The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

Joe and Zach get together to record the first ever Spartan Way episode while discussing a favorite topic at Spartan, Finding Your True North. Your True North is all about discovering your WHY? Why were you put on this earth? What is the 1 thing you are so passionate and excited about that you can keep doing for the next 25 years?   If you're unsure what your True North is, don't worry! Zach & Joe...

As much as you may want to, you can't actually control which emotions arrive at any given time. You can, however, control how you respond to them when you are tuned in and paying attention. Becoming more aware of your emotional state gives you greater agency over your choices, behaviors, and ways of relating. In this episode, learn a simple three-step process that can help you increase your emotio...

What does it take to hunt an antelope barefoot in the Kalahari Desert? Run 3,100 miles around the same ½ mile block in Queens, New York for 52 days straight? Or become a Marathon Monk that must complete 1,000 days of consecutive running or be put to death? Find out how this inspired Joe to start Spartan and the persistence and perseverance witnessed through the lens of documentary filmmaker Sanjay...

Can you change the way you think? This week's conversation is all about how to change the way you think about what is possible and how to create "the most empowering place on earth." Joe on his perpetual QUEST to rip people off the couch, talks with Impact Theory's Tom Bilyeu about creating a media platform that empowers people to leverage their behaviors. The idea is to meet you where you are - w...

Feed your mind, shoot for the long odds, look for mentors and draw your ideas out with us at Dodgers Stadium. What does it take to succeed in the software industry? Peter thinks it's "timing, tenacity, execution and when you're getting out."  We explore what an infinite blank canvas for intuitive collaboration on the cloud looks like with the founder of Bluescape.  It has revolutionized the way th...

Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine- Brian shifted the paradigm of "ordinary home services and turns them into exceptional experiences." This week Joe discusses some shady junk removal of his own, learns the Painted Picture Method of envisioning your vision &  how a high school dropout stuck with his not so sexy business to disrupt a market and make it a mul...

  From the art of the trade on Wall Street to the trade of art beyond canvas - Brendan Murphy entices you with his positive energy, imagery and outlook on life.  A prior professional basketball player in Europe and member of the elite Malibu Mob, he believes his greatest currency is his network of friends.   LESSONS:   Don't be afraid to pivot Think broadly Embrace the unknown LIFE IS LIQUID Get r...

One of the World's Fittest Men, began his journey to health at 39. As a full-time ultra-endurance athlete, Wellness Evangelist & plant-based nutrition advocate- he believes we all must "be more audacious in our aspirations." On this episode he allows us to rethink our relationship with nutrition, our obsession with protein and how to access our "vast reservoirs of untapped potential."   LESSONS:  ...

LESSONS: 1. You must be ready to receive help. Someone could be willing to help you, but if you're not ready to receive it you will miss it. 2. You never know when what you say may have a profound impact on someone. 3. Life is not linear. 4. Success is not something someone gives you, it's a feeling that comes from within.   This episode of "Spartan Up!"  is sponsored by Athletic Greens.  Get 20 t...

Just START, a message from boxing promoter Barry Hearn that can't be emphasized enough. This episode deserved an encore because we cannot overemphasize the importance of not taking your life for granted. Life is a gift, you must not abuse it. Hearn wanted to be a heavyweight boxing champion, but his path lead him to be a promoter instead. His own passion seem harsh at times, but that's only testam...

For 200 episodes Joe and the podcast team have been seeking the secrets to living the Spartan Way.  This week Col. Nye turns things around asking Joe what that process has taught him, and then he digs in and asks Joe's wife Courtney if all this stuff is for real. Courtney doesn't make many public appearances, so you won't want to miss this one. Hear what happened when she spotted an eccentric bare...

"Lucky" to have cerebral palsy? That's what Zach Anner says in what is unexpectedly our funniest podcast episode yet! Most people work all their lives to become comfortable asking for help and showing the world their true selves, weakness and all. Zach Anner skipped all that. Using what he's learned he created and stars in his own YouTube show "Workout Wednesdays," in which he shows how spectacula...

