc.) are not as impressive to emotionally healthy people as displaying your true self. 4. If you're not creating good habits you're creating bad habits, but you're creating habits no matter what. LINKS: http://www.jordanharbinger.com/podcast/

Adventure race champion Robyn Benincasa delved into her paddling passion by entering and excelling in a kayak ultra endurance race several hundred miles long. Several world records and hip replacements later, she is still going strong. It is her core philosophy that once you find something that you’re good at, pursue it with every ounce of your being. Since she’s channeled much of her boundless energy into her foundation, Project Athena, that helps women who’ve survived medical setbacks, this is great news for them. Benincasa will describe the transformative power of adventure and persistence in this episode.Lessons: 1. Make the effort to find your strengths and continue down that path. 2. To bypass the victim mentality, always be working towards a big goal. 3. Success is driven, not by money, but the desire to fully realize what you’re capable of.

After successful real estate businesses in Lebanon and Iran, Karim Jaude arrived in Los Angeles in 1979 with only $17 in his pocket and not a friend within a thousand miles. By merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he lost almost everything … twice. He was kidnapped, tortured and forced to flee the country, but, in an extraordinary display of resilience, he got up and thrived again and again. Jaude’s determination started early in life and pushed him through the rough spots, of which there were many. He recounts his extraordinary journey in this podcast. http://www.spartanuppodcast.com/051Lessons: 1.There will never be justice in the world but we have the ability to reduce people’s suffering and not add to it. 2.Adversity teaches you to float over the small hassles in life. 3.What happens to you doesn’t matter as much as how you react to it. 4. Help one person every day.

Austin Malleolo is a formidable CrossFit competitor and level three trainer, but he says there was not much indication earlier in his life that he would achieve what he has. He was a troubled youth who was making many bad decisions that ultimately lead him to his path and passion. Instead of allowing him to continue down a trajectory that was aimed straight at a life of dead ends and possible prison, his father wisely opted to derail that destiny. In this podcast Mallelollo describes how this change in his frame of reference got him back on the track to a fulfilling life.Lessons: 1. Physical disadvantages just mean that you have to work harder than everyone else to succeed. 2. Everybody needs someone in their corner. 3. Practice with someone better than you. 4. You control your own destiny.