"Dustin Luce, and his wife, Emily, are Coach Sam’s special guests in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit."  Parable #1: Intro to Warrior   Garrett’s provocative ads caught Dustin’s attention and introduced him to the world of Warrior. He purchased WarriorBook in the fall of 2017,  joined KingsKit in the summer of 2018, and attended WCON3 in December of that year. Upon attending WCON3, Dustin quickly realized this was not going to be a “normal” conference.  “It was an immersion that was scary and mesmerizing at the same time. I was thinking this is not normal AND I’m hungry for it!” As he received the invite to attend Warrior Week, Dustin felt he needed to do it, but at the same time was really nervous about stepping forward into it. “I’ve never spent that much money on myself – EVER – and I had never stepped out and made myself that uncomfortable.”  What was your initial response to Garrett’s ads and presence?   Parable #2: Warrior Week  Dustin describes day one as an explosion of sorts. Amidst the chaos, he knew he needed to trust the process. “Walking into it, I was shaking, not knowing what to expect. There was fear as well as certainty as we were led into a place of not being able to hide. That day could’ve been a week.” Dustin received a personal message from the Voice on day two. “We were on the beach where we had just finished crawling a mile through the sand on legs that were bleeding. We huddled up as brothers, looking out on the ocean. As I leaned back into the arms of one of the coaches, with all the brothers’ hands on my heart, it was simply a realization that I AM ENOUGH.”  What message have you received from the Voice recently?  Parable #3: From Euphoria to Drifting  Coming out of Warrior Week, Dustin experienced euphoria. Suddenly he was wide awake! It was as if he had never had there for his family, and then all of a sudden, he was. Emily explains, “There was a distinct change. He loved on his family; he wanted to know about all of us and wanted to have detailed conversations with us. He was so hungry to get to know us.” Many people believe that when they arrive at a place where life is good, they’ve essentially “arrived.” However, life will always be filled with challenges that lead to constant expansion. “That feeling [of euphoria] can drift away, and that’s where the daily work is necessary. If you don’t do that and are not plugged in, and are not part of a brotherhood to challenge you and call you out, it does go away.”  What is your daily routine that keeps the fire within burning?  Parable #4: Numb From the Hunt  At church recently, the Voice shared a message with Dustin. “Men hunt for the bacon, but in the process, they lose the thing they were supposedly fighting for. They are numb from the hunt. We’re building this empire, but then we lose our family in the process. How does that make any sense? I am building the canister and filling it. I’ve been awoken, and now I must train and equip.” “Your children are arrows in your quiver. As parents, we can only go so far. Our goal is to shoot them as far as we possibly can. The question becomes, how can I train daily, not for me but for my kids? How can I equip them to go so much further than I can?”  What are you doing to train your children?  Parable #5: Isolation  Coach Sam explains, “In a world filled with technology that connects us, we are actually very disconnected. When it comes to social media, so many are sucked into that vortex that creates doubt and fear in the game of constant comparison. And within a window of five seconds, you can receive a message from someone that can completely make you feel worse.” Many parents are sucked into the social media vortex and, as a result, avoid their children. “Your head is in this world [social media]. It’s today’s reality. On one side, it connects us; it’s beautiful. On the other side, it keeps us apart. COVID and all of the restrictions are reinforcing this isolation.”  What can you do to create more connection vs. isolation?   “Parables From The Pit”  “There’s only one thing that is a cure for ‘numb from the hunt,’ which is awareness, aka, awaken and remember. Being aware of the fact that men are numb, they must remind themselves of their priorities, and realize they are constantly going to be going up and down. It’s in that up and down process that men actually move up.”  –Sam Falsafi “I’m seeing a massive level of certainty and confidence moving forward. It’s a baseline that’s positioned where we have every opportunity in front of us. It’s not coming from a place of lack; it’s coming from a place of growth.” — Dustin Luce “We’re ending this year on a really positive note of growth. It’s very disturbing what’s going on in the world, but we’re not entering 2021 depressed; we’re already steamrolling forward.” –Emily Luce

"Dustin Luce, and his wife, Emily, are Coach Sam’s special guests in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit." Parable #1: Intro to Warrior <ul> <li> Garrett’s provocative ads caught Dustin’s attention and introduced him to the world of Warrior. He purchased WarriorBook in the fall of 2017,  joined KingsKit in the summer of 2018, and attended WCON3 in December of that year. Upon attending WCON3, Dustin quickly realized this was not going to be a “normal” conference.  “It was an immersion that was scary and mesmerizing at the same time. I was thinking this is not normal AND I’m hungry for it!”</li> <li>As he received the invite to attend Warrior Week, Dustin felt he needed to do it, but at the same time was really nervous about stepping forward into it. “I’ve never spent that much money on myself – EVER – and I had never stepped out and made myself that uncomfortable.”</li> </ul> What was your initial response to Garrett’s ads and presence? Parable #2: Warrior Week <ul> <li>Dustin describes day one as an explosion of sorts. Amidst the chaos, he knew he needed to trust the process. “Walking into it, I was shaking, not knowing what to expect. There was fear as well as certainty as we were led into a place of not being able to hide. That day could’ve been a week.”</li> <li>Dustin received a personal message from the Voice on day two. “We were on the beach where we had just finished crawling a mile through the sand on legs that were bleeding. We huddled up as brothers, looking out on the ocean. As I leaned back into the arms of one of the coaches, with all the brothers’ hands on my heart, it was simply a realization that I AM ENOUGH.”</li> </ul> What message have you received from the Voice recently? Parable #3: From Euphoria to Drifting <ul> <li>Coming out of Warrior Week, Dustin experienced euphoria. Suddenly he was wide awake! It was as if he had never had there for his family, and then all of a sudden, he was. Emily explains, “There was a distinct change. He loved on his family; he wanted to know about all of us and wanted to have detailed conversations with us. He was so hungry to get to know us.”</li> <li>Many people believe that when they arrive at a place where life is good, they’ve essentially “arrived.” However, life will always be filled with challenges that lead to constant expansion. “That feeling [of euphoria] can drift away, and that’s where the daily work is necessary. If you don’t do that and are not plugged in, and are not part of a brotherhood to challenge you and call you out, it does go away.”</li> </ul> What is your daily routine that keeps the fire within burning? Parable #4: Numb From the Hunt <ul> <li>At church recently, the Voice shared a message with Dustin. “Men hunt for the bacon, but in the process, they lose the thing they were supposedly fighting for. They are numb from the hunt. We’re building this empire, but then we lose our family in the process. How does that make any sense? I am building the canister and filling it. I’ve been awoken, and now I must train and equip.”</li> <li>“Your children are arrows in your quiver. As parents, we can only go so far. Our goal is to shoot them as far as we possibly can. The question becomes, how can I train daily, not for me but for my kids? How can I equip them to go so much further than I can?”</li> </ul> What are you doing to train your children? Parable #5: Isolation <ul> <li>Coach Sam explains, “In a world filled with technology that connects us, we are actually very disconnected. When it comes to social media, so many are sucked into that vortex that creates doubt and fear in the game of constant comparison. And within a window of five seconds, you can receive a message from someone that can completely make you feel worse.”</li> <li>Many parents are sucked into the social media vortex and, as a result, avoid their children. “Your head is in this world [social media]. It’s today’s reality. On one side, it connects us; it’s beautiful. On the other side, it keeps us apart. COVID and all of the restrictions are reinforcing this isolation.”</li> </ul> What can you do to create more connection vs. isolation? “Parables From The Pit” “There’s only one thing that is a cure for ‘numb from the hunt,’ which is awareness, aka, awaken and remember. Being aware of the fact that men are numb, they must remind themselves of their priorities, and realize they are constantly going to be going up and down. It’s in that up and down process that men actually move up.” –Sam Falsafi “I’m seeing a massive level of certainty and confidence moving forward. It’s a baseline that’s positioned where we have every opportunity in front of us. It’s not coming from a place of lack; it’s coming from a place of growth.” — Dustin Luce “We’re ending this year on a really positive note of growth. It’s very disturbing what’s going on in the world, but we’re not entering 2021 depressed; we’re already steamrolling forward.” –Emily Luce

ARROWS In Your QUIVER | Warrior Week: Parables From The Pit | EP 104

"Matt Edmundson, Warrior Week 61graduate, and his sixteen-year-old son, Kade, join Coach Sam Falsafi in this special episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit."  Parable #1: The Gates Of Warrior   In 2018, Matt found himself in a dark place, blaming everyone for everything that was going ‘wrong’ in his life. It was at that time he bought WarriorBook, read it cover to cover, and tried living the Warrior’s Way by himself. He was also listening to the Warrior On Fire podcast with his family, but when it was brought in-house only, Matt lost his fire and was back to square one. Whereas Matt was first turned off by Garrett’s message, he began identifying with Garrett’s life experience of trying to find a path, improve himself, constantly learning, and then bumping into walls. Matt found he was always trying to do things by himself, his pride and ego getting in the way of asking for help.   What was your first intro to Warrior? How did you respond?   Parable #2: What Is Required?  The Warrior Week experience came across to Matt as an intense boot camp experience.  He wasn’t in a good place physically at that time and was not interested in intentionally “beating myself up.”  Matt realized he was avoiding what was necessary to move forward. “I want what’s on the other side, but I’m not willing to do what’s required  to get there.”  Where in your world do you avoid that which you know will help move you forward?  Parable #3: Conditions to Conclusions   Coach Sam reminds us that we all have different current conditions, aka, one might be overweight, another might be lost or have an addiction, etc. Many people fall into a belief their current condition is the way things will ALWAYS be, not realizing that their current conditions do not define their entire life experience. “So many men just ‘conclude.’ This shit went wrong, so I must be an idiot, I must not be worth it, I must be evil. We are so quick to place labels on ourselves.“ The reality is, the stories we run in our minds create our circumstances, whether it be freedom or self-made prisons.  What are the beliefs you hold onto around your current conditions?  Parable #4: Before &amp; After Warrior Week  Balance was the reason Matt initially came to Warrior Week but he quickly discovered the real reason was that he was lacking a connection to God. “During my life, I had been leading with my brain and had been rewarded for that. It was during Warrior Week that I surrendered my brain, and connected to my heart.” After Warrior Week, Matt thought he would have all his shit figured out and have all the answers. But the first day back into his regular environment, he felt like he had never left. “Everything around me collapsed right back to who I was.”  What was your experience after Warrior Week?  Parable #5: The Sixteen-Year-Old World  Kade shared what he views as the current 16 year-old-prison. “There’s a lot of pressure with social media and how everyone portrays their life as amazing, which causes us to question our own life.” Kade knows he must answer the questions: Who am I? What is my purpose in the world? What am I put here to do? What do I want to be? And inside of the current COVID restrictions, he must put himself in the right position to succeed and find his own way, rather than sedate all day.   What can you do to assist your teens inside of the current world conditions?   “Parables From The Pit”  “Our current condition doesn’t define the conclusion.”  –Sam Falsafi “Without judgment, there is a level of acceptance that we all have our shit, and we’re all a bit crazy. But within Warrior, we can all envision a future self that is bigger and better, and are committed to trying to find the way forward to achieve what that is…and continue leveling up.” — Matt Edmundson “…as like a seed of doubt, right now, some kids will just go home and play video games all day, and not deal with the world. Or, a lot of other people just don’t talk about it and internalize it.” –Kade Edmundson, 16

"Matt Edmundson, Warrior Week 61graduate, and his sixteen-year-old son, Kade, join Coach Sam Falsafi in this special episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit." Parable #1: The Gates Of Warrior <ul> <li> In 2018, Matt found himself in a dark place, blaming everyone for everything that was going ‘wrong’ in his life. It was at that time he bought WarriorBook, read it cover to cover, and tried living the Warrior’s Way by himself. He was also listening to the Warrior On Fire podcast with his family, but when it was brought in-house only, Matt lost his fire and was back to square one.</li> <li>Whereas Matt was first turned off by Garrett’s message, he began identifying with Garrett’s life experience of trying to find a path, improve himself, constantly learning, and then bumping into walls. Matt found he was always trying to do things by himself, his pride and ego getting in the way of asking for help. </li> </ul> What was your first intro to Warrior? How did you respond? Parable #2: What Is Required? <ul> <li>The Warrior Week experience came across to Matt as an intense boot camp experience.  He wasn’t in a good place physically at that time and was not interested in intentionally “beating myself up.” </li> <li>Matt realized he was avoiding what was necessary to move forward. “I want what’s on the other side, but I’m not willing to do what’s required  to get there.”</li> </ul> Where in your world do you avoid that which you know will help move you forward? Parable #3: Conditions to Conclusions  <ul> <li>Coach Sam reminds us that we all have different current conditions, aka, one might be overweight, another might be lost or have an addiction, etc. Many people fall into a belief their current condition is the way things will ALWAYS be, not realizing that their current conditions do not define their entire life experience.</li> <li>“So many men just ‘conclude.’ This shit went wrong, so I must be an idiot, I must not be worth it, I must be evil. We are so quick to place labels on ourselves.“ The reality is, the stories we run in our minds create our circumstances, whether it be freedom or self-made prisons.</li> </ul> What are the beliefs you hold onto around your current conditions? Parable #4: Before &amp; After Warrior Week <ul> <li>Balance was the reason Matt initially came to Warrior Week but he quickly discovered the real reason was that he was lacking a connection to God. “During my life, I had been leading with my brain and had been rewarded for that. It was during Warrior Week that I surrendered my brain, and connected to my heart.”</li> <li>After Warrior Week, Matt thought he would have all his shit figured out and have all the answers. But the first day back into his regular environment, he felt like he had never left. “Everything around me collapsed right back to who I was.”</li> </ul> What was your experience after Warrior Week? Parable #5: The Sixteen-Year-Old World <ul> <li>Kade shared what he views as the current 16 year-old-prison. “There’s a lot of pressure with social media and how everyone portrays their life as amazing, which causes us to question our own life.”</li> <li>Kade knows he must answer the questions: Who am I? What is my purpose in the world? What am I put here to do? What do I want to be? And inside of the current COVID restrictions, he must put himself in the right position to succeed and find his own way, rather than sedate all day. </li> </ul> What can you do to assist your teens inside of the current world conditions? “Parables From The Pit” “Our current condition doesn’t define the conclusion.” –Sam Falsafi “Without judgment, there is a level of acceptance that we all have our shit, and we’re all a bit crazy. But within Warrior, we can all envision a future self that is bigger and better, and are committed to trying to find the way forward to achieve what that is…and continue leveling up.” — Matt Edmundson “…as like a seed of doubt, right now, some kids will just go home and play video games all day, and not deal with the world. Or, a lot of other people just don’t talk about it and internalize it.” –Kade Edmundson, 16

CURRENT CONDITIONS Do Not Define CONCLUSIONS | Warrior Week: Parables From The Pit | EP 103

