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The Rich Roll Podcast

Joe De Sena On True Resilience, Choosing Your Hard & Why Discomfort Is Oxygen

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture

4.812.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2022

⏱️ 102 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We all have big dreams. But are you willing to pay the price required to make them manifest? There’s a big difference between those who quit and those who commit. At the core of that difference is one’s ability to tolerate discomfort. Discomfort is the price we pay for resilience. And resilience is the foundation of growth. Few grasp and practice this truth better than Spartan Race founder and CEO Joe De Sena, returning to the podcast to usher us into the new year correct and jumpstart our new year’s ambitions into action. Joe last graced the studio in December of 2020 (RRP #567), a conversation that probed his absolutely fascinating backstory and left us with powerful insights on the limits we impose on personal possibility. Continuing in the spirited annual tradition we have here to launch the new year with an uncomfortable kick in the pants, I thought it fit (literally) to invite Joe back for a more focused elaboration on the truths, mindset tools and motivation to translate ambition into positive results. For those new to Joe, he’s the entrepreneurial mastermind behind Spartan—the obstacle course racing series that became a global phenomenon, and the evil genius behind Death Race—perhaps the most absurd sufferfest ever conceived. He’s also an absolute endurance freak. Example A: in a mere week, Joe completed the Vermont 100 mile run, Ironman Lake Placid, and the Badwater 135. In addition, he crushed 50 ultramarathons and 14 Ironman events in a single year (a certain kind of insanity that must be some kind of record). And he’s the kind of guy who, on a whim, once ran from New York City to Vermont. Joe’s most striking talent is his facility for motivating the best out of people—a skill committed to print in his new book, 10 Rules For Resilience, which is a guide to developing mental toughness. Today we deconstruct resilience in all its forms—why it’s crucial to growth and how to cultivate it. We also go deep on discipline, courage, and discomfort. The importance of personal values in adhering to your goals. How to navigate failure. And why your reaction to challenging situations defines you. And finally, we explore the importance of imbuing these principles into our parenting. Joe is a force of nature—a bullshit-free and 100% authentic lunatic. But his heart is huge. His experience-based message is powerful. And paired with practical tools fundamental to shattering stagnation. To read more click here. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. And as always, the podcast streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. May his words propel you to craft your own challenge for this impending new year—something extraordinary. So let’s dive into it 2022 headfirst. Or, as Joe is fond of saying, fire, ready, aim. Peace + Plants, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Every year around this time I mentioned that going plant-based is a great new

0:04.9

years resolution. But I inevitably get a lot of questions like how can I make

0:09.6

plant-based eating easy and taste good too? Well to answer this, Julie and I

0:14.0

launched the Plant Power meal planner back in 2017. With the meal planner you

0:18.8

can have all your food questions answered in a personalized actionable way.

0:22.8

You get access to thousands of delicious and easy-to-prepare plant-based

0:26.8

recipes customized to your personal preferences and dietary restrictions as

0:31.5

well as unlimited grocery lists, grocery delivery and a just incredible team of

0:37.4

expert nutrition coaches ready to consult with you anytime seven days a week.

0:42.2

To kickstart your health intentions this new year we're offering you $20

0:46.6

off a one-year membership with the code Power20 throughout the entire month of

0:51.7

January. To learn more to sign up go to meals.richroll.com again that's

0:57.0

promo code Power20 for $20 off at meals.richroll.com. All right let's do the show.

1:06.0

I believe that the number one motivator for human being is the avoidance of

1:12.0

discomfort. You wake up in the morning with the greatest intentions to

1:15.9

exercise or work on that book you're writing and before you know it you're

1:19.5

instead making coffee and reading the news and checking Instagram that's your

1:23.4

brain avoiding the uncomfortable work. You've got to recognize the resistance

1:29.6

you're gonna face consciously and subconsciously and then you got to commit to

1:33.6

just bite-size action and it's got to be consistent. If it's bite-size and you

1:40.3

broadcast to everybody that this is who you are and this is your new plan and

1:44.9

you say it over and over and over you have a chance.

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