The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Not wanting to spend his life on the sidelines, blind athlete Pete Cossaboon started participating in Spartan events. He sought out and found a way to achieve this seemingly impossible goal. Nelson Diaz has dedicated himself to facilitating the implausible achievements of adaptive athletes through compassion and action. The events only have meaning and purpose to the degree that they can be applied to life at large and to what extent the athletes can use them to tell their unique story to the world. Lessons: - Any new situation, when confronted, evolves from fear to adaptation. - If life is a dash between you birthday and your death day, measure your value by the lives you have you changed in the interim. - Avoid distractions to the degree that they are diverting you from the main purpose of your life. CREDITS Producer – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc. Hosts: Joe De Sena with Johnny Waite, Sefra Alexandra, Col. Tim Nye, Dr. Delle & David Deluca Synopsis – Matt Baatz © 2016 Spartan

Trauma care is a creative process for Dr, Jeffrey Upperman. He mentors young surgeons by throwing them in a room together with very little to work with and let their ingenuity and communication skills come to the fore to solve a problem under duress. He points out that these skills are becoming a lost art in the age of texting and tweeting but they are no less vital in forming a successful person. Upperman in his years as a general surgeon took cues from his father, a man who prided himself in working with his hands, and stresses the importance of upbringing, yet acknowledges that the whole community bears responsibility for nurturing a success. Lessons: 1. Creativity is key in emergencies, and it can be learned. 2. We are all responsible to hold each other accountable. 3. We need rites of passage to learn to cope under duress.

Cal Fussman, author as well as a writer for Esquire, went on a ten year worldwide journey with little money to his name. He subsisted on the good will of others, most often on those he met on the bus ride to his next destination. It was the perfect way to satisfy his insatiable curiosity and hone his interviewing skills. In this episode Fussman will talk about how to make everyday an opportunity for adventure and connection. Lessons: 1. Ask a canned question and you'll get a canned answer. Talk to people with authenticity. 2. When starting a big project don't reflect long enough to talk yourself out of it; just keep going forward. 3. Treat each day like a unique experience. CREDITS Producer – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc. Hosts: Joe De Sena with Johnny Waite, Sefra Alexandra, Col. Tim Nye, Dr. Delle & David Deluca Synopsis – Matt Baatz © 2016 Spartan

When your business is in trouble, this is the guy you need. Tim Gentry develops people to motivate his own success. As an Ironman competitor he exemplifies strengthening the body as a way to maintain a powerful mind, something he believes many business people neglect to their detriment. His suggestion: keep it simple and do just one thing every day. Listen for more tried and true methods to persevere and thrive. Gentry shares some gems on this week's podcast. Lessons: 1. Focused on the people in your business,and let hurdles dissolve to white noise. 2. To revive someone who is lagging, put them in charge of others. 3. Write down all the great things that are happening in your life and read them when you need inspiration.

Mortgage officer and part of a Vermont family maple sugaring business, Ray Morvan found extreme multi day racing at random, after a battle with alcohol and opiate addiction. By helping him find community and a way to exert and build mental resilience it's exactly what the doctor ordered . He went on to compete in nine Peak Death Races which is almost certainly a record. We spoke with him at the Spartan Winter Agoge. Morvan credits stoicism for getting through life challenges that would break a lesser man. He is now championing the issue of addiction by assisting anyone who is willing to reach out to him. Morvan's phone line is open. Lessons: 1. Figure it out. There's always a way. 2. Simply put yourself out there, everyday, and have faith that it will get better. 3. In addition to PTSD think about PTSG - Post Traumatic Growth. CREDITS Producer – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc. Hosts: Joe De Sena with Johnny Waite, Sefra Alexandra, Col. Tim Nye, Dr. Delle & David Deluca Synopsis – Matt Baatz Copyright - 2016 Spartan

Damion Hahn came a hair's breadth away from making the Olympics and advises those not achieving there goals "be mad about it, then turn your attention to tomorrow." He channels that drive training a team that has been near dynasty for the last quarter century of Ivy League wrestling. They got there by honing raw talent. The best persist, the rest need to find their niche elsewhere. Hahn has seen this success translate into the wrestler's everyday lives and he shares the methods that have built such consistent winners. Lessons: 1. Everybody's motivated differently; adjust your approach accordingly. 2. Enter each day with a purpose! 3. Be part of a community that motivates you achieve.

This week's podcast features two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Christian Johnson and Chad Grills, disrupting the world of business. Johnson started Fotition a platform to unite brands people and charities to create a positive social outcome. He arrived at this idea by following his lifelong mantra, "creativity will save the world," which lead him to a vocation that will leave a legacy. Grills, a former Army infantryman, took note of better ways to do things during deployments in Egypt and Iraq and channeled them into a sharing and trading service for business assets called Twist.com. He discusses the ways he has used the challenges of the military and life to overcome obstacles. Lessons: 1, The problem is the solution (permaculture principle). 2, Learn to love the word no. Turn it into an opportunity to overcome challenge. 3. Ask yourself if you are living up to your life's mantra and serving the greater good. CREDITS Producer – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc. Hosts: Joe De Sena with Johnny Waite, Sefra, Col. Tim Nye, Delle & David Deluca Synopsis – Matt Baatz © 2016 Spartan

Nini Meyer created Positive Tracks as a way to get kids moving and involved with a cause through athletics. She has witnessed it not only helping the causes, but connecting the youth with each other and teaching them to manage risk, take on challenges and get active. Since not every child enters the program with the same resources, it also teaches them the vital lesson of using what they got at the moment and building from there. A lifelong volunteer who adopted ultra-endurance running well into her adulthood, Meyer found a way to combine the two into something exceedingly positive. Lessons: 1. Whenever you see the hazy outlines of a starting line begin to form, don't turn away. Run straight towards it. 2. You can't cross the ocean by staring at the sea. 3. Achieving challenging acts with groups creates a sense of shared struggle and perseverance propelling you towards your goal through

Helping runners move faster and injury free is the mission of Nathan Helming. A former Ironman qualifier, Nathan Helming runs programming for San Francisco Crossfit with a focus on helping runners and triathletes become better rounded athletes. He's taking this passion into a startup called The Run Experience which guides athletes through strength, conditioning and problem solving to reach their goals through online webinars. Frustration with chronic injury spurred by a too narrow focus on conditioning caused Helming to seek out SF crossfit with its philosophy of a more balanced approach. He is now adapting his experience to propel athletes past their limitations. Lessons: 1. Be process focused: set aside fear of the outcome and engage in the task at hand. 2. Understand that you have a choice at every moment. 3. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

The founder of Charity Water, Scott Harrison was a successful nightclub promoter living a life of decadence many might envy. He found himself hobnobbing with the beautiful people on a daily basis, but he had an epiphany on the beaches of Uruguay. Though he didn't lack materially he was morally, spiritually and emotionally bereft. He sold everything, took up residence in a friend's closet and volunteered in war torn Liberia, paying for the privilege. While there he found his mission: He would use his influence to help remediate the lack of clean water that often leads to disease for the 660 million people in third world nations who are affected. Lessons: 1. To change your life, and the life of others, it may be necessary to step into a new story of your life and scrap the old one. 2. The best way to motivate change is through the promise of positive action with tangible results and not through shame or guilt. 3. Do not compromise your values and morality; maintain your tenacity and you will find a way through the challenge.