Welcome to a very special episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit with Coach Sam and Warrior Week 57 graduate Marc Beauchamp.    Parable #1: Retire vs. The Next Challenge    Marc’s first immersion into living the Warrior’s Way came via KingsKit 2 in 2018. At the time, life appeared successful from the outside looking in, yet Marc was bored and had no new challenges going on in his life. He wanted to get his fire back.  It was during WC3 where he felt the push to apply for Warrior Week. “I was 55 and running a large payment-processing company. One day my wife said, “We’ve got it made, we’ll retire and travel…” But Marc was far from that place and was ready to climb the next hill in front of him.    Where in your world is the next hill you know you must climb?    Parable #2: Release the Rage    Marc remembers the first day of Warrior Week being “a long-ass day!” Having released and dealt with a lot of rage about his father, Marc was certain there was nothing left to process.  Late that night, he realized residual resentment remained as he let go of a “shit load of rage,’ afterward feeling liberated and free.    Where are you still holding onto rage about something from the past?   Parable #3: Pain, the Great Motivator    September 15, 1990, is a significant date and turning point in Marc’s life. It’s the last day he had a drink. “30 years ago, I was literally close to death. The choice was to either quit drinking or die.”  Marc had hit rock bottom. His first wife left with their one-year-old daughter; he had no money, no car…nothing. “Pain was a great motivator for me.  While today l change proactively, back then I had to have something like pain to change me.” He credits everything he has in his life today to that pivotal decision to not take another drink.    What message is the pain in your life telling you?   Parable #4: Under the Influence    Coach Sam experienced a life-changing moment twelve years ago in 2008 while on a business trip. This is the year he chose not to take another drink. For him, it wasn’t about the pain; it was more of a natural path.  He no longer associates drinking with having fun. Instead, he has found non-alcoholic beer to be a delicious and satisfying substitute. “When under the influence of alcohol, we were not ourselves,” remarked Coach Sam. It’s not that something is wrong with you if you drink or that those who don’t drink are better than those who do. However, they agree that with any drink or drug, you are no longer yourself; instead, you’re under the influence of whatever you’re drinking or ingesting.    What is the message speaking to your heart?   Parable #5: 30-Day Challenge    Coach Sam is extending a challenge to you. “Listen to the Voice without being under the influence of alcohol for 30 days. Then evaluate your relationship with God, your wife, your kids, yourself…and life itself. Ask yourself how your life improved, evaluate the quality of your prayers/communication with God. While Marc and Coach Sam have challenges in other areas of their life, cutting out alcohol is one less thing they have to worry about.“ Marc also cut out smoking. “Once I started seeing these changes and effects in my life, it created momentum.”    Are you ready to take the challenge?     "Parables From The Pit"   “Zero delay in transactions is the name of the game with Marc Beauchamp.”    --Sam Falsafi   “A lot of guys have no issue with alcohol. But for me, I had to figure out who I was without it.”   -- Marc Beauchamp   coachfinancing.com marc@coachfinancing.com

Welcome to a very special episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit with Coach Sam and Warrior Week 57 graduate Marc Beauchamp. Parable #1: Retire vs. The Next Challenge <ul> <li>Marc’s first immersion into living the Warrior’s Way came via KingsKit 2 in 2018. At the time, life appeared successful from the outside looking in, yet Marc was bored and had no new challenges going on in his life. He wanted to get his fire back. </li> <li>It was during WC3 where he felt the push to apply for Warrior Week. “I was 55 and running a large payment-processing company. One day my wife said, “We’ve got it made, we’ll retire and travel…” But Marc was far from that place and was ready to climb the next hill in front of him.</li> </ul> Where in your world is the next hill you know you must climb? Parable #2: Release the Rage <ul> <li>Marc remembers the first day of Warrior Week being “a long-ass day!” Having released and dealt with a lot of rage about his father, Marc was certain there was nothing left to process. </li> <li>Late that night, he realized residual resentment remained as he let go of a “shit load of rage,’ afterward feeling liberated and free.</li> </ul> Where are you still holding onto rage about something from the past? Parable #3: Pain, the Great Motivator <ul> <li>September 15, 1990, is a significant date and turning point in Marc’s life. It’s the last day he had a drink. “30 years ago, I was literally close to death. The choice was to either quit drinking or die.”  Marc had hit rock bottom. His first wife left with their one-year-old daughter; he had no money, no car…nothing.</li> <li>“Pain was a great motivator for me.  While today l change proactively, back then I had to have something like pain to change me.” He credits everything he has in his life today to that pivotal decision to not take another drink.</li> </ul> What message is the pain in your life telling you? Parable #4: Under the Influence <ul> <li>Coach Sam experienced a life-changing moment twelve years ago in 2008 while on a business trip. This is the year he chose not to take another drink. For him, it wasn’t about the pain; it was more of a natural path.  He no longer associates drinking with having fun. Instead, he has found non-alcoholic beer to be a delicious and satisfying substitute.</li> <li>“When under the influence of alcohol, we were not ourselves,” remarked Coach Sam. It’s not that something is wrong with you if you drink or that those who don’t drink are better than those who do. However, they agree that with any drink or drug, you are no longer yourself; instead, you’re under the influence of whatever you’re drinking or ingesting.</li> </ul> What is the message speaking to your heart? Parable #5: 30-Day Challenge <ul> <li>Coach Sam is extending a challenge to you. “Listen to the Voice without being under the influence of alcohol for 30 days. Then evaluate your relationship with God, your wife, your kids, yourself…and life itself. Ask yourself how your life improved, evaluate the quality of your prayers/communication with God.</li> <li>While Marc and Coach Sam have challenges in other areas of their life, cutting out alcohol is one less thing they have to worry about.“ Marc also cut out smoking. “Once I started seeing these changes and effects in my life, it created momentum.”</li> </ul> Are you ready to take the challenge? "Parables From The Pit" “Zero delay in transactions is the name of the game with Marc Beauchamp.” --Sam Falsafi “A lot of guys have no issue with alcohol. But for me, I had to figure out who I was without it.” -- Marc Beauchamp <a href="http://coachfinancing.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">coachfinancing.com</a> <a href="mailto:marc@coachfinancing.com">marc@coachfinancing.com</a>

Get HELP or DIE | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 102

Parable #1: Veneers, Lambos, and Surfing   Dr. Todd's first encounter with Warrior was through Garrett's wife, Danielle, who showed up in his dental clinic looking for veneers. Not long after that, he saw a Lamborghini in his parking lot one day, snapped a photo alongside it, and stepped into his office to find a tattooed man waiting for him.  After a couple of conversations and surfing sessions, coupled with a curiosity-driven visit to Garrett's online presence, Dr. Todd was all in with Warrior. "I was in a place at that point in time where his message resonated with me. I was burnt out in my career, I was stressed, and it cascaded over into my marriage and personal life, where everything felt stressed and overwhelming. I was going nowhere, and if anything, I was going backward and drowning."    How did Warrior come into your life?    Parable #2: Armor of Steel &amp; Emotional Backpacks    Coach Sam recognized Dr. Todd’s humility in their conversations. “You’re a doctor, you’re a healer, you’re a businessman. That, by itself, is a fuck combo, emotionally.” He understands why so many doctors, dentists, and surgeons feel alone because of the armor they have to constantly wear and never take off, in addition to the emotional backpack they carry around filled with things no one wants to talk about.  Dr. Todd explains that the majority of doctors and dentists are introverts and are not usually social, outgoing people. Over time, the artistry of building and fixing teeth becomes who you are. It’s common to take things personally or beat yourself up when something doesn’t work correctly or when a patient complains. This leads to burn-out and dentists wanting to throw the towel in after twenty years in.    How has the reality of "we don't talk about it" affected your life?   Parable #3: The Many Faces of Dr. Todd    There’s the crazy soul that pushes things to the edge, the calculated doctor, the healer whose heart kicks in, and the artist extraordinaire that creates. At the end of the day, it’s his hands and fingers that are the agency of his art. As such, it creates a wide-open space for the plague of elf-sabotage to inch its way in. Dr. Todd thought that Warrior might be a way out for him. “I was definitely conflicted with all the different things I was doing. To drop everything and just start doing Warrior was interesting. After doing my own thing for so many years, and then instantly stopping and having someone telling me what to do was tough for me." The lead-up process to Warrior Week itself was not an easy process for Dr. Todd, nor was it an enjoyable one. It was actually brutal and exposed lies and stories he was unaware of.    How many different hats are you wearing daily?   Parable #4: Soul Searching    With so many different personalities vying for his attention, Dr. Todd questioned who was it that he actually wanted to be? This entailed a lot of soul-searching and questioning on his part. He recognized that creation without follow-through or having too much creation, and too many battles to fight becomes a problem. He also came to recognize he lacked the necessary tools to handle the chaos he was experiencing and realized he needed to let go of the perfectionist in him. He began implementing 90-day challenges and creating weekly Doors to walk through.    How do you currently handle the chaos of life?   Parable #5: Legion    Dr. Todd has the opportunity to speak throughout the year to dentists worldwide, teaching the how-tos of dentistry. However, what is lacking is the opportunity to talk about life, problems, and chaos present in every dentist’s life. Over time, there is a massive buildup of emotional weight they carry with nowhere to talk about it. He created LEGION, an online experience that teaches dentists about what’s most important and equips them with the tools they will need. “At some point, you will have a meltdown, you will have some problems, and what you don’t realize is the problem is you.” Dr. Todd teaches them the Warrior doctrine and how it can save their family and business and allow them to have a good life going forward…if they choose to play the game.    What tools and weapons are in your arsenal to win the war?     "Parables From The Pit"   "There was a war that was brought upon our door. We’re in a transition to surviving 2020, but the goal is not to survive war; we’re here to win the fucking war. What we do now defines how we’re going to win in 2021.”    --Sam Falsafi   “My armor had holes in it, but I’ve built new armor…and I’m coming to help the rest of the dentists. My message? Let me show you what you could be doing so you’re working less, you’re making more, life is more fruitful, you have more time with your Maker, your family…and you’re passing it along to your children."   -- Dr. Todd Snyder

Parable #1: Veneers, Lambos, and Surfing <ul> <li>Dr. Todd's first encounter with Warrior was through Garrett's wife, Danielle, who showed up in his dental clinic looking for veneers. Not long after that, he saw a Lamborghini in his parking lot one day, snapped a photo alongside it, and stepped into his office to find a tattooed man waiting for him. </li> <li>After a couple of conversations and surfing sessions, coupled with a curiosity-driven visit to Garrett's online presence, Dr. Todd was all in with Warrior. "I was in a place at that point in time where his message resonated with me. I was burnt out in my career, I was stressed, and it cascaded over into my marriage and personal life, where everything felt stressed and overwhelming. I was going nowhere, and if anything, I was going backward and drowning."</li> </ul> How did Warrior come into your life? Parable #2: Armor of Steel &amp; Emotional Backpacks <ul> <li>Coach Sam recognized Dr. Todd’s humility in their conversations. “You’re a doctor, you’re a healer, you’re a businessman. That, by itself, is a fuck combo, emotionally.” He understands why so many doctors, dentists, and surgeons feel alone because of the armor they have to constantly wear and never take off, in addition to the emotional backpack they carry around filled with things no one wants to talk about. </li> <li>Dr. Todd explains that the majority of doctors and dentists are introverts and are not usually social, outgoing people. Over time, the artistry of building and fixing teeth becomes who you are. It’s common to take things personally or beat yourself up when something doesn’t work correctly or when a patient complains. This leads to burn-out and dentists wanting to throw the towel in after twenty years in.</li> </ul> How has the reality of "we don't talk about it" affected your life? Parable #3: The Many Faces of Dr. Todd <ul> <li>There’s the crazy soul that pushes things to the edge, the calculated doctor, the healer whose heart kicks in, and the artist extraordinaire that creates. At the end of the day, it’s his hands and fingers that are the agency of his art. As such, it creates a wide-open space for the plague of elf-sabotage to inch its way in. Dr. Todd thought that Warrior might be a way out for him.</li> <li>“I was definitely conflicted with all the different things I was doing. To drop everything and just start doing Warrior was interesting. After doing my own thing for so many years, and then instantly stopping and having someone telling me what to do was tough for me." The lead-up process to Warrior Week itself was not an easy process for Dr. Todd, nor was it an enjoyable one. It was actually brutal and exposed lies and stories he was unaware of.</li> </ul> How many different hats are you wearing daily? Parable #4: Soul Searching <ul> <li>With so many different personalities vying for his attention, Dr. Todd questioned who was it that he actually wanted to be? This entailed a lot of soul-searching and questioning on his part. He recognized that creation without follow-through or having too much creation, and too many battles to fight becomes a problem.</li> <li>He also came to recognize he lacked the necessary tools to handle the chaos he was experiencing and realized he needed to let go of the perfectionist in him. He began implementing 90-day challenges and creating weekly Doors to walk through.</li> </ul> How do you currently handle the chaos of life? Parable #5: Legion <ul> <li>Dr. Todd has the opportunity to speak throughout the year to dentists worldwide, teaching the how-tos of dentistry. However, what is lacking is the opportunity to talk about life, problems, and chaos present in every dentist’s life. Over time, there is a massive buildup of emotional weight they carry with nowhere to talk about it.</li> <li>He created LEGION, an online experience that teaches dentists about what’s most important and equips them with the tools they will need. “At some point, you will have a meltdown, you will have some problems, and what you don’t realize is the problem is you.” Dr. Todd teaches them the Warrior doctrine and how it can save their family and business and allow them to have a good life going forward…if they choose to play the game.</li> </ul> What tools and weapons are in your arsenal to win the war? "Parables From The Pit" "There was a war that was brought upon our door. We’re in a transition to surviving 2020, but the goal is not to survive war; we’re here to win the fucking war. What we do now defines how we’re going to win in 2021.” --Sam Falsafi “My armor had holes in it, but I’ve built new armor…and I’m coming to help the rest of the dentists. My message? Let me show you what you could be doing so you’re working less, you’re making more, life is more fruitful, you have more time with your Maker, your family…and you’re passing it along to your children." -- Dr. Todd Snyder

