The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

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.

Joe navigated his way through tough neighborhoods, a broken family life, organized crime, a near hopeless bid to enter the Ivy League, Wall Street, a human Iditarod, and daunting business prospects in backwater Vermont until he found his true calling. As usual, Joe insists he isn’t special and outlines how you can do it too. Lessons:1. Commit: Say what you’re going to do and do what you say.2. Go above and beyond.3. Never complain. Practice gratitude.4. Choose your path and stick to it.5. Persevere and persist.6. Practice upside/downside decision making.7. Change your frame of reference and develop grit.8. Do something you’re passionate about and it will no longer be work.9. Road blocks are obstacles to overcome.

According to the Entrepreneur, Investor & Best-Selling Author Gary Vaynerchuk, he was bad at many things. But what he was good at was crucial for his successes: he knew himself very well and acted on his strengths, intensely. He was equally adept at reading others and is living proof that EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is as important as IQ in the world of business. His grit was shaped by a tough Eastern European upbringing tempered by compassion. In this episode, Vaynerchuck explains what obstacle resistance means from a humanistic perspective.http://www.spartanuppodcast.com/048Lessons:1. If you know who you are, by nature you’ll bet on your strengths, and if you bet on your strengths, you’ll win.2. You must be willing to invest several years ahead of time to realize a payoff.3. Almost anything you do is good as long as you’re “all in.”

How did Kris Halenga, diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at 23, with no business experience, manage to become such an admired and inspirational charity CEO? Her version of grit was a mix of passion and taking small steps that eventually added up to something spectacular. She was kind to herself along the way and is now extending that kindness to others by raising breast cancer awareness. Just as compelling is the story of how she was able to take a potentially devastating condition and use it as a foundation to build a life she loves.Lessons:1. Passion and a willingness to learn along the way can stand in for business skills in entrepreneurship.2. Don't let a challenging situation consume you but change it into something good that can help others.3. Achieving small things each day can make you happy and will soon build into a big thing.

Marc Von Musser, the director of coaching for Tony Robbins, says find the why and the how will follow closely behind. He shares the secret in this interview. If you're like most people, you've been lulled into complacency, seduced by the sirens of comfort and convenience. But Marc Von Musser says that you're wasting your precious life. So what do you do to get out of this predicament? Work harder? That will only take you so far and will prove to be a partial solution. Work smarter? Naturally, but again this doesn't probe deep enough. As Von Musser elucidates, we're asking the entirely wrong question: We should be asking why and the rest will follow closely behind.Lessons:1. If a person has a big enough why, they can do anything.2. Once you find a why, backload it with intelligence and inspired action.3. To find your why ask yourself what you would do if money wasn't an issue.4. Don't question the price of success; pay it gladly and success will come to you in droves.5. Most people who play it safe are bored to death. And most people play it safe.

Explorer Club members have ventured to the bottom of the deepest ocean, the top of the highest mountain, to both poles and to the moon and back. Next stop for their iconic flag - Mars. According to executive director Will Roseman, members of this venerated organization have undertaken extraordinary expeditions that have significantly advanced the cause of humankind, they’ve also used extraordinary means to survive everything from panther attacks to avalanche burials. Counted in their number are a US president, a hugely successful movie director, astronauts and many legendary explorers. Roseman tells their stories and reveals some of their secrets.Lessons: 1. "Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." Winston Churchill2. But, on the other hand, go into an endeavor mindfully: Assess risk. Do your homework. Be prepared.3. The will to survive is indomitable.