Spartan Up! - A Spartan Race For The Mind!

Howard Chang was a karate champion at 17, but he derives more satisfaction from being bad at something than he does from being a master. At 17 he completely switched gears to endurance racing, a sport which he admits no natural affinity towards. He eventually excelled at that as well. Learning to fail and get back up, Chang believes,  is the key to success in any endeavor, and he is eager to practice this at every opportunity. Not content with the everyday challenges of life, Chang seeks out adversity. This gritty strategy has propelled him to high places. He is currently CEO of a Toronto ad agency which is renowned for its high standards of environmental and social responsibility.Lessons:1. The fast track to growth is to take on a challenge you're not necessarily good at and let adversity be your teacher.2. The ability to fail, pick back up and rebuild is essential in business.3. Don't coddle your kids. Teach them a work ethic while still allowing them the freedom to have adventures. Don't shield them from d

Carl Quintanilla, weekend NBC Nightly News anchor, decided to make the jump from The Wall Street Journal to Television when the future of print looked uncertain. Though he has secured a coveted position, he initially paid his dues by always saying yes to opportunities, including reporting in Iraq, where by that time, fortunately, hostilities were on the wane. The resilience he built up in such an ambitious career track explains why he coasted through the Spartan course prior to the interview. Joe and Carl discuss what they have learned through their interactions with the successful as well techniques that have helped them in their own lives.Lessons:1. Set a limited time to reflect on failure (3 days max) then move forward.2. In general, yes is the best answer. Don't build walls.3. The key to success is surviving long enough to get lucky.

Dr. Galasso has, in his work with developmentally disabled Spartans, motivated some 2000 gritty children across the finish line. This endeavor is a great model for the no less formidable challenge parents face in setting a worthy course for their own kids. In this episode Galasso describes a strategy framed by hope, healing, empowerment and connection. Celebrate Father's Day by striving to be the type of parent that enables his children to thrive in the face of life's obstacles.1.Support children in a way that instills the belief that they are capable of anything.2. Notice the things you like about your kids, even in the teen years.3. Being a strong father figure is the will increase the chance that your children follow a righteous path.

Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, is an extreme example of the high school reunion paradox. We all have seen it. Homecoming kings and queens who have sunk into mediocrity while awkward "nobodies" have somehow made it big. Costello, the one who was always picked last for the team, is now CEO of Twitter. He describes how he used his perpetual outsider status to scrap his way to the top. His strategy is surprisingly simple; it's only the execution that's difficult.1. With enough perseverance even the most unlikely to succeed may find themselves on top.2. Simply being willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations is the best way to build resilience.3. Success in business is like forestry management: you may be surrounded by wildfires, but the key is to identify and extinguish the most urgent ones first.

The Underground Strength Training crew is about to be subjected to a 24 hr. workout, but as entrepreneurs they are well accustomed to that dynamic. They have some great insight (Like the failsafe man in the mirror test) on what it takes to navigate through the hard times in service of a passion. http://www.spartanuppodcast.com/038  Lessons:1. Look at sacrifices made for success as an investment.2. If you can delay gratification, you will be more successful in all areas of life.3. Find your why by telling it to yourself in the mirror since it’s almost impossible to lie to yourself this way.4. Surround yourself with supportive people of a like mind, if they can’t be found in person find them in books and podcasts.

Dan Richards, Global Rescue CEO, is here to remind you that there’s a fine line between pushing through adversity and putting yourself in unreasonable peril. His company Global Rescue rescues those who walk that line then somehow slip, any place in the world. He shares stories of some of those rescues and what they taught him. http://www.spartanuppodcast.com/037Lessons:1. Never underestimate the environment.2. You need to correctly calibrate your perception of risk to the environment you're entering and not just try to push through adversity. 3. The law of numbers will catch up with you, so scout out risks beforehand by analyzing the situation.

How far would you take a dare, especially one that started as a joke? These guys took it all the way up Mont Ventoux, the iconic slog of the Tour de France, on a clunky cumbersome rental bike built for flat city lanes. They attempt the same feat up Mt. Washington.  Why? Because others were calling it impossible. They were also driven by a worthy cause, Macmillan Cancer Support. Faced with adversity every step of the way, they pushed forward, always eking out a solution. Their achievement epitomizes the adage "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid." http://www.spartanuppodcast.com/036Lessons:1. People saying it's impossible makes it all the better.2. Keep going even when it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Things will often pull together at the last moment.3. Just start it.