LEGION | Ep 101 | Warrior Week: Parables From The Pit

No doubt, 2020 came out of nowhere, and, for a time, human potential and momentum were seemingly put on pause. Human beings were “forced” to take a step back and revisit their strategizes and plans for the year. At the end of the day, it all comes down to focusing on what matters. Welcome to the 100th episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit, with head coach, Sam Falsafi, in this very special father-son edition with guests Mike Hardy and his son, Jacob.  warriorweeknow.com   Parable #1: Warrior Week 29 &amp; 51  Before Mike entered the gates of Warrior Week 29, nearly five years ago, he was in a place where he knew he needed to change his thought process. Work was becoming all-consuming, and he was aware that he needed to reprioritize and realign his role as husband and father and his entire life. Warrior Week 29 was perfect timing for Mike because it helped him get centered, focused, and clear on the things that were really important to him. Why return to Warrior Week 51? Mike realized that if there’s no intention to grow with a healthy environment, it’s part of human nature to easily slip back. “Warrior Week 51 was almost a recommitment to “no compromise” in all areas of life. Things were moving in a good direction, but I think I needed to re-anchor the foundation, and get to a place where I had a higher level of certainty, and double-down on what worked.”  QUESTION  What caused you to enter the gates of Warrior?  Parable #2:  Letting GoK  Often we will stay in a place of comfort for years. However, in order to grow, it is imperative that we learn to let go and step out of that comfort zone – especially if it’s working for us – and have the courage to step into the new. The hardest part of getting to great is giving up good. Mike: “One of the things I’ve always struggled with is that I am a very calculated risk-taker. Through the Warrior training, I’ve learned to slow down long enough to take that quiet time (meditation) every morning to listen to that still, small voice, and then act on that, which is not always logical. There are windows in time, like a strong intuition, that open up worlds of opportunity that I would have completely missed out on had I not slowed down and listened.”  QUESTION  Where in your world do you know it’s time to let go and step outside your comfort zone?   Parable #3: A Father’s Impact  Coach Sam recalls something his father told him on his wedding day that has stayed with him throughout the years. “Living a life with someone is easy, but building a life with someone is difficult.” When things get heated between two people, he realizes that he could live with someone for a very long time, but to build something and have common projects is something entirely different. Mike’s son, Jacob, is currently nineteen years old. At the time of his father’s entry into Warrior Week 29, he was fourteen. He recounts several projects he and his father have worked on together throughout that time, notably fixing up his first car. “He let me just kind of figure it out, and then I worked through it.” Currently, they are working towards getting their pilot’s licenses.  QUESTION  What message from your father has remained with you throughout your life?    Parable #4: The Pit  “There is a miserable process that takes place on day one of Warrior Week that’s long and goes into the night. It’s called the Pit. It makes us face things and feelings that we’ve kept inside, things that we regret, relationships that caused us harm, and the pain that resides deep inside. No matter what man you look at, all of us have this pain inside of us, but the majority of us are not willing to feel the pain. The first night is a transition into allowing a man to feel some of that pain.” Coach Sam “There’s a heightened learning experience that takes place when I’m pushed to my limit. There are things to let go of and lessons that can be absorbed that just wouldn’t happen otherwise. There’s a catharsis from being able to let go. My belief is that it’s almost impossible to really grow into who you’re supposed to be, and experience what’s possible for life if emotional baggage and anchors are holding one back.” Mike  QUESTION  What emotional baggage are you hanging onto?  Parable #5: Exposed  Mike recalled his experience during one of the evolutions, where a picture of his family was presented to him. “There’s something about when what you love most and have to fight for, a human being can make anything happen.” Knowing that intellectually, he experienced it firsthand during this evolution., “It was like a little microcosm for my capacity of what I can do for my family.” From the beginning of time, every generation faces a heavy crisis that they have to go through. Ours is COVID. Mike sees this as a gift, not a curse. “When there are challenges, people will fall to the level of their foundation or their base systems. Everyone is being exposed right now for who they really are. As Einstein said, within every challenge is an opportunity so great that it will literally dwarf the problem itself. Look for the gift and the opportunity.”  QUESTION  How has 2020 exposed you?   “Parables From The Pit”  “There is nothing more powerful in this world than to train your brain in gratitude. If your brain is trained in gratitude, it will be a weapon in this society.” –Sam Falsafi “When something is in front of you, and you feel it welling up, it’s there for a reason, and you’re supposed to act on it. When you feel it, you just GO!” –– Mike Hardy “While I’m working on my car, my dad walks in and asks me, “Are you winning, son?” –Jacob Hardy

No doubt, 2020 came out of nowhere, and, for a time, human potential and momentum were seemingly put on pause. Human beings were “forced” to take a step back and revisit their strategizes and plans for the year. At the end of the day, it all comes down to focusing on what matters. Welcome to the 100th episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit, with head coach, Sam Falsafi, in this very special father-son edition with guests Mike Hardy and his son, Jacob. <a href="http://warriorweeknow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">warriorweeknow.com</a>   Parable #1: Warrior Week 29 &amp; 51 <ul> <li>Before Mike entered the gates of Warrior Week 29, nearly five years ago, he was in a place where he knew he needed to change his thought process. Work was becoming all-consuming, and he was aware that he needed to reprioritize and realign his role as husband and father and his entire life. Warrior Week 29 was perfect timing for Mike because it helped him get centered, focused, and clear on the things that were really important to him.</li> <li>Why return to Warrior Week 51? Mike realized that if there’s no intention to grow with a healthy environment, it’s part of human nature to easily slip back. “Warrior Week 51 was almost a recommitment to “no compromise” in all areas of life. Things were moving in a good direction, but I think I needed to re-anchor the foundation, and get to a place where I had a higher level of certainty, and double-down on what worked.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What caused you to enter the gates of Warrior? Parable #2:  Letting GoK <ul> <li>Often we will stay in a place of comfort for years. However, in order to grow, it is imperative that we learn to let go and step out of that comfort zone – especially if it’s working for us – and have the courage to step into the new. The hardest part of getting to great is giving up good.</li> <li>Mike: “One of the things I’ve always struggled with is that I am a very calculated risk-taker. Through the Warrior training, I’ve learned to slow down long enough to take that quiet time (meditation) every morning to listen to that still, small voice, and then act on that, which is not always logical. There are windows in time, like a strong intuition, that open up worlds of opportunity that I would have completely missed out on had I not slowed down and listened.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Where in your world do you know it’s time to let go and step outside your comfort zone? Parable #3: A Father’s Impact <ul> <li>Coach Sam recalls something his father told him on his wedding day that has stayed with him throughout the years. “Living a life with someone is easy, but building a life with someone is difficult.” When things get heated between two people, he realizes that he could live with someone for a very long time, but to build something and have common projects is something entirely different.</li> <li>Mike’s son, Jacob, is currently nineteen years old. At the time of his father’s entry into Warrior Week 29, he was fourteen. He recounts several projects he and his father have worked on together throughout that time, notably fixing up his first car. “He let me just kind of figure it out, and then I worked through it.” Currently, they are working towards getting their pilot’s licenses.</li> </ul> QUESTION What message from your father has remained with you throughout your life?   Parable #4: The Pit <ul> <li>“There is a miserable process that takes place on day one of Warrior Week that’s long and goes into the night. It’s called the Pit. It makes us face things and feelings that we’ve kept inside, things that we regret, relationships that caused us harm, and the pain that resides deep inside. No matter what man you look at, all of us have this pain inside of us, but the majority of us are not willing to feel the pain. The first night is a transition into allowing a man to feel some of that pain.” Coach Sam</li> <li>“There’s a heightened learning experience that takes place when I’m pushed to my limit. There are things to let go of and lessons that can be absorbed that just wouldn’t happen otherwise. There’s a catharsis from being able to let go. My belief is that it’s almost impossible to really grow into who you’re supposed to be, and experience what’s possible for life if emotional baggage and anchors are holding one back.” Mike</li> </ul> QUESTION What emotional baggage are you hanging onto? Parable #5: Exposed <ul> <li>Mike recalled his experience during one of the evolutions, where a picture of his family was presented to him. “There’s something about when what you love most and have to fight for, a human being can make anything happen.” Knowing that intellectually, he experienced it firsthand during this evolution., “It was like a little microcosm for my capacity of what I can do for my family.”</li> <li>From the beginning of time, every generation faces a heavy crisis that they have to go through. Ours is COVID. Mike sees this as a gift, not a curse. “When there are challenges, people will fall to the level of their foundation or their base systems. Everyone is being exposed right now for who they really are. As Einstein said, within every challenge is an opportunity so great that it will literally dwarf the problem itself. Look for the gift and the opportunity.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How has 2020 exposed you? “Parables From The Pit” “There is nothing more powerful in this world than to train your brain in gratitude. If your brain is trained in gratitude, it will be a weapon in this society.” –Sam Falsafi “When something is in front of you, and you feel it welling up, it’s there for a reason, and you’re supposed to act on it. When you feel it, you just GO!” –– Mike Hardy “While I’m working on my car, my dad walks in and asks me, “Are you winning, son?” –Jacob Hardy

2020 Will Not Define You, It Will Reveal You | Ep 100 | Warrior Week: Parables From The Pit

In this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit, Coach Sam welcomes Warrior Week 58 graduate, Chad Hovermale to the podcast where they have a conversation that takes us into the mindset of men, how Chad discovered Warrior, and how persistence on his part led him into the gates of the experience that impacted and altered his life.  Parable #1: Intro to the Warrior’s Way    A Facebook ad in the Spring/Summer 2017 brought the message of Warrior into Chad’s world. He found the message intriguing and was happy to discover there were people “out there” who understood him. Chad didn’t want to lose the energy and passion behind his anger but knew he needed to reign it in so as to not hurt his family. He felt that through Warrior, he might actually get his shit together.  QUESTION  What was it that brought Warrior into your life?   Parable #2: Keep Knocking     Chad was consistent in knocking on the door of Warrior Week despite receiving the “no, you’re not ready yet” message several times over a two-year period. It was in 2019 that the opportunity finally became his. He had heard Garrett mention something about if you can’t solve a three hundred dollar problem, how are you going to be able to solve a three million problem? In the lead up to the Warrior Week experience, Chad actually became the guy who could solve bigger problems.  QUESTION  What has persistence brought into your life experience?   Parable #3: I Got This Figured Out    That first night in the Pit, Chad felt a sense of control. He was confident he would handle anything that might come his way and was void of any intimidation. In all actuality, though, the biggest lie he was telling himself was that he had it all figured out. “I think all men need to come to a point where they are willing to say, “I don’t have this figured out, and it’s not always going to work out. Shit happens.” This was the beginning of Chad becoming comfortable with himself and his limitations.  QUESTION  Where are you pretending?  Parable #4: Comfort vs. Discomfort    As men go throughout their lives, many do not wanting to leave their comfort zone. The desire to not experience any discomfort is so great that they refuse to want “more” in their lives, knowing full well it will thrust them into that zone. They remain in a state of denial to the detriment of themselves and their loved ones. Coach Sam explains, “They become a slave to their relationships, their business, and the world. They decide they’re going to self imprison in their own fucking pit of their making. And the  QUESTION  Where in your world do you know it’s time to get uncomfortable?  Parable #5: Guilt &amp; Shame  null This process [Warrior Week] was created for a man to let go of shame. There is literally no power associated with shame, and yet we are all conditioned to shame ourselves. The expectations of others teach us how we’re “supposed” to be and what we’re “supposed” to become. “These are all parameters that the world has adopted. Therefore you operate within these parameters as a fucking slave. Yet, you think you’re in control, but the reality is all you control is the tiny solitary prison you have created for yourself.”  QUESTION  How does acting on the expectations of others really affect you?   “Parables from the Pit”  “When you come to Warrior Week, your reality to some extent is shaken, and you recognize that in order for you to even have the power, you have to first be comfortable with yourself by getting uncomfortable.” –Sam Falsafi “Warrior Week gave me the permission to ask for more.” –– Chad Hovermale

In this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit, Coach Sam welcomes Warrior Week 58 graduate, Chad Hovermale to the podcast where they have a conversation that takes us into the mindset of men, how Chad discovered Warrior, and how persistence on his part led him into the gates of the experience that impacted and altered his life. Parable #1: Intro to the Warrior’s Way <ul> <li>A Facebook ad in the Spring/Summer 2017 brought the message of Warrior into Chad’s world. He found the message intriguing and was happy to discover there were people “out there” who understood him.</li> <li>Chad didn’t want to lose the energy and passion behind his anger but knew he needed to reign it in so as to not hurt his family. He felt that through Warrior, he might actually get his shit together.</li> </ul> QUESTION What was it that brought Warrior into your life? Parable #2: Keep Knocking  <ul> <li>Chad was consistent in knocking on the door of Warrior Week despite receiving the “no, you’re not ready yet” message several times over a two-year period. It was in 2019 that the opportunity finally became his.</li> <li>He had heard Garrett mention something about if you can’t solve a three hundred dollar problem, how are you going to be able to solve a three million problem? In the lead up to the Warrior Week experience, Chad actually became the guy who could solve bigger problems.</li> </ul> QUESTION What has persistence brought into your life experience? Parable #3: I Got This Figured Out <ul> <li>That first night in the Pit, Chad felt a sense of control. He was confident he would handle anything that might come his way and was void of any intimidation. In all actuality, though, the biggest lie he was telling himself was that he had it all figured out.</li> <li>“I think all men need to come to a point where they are willing to say, “I don’t have this figured out, and it’s not always going to work out. Shit happens.” This was the beginning of Chad becoming comfortable with himself and his limitations.</li> </ul> QUESTION Where are you pretending? Parable #4: Comfort vs. Discomfort <ul> <li>As men go throughout their lives, many do not wanting to leave their comfort zone. The desire to not experience any discomfort is so great that they refuse to want “more” in their lives, knowing full well it will thrust them into that zone. They remain in a state of denial to the detriment of themselves and their loved ones.</li> <li>Coach Sam explains, “They become a slave to their relationships, their business, and the world. They decide they’re going to self imprison in their own fucking pit of their making. And the</li> </ul> QUESTION Where in your world do you know it’s time to get uncomfortable? Parable #5: Guilt &amp; Shame <ul> <li>null</li> <li>This process [Warrior Week] was created for a man to let go of shame. There is literally no power associated with shame, and yet we are all conditioned to shame ourselves. The expectations of others teach us how we’re “supposed” to be and what we’re “supposed” to become.</li> <li>“These are all parameters that the world has adopted. Therefore you operate within these parameters as a fucking slave. Yet, you think you’re in control, but the reality is all you control is the tiny solitary prison you have created for yourself.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How does acting on the expectations of others really affect you? “Parables from the Pit” “When you come to Warrior Week, your reality to some extent is shaken, and you recognize that in order for you to even have the power, you have to first be comfortable with yourself by getting uncomfortable.” –Sam Falsafi “Warrior Week gave me the permission to ask for more.” –– Chad Hovermale

