The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Being left behind at a young age by parents searching to create a better life might be what drove Raul Villacis to become a real estate millionaire… but with that success came new challenges. When life finally became comfortable, he lost his edge. Raul has covered a lot of ground. For him the solution starts with his unique morning ritual and the decision to live every day like a hunter. Those are...

Guest host Patrick Sweeney, the Fear Guru, is back for week 3. How can you own your day, every day? With a morning routine. In this episode Patrick shares the morning routine he's optimized since learning some of the basics at the US Olympic training center when he was a world-class rower training for the Olympics in the single scull. His first step alone will help you sleep better, think clearer...

When you've got something big on the horizon that matters to you - a race, a presentation at work, a meeting with your boss - it's important to go into it with a strategy in mind so that you can be as successful as possible. The Three C's of Success are one way to enter into the arena of an experience with confidence, courage, and clarity. Each principle will give you that extra edge that you're l...

Jen Welter became the first female coach in the NFL. How do you achieve a goal when there is no roadmap? A commitment to greatness in each moment. " if we can change football, we can change the world ." says Dr. Jen Welter.  She never listened to the doubts of others and at 5' 2" went toe-to-toe on the field and got up after every tackle. She broke the glass for female athletes in this sport and a...

Guest host Patrick Sweeney, the Fear Guru, is back for week 2.  Now that you know that the survival instinct is driven by the amygdala, our 2 million-year-old operating system and anytime we feel a threat it tries to take over, what can you do about it? Learn the two ways that we make decisions in life – the one that leads to shame, regret and failure, and the other way, the Spartan way, that lead...

Host Dr. L says: Undoubtedly, you will be asked in your lifetime to give advice. This may come from a family member, a friend, a colleague, or perhaps even a stranger. What's important to remember is that giving good advice isn't always considering what you might do in that situation and then providing feedback. The best advice is actually given when you consider the source - who are you giving th...

How do you go from being the worst kid on the team to a 2018 Olympic silver medalist and two time XGames Gold medalist? Freestyle skier Alex Ferreira tells Joe De Sena and Johnny Waite the secret: unfaltering dedication, relentless training, infinite repetitive practice and truly believing in yourself are the keys!  Alex walks us through how his visualization process, it includes running every tur...

Guest host Patrick Sweeney, the Fear Guru, answers the questions: are you hardwired to respond to threats with a fight, flight or freeze reaction? How does that survival instinct affect your decision-making and happiness? In this introductory episode, you'll find out what the amygdala (a MIG da la) is and how it impacts our life. You'll also find out if we a courage center to counter-act that fear...

Like many of the concepts we discuss on Spartan MIND, self-doubt is one that we can all relate to because we ALL have elements of self-doubt. Some of us struggle with more self-doubt than others but we can all use similar strategies to work through the self-doubt. Implementing an internal dialogue that observes where the self-doubt may be coming from can be a useful tactic. Evaluating the intensit...

Melissa Hartwig Urban created the WHOLE30. What you may not know is the story behind it. At a young age Melissa experienced trauma that later fueled an addiction to drugs. Later she found sobriety but replaced her addiction with a craving for fitness. When challenged by a friend to experiment with a 30-day clean diet, she realized she had a complicated relationship with food. Soon after, the WHOLE...

Dr. L says: Keeping yourself accountable is a skill that many people often have to practice and refine over time. There are a few steps that you can take to ensure that you hold yourself accountable. Remember first and foremost to set realistic goals for yourself. Yes, they can be lofty and seemingly difficult but let's not make impossible goals. Setting reminders for yourself can be a useful and...

Jeff Vernon learned grit and perseverance as a kid in the family business. Those lessons carried him through a series of entrepreneurial successes and brought him where he is today - disrupting the fitness industry with a treadmill that makes you work harder and run better.   In the sport of OCR or Crossfit coaches work on perfecting a series of skills training, but overlook proper running form. A...