What makes a true warrior? SEALFIT founder Mark Divine brings mindfulness, strength and a holistic perspective to success. Joe and Mark talk about the value of ritual as a means to shed distractions and turn inward. It's a way to reach your higher self, to feel oneness with the world and live according to your principles. Humanity needs each person, so it is your human obligation to take the best...

To hear "Come on down!" on the Price is Right isn't just about luck or persistence, it's also about a secret. That secret is the third door. When Alex took a hard left turn in life, leaving the path through medical school that his family had anticipated since his birth and started working on a book about the underpinnings of success, he found that door. He set out to write the book he needed to re...

Star volleyball player Gabby Reece's is one half of a power couple with husband Laird Hamilton. The wisdom she's gained as a public figure, a pro & Olympic athlete, a sports model, a mother, and as partner to an alpha guy like Laird caused our podcast team to nickname her "Yoda." Gabby has an unexpected message of accepting and nurturing people as they are and how they choose to define their objec...

The Ice Man, Wim Hof, is crazy for life. He embodies Spartan values: becoming comfortable being uncomfortable, changing your point of reference and finding your true north with passion. Not surprisingly, he shares Joe's enthusiasm for cold showers, though he suggests to start with a 30 second one. His methods are unique even as his message is conventional, still it cannot be stressed enough: Natur...

What do you want to do with your time on this planet? Yanik Silver has taken this question and applied it to his business, Maverick 1000, harnessing entrepreneurial energy to make a difference in the world. But you'd be mistaken to think it's only outcomes that matter. Silver has researched and discovered methods to find joy scrubbing the burnt in grease from a pot and direction in a world full of...

How can lacrosse build a strong sense of self and propel young women to a winning attitude? Lukas Cash, in his extensive and successful lacrosse and leadership camps has found a way. He has a simple, straightforward but effective message to impart to young people. The key is to get them asking the right questions consistently so that they can resist the constant lure of peer pressure. What exactly...

Luis Escobar has made a life around distance running. He has run with the Tarahumara who run as a way of life and with homeless people using running to get "back on their feet." If his name sounds familiar, he's also the ultrarunning photographer featured in Born to Run, by Chris McDougall. In this episode we ask him what it is about ultra running that draws him, about his trip to Copper Canyon, M...

What's the connection between Mark Rampolla, Joe De Sena & Coconut water? It begins with dysentery, giardia and an ultra race in Fiji. Joe experienced all three and coconut water saved him.  Mark Rampolla, founder of Zico, was introduced to coconut water in the Peace Corps and Coconut water changed his life too when he decided it would be the vehicle for his next chapter in life.  Why coconut wate...

What does it mean to be a man? Ryan Michler, creator and host of the "Order of Man" Podcast, is studying that question. He's not doling out advice from a pedestal, but from a near decade long struggle to get his life, and marriage, in order. One thing he discovered was that the best men don't put up a front of invincibility. Do the things that scare you, not to convince yourself that you're brave...

With eight thousand characters in Marvel Comics' universe, even if you're a rabid comic fan, you probably haven't scratched the surface of their offerings. We talk with Mindy Hamilton, the SVP of global partnerships at this time honored brand, now under the mega company Disney. She started on her career track at a very young age when she assumed the editorial responsibilities of a newspaper she st...

Will OCR be an Olympic sport? Ian Adamson wants to change lives and he approaches the Olympic initiative as an "incredible opportunity", not as the "insurmountable Everest" it could appear to be. As Adamson is also one of the most successful adventure racers of all time, the challenge is in capable hands. This week, we ask Adamson what it takes to be exceptional, why some are driven to be, how a t...

In sports and energy drinks Lance Collins is the top of the heap. How did he get there? By being fast, funded, cutting edge, and well branded for the last three decades. And, critically, by being passionate enough to have a near single minded purpose. He has made great fortunes and launched successful products time and again. What keeps him coming back for more?  Listen and learn what makes Lance...

He sailed around the world, twice; the second voyage with his young family in tow. And in spite of starting a crabbing business in his teens and several other ventures throughout his adulthood, his expeditions are where Caspar Craven learned, along with his family, some of the most vital lessons in life, not the least of which is how to be alive. The most important skill they learned on the high s...