COMFORT vs DISCOMFORT | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 099

Matt Radmacher, Warrior Week 6o graduate, joins Coach Sam in this very moving and pivotal conversation where we are invited into their hearts and souls through the sharing of stories and experiences. We are also privy to Coach Sam’s brilliant mathematical skills as he unveils the meaning behind the 2M Club. Parable #1: Asleep  An avid fan and student of personal development, Matt recalls a conversation with his brother, where he shared Garrett’s story and success with Matt. “I don’t think you’d be interested in him, though, because he cusses a lot.” Matt’s life wasn’t burning down at the time, but he describes himself as asleep. He golfed several days a week, lacked a sense of purpose in life, and built a business that provided residual income with minimal input.  QUESTION  Where were you when you were first introduced to the game of Warrior?   Parable #2: The Warrior Journey Begins  While driving to a golf tournament one afternoon, Matt’s YouTube search for Garrett brought up an interview where one line, especially, intrigued and resonated with him. “I expose wealthy businessmen all the time. You peel back one layer, and their life is a chaotic drift.” Matt’s first experience in Warrior was the Be the Man Challenge, where for sixty days, he absorbed all things, Warrior.  QUESTION  How does Warrior help peel back the layers in your life?   Parable #3: Modern Idols  SAM: Modern idols have become men. We idolize celebrities, gurus, politicians, and athletes to the point that we are willing to separate ourselves from our closest ones. Warrior connects men to the work, it connects men to the Voice, and once a man is connected to these, the need to put another man on a pedestal goes away. The result? Men become leaders in their realm.  QUESTION  What are the idols that you worship that separate you from your family?  Parable #4: Shaken  On the first night of Warrior Week, Matt felt exhausted but spiritually liberated. His decision to go all in and not hold anything back allowed him to purge and cleanse his soul. Coach Sam explains, “It’s in the Pit that first night where the temple of a man is shaken by physical exhaustion, where just like a salt shaker, all of the useless stories of guilt and shame are shaken out of men.”  QUESTION  What stories of guilt and shame is it time to let go of?  Parable #5: The Hero  Warrior Week isn’t about going through transformation, it’s about welcoming the hero. And as long as you do the work from that space, you remain the hero. Your work means being an example for your family and the leadership that you have. No matter your status in life, you have been given stewardship and how you reframe that inside of the work makes you who you are.  QUESTION  How are you handling your stewardhip?   “Parables from the Pit”  “We have become the modern prostitute of our miracles, and we call them coincidences.” –Sam Falsafi “With Warrior, you can’t hide behind a camera, you can’t hide behind the layers and walls that you build up for yourself, and the masks you try to wear. Warrior cuts to the heart of where you’re at.” –– Matt Radmacher

Matt Radmacher, Warrior Week 6o graduate, joins Coach Sam in this very moving and pivotal conversation where we are invited into their hearts and souls through the sharing of stories and experiences. We are also privy to Coach Sam’s brilliant mathematical skills as he unveils the meaning behind the 2M Club. Parable #1: Asleep <ul> <li>An avid fan and student of personal development, Matt recalls a conversation with his brother, where he shared Garrett’s story and success with Matt. “I don’t think you’d be interested in him, though, because he cusses a lot.”</li> <li>Matt’s life wasn’t burning down at the time, but he describes himself as asleep. He golfed several days a week, lacked a sense of purpose in life, and built a business that provided residual income with minimal input.</li> </ul> QUESTION Where were you when you were first introduced to the game of Warrior? Parable #2: The Warrior Journey Begins <ul> <li>While driving to a golf tournament one afternoon, Matt’s YouTube search for Garrett brought up an interview where one line, especially, intrigued and resonated with him.</li> <li>“I expose wealthy businessmen all the time. You peel back one layer, and their life is a chaotic drift.” Matt’s first experience in Warrior was the Be the Man Challenge, where for sixty days, he absorbed all things, Warrior.</li> </ul> QUESTION How does Warrior help peel back the layers in your life? Parable #3: Modern Idols <ul> <li>SAM: Modern idols have become men. We idolize celebrities, gurus, politicians, and athletes to the point that we are willing to separate ourselves from our closest ones.</li> <li>Warrior connects men to the work, it connects men to the Voice, and once a man is connected to these, the need to put another man on a pedestal goes away. The result? Men become leaders in their realm.</li> </ul> QUESTION What are the idols that you worship that separate you from your family? Parable #4: Shaken <ul> <li>On the first night of Warrior Week, Matt felt exhausted but spiritually liberated. His decision to go all in and not hold anything back allowed him to purge and cleanse his soul.</li> <li>Coach Sam explains, “It’s in the Pit that first night where the temple of a man is shaken by physical exhaustion, where just like a salt shaker, all of the useless stories of guilt and shame are shaken out of men.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What stories of guilt and shame is it time to let go of? Parable #5: The Hero <ul> <li>Warrior Week isn’t about going through transformation, it’s about welcoming the hero. And as long as you do the work from that space, you remain the hero.</li> <li>Your work means being an example for your family and the leadership that you have. No matter your status in life, you have been given stewardship and how you reframe that inside of the work makes you who you are.</li> </ul> QUESTION How are you handling your stewardhip? “Parables from the Pit” “We have become the modern prostitute of our miracles, and we call them coincidences.” –Sam Falsafi “With Warrior, you can’t hide behind a camera, you can’t hide behind the layers and walls that you build up for yourself, and the masks you try to wear. Warrior cuts to the heart of where you’re at.” –– Matt Radmacher

The 2M CLUB | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 098

Dustin Goss danced on the sidelines of Warrior for about twelve months prior to taking the plunge into WC3. In this episode, we learn about Dustin’s Warrior journey, how his involvement in it coupled with the application of the Warrior tools has transformed his life, as well as the miraculous event that occurred during WW 61. We also get to meet his family as they reveal their book and project, “Quick Cents to a Buck.”  Parable #1: WC3  Dustin danced on the sidelines with Warrior for about twelve months before taking the plunge into WC3. Coming into this three-day event, his only previous exposure to Warrior was the videos he had watched online. “It was quite insane not knowing anyone or anything about Warrior as I sat in this room with 1200 individuals dressed in black. You could feel the power!” As he dove into the experience, it hit him like a ton of bricks, and within the first two hours, he knew he was meant to be there.  QUESTION  How long have you been watching Warrior from the sidelines?  Parable #2: The Box  Dustin was very strategic about his rock selection during a particular evolution. He was sent to the “box” where he positioned the rocks to look at him and had conversations with the people or experiences these rocks represented. “I had hours with myself and nothing else which I had never taken the time to do. It was the first time turning the microscope on me. The metaphors and gifts that were given to me were amazing.”  QUESTION  How often do you take time to pause and reflect?   Parable #3: The Clouds Parted  During day two at Warrior Week, in the midst of torrential rain and wind, on top of long periods of waiting, getting lost, and experiencing pure fucking misery, it was in that moment that the group surrendered to hope in the horizon. “We had no idea where we were standing, no idea,” recalls Coach Sam. “As the clouds went away, and the sun started shining on us, giving us heat, warming us up and making us comfortable, the final piece was the revelation of an island.” Dustin adds, “To experience that was one of life’s gems.”  QUESTION  Describe one of those “life gem” moments in your life.  Parable #4: Post Warrior  “Before Warrior, Core 4 (Body, Being, Balance, and Business) was not part of my thought process. Post Warrior, the man I’ve become, and the ability to enhance myself as a father, husband, and businessman have transformed beyond my wildest beliefs.” “I’ve become much more intentional with the time I spend with my seven-year-old son and one-year-old daughter. And the relationship with my wife has grown profoundly. I listen to her differently, talk to her differently, and think about her emotions and frustrations from her perspective more than I ever have in the past.”  QUESTION  How has your life transformed post Warrior?  Parable #5: Bag of Tools  Dustin: “The bag of tools that I obtained through Warrior are the pieces I value the most, along with the relationships. I’m having conversations with my Warrior bothers that I can’t have with my best friends or relatives. I can’t open up the same way with them.” Coach Sam: “When it comes to guys outside of Warrior, I compare the way I operate vs. how they operate. Yes, I can socialize with them, but that’s about it, which limits the time I want to spend with them.”  QUESTION  What was life prior to using the Warrior tools?   “Parables from the Pit”  “We sell “now” to the future of “I will be.” We don’t recognize that who we are right now is much bigger than who we were, and who we are about to become is completely dependent on who we accept ourselves to be today.” –Sam Falsafi “The bag of tools that I obtained through Warrior, along with the relationships, are the pieces I value the most.” –– Dustin Goss

Dustin Goss danced on the sidelines of Warrior for about twelve months prior to taking the plunge into WC3. In this episode, we learn about Dustin’s Warrior journey, how his involvement in it coupled with the application of the Warrior tools has transformed his life, as well as the miraculous event that occurred during WW 61. We also get to meet his family as they reveal their book and project, <a href="https://www.buckacademy.org/quick-cents-to-a-buck/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Quick Cents to a Buck.” </a> Parable #1: WC3 <ul> <li>Dustin danced on the sidelines with Warrior for about twelve months before taking the plunge into WC3. Coming into this three-day event, his only previous exposure to Warrior was the videos he had watched online.</li> <li>“It was quite insane not knowing anyone or anything about Warrior as I sat in this room with 1200 individuals dressed in black. You could feel the power!” As he dove into the experience, it hit him like a ton of bricks, and within the first two hours, he knew he was meant to be there.</li> </ul> QUESTION How long have you been watching Warrior from the sidelines? Parable #2: The Box <ul> <li>Dustin was very strategic about his rock selection during a particular evolution. He was sent to the “box” where he positioned the rocks to look at him and had conversations with the people or experiences these rocks represented.</li> <li>“I had hours with myself and nothing else which I had never taken the time to do. It was the first time turning the microscope on me. The metaphors and gifts that were given to me were amazing.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How often do you take time to pause and reflect? Parable #3: The Clouds Parted <ul> <li>During day two at Warrior Week, in the midst of torrential rain and wind, on top of long periods of waiting, getting lost, and experiencing pure fucking misery, it was in that moment that the group surrendered to hope in the horizon.</li> <li>“We had no idea where we were standing, no idea,” recalls Coach Sam. “As the clouds went away, and the sun started shining on us, giving us heat, warming us up and making us comfortable, the final piece was the revelation of an island.” Dustin adds, “To experience that was one of life’s gems.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Describe one of those “life gem” moments in your life. Parable #4: Post Warrior <ul> <li>“Before Warrior, Core 4 (Body, Being, Balance, and Business) was not part of my thought process. Post Warrior, the man I’ve become, and the ability to enhance myself as a father, husband, and businessman have transformed beyond my wildest beliefs.”</li> <li>“I’ve become much more intentional with the time I spend with my seven-year-old son and one-year-old daughter. And the relationship with my wife has grown profoundly. I listen to her differently, talk to her differently, and think about her emotions and frustrations from her perspective more than I ever have in the past.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How has your life transformed post Warrior? Parable #5: Bag of Tools <ul> <li>Dustin: “The bag of tools that I obtained through Warrior are the pieces I value the most, along with the relationships. I’m having conversations with my Warrior bothers that I can’t have with my best friends or relatives. I can’t open up the same way with them.”</li> <li>Coach Sam: “When it comes to guys outside of Warrior, I compare the way I operate vs. how they operate. Yes, I can socialize with them, but that’s about it, which limits the time I want to spend with them.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What was life prior to using the Warrior tools? “Parables from the Pit” “We sell “now” to the future of “I will be.” We don’t recognize that who we are right now is much bigger than who we were, and who we are about to become is completely dependent on who we accept ourselves to be today.” –Sam Falsafi “The bag of tools that I obtained through Warrior, along with the relationships, are the pieces I value the most.” –– Dustin Goss

HOPE in the HORIZON | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 097

While enjoying drinks on the Monarch Resort’s patio in Dana Point, Matt and his college buddies, who had gathered for their once-a-year guy’s weekend, were intrigued by the sight of a bunch of men dressed in black doing some sort of “clap and boom” not too far from them. Unbeknownst to Matt, this would mark the beginning of his Warrior journey. Welcome to this episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit, with your host, Sam Falsafi, lead trainer, and his special guest, Matt Davenport, graduate of Warrior Week #60. Parable #1: Two-Clap BOOM!  While enjoying drinks on the Monarch Resort’s patio in Dana Point, Matt and his college buddies, who had gathered for their once-a-year guy’s weekend, were intrigued by the sight of a bunch of men dressed in black doing some sort of “clap and boom.” Curious about them, Matt was told by their server that it was a secret business group called Wake Up Warrior. Upon returning home, his google search led him to watch video after video with messages that spoke directly to him. “I felt like someone had read my mind.”  QUESTION  How did you first encounter the message of Warrior?     Parable #2: From Denial to Awareness  At the time of entering KingsKit 3, Matt’s life was in a pretty dark place, including his marriage. “The whole idea of telling the truth had me start looking in the mirror. It brought awareness of all the things I needed to change in my life, which was overwhelming at first.” It was through his association with men inside of Warrior that Matt felt he could be authentic and totally honest, and that the change he was witnessing in other men’s lives could be his experience as well. He was willing to do whatever it took to start making changes in his life, including attending Warrior Week.  QUESTION  Where in your world do you know you’re being authentic?   Parable #3: Tell the Truth, Burn the Past  It was that first night in the Pit where Matt realized he had been living his whole life seeking things that he thought would set him free and make him happy. He had tried everything except telling the truth. It was in the Pit that he discovered, “until you tell the truth, there is no way out.” Looking back on his life with regret and shame had become the go-to pattern for Matt. It was through writing down and burning a list all of the things he was going to let go of that put into motion the process of setting himself free.  QUESTION  What is something you know you need to burn from your past?   Parable #4: Before &amp; After  Matt came out of Warrior Week renewed, reframed, and excited to leverage himself and his power. It definitely proved to be a pivotal point in his life. “Who I have been as a father to my girls has been life-altering.” Before Warrior, Matt explains, “I was always sedating. I was a workaholic, always watching TV, always distracted, never present, and always wanting to escape.” At the time, alcohol played a huge role in Matt’s life. Today he is alcohol-free which has profoundly affected how he shows up as a father.  QUESTION  Who are you today vs. the man you were before Warrior?    Parable #5: Warrior Week Plus  Warrior Week has shifted into a virtual experience. “It’s amazing to see how we are able to create the same conditions and feelings virtually as we did in person, ” comments Coach Sam. He further explains that it’s the space and energy that the men allow themselves to experience that creates the conditions for their Warrior Week, whether in-person or virtually.  QUESTION  When will you experience Warrior Week Plus?   “Parables from the Pit”  “We are brought up with this condition where the only gear we know is the gear of the past, the grudge’s gear.” –Sam Falsafi “Going into Warrior Week, I felt like I was a prisoner of my past. Walking out of Warrior Week, I felt and believed that I was a new and different person; that I could create whatever life I wanted, and that the past no longer had power over me.” –– Matt Davenport

