Day 44: Spartan Up! Podcast

                When preparing to write my day 24 post on podcasts, I stumbled across the Spartan Up! Podcast that features Spartan Race founder, Joe De Sena sitting down with peak performers in many different aspects of life, discussing what it is that makes them successful & providing a healthy dose of motivation at the same time! After the interview that usually lasts 15 to 20 minutes, Joe sits down with some of his colleagues to dissect what the guest had to say, breaking it down into actionable next steps for listeners.

The official description states that ‘Spartan Race founder & CEO Joe De Sena travels the globe seeking the secrets to success from authors, academics, athletes, adventurers, CEO’s & thought leaders. This will shift your thinking, make you laugh & give you the tools you need. He’s on a mission to find success in all aspects of life. Not only does Joe interview epic people, he has brought together an amazing panel to break down & analyze every aspect of these interviews. We give you the ultimate blueprint & action steps to assimilating these powerful conversations into your own life.'

                The podcast comes out once per week on Tuesday morning & at only 20 to 30 minutes per episode, is a must listen. I have adopted the podcast as the official ‘soundtrack’ to my workouts & runs as it often provides the motivation I need to keep pushing. Since I first discovered the Spartan Up! Podcast a few weeks ago, I have worked my way from the most recent episode (140) all the way back to episode 100, & am showing no signs of slowing down!  I recently listened to episode 100 where the crew discusses some of their favourite podcasts to date, so I thought it a good time to discuss some of my favourite episodes from episode 140 to 100. 
                Below I discuss a few of the recurring themes that I've picked up on through my first 40 podcasts, and also discuss my 3 favourite podcast episodes to date.

 
 

Recurring Themes

 

                If you follow Spartan Race founder, Joe De Sena, on social media, or have heard him interviewed at any time, you probably quickly realized that he is a no non-sense kind of guy. Joe believes in perseverance & grit above all else, but as you listen to him more you learn that it is a type of 'loving toughness.' Below I discuss three of the major themes that I have taken away from the podcast through the first 40 episodes that I have listened to.

1. Perseverance: many of the guests that Joe has on the podcast have overcome some major obstacles at some point in their life, whether it’s episode 139 guest Mordechai Weiner who overcame a lifelong battle with obesity, or episode 120 guest Ray Morvan who overcame an alcohol & opiate addiction. The recurring theme is to keep moving. Although Joe & his crews approach to overcoming life's challenges may be more of a ‘tough love’ approach than many are used to, once you listen to the crew a few times you quickly realize that it is coming from a place of love, & that sometimes simply ‘sucking it up’ is the best way to push through life's biggest challenges.
    
2. Finding Your ‘Why’: a theme that is repeated nearly every episode, which is very near & dear to my heart & that I discussed in my day 19 post, is finding your ‘why’ for chasing the goals that you are after. For me this is a huge key to setting & achieving goals; it is not good enough to simply have a goal, you must know why achievement of that goal is important to you. For Spartan Racers, it may be to improve your health, live longer, or even simply to feel better. The key to pushing through the tough times, is to remember why you are working towards your goals. 
    
3. One Foot in Front of the Other: the third recurring theme of the podcast is to simply put one foot in front of the other & keep moving. This means that when tackling a huge obstacle or goal that at the surface may seem impossible, you must simply put one foot in front of the other & keep pushing through. A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. The crew speaks to a number of guests who achieved incredible results in the fitness & business world, & a recurring theme is that when the going got tough, they brought their macro goal down to a micro level, & simply kept putting one foot in front of the other, day in & day out until the job was done.

  Favourite Episodes

 

            Although I am only 40 episodes in, I will pass along my favourite episodes to date, & when I make it back to the first episode 1 (which likely won’t take long at this pace), I will look back & see if these episodes stand up as my favourites. Below I start in italics with the official description of the podcast from the show notes page, then give my take on why the episode spoke to me personally.

1. Episode 138 with Elizabeth Weil: one of the most successful women in the venture capital field & dedicated runner, Elizabeth never stops driving toward success. Within her hectic schedule of career, & raising twins, she stresses the importance of ‘non-negotiables.’ They are key to a successful career & happy life. She describes them & her three keys to success in this interview. Weil shows us how it is possible to achieve balance even when you build your life to precipitous heights.
             For me, the episode with Elizabeth Weil highlighted a very important point; you must make finding time for what is important in life a priority. I sometimes find it challenging to balance work, family, & exercise, however in hearing Elizabeth’s story, I quickly realized that it is simply a matter of making the activities that you deem most important in your life non-negotiable, meaning no matter what happens that day, you will complete these activities, then building around your day from there. Regardless of what is going on in your life, you can always find 30 minutes to exercise, & often this exercise will make you more efficient than had you not gone in the first place. The episode with Elizabeth reminded me of the stones, gravel & sand in a jar analogy; when trying to fit stones, gravel & sand into a jar, if you start with the sand, you will never find room for the stones. If instead you put the stones in first, then the gravel, then the sand, the gravel & sand will naturally seek out the empty spaces & fill up the jar. The key is to put your stones into your schedule first; exercise, family time, work or whatever else you deem non-negotiable – once those stones are in place, then you can add your gravel & sand (recreational activities) 
    
2. Episode 125 with Jon Levy: behavioural scientist & expert on adventure, Jon Levy knows what makes Spartans tick. He wrote a book about it, The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure. A big reason why people undertake challenges outside their comfort zone is to reach flow state, a Zen-like sense of timelessness, total absorption in an activity, & sense of mastery.
               Perhaps my favourite episode to date, Jon discusses the idea of pushing beyond your comfort zone & perceived limits to achieve a state of flow. A quote of his that I loved was “the size of your life will be proportionate to how uncomfortable you’re willing to be.” I love this quote because I truly believe that in order to achieve anything remarkable in life, you have to continuously push beyond your perceived limits & comfort zone. A second point from Jon’s episode that I really loved was his discussion of the ‘winner effect’ which is the idea of starting with small, daily gains & victories in order to build momentum for larger challenges. On this blog, I have constantly discussed the idea of incremental gains, particularly in my day 32 post, and Jon’s discussion of this idea really drove home the importance of celebrating the small wins. If you are going to start with one episode, episode 125 with Jon Levy would be my recommendation.
    
3. Episode 120 with Ray Morvan: Ray Morvan found extreme multi-day racing at random, after a battle with alcohol & opiate addiction. By helping him find community & a way to exert & build mental resilience, OCR racing was exactly what the doctor ordered. Ray went on to compete in 9 Peak Death Races, which is a record. 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.
              The episode with Ray was truly inspirational for me. Although I have not ever battled with alcohol or opiates the way Ray did, I could relate to his quiet desperation of not being able to break out of a negative routine. Ray’s story was truly inspirational, & I believe a very important part of this podcast is when Ray mentions that he did not turn around his life in a single moment; he first quit alcohol but continued with opiates even after he first began running Death Races. I believe this is an important aspect to his story because it is important that people understand that turning your life around is not an easy one-day fix; it is an ongoing struggle, but if you keep persevering, you will be successful. The second aspect of this podcast that I enjoyed was Ray discussing how the Spartan community embraced him. I have already experienced this through the encouragement that I’ve gotten on social media from fellow OCR’s, & I haven’t even ran a race yet!

                In conclusion, although I have only listened to 40 of the 140 Spartan Up! Podcasts available, I have already taken a ton away from them, and am excited to continue to work through the next 100. As mentioned in the post, if you are unsure about the podcast, I suggest you start with episode 138, 125, or 120 & go from there – I guarantee you will be hooked!

100-Day Spartan