The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Have you ever talked yourself out of an opportunity for no reason at all? Excuses for no reason at all? Self sabotaging yourself before you've even put your feet on the floor is a great recipe for frustration and never getting out of your own way. LESSONS: If you're nervous about doing something, perhaps this means this is an opportunity you SHOULD take Are you answering the knocks on the door? Th...

Insecurities are just obstacles. Painful, yes. Unfortunate, indeed. Debilitating? Don't have to be. An insecurity doesn't have to be a barrier to the things that you want but if you don't use the right tools and focus on overcoming your insecurities they can absolutely become 10 foot walls that are difficult to get over. It's important to be active in challenging your insecurities through various...

One of the most recognized faces of daytime TV, Mara speaks with Joe De Sena in this interview about the perspective gained during her childhood growing up outside the country, her perennial struggle with being overweight and the magic of serendipity. Her goal is to end all abusive relationships, including with food. Join us this week as we explore discipline as a key to sustaining wellness. LESSO...

I understand the value of a resume and what it's intended for. But, we all know the resume game and some of us even have a professional writer "polish" it up. So what is the real value? Also, a resume is simply a collection of yesterday's events. With a resume mindset about life we become static and superficial. Let others keep record of your accomplishments and use that saved energy to keep doing...

Imagine you're in a supermarket and you want something healthy to drink, but you want something tasty, too. Many people might think – and with some good reason – that a naturally flavored drink like grape juice or orange juice would provide a beverage that's refreshing and good for you. But with the choices available to consumers in most supermarkets, they would be wrong. Why?   There are two assu...

Spartan Pro Team member Nicole Mericle came into OCR from a running and bouldering background and was able to make an almost immediate impact. She is widely considered the best female OCR "short course" athlete in the world, winning multiple championships. LESSONS: One can become a great obstacle racer even when obstacles aren't your initial strong suit. Indoor climbing gyms are phenomenal for obs...

Do you know your worth or do you let others determine your value? Sometimes you need to say no in the short term so you can yes to something bigger in the long term. In a world where so much is free or discounted, don't feel like you need to do what everyone else is doing. LESSONS: Don't let labels determine what you do and who you become. True Spartans are ready & willing to turn obstacles into o...

We are human. We are fallible. And sometimes that means that lies slip from our tongue. We all do it or have done it but it's important to understand how pervasive lying can impact you. In the beginning lying may make you uncomfortable but the more that you lie, the more your brain accommodates to this discomfort and soon enough it's not uncomfortable anymore. This is when it starts to get tricky...

His early life was so "perfect" Nick Green says he was too afraid to take risks or to fail. He was lucky, a business concept found him during college and forced him to learn resilience and the value of failure. Once he overcame that fear, the world of possibilities opened up to him! Now he is building a mission driven business ThriveMarket.com. What does it take to thrive in life? A good place to...

Be careful of the unintended consequences when you try to create a culture of 'show up early'. When we communicate correctly our set of standards that are consistent with our expectations we create opportunities for the behavior we desire. I don't really want you to show up early, I want you to show up prepared. The reason I tell you to show up early is because I'm tired of you not being prepared....

Spartans, here's a riddle for you: What do lengthy financial reports and food labels have in common? Answer? To some, they might seem a bit boring and overly detailed, but they're both really important. In this podcast, you'll learn about some of the key ways to read a food label so you can quickly zero-in on the most relevant information impacting your health If you only had access to one piece o...

Idaho's own Ian Hosek comes on the Spartan Up Podcast to discuss how he coaches people of all backgrounds and abilities. He also talks about getting a coach himself to help his mental game. Ian gives a few specific workouts which will help the new runner take on a Spartan Sprint. LESSONS: Running power translates to lifting power. Do deadlifts for help with tire flip an atlas carry. If you are bra...

Are you in it for the long game? The long haul? Many Spartans have spoken about the patience and the undaunting work ethic and determination it takes to get a taste of success let alone get to the top. Our fearless leader Joe DeSena recently made an Instagram Story on this. Gary Vaynerchuk says this on the regular, and of course, ask any Spartan Racer if they out of the blue started winning races....