While enjoying drinks on the Monarch Resort’s patio in Dana Point, Matt and his college buddies, who had gathered for their once-a-year guy’s weekend, were intrigued by the sight of a bunch of men dressed in black doing some sort of “clap and boom” not too far from them. Unbeknownst to Matt, this would mark the beginning of his Warrior journey. Welcome to this episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit, with your host, Sam Falsafi, lead trainer, and his special guest, Matt Davenport, graduate of Warrior Week #60. Parable #1: Two-Clap BOOM! <ul> <li>While enjoying drinks on the Monarch Resort’s patio in Dana Point, Matt and his college buddies, who had gathered for their once-a-year guy’s weekend, were intrigued by the sight of a bunch of men dressed in black doing some sort of “clap and boom.”</li> <li>Curious about them, Matt was told by their server that it was a secret business group called Wake Up Warrior. Upon returning home, his google search led him to watch video after video with messages that spoke directly to him. “I felt like someone had read my mind.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How did you first encounter the message of Warrior?   Parable #2: From Denial to Awareness <ul> <li>At the time of entering KingsKit 3, Matt’s life was in a pretty dark place, including his marriage. “The whole idea of telling the truth had me start looking in the mirror. It brought awareness of all the things I needed to change in my life, which was overwhelming at first.”</li> <li>It was through his association with men inside of Warrior that Matt felt he could be authentic and totally honest, and that the change he was witnessing in other men’s lives could be his experience as well. He was willing to do whatever it took to start making changes in his life, including attending Warrior Week.</li> </ul> QUESTION Where in your world do you know you’re being authentic? Parable #3: Tell the Truth, Burn the Past <ul> <li>It was that first night in the Pit where Matt realized he had been living his whole life seeking things that he thought would set him free and make him happy. He had tried everything except telling the truth. It was in the Pit that he discovered, “until you tell the truth, there is no way out.”</li> <li>Looking back on his life with regret and shame had become the go-to pattern for Matt. It was through writing down and burning a list all of the things he was going to let go of that put into motion the process of setting himself free.</li> </ul> QUESTION What is something you know you need to burn from your past? Parable #4: Before &amp; After <ul> <li>Matt came out of Warrior Week renewed, reframed, and excited to leverage himself and his power. It definitely proved to be a pivotal point in his life. “Who I have been as a father to my girls has been life-altering.”</li> <li>Before Warrior, Matt explains, “I was always sedating. I was a workaholic, always watching TV, always distracted, never present, and always wanting to escape.” At the time, alcohol played a huge role in Matt’s life. Today he is alcohol-free which has profoundly affected how he shows up as a father.</li> </ul> QUESTION Who are you today vs. the man you were before Warrior?   Parable #5: Warrior Week Plus <ul> <li>Warrior Week has shifted into a virtual experience. “It’s amazing to see how we are able to create the same conditions and feelings virtually as we did in person, ” comments Coach Sam.</li> <li>He further explains that it’s the space and energy that the men allow themselves to experience that creates the conditions for their Warrior Week, whether in-person or virtually.</li> </ul> QUESTION When will you experience Warrior Week Plus? “Parables from the Pit” “We are brought up with this condition where the only gear we know is the gear of the past, the grudge’s gear.” –Sam Falsafi “Going into Warrior Week, I felt like I was a prisoner of my past. Walking out of Warrior Week, I felt and believed that I was a new and different person; that I could create whatever life I wanted, and that the past no longer had power over me.” –– Matt Davenport

BURN the PAST | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 096

Brent Kocal is Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s episode, where we discover it wasn’t Brent’s intention to attend Warrior Week, but the Universe had other plans for him. Sit back and enjoy this amazing episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.  Parable #1: The Gate  Brent entered the gates of Warrior through a marketing event in the summer of 2019, Big Money Marketer. Although he had been exposed to the message of Warrior a few months earlier, this is where he actually got his feet wet. At the end of a two-day intensive, Coach Sam did a presentation about Warrior Week, afterward asking the participants to text him either “yes” or “no” about attending. Brent texted, “No.” But the Universe had other plans for him.  QUESTION  What have you been led to do that initialy you had zero inentions of doing?    Parable #2: The Showman  Brent considers himself a recovering asshole, someone who did things so he could be in the spotlight. “This has been going on since eighth grade, where I just wanted people to look at me.” “It was during Warrior Week that I realized I am a fucking asshole. And it was Warrior Week that opened the door for me to recognize how much work I needed to do on myself.”  QUESTION  Where in your world are you showing up as an ass-hole?  Parable #3: Give vs. Get  Post-Warrior Week, Brent did a lot of self-inquiry about how he spent his life and how he was spending his days. Stack after Stack revealed that he was the happiest when he was in service to others. “Rather than thinking about what I can get, I started thinking about what I can give. Ultimately, that’s what filled the space. When I interact with others, I’m thinking, “How can I make that person feel good about whatever it is they’re doing?”  QUESTION  What do your Stacks reveal about you?  Parable #4: The Shift  While attending the Big Money Marketer event, one of Garrett’s messages was, “It doesn’t matter if you’re solving the wrong problem, just pick a problem and then test it.” During meditation, Brent heard the message, “You should be a parenting coach.” So Brent tested it and tested it with zero response and zero results. It was during a Production Workshop at the beginning of 2020 where he was called out and challenged by Coach Sam, and within seconds, Brent blurted out the real problem he would solve.  QUESTION  How has collision with others impacted your life choices?  Parable #5: What About Me?  Brent’s involvement with Warrior has impacted his family relationships. His wife appreciates that he is better able to share his feelings with her, which has been hard for him in the past. Fatherhood, though, remains a rocky road for him, although he does have increased patience. The downside is, Brent’s wife feels a growing distance between them due to all of his Warrior work. “You came back, and you’re on this trajectory where you’re always doing things, and I feel like what I’m doing is making myself worse.”  QUESTION  What are you doing to support your wife as you take on the Warrior journey?   “Parables from the Pit“ “We’ve proven with Virtual Warrior Week that you don’t need all the fucking shenanigans. The process itself works because a guy is supposed to be there at that time. It’s out of our hands.” –Sam Falsafi “I need to accept what the Universe is giving me in this moment; that this is exactly what I need right now.” –– Brent Kocal

Brent Kocal is Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s episode, where we discover it wasn’t Brent’s intention to attend Warrior Week, but the Universe had other plans for him. Sit back and enjoy this amazing episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.  Parable #1: The Gate <ul> <li>Brent entered the gates of Warrior through a marketing event in the summer of 2019, Big Money Marketer. Although he had been exposed to the message of Warrior a few months earlier, this is where he actually got his feet wet.</li> <li>At the end of a two-day intensive, Coach Sam did a presentation about Warrior Week, afterward asking the participants to text him either “yes” or “no” about attending. Brent texted, “No.” But the Universe had other plans for him.</li> </ul> QUESTION What have you been led to do that initialy you had zero inentions of doing?   Parable #2: The Showman <ul> <li>Brent considers himself a recovering asshole, someone who did things so he could be in the spotlight. “This has been going on since eighth grade, where I just wanted people to look at me.”</li> <li>“It was during Warrior Week that I realized I am a fucking asshole. And it was Warrior Week that opened the door for me to recognize how much work I needed to do on myself.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Where in your world are you showing up as an ass-hole? Parable #3: Give vs. Get <ul> <li>Post-Warrior Week, Brent did a lot of self-inquiry about how he spent his life and how he was spending his days. Stack after Stack revealed that he was the happiest when he was in service to others.</li> <li>“Rather than thinking about what I can get, I started thinking about what I can give. Ultimately, that’s what filled the space. When I interact with others, I’m thinking, “How can I make that person feel good about whatever it is they’re doing?”</li> </ul> QUESTION What do your Stacks reveal about you? Parable #4: The Shift <ul> <li>While attending the Big Money Marketer event, one of Garrett’s messages was, “It doesn’t matter if you’re solving the wrong problem, just pick a problem and then test it.” During meditation, Brent heard the message, “You should be a parenting coach.”</li> <li>So Brent tested it and tested it with zero response and zero results. It was during a Production Workshop at the beginning of 2020 where he was called out and challenged by Coach Sam, and within seconds, Brent blurted out the real problem he would solve.</li> </ul> QUESTION How has collision with others impacted your life choices? Parable #5: What About Me? <ul> <li>Brent’s involvement with Warrior has impacted his family relationships. His wife appreciates that he is better able to share his feelings with her, which has been hard for him in the past. Fatherhood, though, remains a rocky road for him, although he does have increased patience.</li> <li>The downside is, Brent’s wife feels a growing distance between them due to all of his Warrior work. “You came back, and you’re on this trajectory where you’re always doing things, and I feel like what I’m doing is making myself worse.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What are you doing to support your wife as you take on the Warrior journey? “Parables from the Pit“ “We’ve proven with Virtual Warrior Week that you don’t need all the fucking shenanigans. The process itself works because a guy is supposed to be there at that time. It’s out of our hands.” –Sam Falsafi “I need to accept what the Universe is giving me in this moment; that this is exactly what I need right now.” –– Brent Kocal

The GENEALOGY of IMPACT | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 095

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Words so many love to say, but very few know how to live. Only those that are truly dedicated and disciplined truly achieve the mastering of their fate and become the captain of their souls.WARRIOR WEEK is the cornerstone experience of the WAKE UP WARRIOR EMPIRE. There is nothing on the planet like WARRIOR WEEK. Each week Sam Falsafi, the elite lead coach of WARRIOR WEEK, will bring you insights and tools to start your journey to living life in the WARRIOR’S way. It is time for you to be liberated from your darkness, from your PIT and brought into the light of life.

THE WARRIOR WEEK, is an absolutly amazing experience both LIVE and DIGITAL. Coach Sam always finds a way to pin point the exact emotional trigger that is holding us MEN back from living limitless. Getting synced and prepared for a highly productive day begins with listening to knowledge bombs dropped by the TEAM at WARRIOR!

REAL, RAW, RELEVANT

Solid insight to change your frame of mind in progress to shift.

MOVE!

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Words so many love to say, but very few know how to live. Only those that are truly dedicated and disciplined truly achieve the mastering of their fate and become the captain of their souls. WARRIOR WEEK is the cornerstone experience of the WAKE UP WARRIOR EMPIRE. There is nothing on the planet like WARRIOR WEEK. Each week Sam Falsafi, the elite lead coach of WARRIOR WEEK, will bring you insights and tools to start your journey to living life in the WARRIOR’S way. It is time for you to be liberated from your darkness, from your PIT and brought into the light of life.

WARRIOR WEEK

In This Week’s Episode… Those of you who attended WC3 in December 2018 will no doubt remember Dan Cerrillo, Coach Sam’s special guest on today’s show. Dan, aka Taco is not only a brother and a mentor, but he is also a friend to the Warrior community. In this very special episode, Dan shares stories of heartbreak, triumph, sadness, betrayal, grief, and happiness. We learn what ultimately saved his life and what he is so passionate about doing for the rest of his life.  * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com Parable #1: WC3  During WC3, Dan went on stage to raise money for the Navy Seals Fund. It was in front of that room filled with hundreds of men that he admitted to having a problem and that he was seeking the help he needed. “I have spent my whole life teaching others, but I was slowly losing what I had gained. I had been experiencing a lot of success and failure, but at that time, things were falling apart in my business and personal life. On top of that, I had gone from being a weekend drinker to an everyday drinker, barely able to hold down a job.”  QUESTION  Where in your world do you know it’s time to seek help?    Parable #2:  The Pit  Through tragedy and betrayal, Dan found himself trying to climb his way out of a pit. There were warning signs all around him, yet he didn’t heed or listen to them. News of his wife’s illness sent him over the edge. He had always been a weekend drinker, but now he started drinking every day of the week. “I become angry and depressed. Everything I was telling others NOT to do, I was doing. I had created this persona that I was better than everyone. Yet, I wasn’t doing anything I was preaching. For the first time, I understood why others commit suicide. I felt my family would be better off without me.”  QUESTION  What are the signs and messages you’re ignoring in your life?  Parable #3: I Am a Drunk  Once Dan admitted to the doctors that he had a problem, they concurred. “Your eyes are dead, and you’re bloated. You got turned on in the military, but nobody turned you off.” Dan found himself in a rented van on his way to Mexico to receive therapy &amp; treatment, feeling so ashamed. He wondered how in the world he had gotten to this place in life. “In the military, the plan is simple and straight forward: we’re going to mess people up, we’re going to be the aggressor, and we’re going to win. Once it’s over, you then try to assimilate back into civilian life to be the ‘normal’ dude who isn’t talking about killing people. In 36 hours of treatment, I went from “why me” to “ok, this is the way it is,” to “thank you,” and then the final phase of forgiveness. For the first time, my brain was free.”  QUESTION  For help and more information, click on this link.  Parable #4: Trauma &amp; Emotions  Dan used to believe he had PTSD from the war and scoffed at the idea of “mommy and daddy issues.” He now knows those are real issues; that childhood trauma is real. He experienced trauma as a child and as an adult, and then found himself inflicting trauma on his own family. “When you go to war and do horrible things, if you don’t get that out of your soul, it will crush you. We’re told to suck it up and push all the emotions down. But men NEED to express their emotions. If you suck it up too long and push it down too deep, you will drink it away, rage it away, and snort it away. “  QUESTION  What are the patterns &amp; behaviors you tend to repeat that aren’t serving you or your loved ones? What are you doing to change them?    Parable #5: Life Sans Drama  Dan lives by a phrase he was once taught: make seven people smile each day. “I used to be known as ‘Taco,’ the guy who would throw and smash things, the guy with a constant frown on his face, and the road rage guy who would follow people home. Taco is now the character I bring out during training sessions, but I used to be him ALL the time.” “Today, at 46, my life is so peaceful &amp; calm. I listen to classical music while I’m driving, and if someone cuts me off, I don’t care. If I only live for 20 more years, who am I going to be? I’m going to be the dude I have always wanted to be: the guy who takes care of everybody around me; the guy who wants happiness throughout life.”  QUESTION  What adjective best describes your current attitude toward people and life?   * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com  Parables from the Pit  “3 1/2 years ago, Garrett asked you to come train with us. There was an instant connection. Out of all the training from you, what impresses me are the thousands of lives you have impacted, including mine." —Sam Falsafi “Simplify your life to what really matters." –Dan Cerrillo 