Professor Robert Sternberg, psychologist and psychometrician thinks schools have been testing and teaching the wrong qualities for the last century. What if we've been frittering away vast amounts of human potential in that same time frame? Cornell Professor Sternberg has found that success in academics and in life is more closely tied to creative and practical thinking, wisdom and ethics than it is to IQ and memorization, the measures currently in use. He's on a mission to shake things up. Sternberg also has some invaluable advice on perseverance and seeing through our passions, and he speaks from experience as his path stretches all the way back  to elementary school.http://spartanuppodcast.com/035Lessons:1. The most valuable qualities for success are not tested for in schools: creative and practical thought, wisdom and ethics.2. Keep going in the face of obstacles; persevere, but also realize when you're in the wrong race.3. Achieving success is not always getting to your original goal. Sometimes the path

As superhuman as skilled parkour practitioners appear, Dan Edwardes reveals a very different view of the sport he helped popularize. Through running, jumping, crawling and climbing it brings us back to our roots, the functional ways that humans were meant to move, quite apart from the desk jockeying and couch denting now common. According to Edwardes, Parkour is a metaphor for life: one person's obstacle is another's stepping stone. As he proves, this amazing sport has the ability to completely flip flop your frame of reference. www.SpartanUpPodcast.com/034Lessons:1. Treat fear like a cowardly friend--it's advice might be right some of the time, but you wouldn't want it to rule your life.2. Obstacles are really stepping stones we can use to better our lives.3. If you are content on the path you have chosen, then you are successful no matter the opinion of others.

For the founder, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, getting fired in the prime of his career is the best thing that ever happened to Barry Sternlicht. He recruited a couple of friends, borrowed a few million dollars, followed a business plan that bucked all conventions, and set off on a path that would make him a real estate and hotel investing star. He tucked away this mantra in his wallet for eight years: “Perseverance is genius in disguise.” He found it in a fortune cookie. Sternlicht, in fact, is a treasure trove of adages which have no doubt driven him through the tough times. His father, a holocaust survivor, was one of his first inspirations.  www.SpartanUpPodcast.com/033Lessons:1. Perseverance is genius in disguise.2. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.3. Find the freight trains in your life and then get on them instead of in front of them.

Amit Kumar studies happiness at Cornell University. Can money make you happier? Is the key to happiness a newer car, bigger TV, & more electronic gadgets. That's what the ads tell us, but according to happiness expert Amit Kumar, enduring happiness is manifested through experiences. That's great news for everyone who has ripped themselves off of the couch. And though many of you undoubtedly drew that conclusion already, Kumar explains the fascinating theories behind it. www.SpartanUpPodcast.com/032Lessons:1. Experiences and not material goods lead to long term happiness.2. Due to our capacity for adaptation, you can live a happy life after a negative event.3. The “hedonic treadmill” will not sustain happiness; you will always need to “up the dose” of material goods.

Jimmy Binns will never stop challenging himself. Becoming a police officer at age 74 is just the latest in a lifetime of impressive feats. He passed the bar exam in 20 states just to see if he could, was a marathoner and a boxer. He was a lawyer to the boxers, most notably representing Don King against Mike Tyson, and practiced for half a century. His track record of determination and perseverance is legend and inspirational.www.SpartanUpPodcast.com/031Lessons:1. Motivation is a contagion. If you're around motivated people you'll either drop out or become motivated.2. Preparation is everything.3. You're never too old to take on a serious challenge.

A marathon finisher on seven continents, an aerial skiing Olympic hopeful, head of a prostate cancer awareness foundation, and she’s just 15. That's just how Winter Vinecki rolls. She already holds a world record and she is nowhere close to her prime. She nurtures a healthy positivity that covers all eventualities. Should anything go awry, she's still on track to go to Stanford and perhaps try a little skydiving. Winter leaves little doubt that she'll succeed no matter her path.www.SpartanUpPodcast.com/030Lessons:1. A worthy cause is a great motivator.2. Active and supportive parents are great role models.3. Have a good backup plan.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes holds the greatest number of exploring world records of any living person and almost inconceivable endurance in every facet of his extraordinary life. Considered the world's greatest explorer, he has a decidedly different take on concepts such as grit, obstacle resistance and success. But even if his views don't take on the traditional motivational parlance, they have clearly worked in his life, an extraordinary one to say the least. http://spartanuppodcast.com/029Lessons:1. You never “reach success”; you're only as good as your last movie.2. It’s never too late to face your fears.3. To surmount obstacles, have a cup of tea and figure out how to go around them.