Often, we take on a lot. More than we should maybe. We say YES to things we only feel lukewarm about and we nod our heads to things we would rather shake them to. The thing is, if we are saying YES to everything then it's difficult to really tease apart what matters to us and we can end up being resentful of our own inability to set firm boundaries. Sometimes we have to set a firm NO so that we ca...

Kelly is a self made wellness guru, founder of Be Well by Kelly, who based her premise on a simple concept - design your plate with the fab four: protein, healthy fats, fiber and leafy greens. See how she took what started as a side hustle between her day job to becoming one of the most recognized nutritionists to the superstars. Learn what your cravings are really telling you and a bit of science...

"Don't talk about it, Be about it." ~Even-Esh "Let your actions speak so loudly, that I cannot hear your words." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Zach Even-Esh talks about how this manifests in a coaching environment with his athletes in the gym. I like to use it not only to drive me forward with action, but to also help manage my expectations of others. It's so often we are told one thing or another by some...

Matt B. Davis talks to "Air Force" Ken Corigliano - Ken has been obstacle racing since 2012 and is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force as a Major. He uses military training and obstacle racing as a basis for a mindset of embracing challenges and learning from failures. LESSONS: Obstacle Course Racing builds character. Connect with adversity and embrace the challenge. Failure can make you bette...

The Bataan Memorial Death March is, as they say more than just a marathon… it 'honors the thousands of heroic service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II, sacrificing their freedom, health, and, in many cases, their very lives.' Joe, Colonel Nye, Sefra Alexandra, Erica Walker, Marion Abrams and Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Frank Grippe embarked on a sojourn to honor...

If you haven't experienced performance anxiety yourself then most likely you know someone who has. Performance anxiety is common and its intensity can span across the spectrum. Although dealing with performance anxiety can sometimes feel like a hopeless feat, there are actually some pretty effective strategies that can help you learn to manage the worry you feel in the face of public performance....

How do you create a corporate culture that allows people to live their best lives? Based off the principles that Lonnie observed in his father, the famous red shoe wearing wrestler Moondog Mayne - he created a philosophy that helps spread positivity in the workplace. Lonnie is an expert aggregator and motivator of brilliant minds, this week you will learn what it really means to walk a mile in som...

Let's be more cautious about always over-prioritizing Safety above everything else. Using the phrase "Safety First" as a default teases us to not engage in the critical conversations revolving around risk assessment, risk mitigation, and risk acceptance. It feeds risk aversion and zero defects mentality. It can create mindless procedural automation. And, it can also create the exact hesitation tha...

What Is Mental Flow: A State Of Self-Motivation Do you remember the last time you completely focused on a task that was both challenging and satisfying? It may have happened during your last a long race (Sprint, Super, or Beast), or listening to an intense piece of music, or while you were solving a crossword puzzle. What do those moments have in common? They may have been times when you experienc...

This week's Spartan Athlete host Matt B. Davis talks to Faye Morgan. She was a gymnast and spent time in the Marines. Now, she is a mom of 4 and a Spartan Pro. She talks about how she conquers obstacles and finds time to train, and how she thinks about an athletes unique strengths and weaknesses. LESSONS: You can't just rely on speed anymore as a Pro racer. There are multiple ways to attack obstac...

Experiencing painful emotions is a part of life that we cannot avoid. But we try to through various types of numbing mechanisms. This could be anything from alcohol to drugs to food to over-exercise to gambling to social media. We are pretty proficient as a society in wiggling our way around uncomfortable feelings and moving towards either a numbing position or something more comfortable. But if y...

World famous for his physique and his "Insanity" workouts, Shaun T has graduated from teaching healthy body to teaching healthy MENTALITY. His superpower is getting uncomfortable - the more uncomfortable he is, the more he is learning and growing. Shaun T tells Spartan founder Joe De Sena how he has spent his life confronting issues and resolving them with "truth, trust and transparency" and movin...