In This Week’s Episode… Those of you who attended WC3 in December 2018 will no doubt remember Dan Cerrillo, Coach Sam’s special guest on today’s show. Dan, aka Taco is not only a brother and a mentor, but he is also a friend to the Warrior community. In this very special episode, Dan shares stories of heartbreak, triumph, sadness, betrayal, grief, and happiness. We learn what ultimately saved his life and what he is so passionate about doing for the rest of his life. * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a> Parable #1: WC3 <ul> <li>During WC3, Dan went on stage to raise money for the Navy Seals Fund. It was in front of that room filled with hundreds of men that he admitted to having a problem and that he was seeking the help he needed.</li> <li>“I have spent my whole life teaching others, but I was slowly losing what I had gained. I had been experiencing a lot of success and failure, but at that time, things were falling apart in my business and personal life. On top of that, I had gone from being a weekend drinker to an everyday drinker, barely able to hold down a job.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Where in your world do you know it’s time to seek help?   Parable #2:  The Pit <ul> <li>Through tragedy and betrayal, Dan found himself trying to climb his way out of a pit. There were warning signs all around him, yet he didn’t heed or listen to them. News of his wife’s illness sent him over the edge. He had always been a weekend drinker, but now he started drinking every day of the week.</li> <li>“I become angry and depressed. Everything I was telling others NOT to do, I was doing. I had created this persona that I was better than everyone. Yet, I wasn’t doing anything I was preaching. For the first time, I understood why others commit suicide. I felt my family would be better off without me.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What are the signs and messages you’re ignoring in your life? Parable #3: I Am a Drunk <ul> <li>Once Dan admitted to the doctors that he had a problem, they concurred. “Your eyes are dead, and you’re bloated. You got turned on in the military, but nobody turned you off.” Dan found himself in a rented van on his way to Mexico to receive therapy &amp; treatment, feeling so ashamed. He wondered how in the world he had gotten to this place in life.</li> <li>“In the military, the plan is simple and straight forward: we’re going to mess people up, we’re going to be the aggressor, and we’re going to win. Once it’s over, you then try to assimilate back into civilian life to be the ‘normal’ dude who isn’t talking about killing people. In 36 hours of treatment, I went from “why me” to “ok, this is the way it is,” to “thank you,” and then the final phase of forgiveness. For the first time, my brain was free.”</li> </ul> QUESTION For help and more information, <a href="https://americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click on this link.</a> Parable #4: Trauma &amp; Emotions <ul> <li>Dan used to believe he had PTSD from the war and scoffed at the idea of “mommy and daddy issues.” He now knows those are real issues; that childhood trauma is real. He experienced trauma as a child and as an adult, and then found himself inflicting trauma on his own family.</li> <li>“When you go to war and do horrible things, if you don’t get that out of your soul, it will crush you. We’re told to suck it up and push all the emotions down. But men NEED to express their emotions. If you suck it up too long and push it down too deep, you will drink it away, rage it away, and snort it away. “</li> </ul> QUESTION What are the patterns &amp; behaviors you tend to repeat that aren’t serving you or your loved ones? What are you doing to change them?   Parable #5: Life Sans Drama <ul> <li>Dan lives by a phrase he was once taught: make seven people smile each day. “I used to be known as ‘Taco,’ the guy who would throw and smash things, the guy with a constant frown on his face, and the road rage guy who would follow people home. Taco is now the character I bring out during training sessions, but I used to be him ALL the time.”</li> <li>“Today, at 46, my life is so peaceful &amp; calm. I listen to classical music while I’m driving, and if someone cuts me off, I don’t care. If I only live for 20 more years, who am I going to be? I’m going to be the dude I have always wanted to be: the guy who takes care of everybody around me; the guy who wants happiness throughout life.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What adjective best describes your current attitude toward people and life? * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a> Parables from the Pit “3 1/2 years ago, Garrett asked you to come train with us. There was an instant connection. Out of all the training from you, what impresses me are the thousands of lives you have impacted, including mine." —Sam Falsafi “Simplify your life to what really matters." –Dan Cerrillo

CREATING ORDER IN CHAOS | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 073

Brandon Lemuel, a graduate of Warrior Week #54 is Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s amazing podcast filled with stories of awakenings and unexpected encounters with the highest power.  * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. Parable #1: Empty  Two years ago, after attending a gathering with other chiropractors where Garrett’s name was brought up in conversations, Brandon googled him and began listening to the Warrior on Fire podcast. “It literally felt like he had unscrewed the top of my head, looked inside to my brain, and could read every single fucking thought I was having at that moment. On the outside looking in, it seemed like I “had it all.” I was married to a beautiful wife, had two healthy kids, a thriving business, and seemingly had everything anyone would ever want. But on the inside, I was feeling empty.  QUESTION  What was your introduction to Warrior?     Parable #2: The Unexpected Messenger  While crushing it in all areas of his life, Brandon recently experienced a disconnect following a disappointing Friday evening with his wife. He awoke the next morning, knowing he was descending into a drift and told the queen he was going to grab some coffee at the coffee shop.”I’ll be back after lunch.” He then grabbed his journal and headed out the door. While at the coffee shop, Brandon bought two cups of coffee, sat down at a table away from everyone else, placed his black hoodie over his head, put on his dark glasses, and began the evolution, “Meeting With God.” It was at this moment in time when a most unexpected encounter with a stranger, also dressed in a black hoodie, took place. This unexpected messenger of God was about to teach Brandon a very powerful lesson.  QUESTION  As you look back in your life, how have messages from God been delivered to you?  Parable #3: Meeting With God  What is this “Meeting With God?” How does it work? You go to a coffee shop first thing in the morning, journal in tow, and buy two cups of coffee: one for you and one for God. And then you begin the conversation with the words, “Dear God, I know you can, but will you?” This is an evolution created by Warrior Brian Q Davis, initially called “Meeting With the CEO.” Brian found himself meeting with all kinds of people every week, but not with the man upstairs. So he began meeting with God every week (it’s been years now) asking God about things in his business. Month after month, the things he has asked for show up in the things he’s grateful for.  QUESTION  When are you going to schedule your first or next “Meeting With God?” What might be possible if this became part of your weekly routine?  Parable #4: Dear God, Please Help Me Find the Key  Coach Sam’s first spiritual awakening experience was when he was ten years old. It was raining, and there was a lot of snow on the ground. His mom told him she was not coming home until later that evening and gave him the key to the apartment. “But then I lost the key and began panicking and crying. I retraced my steps in the dark, all the while praying, “Dear God, please let me find the key.” “At that point, I had traced my steps to the intersection and sill no key. It was was a dark night, the snow was knee-deep, the cars in the street were creating all of that dirty, slushy snow. It was a fucking mess. And what was an impossible fucking task was to find the keys with my eyes. I turned around to walk back, and guess what? I stepped on the fucking key! It was not a fucking coincidence. That was my first awakening and encounter with God.”  QUESTION  How were you led out of an otherwise impossible situation?    Parable #5: Work Hard, Party Harder  There was a point in time where alcohol played a part in Brandon’s life. He was attending chiropractic school, where the slogan was, “Work hard, party harder!” He was brought in to be one of the speakers at a leadership conference and was out partying the night before the event. At one point, he blacked out and didn’t know where he was. He awakened the next morning underneath a bush in a residential neighborhood. Having lost his phone at some point, at 4 am he began walking along the interstate through a construction zone. It was at this moment he felt the arm of God around him, saying, “Brandon, you’re done with the drinking. I have other plans for you, and those plans do not involve you drinking. Everything is going to be OK.”  QUESTION  Recall a moment in your life when you felt the arm of God around you. What were the circumstances? What was His message to you?   * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com  Parables from the Pit  “Invest in your spiritualithy and continually vibrate at a higher level. There is no other enter investment that will create the prosperity in your life that you’re seeking and wanting, or put you in the place of healing, service, and generosity than that of investing in your spirituality. As you give more, be open to receiving more. Why? So that you can give even more.” —Sam Falsafi “Hear what the Voice is saying, trust the process, and then move without hesitation. My experience has shown me that when I ignore the whispers, eventually, the screams are going to show up.” –Brandon Lemuel

Brandon Lemuel, a graduate of Warrior Week #54 is Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s amazing podcast filled with stories of awakenings and unexpected encounters with the highest power. * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. Parable #1: Empty <ul> <li>Two years ago, after attending a gathering with other chiropractors where Garrett’s name was brought up in conversations, Brandon googled him and began listening to the Warrior on Fire podcast.</li> <li>“It literally felt like he had unscrewed the top of my head, looked inside to my brain, and could read every single fucking thought I was having at that moment. On the outside looking in, it seemed like I “had it all.” I was married to a beautiful wife, had two healthy kids, a thriving business, and seemingly had everything anyone would ever want. But on the inside, I was feeling empty.</li> </ul> QUESTION What was your introduction to Warrior?   Parable #2: The Unexpected Messenger <ul> <li>While crushing it in all areas of his life, Brandon recently experienced a disconnect following a disappointing Friday evening with his wife. He awoke the next morning, knowing he was descending into a drift and told the queen he was going to grab some coffee at the coffee shop.”I’ll be back after lunch.” He then grabbed his journal and headed out the door.</li> <li>While at the coffee shop, Brandon bought two cups of coffee, sat down at a table away from everyone else, placed his black hoodie over his head, put on his dark glasses, and began the evolution, “Meeting With God.” It was at this moment in time when a most unexpected encounter with a stranger, also dressed in a black hoodie, took place. This unexpected messenger of God was about to teach Brandon a very powerful lesson.</li> </ul> QUESTION As you look back in your life, how have messages from God been delivered to you? Parable #3: Meeting With God <ul> <li>What is this “Meeting With God?” How does it work? You go to a coffee shop first thing in the morning, journal in tow, and buy two cups of coffee: one for you and one for God. And then you begin the conversation with the words, “Dear God, I know you can, but will you?”</li> <li>This is an evolution created by Warrior Brian Q Davis, initially called “Meeting With the CEO.” Brian found himself meeting with all kinds of people every week, but not with the man upstairs. So he began meeting with God every week (it’s been years now) asking God about things in his business. Month after month, the things he has asked for show up in the things he’s grateful for.</li> </ul> QUESTION When are you going to schedule your first or next “Meeting With God?” What might be possible if this became part of your weekly routine? Parable #4: Dear God, Please Help Me Find the Key <ul> <li>Coach Sam’s first spiritual awakening experience was when he was ten years old. It was raining, and there was a lot of snow on the ground. His mom told him she was not coming home until later that evening and gave him the key to the apartment. “But then I lost the key and began panicking and crying. I retraced my steps in the dark, all the while praying, “Dear God, please let me find the key.”</li> <li>“At that point, I had traced my steps to the intersection and sill no key. It was was a dark night, the snow was knee-deep, the cars in the street were creating all of that dirty, slushy snow. It was a fucking mess. And what was an impossible fucking task was to find the keys with my eyes. I turned around to walk back, and guess what? I stepped on the fucking key! It was not a fucking coincidence. That was my first awakening and encounter with God.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How were you led out of an otherwise impossible situation?   Parable #5: Work Hard, Party Harder <ul> <li>There was a point in time where alcohol played a part in Brandon’s life. He was attending chiropractic school, where the slogan was, “Work hard, party harder!” He was brought in to be one of the speakers at a leadership conference and was out partying the night before the event. At one point, he blacked out and didn’t know where he was.</li> <li>He awakened the next morning underneath a bush in a residential neighborhood. Having lost his phone at some point, at 4 am he began walking along the interstate through a construction zone. It was at this moment he felt the arm of God around him, saying, “Brandon, you’re done with the drinking. I have other plans for you, and those plans do not involve you drinking. Everything is going to be OK.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Recall a moment in your life when you felt the arm of God around you. What were the circumstances? What was His message to you? * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a> Parables from the Pit “Invest in your spiritualithy and continually vibrate at a higher level. There is no other enter investment that will create the prosperity in your life that you’re seeking and wanting, or put you in the place of healing, service, and generosity than that of investing in your spirituality. As you give more, be open to receiving more. Why? So that you can give even more.” —Sam Falsafi “Hear what the Voice is saying, trust the process, and then move without hesitation. My experience has shown me that when I ignore the whispers, eventually, the screams are going to show up.” –Brandon Lemuel

COFFEE WITH GOD | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 074

Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s epic episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit, is Coach Tony Blauer, creator of the SPEAR system that focuses on how to Detect, De-fuse, and Defend against violent encounters, and where students are trained to use the physiology of the startle-flinch response to deal with ambush attacks. Get ready to experience a fascinating and mind-opening conversation in this special episode. Parable #1: Confidence &amp; Certainty  In 2012, when Coach Sam moved to Laguna Beach from Houston, he stepped into the CrossFit world. However, after about a year, he discovered he simply wasn’t good at it and felt as if he was always at the bottom of the board. As he was searching the internet one day, Sam found Tony Blauer who was teaching self-defense using CrossFit. This fascinated Sam. As he immersed himself in it, it appealed to him because it enabled him to tap into his primal side. Not only had Sam found something he could be good at, but it was also a way for him to access confidence and certainty.  QUESTION  How do you access confidence and certainty in your life?    Parable #2: Tony’s Light Bulb Moment  Tony, who has been teaching, studying, and researching violence for the past five decades, had his big light bulb moment in 1980 after a fifteen-year-old he had been training lost a fight to a bully. Tony suddenly realized the way self-defense was being taught was all wrong. “In a vacuum, we break boards, we spar, we do katas, but nobody was doing research and putting people in a dynamic situation where it was scenario based. We were teaching Block Training instead of the desired Brain-Based Training. I wanted to create a self-defense system that worked in the real world”  QUESTION  Describe a light bulb moment you have experienced.  Parable #3: The Perfect Marriage  Circumstances brought Tony to a place where he had this perspective of how to marry CrossFit with self-defense. For example, a push up could be the same genetic chain as a palm strike. “When I go for a run, part of what I include in my running is sprinting away from danger AND sprinting to save somebody.  QUESTION  What are your experiences with Crossfit and self-defense?  Parable #4: Startle-Flinch  We teach people that the startle-flinch is going to happen naturally; it’s part of your physiology. What we want to do is change our relationship with it and re-educate ourselves. The difference between stimulus and response is the gap time or your holy shit moment where you have to figure shit out. We don’t want to be reactive, we want to be responsive.  QUESTION  As a man, what have you been taught to believe about flinching?    Parable #5: Bells Palsy  Coach Tony opens up about his experience with Bells Palsy where he awakened one day to find the left side of his face numb and drooping. He laughed when the emergency room Doc asked him if he had ever been hit in the head. “Yes, for about 30 years!” As a public speaker with events to show up to, Tony was embarrassed about the way he looked and his inability to communicate as he usually did. When given the option for his team to handle things, his response was, “I’m a fucking leader.”  QUESTION  What is one lesson you have learned as a result of unexpected circumstances or events showing up in your life?   Parables from the Pit:  “Often, those that fear the most, in a hidden way, make others fear them.” —Sam Falsafi “You can’t write your next chapter or make your next move unless you accept what’s going on, and then get strategic. It is what it is.” -Tony Blauer