Dr. L says: Life is short. It's important to get the most out of life that you can and dive into all the adventure and awesomeness that sits at your feet. AND it's critical that along the way we are weaving in a layer of compassion when things don't go our way. When we fail, fall short of our goals, or come up short against our expectations, yes, learn from that but also make sure that you are bri...

Kara Goucher is a true legend of the running world, from competing in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, to a bronze medal at the 2007 World Athletics Cross Country Championships (formerly IAAF), to the women's fastest-ever half marathon, and third overall at the 2009 Boston Marathon! In this interview she discusses the importance of being vulnerable, challenging yourself, leaning into things that m...

Dr. L says: It's important that you are consistently and frequently checking in with yourself, and there are a couple of different areas, in particular, that might need attention. First, checking in with your own emotions is key because in order for you to make the next right choice you need to understand how you are feeling. Second, checking in with how you are feeling about your relationships is...

Mike Bledsoe walked away from the success he earned in the fitness industry as part of Barbell Shrugged to look inward. He is now focused on how mindset influences your performance. By looking at language and how you view your own story, new revelations in your mental and emotional patterning can be revealed. What causes deep underlying pain in your body? It may actually be attributed to unresolve...

Spartan Up co-host Dr. L says: Often, we look outside of ourselves for motivation and inspiration, but if we dig deep enough we typically have everything we need inside of ourselves to make changes and live the kind of life that we are looking for. We must become the hero in our own story - not wait for someone else to step into that role. In order to do so, it's important to identify a few things...

What's the one thing we could do to improve the future? Raise better young people. Facilitate better parenting. Our country faces an epidemic of "fatherlessness." Whether due to a father figure not physically being in the picture or mentally being distant - it is a massive obstacle that Justin Batt has been working to overcome with Daddy Saturdays. It's not just for dad's and not just on Saturdays...

Dr. L, Spartan's chief Mind doc, says: This is the time of year when many of us dive quickly into the pool of New Year's Resolutions. Whether you like the word resolution or not, it's helpful to take stock of what you want out of the next 12 months to come - or even just the next month itself. Setting goals can be an important part of moving towards that which you want and it's also important to k...

It's not about what happens to you - but what you do with what happens to you. Chris Waddell, injured in a skiing accident in college, went on to medal in the 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002 Winter Paralympics and become a motivational speaker. He uses his positive perspective to shift the paradigm and concepts of "Nametags," labels and limitations placed upon people with disabilities and challenges. Hi...

Although there might be some individuals who just seem more optimistic or positive, the truth is that we can all learn to practice optimism and weave some of the tenants into our life. The first element that was discussed includes shifting your perspective that sees things as permanent to seeing things as temporary. The second element is seeing events and painful experiences as singular, not perva...

When winning isn't enough, try working to improve the "MOD," or Margin of the Day. That's the margin by which you win. One of Joe De Sena's favorite quotes: "will it make the boat go faster?" Josh Crosby, world champion rower and co-founder of BDY SQD, attacks life with a voracious appetite. Dedicated to constant improvement and pushing himself farther, his perseverance, persistence and passion le...

Spartan's "Chief Mind Doc" Dr. L says: Although there might be some individuals who just seem more optimistic or positive, the truth is that we can all learn to practice optimism and weave some of the tenants into our life. The first element that was discussed in the last episode included shifting your perspective that sees things as permanent to seeing things as temporary. Another way of thinking...

Who has created your idea of success? Are you on the path you want should be on? Laura Gassner Otting, author of "Limitless" talks with Joe De Sena about carving your own way and revisiting what it is that ignites your passion. Don't be afraid of change, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Push yourself beyond what you thought was feasible, making the peaks & possibilities of life ahead of you Li...

Host Dr. L says: Let's move from 2019 into 2020 with a newly found practice of optimism! Although there might be some individuals who just seem more optimistic or positive, the truth is that we can all learn to practice optimism and weave some of the tenants into our life. One of the first ways that optimism can be more present in your life is by challenging the idea that painful things that happe...