The Game Changing Attorney Podcast with Michael Mogill

412. Why Doing Hard Things Is the Ultimate Advantage

11 snips

Nov 4, 2025

Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan Race, shares his journey from cleaning pools in Queens to building a global empire. He emphasizes that embracing discomfort is essential for developing resilience and grit. Joe reveals the importance of finding your 'why' and committing fully to your goals, likening it to the dedication of marathon monks. He argues that daily challenges, like cold showers, prepare us for life’s tougher moments. Ultimately, he believes persistence is key to achieving unshakable success and building lasting relationships.

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ANECDOTE

Pool Lessons From A Mob Boss

Joe DeSena grew up in Queens near mobsters and learned business lessons cleaning a mob boss's pool.
The boss taught him to show up early, overdeliver, and never ask for money, which shaped his work ethic.

ANECDOTE

Cornell Rejections Turned Into Persistence

Joe applied to Cornell multiple times and took extramural classes to prove himself after initial rejections.
He persisted through semesters, found a supportive professor, and ultimately graduated on the Dean's List.

ANECDOTE

From Failed Races To Spartan Empire

Joe started Spartan races in the early 2000s, lost money for years, but kept iterating until the concept scaled.
He redesigned races, added military-style obstacles, and grew Spartan into a global phenomenon.

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What if the only way to build unshakable success is to suffer for it every single day?

As part of the “Road to the Summit”, a special series ramping up to the 2025 Game Changers Summit this November 12–13, we’re revisiting some of the most powerful conversations ever featured at our events. In this encore episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, we’re throwing it back to the 2023 Game Changers Summit, where Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan Race, took the stage to unpack what it truly takes to lead with grit, persistence, and purpose.

From cleaning pools for mobsters in Queens to building a global fitness empire that nearly collapsed during the pandemic, Joe’s story is a masterclass in resilience. He reveals that doing hard things isn’t punishment but preparation, and that embracing discomfort builds the kind of resilience that separates those who survive from those who succeed.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Why embracing adversity every day builds the grit required to win
How to find your “why” — and use it to push through the toughest moments
What it takes to turn pain, persistence, and purpose into long-term success

If you want to build a life that can’t be broken, this episode will show you how to earn it.

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Show Notes:

02:43 – Joe recalls growing up in Queens surrounded by hustlers and mobsters — and the lessons that shaped his early work ethic.

07:26 – The business advice Joe received from a mob boss that taught him the value of showing up early, going above and beyond, and never asking for money.

11:53 – Joe shares how his repeated rejections from Cornell taught him the power of persistence and delayed gratification.

18:46 – The creation of Spartan Race — how Joe turned his passion for endurance and suffering into a global fitness empire.

20:44 – Joe reveals how the pandemic nearly destroyed Spartan, costing $50 million, and why grit kept him from quitting.

25:42 – The story of the Japanese marathon monks and what extreme commitment looks like in practice.

33:48 – Why manufacturing adversity every day — through cold showers, burpees, and hard choices — is the key to building lasting resilience.

Links & Resources:

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Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O’Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more.

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