Coach Sam’s special guest in this week’s epic episode of Warrior Week: Parables from the Pit, is Coach Tony Blauer, creator of the SPEAR system that focuses on how to Detect, De-fuse, and Defend against violent encounters, and where students are trained to use the physiology of the startle-flinch response to deal with ambush attacks. Get ready to experience a fascinating and mind-opening conversation in this special episode. Parable #1: Confidence &amp; Certainty <ul> <li>In 2012, when Coach Sam moved to Laguna Beach from Houston, he stepped into the CrossFit world. However, after about a year, he discovered he simply wasn’t good at it and felt as if he was always at the bottom of the board.</li> <li>As he was searching the internet one day, Sam found Tony Blauer who was teaching self-defense using CrossFit. This fascinated Sam. As he immersed himself in it, it appealed to him because it enabled him to tap into his primal side. Not only had Sam found something he could be good at, but it was also a way for him to access confidence and certainty.</li> </ul> QUESTION How do you access confidence and certainty in your life?   Parable #2: Tony’s Light Bulb Moment <ul> <li>Tony, who has been teaching, studying, and researching violence for the past five decades, had his big light bulb moment in 1980 after a fifteen-year-old he had been training lost a fight to a bully. Tony suddenly realized the way self-defense was being taught was all wrong.</li> <li>“In a vacuum, we break boards, we spar, we do katas, but nobody was doing research and putting people in a dynamic situation where it was scenario based. We were teaching Block Training instead of the desired Brain-Based Training. I wanted to create a self-defense system that worked in the real world”</li> </ul> QUESTION Describe a light bulb moment you have experienced. Parable #3: The Perfect Marriage <ul> <li>Circumstances brought Tony to a place where he had this perspective of how to marry CrossFit with self-defense. For example, a push up could be the same genetic chain as a palm strike.</li> <li>“When I go for a run, part of what I include in my running is sprinting away from danger AND sprinting to save somebody.</li> </ul> QUESTION What are your experiences with Crossfit and self-defense? Parable #4: Startle-Flinch <ul> <li>We teach people that the startle-flinch is going to happen naturally; it’s part of your physiology. What we want to do is change our relationship with it and re-educate ourselves.</li> <li>The difference between stimulus and response is the gap time or your holy shit moment where you have to figure shit out. We don’t want to be reactive, we want to be responsive.</li> </ul> QUESTION As a man, what have you been taught to believe about flinching?   Parable #5: Bells Palsy <ul> <li>Coach Tony opens up about his experience with Bells Palsy where he awakened one day to find the left side of his face numb and drooping. He laughed when the emergency room Doc asked him if he had ever been hit in the head. “Yes, for about 30 years!”</li> <li>As a public speaker with events to show up to, Tony was embarrassed about the way he looked and his inability to communicate as he usually did. When given the option for his team to handle things, his response was, “I’m a fucking leader.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What is one lesson you have learned as a result of unexpected circumstances or events showing up in your life? Parables from the Pit: “Often, those that fear the most, in a hidden way, make others fear them.” —Sam Falsafi “You can’t write your next chapter or make your next move unless you accept what’s going on, and then get strategic. It is what it is.” -Tony Blauer

What Would You Do If You Didn't Fear Fear? | Warrior Week | EP 060

Coach Sam’s guest in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit is Jeff Oldroyd, graduate of Warrior Week 55, the week it never stopped raining! What did Jeff realize that first night in the Pit? What does he treasure most in this world? How does he show up for his kids and the kids in their small community? What simple but important message do Coach Sam and Jeff have for the fathers listening to this podcast?     Parable #1: Precursor to Warrior    About ten years prior to finding Warrior, Jeff created a symbol and statement of his life based upon a book his friend had written. “By having a balance between my belief in God, my family, my business, and my active, adventurous lifestyle, I will achieve my life’s goals and dreams.” When Warrior came into his life, Jeff was already heavily into the habit of Core 4 (Body, Balance, Being, and Business), but now had the tools to not only back it up but to also take it to the next level.    [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote]   What were the conditions of your life when Warrior was introduced to you?   Parable #2: The Pit    Upon entering Warrior Week, Jeff had no clue why he was there, but he was committed to submitting to the process. During that first night in the Pit, what opened up for him was the love he had for his family. One of the most significant moments for Jeff was the introduction of the Dark and Light Warrior and the amount of power and love that he felt when they were both joined together.    [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote]   What has been your experience with the Dark and Light Warrior?   Parable #3: A Voice to Be Heard    Pre Warrior, Jeff’s life was pretty much on an even keel. His relationship with his wife was more functional than passionate, and he had reached the point where he was sick of mediocrity. Post-Warrior, Jeff has opened up more with his children and has been able to have deeper conversations with them. As dads in today's world, you have to have massive amounts of influence and persuasion over your children, as there's an over-abundance of information available to them that will over-ride your voice if it’s not clear and cannot be heard by them.    [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote]   How have your conversations with your children changed since taking on the Warrior lifestyle?   Parable #4: The Land of Yes or No    Once you label yourself as a Warrior inside this game of life you become someone who has been awakened, and there comes an understanding of and subscription to what Warrior is, which is found in the land of yes or no, but never in the land of maybe which leave things unresolved. “What is Wake Up Warrior? We wake up, and then we live in the land of yes or no. If I tell you I’m going to be there tomorrow by eight, I will be there by eight.” Ultimately, that is how you must operate with your children; otherwise, you leave things unresolved."    [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote]   What can you do to strengthen your resolve to live in the land of yes or no more often?     Parable #5: Be Present    As a martial arts instructor, Jeff teaches many kids whose dads aren’t around. As a result, he and his boys have become their role models, causing Jeff to wonder why dads aren't stepping up to take care of their kids. Both Jeff and Coach Sam advise fathers "to just show up and be present. That’s it. Just be there and let it happen. Put your phone down and be consumed by your child and the energy of their environment. Don’t delegate it to your wife, the nanny, or the big brother."    [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote]   How do you show up for your children? What is one thing you can do to improve that?     Parables from the Pit   "Believing is not enough. You can have a story that you believe, but if you don’t act on those beliefs, you’re a fucking liar."   --Sam Falsafi   "I didn’t realize how much I had to tear down in order to build myself back up."   --Jeff Oldroyd   www.warriorweeknow.com

Coach Sam’s guest in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit is Jeff Oldroyd, graduate of Warrior Week 55, the week it never stopped raining! What did Jeff realize that first night in the Pit? What does he treasure most in this world? How does he show up for his kids and the kids in their small community? What simple but important message do Coach Sam and Jeff have for the fathers listening to this podcast? Parable #1: Precursor to Warrior <ul> <li>About ten years prior to finding Warrior, Jeff created a symbol and statement of his life based upon a book his friend had written. “By having a balance between my belief in God, my family, my business, and my active, adventurous lifestyle, I will achieve my life’s goals and dreams.”</li> <li>When Warrior came into his life, Jeff was already heavily into the habit of Core 4 (Body, Balance, Being, and Business), but now had the tools to not only back it up but to also take it to the next level.</li> </ul> [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote] What were the conditions of your life when Warrior was introduced to you? Parable #2: The Pit <ul> <li>Upon entering Warrior Week, Jeff had no clue why he was there, but he was committed to submitting to the process. During that first night in the Pit, what opened up for him was the love he had for his family.</li> <li>One of the most significant moments for Jeff was the introduction of the Dark and Light Warrior and the amount of power and love that he felt when they were both joined together.</li> </ul> [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote] What has been your experience with the Dark and Light Warrior? Parable #3: A Voice to Be Heard <ul> <li>Pre Warrior, Jeff’s life was pretty much on an even keel. His relationship with his wife was more functional than passionate, and he had reached the point where he was sick of mediocrity. Post-Warrior, Jeff has opened up more with his children and has been able to have deeper conversations with them.</li> <li>As dads in today's world, you have to have massive amounts of influence and persuasion over your children, as there's an over-abundance of information available to them that will over-ride your voice if it’s not clear and cannot be heard by them.</li> </ul> [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote] How have your conversations with your children changed since taking on the Warrior lifestyle? Parable #4: The Land of Yes or No <ul> <li>Once you label yourself as a Warrior inside this game of life you become someone who has been awakened, and there comes an understanding of and subscription to what Warrior is, which is found in the land of yes or no, but never in the land of maybe which leave things unresolved.</li> <li>“What is Wake Up Warrior? We wake up, and then we live in the land of yes or no. If I tell you I’m going to be there tomorrow by eight, I will be there by eight.” Ultimately, that is how you must operate with your children; otherwise, you leave things unresolved."</li> </ul> [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote] What can you do to strengthen your resolve to live in the land of yes or no more often? Parable #5: Be Present <ul> <li>As a martial arts instructor, Jeff teaches many kids whose dads aren’t around. As a result, he and his boys have become their role models, causing Jeff to wonder why dads aren't stepping up to take care of their kids.</li> <li>Both Jeff and Coach Sam advise fathers "to just show up and be present. That’s it. Just be there and let it happen. Put your phone down and be consumed by your child and the energy of their environment. Don’t delegate it to your wife, the nanny, or the big brother."</li> </ul> [mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#dd3333" txt_color="#ffffff"]QUESTION[/mks_pullquote] How do you show up for your children? What is one thing you can do to improve that? Parables from the Pit "Believing is not enough. You can have a story that you believe, but if you don’t act on those beliefs, you’re a fucking liar." --Sam Falsafi "I didn’t realize how much I had to tear down in order to build myself back up." --Jeff Oldroyd <a href="http://www.warriorweeknow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.warriorweeknow.com</a>

SHOW UP & BE PRESENT | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 082

Parable #1: An Unexpected Catalyst  Walking into the Warrior experience was like walking into pure fucking chaos. We’re thrown in with 120 other guys not knowing up from down and suddenly find ourselves on a webinar with Coach Sam who is coming at us with fire and a fire hose all at the same time. I sat there thinking what the fuck is this? Who is this guy and what is he doing to me right now? Warrior Week was the biggest catalyst in my life for transformation that I have ever experienced. I’m a spiritual man and have been through many transformational experiences, but nothing like Warrior Week. It was there that I received clear messages and gifts from the Voice that altered the direction of my life and marriage.  QUESTION: Where have you experienced transformation in the face of chaos? Parable #2: In the Darkness I Found Light  Most of us are afraid to go to the darkness of the Pit, yet it was in the Pit where I began to see clearly. I saw my wife and I saw what I had done to her. Most of the time I was blind and I didn’t realize what I had done or how damaging I had been. It was in the Pit that I saw the path I needed to take moving forward, how I needed to repair and heal the relationship with my wife with love, with care, with everything that I had. I needed to bring a high level of intensity, investment and commitment into our marriage every single day to create and build our life together.  QUESTION: What are you doing inside of your marriage to create and build a life together? Parable #3: Lessons from Mecca  In 2010 (before Warrior), Coach Sam's business travels took him to Saudi Arabia. He decided to create a spiritual journey for himself and made the pilgrimage to Mecca where he received personal revelations and downloads from God while in that divine place, which confirmed to him that he was in the right place with God. It was through his experiences, encounters and observations on that journey that he received these messages from God: 1- You don't have to wear anything special for me. 2-You are all equal, no one is better than anyone else. 3-Men will always judge and always lie. 4-Men can correct themselves and reposition their hearts and feelings, they can change and transform themselves.  QUESTION: What is a message from God that you have received in the past week? Parable #4: Guide Your Children to Hear the Voice  One of the things I created after Warrior Week was a family church. I realized I’m not really leading and guiding my family if I don’t guide them spiritually. Most of what happened in my childhood that was damaging was all the indoctrination of taking divine things and providing all of the answers around them. I had to do a lot of undoing of all of that shit that got put in my head so I could start to hear the Voice in my heart again. So I determined that I was not going to indoctrinate my son but rather introduce him to the Bible and let him get his own revelations. The things that he is seeing and hearing from the Voice at 10 years old is amazing.  QUESTION: How are you taking advantage of the windows of time you have with your children to teach and guide them?  Parable #5: I Am a Violent Man  Sam N: I am a fucking violent man. My violence needs to be brought to bear on the right things: killing my fucking stories, ridding myself of guilt and shame, ridding the fucking lies in my life, committing to myself and my family and fighting every fucking day for my marriage and children. If I cannot fight for myself and my family first with violence and commitment, who am I to bring anything to the world? Coach Sam: This is not a fight you are going to win if you don’t bring the violent man inside of you to fight for what matters most. You stand by the truth, you stand by your family, you stand by your kids, you stand by God, and you stand by yourself. The minute you defend something, it’s not the truth. The truth by itself doesn’t require any fucking man to defend it.  QUESTION: What are you standing for in your life? How would we know that?    Parable from the Pit:  "The next time you knock on my door, know that God has been here. I know where my faith is. It doesn’t belong in an organized religious group. My faith is between me and God and it’s fucking solid. I don’t need anyone to impose their beliefs on mine. Most of us put blinders on and follow one path. Where is your one on one connection with God." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I cannot deny that God has come to me through a Muslim man who has directly impacted my life. I know how to identify when God has come to me and I will receive God through anyone who wants to give God to me. I will receive it and I will not deny the fruit of what that is, even if I don’t understand it." --Sam Neider

Parable #1: An Unexpected Catalyst <ul> <li>Walking into the Warrior experience was like walking into pure fucking chaos. We’re thrown in with 120 other guys not knowing up from down and suddenly find ourselves on a webinar with Coach Sam who is coming at us with fire and a fire hose all at the same time. I sat there thinking what the fuck is this? Who is this guy and what is he doing to me right now?</li> <li>Warrior Week was the biggest catalyst in my life for transformation that I have ever experienced. I’m a spiritual man and have been through many transformational experiences, but nothing like Warrior Week. It was there that I received clear messages and gifts from the Voice that altered the direction of my life and marriage.</li> </ul> QUESTION: Where have you experienced transformation in the face of chaos? Parable #2: In the Darkness I Found Light <ul> <li>Most of us are afraid to go to the darkness of the Pit, yet it was in the Pit where I began to see clearly. I saw my wife and I saw what I had done to her. Most of the time I was blind and I didn’t realize what I had done or how damaging I had been.</li> <li>It was in the Pit that I saw the path I needed to take moving forward, how I needed to repair and heal the relationship with my wife with love, with care, with everything that I had. I needed to bring a high level of intensity, investment and commitment into our marriage every single day to create and build our life together.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What are you doing inside of your marriage to create and build a life together? Parable #3: Lessons from Mecca <ul> <li>In 2010 (before Warrior), Coach Sam's business travels took him to Saudi Arabia. He decided to create a spiritual journey for himself and made the pilgrimage to Mecca where he received personal revelations and downloads from God while in that divine place, which confirmed to him that he was in the right place with God.</li> <li>It was through his experiences, encounters and observations on that journey that he received these messages from God: 1- You don't have to wear anything special for me. 2-You are all equal, no one is better than anyone else. 3-Men will always judge and always lie. 4-Men can correct themselves and reposition their hearts and feelings, they can change and transform themselves.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What is a message from God that you have received in the past week? Parable #4: Guide Your Children to Hear the Voice <ul> <li>One of the things I created after Warrior Week was a family church. I realized I’m not really leading and guiding my family if I don’t guide them spiritually. Most of what happened in my childhood that was damaging was all the indoctrination of taking divine things and providing all of the answers around them.</li> <li>I had to do a lot of undoing of all of that shit that got put in my head so I could start to hear the Voice in my heart again. So I determined that I was not going to indoctrinate my son but rather introduce him to the Bible and let him get his own revelations. The things that he is seeing and hearing from the Voice at 10 years old is amazing.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How are you taking advantage of the windows of time you have with your children to teach and guide them? Parable #5: I Am a Violent Man <ul> <li>Sam N: I am a fucking violent man. My violence needs to be brought to bear on the right things: killing my fucking stories, ridding myself of guilt and shame, ridding the fucking lies in my life, committing to myself and my family and fighting every fucking day for my marriage and children. If I cannot fight for myself and my family first with violence and commitment, who am I to bring anything to the world?</li> <li>Coach Sam: This is not a fight you are going to win if you don’t bring the violent man inside of you to fight for what matters most. You stand by the truth, you stand by your family, you stand by your kids, you stand by God, and you stand by yourself. The minute you defend something, it’s not the truth. The truth by itself doesn’t require any fucking man to defend it.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What are you standing for in your life? How would we know that?   Parable from the Pit: "The next time you knock on my door, know that God has been here. I know where my faith is. It doesn’t belong in an organized religious group. My faith is between me and God and it’s fucking solid. I don’t need anyone to impose their beliefs on mine. Most of us put blinders on and follow one path. Where is your one on one connection with God." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I cannot deny that God has come to me through a Muslim man who has directly impacted my life. I know how to identify when God has come to me and I will receive God through anyone who wants to give God to me. I will receive it and I will not deny the fruit of what that is, even if I don’t understand it." --Sam Neider

