The Art of Unstoppable Self-Belief - Joe Santagato - #1108

Modern Wisdom

Chris Williamson

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2026

⏱️ 164 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joe Santagato is a comedian and podcaster. What’s on the other side of self-belief? For Joe Santagato, it was raw authenticity. By betting on himself, he turned The Basement Yard into a podcast powerhouse and recently sold out Madison Square Garden. How did he do it, and what can we learn from his journey? Expect to learn which state has the most sexually satisfied women, why Joe’s audience is mostly women, why trying hard suddenly became uncool, what allowed Joe to become more vulnerable, how to engineer more fun at work, advice for anyone who doesn’t believe in themselves and much more… Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/deals⁠⁠ Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom Get a free bottle of D3K2, an AG1 Welcome Kit, and more when you first subscribe at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom Get 15% off your first order of my favourite Non-Alcoholic Brew at https://athleticbrewing.com/modernwisdom Get ChatGPT to explore ideas, solve problems, and learn faster at ⁠https://chatgpt.com Timestamps: (0:00) How Joe Sold Out Madison Square Garden (4:32) The Cult Following of The Basement Yard (6:12) Who’s Having the Best Sex in the US? (8:20) Does Bear Spray Actually Work? (14:00) Why Self-Belief Changes Everything (20:23) The Secret to Building Confidence (25:49) Why Do Women Love The Basement Yard? (26:52) Does Imposter Syndrome Slow Joe Down? (31:33) Why Obsession Is a Superpower (36:50) Does Lack of Direction Kill Ambition? (44:04) When Did Trying Hard Become Lame? (50:09) Is Authenticity Your Biggest Advantage? (55:07) Turning Mistakes Into Momentum (01:02:13) How Family Shapes Who You Become (01:12:24) What Do Single Guys Do After 7pm? (01:23:16) How to Protect Your Creativity (01:28:08) Why You Shouldn’t Force Creativity (01:33:30) The Importance of Keeping Work and Play Separate (01:42:13) The Biggest Opportunities Joe Has Turned Down (01:52:21) How to Be Authentic Without Being Impulsive (02:02:02) What Matters Most in Life? (02:15:46) You Need to Just Do It (02:30:03) Why Fear Is Part of the Process (02:32:10) The Power of Knowing Who You Are (02:42:56) Where to Find Joe Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/books⁠⁠ Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: ⁠⁠https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom⁠⁠ Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠ #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠ #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ - Get In Touch: Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/contact⁠⁠ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Joe Santagato, welcome the show.
0:01.8	Wow, that was intense.
0:02.7	You said my name, like, so British.
0:04.6	I love it.
0:05.3	Thank you for having me.
0:06.3	I have to pronounce it correctly, okay? Yeah, it's a tough one. People just read and they say Santiago. And I'm like, all right. Anybody comes up to me and they're like, are you Joe Santiago? I'm like, yeah. Like, whatever. Imagine if there's a really famous Joe Santiago somewhere that's like this guy keeps on taking all of my cred.
0:22.0	I assume that that has to be the case, but... a really famous Joe Santiago somewhere that's like, this guy keeps on taking all of my cred.
0:22.0	I assume that that has to be the case, but it's just me. Plain old white.
0:26.5	That's true.
0:27.0	Italian Irish.
0:27.8	That's true.
0:29.8	Plain and white as you can get.
0:31.5	Actually, plainer and white or is British, but...
0:33.7	That is fair.
0:34.6	Yeah.
0:34.9	You have one of the biggest podcasts in the world and you recently sold out
0:39.0	Madison Square Garden yeah if you were to draw a Venn diagram of your audience yeah and my audience
0:47.8	right how much how much uh how much crossover do we think there is?
0:56.6	I think it would look like the front of a Jeep, dude.
0:59.0	Just like, just kind of like, you know what I mean?
1:04.0	I think so.
1:05.0	I mean, I think that people are, you like that one.
	...

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