Risa Mish, an expert in critical thinking, problem solving & leadership teaches at Cornell. In her interview she shares critical thinking tips that apply to life, business and racing. Learn how and when to set aside assumptions, why more experience isn’t always better, why flexibility is important and some concrete ways you can bring these lessons into your life.  Mish demonstrates how critical thinking can move us with greater success through a race, business and life.  Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com/028Lessons:1. Mitigate failures by predicting ways you might fail and troubleshooting preemptively.2. Place yourself around people who are different than yourself as a way checking your biases.3. Problems always have multiple causes.

Until Joe dragged him out to do burpees, Wes Chapman hadn't  formally exercised in fifteen years, but don't label him gritless. He is the founder of three successful podcasts and is a master at identifying and fomenting human potential where many have lost hope. When he calls people who want to change the world cocky, crazy, stupid yet confident, one has the sneaking suspicion he's engaging in self deprecation. He has started A Human Project which empowers troubled youth to rise above their situation through respecting them, and it is bound be world altering.Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com/027   Lessons:1. Empower troubled kids by giving them responsibility and ownership over their situation.2. To change the world you have to be cocky enough to think you can, crazy enough to know you can, stupid enough to actually try, and confident enough to share the responsibility.3. Just be good and it doesn't matter what you believe in.

Crawling toward the Iron Man Kona finish line, the end in sight, Chris Legh collapsed before he could reach it. Despite winning 96 triathlons, Chris Legh is best known for the one he DNFed. He clawed his way into contention only to fall violently ill. Legh staggered towards the finish line but fainted and crossed the finish line unofficially, prostrate on a stretcher. It took a lot of guts, as you'll find out, but he thinks you'd do the same thing in his position. Whether you would or not is largely a question on how much you take Legh's compelling lessons on grit to heart.Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com Lessons:1. It's only pain.2. Don't do anything half heartedly; make a decision and focus on something with all your power.3. To stay motivated, get an hour down the road even if you're tired, and chances are you'll go further anyway.

Richard Branson defies conventional wisdom on success. With Virgin Airlines - he started a thriving airline literally in an afternoon. With Virgin Cola - he took one of the most successful companies of all time head on and almost won. With Necker Island - he acquired the island first believing that the money to develop it would show up eventually, it did. A notorious adventurer, Branson is clearly, within reason, not afraid to live.Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com    Lessons:1. Get out of your comfort zone and go into the world and explore.2. Push yourself beyond your limits.3. Practice balance. Learn to trust your instincts.4. Find fun ways to stay fit - involve your friends and family.5. Look for the best in people. There is always something special to acknowledge in a person.6. Forgiveness mends.7. Expect things to be hard along the way but be sure to enjoy the sense of satisfaction from simply trying and being on the journey.

Matt Segal, an accomplished rock climber, will be returning to the Bugaboos in British Columbia for the fourth time this summer. Their seeming insurmountability almost got him down, but their inspiration lifted Segal right back up again. Where else would he be except faced with all the things he loves--beauty, challenge, the thrill of a first ascent, and the satisfaction of overcoming failure? This is Segal's formula for creating a life filled with passion and grit.   Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com Lessons: 1. To prevent burning out from your passion, vary the ways you practice it.2. Letting yourself be inspired by the objective paves the way to success.3. If you're succeeding all the time, you're not trying hard enough.

Mark Owen was one of the SEALSs on the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden.  He revels in the gritty life. He prefers not the sugar cookies taken with tea, but the variety Navy SEALs dole out--soldiers moistened and rolled in beach sand and made to tolerate it the rest of the day. This is the kind of discomfort Owen loves, that forges men. Find out what molded him through his rugged childhood in the extremes of Alaska. He's mastered getting through tough times and his secret is surprisingly simple. Find it in this episode and get on the fast track to grit.Watch the video episode at http://spartanuppodcast.com Lessons:1. The only easy day is yesterday.2. Break difficult tasks to one bite at a time and prioritize. The greater the pressure, the smaller the bites.3. Be all in all the time. Do what you're doing in the moment the best you can.4. Put everything in perspective. If you've done it before, you can do it again.Panel Notes:Joe Desena: Who jumps into ice cold water in third grade in Alaska and then starts