The DEVINE seeks the DEVINE | Parables from the Pit | Ep 016

In This Week’s Episode…   Brenden King, Warrior Week #52 graduate, is Coach Sam’s special guest in this Warrior Week episode of Parables From the Pit. We learn about Brenden’s introduction to the game of Warrior, what impact his military and swat experiences have had on his life, how he created his successful business, and how learning to let go has been one of the biggest blessings &amp; choices he has ever made.     Parable #1: What’s The Point?    At the time Brenden was introduced to Warrior, his business and marriage were not in a great place. As he watched the Las Vegas video, Garrett’s words deeply resonated with him. “I was feeling hopeless, wondering what’s the point? I was doing ok financially yet sucking across so many areas of my life.”     It was inside the Kings Kit challenge, where the former Marine experienced a measurable difference at a deeper level. After completing that, he immediately felt the calling of growth, knowing there was a breaking down and building back up that needed to take place within him. Enter the crucible of Warrior Week.        QUESTION   What is calling you forth to further growth within yourself? What actions are you taking toward that calling?     Parable #2:  Liberated King    Most are used to hearing stories about the broken marriages that are lit on fire as a result of attending Warrior Week. Brenden’s situation did not play out that way.     Sam: “We are not talking about a guy who came in and fixed his marriage. Brenden found himself and worked on himself, he stood by his words, and was willing to go to war for this woman.” Adds Brenden, “Luckily for me, the king I became in Warrior Week prepared me for what was to come.”        QUESTION   How have you dealt with life experiences that may not have turned out the way you wanted them to?       Parable #3: Crisis Consulting    When Brenden came back from war, he used the 90 days given to him to put together his future business plan. Day in and day out, he would retire to his walk-in closet in his pajamas, where he worked, wrote, and detoxed, ultimately birthing his successful business, Crisis Consulting.     “There was this burning question inside of me: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? I knew it was helping and teaching with my skills, but I had no idea what it was going to be, or where it would lead me as I sat &amp; worked in my closet day after day after day."    QUESTION    Have you asked and answered the question, “What am I supposed to do?”     Parable #4: The Art of Letting Go    When Brenden separated from his wife, he bought a house for his mom and began moving his shit there. “I was throwing away a lot of plaques, certificates, and pictures which alarmed my mom. She asked me what I was doing, reminding me that one day, I was going to want to have my own “love me” wall to see my accomplishments.     “While acknowledging my past, I also told her it was time to make room for the next chapter of my life.” Adds Coach Sam, “The art of letting go is literally the hardest fucking thing. As you work on the new thing, knowing that at some point you will also let IT go, sometimes you wonder if you should go ALL IN on it? But, in the end, we always do.”        QUESTION   Where in your world would practicing the art of letting go make room for the new?     Parable #5: Awareness    Coach Sam: You and I now have this awareness that wasn’t present back in the day. But today, we swim in a world of conversation and development, which is why 40 years from now, we can talk about the moments &amp; memories with our loved ones, moments that matter and that they will remember.     “We want to talk about how we helped our kids or how present we were, not how many baseball games we went to. Let’s talk about some real shit – my experiences at war, or when my son made the choice to cut his hair for the first time, or when we watched something together and laughed and laughed. These don’t take enormous amounts of time but are very concentrated memories of being present and living in the moment.”        QUESTION    What memories are you making with your loved ones?     * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com      Parables from the Pit     “The tool is awareness. Invest in the man you want to become in 40 years.” —Sam Falsafi “You have to recognize and trust the process; you must be willing to accept and let go.” –Brenden King

In This Week’s Episode… Brenden King, Warrior Week #52 graduate, is Coach Sam’s special guest in this Warrior Week episode of Parables From the Pit. We learn about Brenden’s introduction to the game of Warrior, what impact his military and swat experiences have had on his life, how he created his successful business, and how learning to let go has been one of the biggest blessings &amp; choices he has ever made.   Parable #1: What’s The Point? <ul> <li>At the time Brenden was introduced to Warrior, his business and marriage were not in a great place. As he watched the Las Vegas video, Garrett’s words deeply resonated with him. “I was feeling hopeless, wondering what’s the point? I was doing ok financially yet sucking across so many areas of my life.”</li> </ul> <ul> <li>It was inside the Kings Kit challenge, where the former Marine experienced a measurable difference at a deeper level. After completing that, he immediately felt the calling of growth, knowing there was a breaking down and building back up that needed to take place within him. Enter the crucible of Warrior Week.</li> </ul>       QUESTION   What is calling you forth to further growth within yourself? What actions are you taking toward that calling?     Parable #2:  Liberated King <ul> <li>Most are used to hearing stories about the broken marriages that are lit on fire as a result of attending Warrior Week. Brenden’s situation did not play out that way.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Sam: “We are not talking about a guy who came in and fixed his marriage. Brenden found himself and worked on himself, he stood by his words, and was willing to go to war for this woman.” Adds Brenden, “Luckily for me, the king I became in Warrior Week prepared me for what was to come.”</li> </ul>       QUESTION   How have you dealt with life experiences that may not have turned out the way you wanted them to?       Parable #3: Crisis Consulting <ul> <li>When Brenden came back from war, he used the 90 days given to him to put together his future business plan. Day in and day out, he would retire to his walk-in closet in his pajamas, where he worked, wrote, and detoxed, ultimately birthing his successful business, <a href="https://www.crisisconsultantgroup.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Crisis Consulting.</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li>“There was this burning question inside of me: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? I knew it was helping and teaching with my skills, but I had no idea what it was going to be, or where it would lead me as I sat &amp; worked in my closet day after day after day."</li> </ul>   QUESTION    Have you asked and answered the question, “What am I supposed to do?”     Parable #4: The Art of Letting Go <ul> <li>When Brenden separated from his wife, he bought a house for his mom and began moving his shit there. “I was throwing away a lot of plaques, certificates, and pictures which alarmed my mom. She asked me what I was doing, reminding me that one day, I was going to want to have my own “love me” wall to see my accomplishments.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>“While acknowledging my past, I also told her it was time to make room for the next chapter of my life.” Adds Coach Sam, “The art of letting go is literally the hardest fucking thing. As you work on the new thing, knowing that at some point you will also let IT go, sometimes you wonder if you should go ALL IN on it? But, in the end, we always do.”</li> </ul>       QUESTION   Where in your world would practicing the art of letting go make room for the new?   Parable #5: Awareness <ul> <li>Coach Sam: You and I now have this awareness that wasn’t present back in the day. But today, we swim in a world of conversation and development, which is why 40 years from now, we can talk about the moments &amp; memories with our loved ones, moments that matter and that they will remember.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>“We want to talk about how we helped our kids or how present we were, not how many baseball games we went to. Let’s talk about some real shit – my experiences at war, or when my son made the choice to cut his hair for the first time, or when we watched something together and laughed and laughed. These don’t take enormous amounts of time but are very concentrated memories of being present and living in the moment.”</li> </ul>       QUESTION    What memories are you making with your loved ones? * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a>   Parables from the Pit “The tool is awareness. Invest in the man you want to become in 40 years.” —Sam Falsafi “You have to recognize and trust the process; you must be willing to accept and let go.” –Brenden King

THE ART OF LETTING GO | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 072

In this week's episode, Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Warrior Week 37 graduate Mattie Leto, a chiropractor who specializes in adjusting animals. We discover Mattie's childhood pain and how suppressing that pain has caused him to doubt himself in many areas of his life despite the great success he has experienced.   Parable #1: The Trap of Sedation  Mattie had already achieved much in his life, yet found himself falling into a rut of sedation time and time again. He wondered what it would take for that cycle to finally end. The story of his mother’s suicide when he was 11 years haunted him for years and he feared he would end up just like her. In a moment when he felt he had to drastically change his life, Garrett's voice from a video Mattie had seen the previous year came into his head. That day an email also arrived from Garrett inviting him to watch a movie about Warrior Book. When the link didn't work, he emailed back and Garrett is the one who responded saying, "I don't know what your fucking problem is. It works for everyone else."  QUESTION: How do you sedate? What are you trying to avoid? Parable #2: You Cannot Hide  As he entered the virtual training leading up to Warrior Week, Mattie was suddenly faced with raw conversation. He was witnessing men sharing feelings and things about themselves that most men want to fucking hide, which opened up a safe place for Mattie to share his stories and pain as well. He remembers one of the first things Coach Sam said: You want to live a powerful life? Stop fucking lying. Mattie's experience with the Warrior pre training had cracked him wide open exposing what was really going on inside of him, something his seven year immersion into the world of psychology hadn't been able to do. He wondered how Warrior had this uncanny ability to call men out of their hiding places. The truth is, it's because they have hidden in all of those gdman fucking hiding places themselves.  QUESTION: When is the last time you shared your pain and feelings with another human being?  Parable #3: What's Behind the Door?  As we get older, we forget about all of that emotional charge we left back behind that door in our childhood and don’t know what the fuck is behind it. The minute you open that door, there are waves and waves of emotional charges that come at you, then you have to find a fucking way to swim. For decades, Mattie hid and stuffed his feelings, only letting them out during physical competitions. It was as if he had banished a part of who he was. When he was in the pit on that first day of Warrior Week, he let that part of him out of the box and there was no putting him back inside.  QUESTION: What feelings have you been stuffing down most of your life? Parable #4: The Walls Come Tumbling Down  Mattie: I thought I knew who I was before Warrior Week, but now I know I didn't. For years I had built up this prison around my heart and on that last day, it was a fucking jail break. The walls fell down and something emerged that was more me than I have ever been.  I had failed in every relationship with any woman I had ever been with, believing I would never find someone to share my life with. Today, I am an engaged man. I finally know what it means to be the man knows how to show up for himself and for a woman. My relationship with Lila is one of the heart, not the head.  QUESTION: What stories have you believed about yourself that have stopped you from experiencing life in the way you desire? Parable #5: Tune In and Listen  Everyday when I come to the revelation of the Stack, I get to move from my head into my heart. When my heart tells me one thing and my head tells me another, I listen to my heart and do what it says. When I do this, my life grows and things happen in a way that are not logical. The mind says you don’t have enough, and the heart says "you will always have more than enough, in one form or another. You’ve got to get in tune with your heart and that begins by unfucking your head and mind. There is the retraining of patterns and behaviors that must take place. At Warrior Week do this  in a structured experiential environment where we retrain you to listen to your heart.  QUESTION: What have been the results from listening to your heart in the last few days?    Parable from the Pit:  "The guys who suddenly go out and shoot people are the guys who have shut down their feelings. You don’t have to be afraid of the loud guy because what you see is what you get. You have to be fucking careful with the quiet guys because they’re suppressing like crazy. There's a gorilla that lives inside of them with no permission to come out until all hell breaks loose.." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "The dark side of you can cause unbridled destruction upon those you love. So what the fuck do you do with this thing? Let me just sedate the fuck out of myself and be a nice, well behaved good man. You know how that ends? Not fucking well." --Mattie

In this week's episode, Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Warrior Week 37 graduate Mattie Leto, a chiropractor who specializes in adjusting animals. We discover Mattie's childhood pain and how suppressing that pain has caused him to doubt himself in many areas of his life despite the great success he has experienced.  Parable #1: The Trap of Sedation <ul> <li>Mattie had already achieved much in his life, yet found himself falling into a rut of sedation time and time again. He wondered what it would take for that cycle to finally end. The story of his mother’s suicide when he was 11 years haunted him for years and he feared he would end up just like her.</li> <li>In a moment when he felt he had to drastically change his life, Garrett's voice from a video Mattie had seen the previous year came into his head. That day an email also arrived from Garrett inviting him to watch a movie about Warrior Book. When the link didn't work, he emailed back and Garrett is the one who responded saying, "I don't know what your fucking problem is. It works for everyone else."</li> </ul> QUESTION: How do you sedate? What are you trying to avoid? Parable #2: You Cannot Hide <ul> <li>As he entered the virtual training leading up to Warrior Week, Mattie was suddenly faced with raw conversation. He was witnessing men sharing feelings and things about themselves that most men want to fucking hide, which opened up a safe place for Mattie to share his stories and pain as well. He remembers one of the first things Coach Sam said: You want to live a powerful life? Stop fucking lying.</li> <li>Mattie's experience with the Warrior pre training had cracked him wide open exposing what was really going on inside of him, something his seven year immersion into the world of psychology hadn't been able to do. He wondered how Warrior had this uncanny ability to call men out of their hiding places. The truth is, it's because they have hidden in all of those gdman fucking hiding places themselves.</li> </ul> QUESTION: When is the last time you shared your pain and feelings with another human being? Parable #3: What's Behind the Door? <ul> <li>As we get older, we forget about all of that emotional charge we left back behind that door in our childhood and don’t know what the fuck is behind it. The minute you open that door, there are waves and waves of emotional charges that come at you, then you have to find a fucking way to swim.</li> <li>For decades, Mattie hid and stuffed his feelings, only letting them out during physical competitions. It was as if he had banished a part of who he was. When he was in the pit on that first day of Warrior Week, he let that part of him out of the box and there was no putting him back inside.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What feelings have you been stuffing down most of your life? Parable #4: The Walls Come Tumbling Down <ul> <li>Mattie: I thought I knew who I was before Warrior Week, but now I know I didn't. For years I had built up this prison around my heart and on that last day, it was a fucking jail break. The walls fell down and something emerged that was more me than I have ever been. </li> <li>I had failed in every relationship with any woman I had ever been with, believing I would never find someone to share my life with. Today, I am an engaged man. I finally know what it means to be the man knows how to show up for himself and for a woman. My relationship with Lila is one of the heart, not the head.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What stories have you believed about yourself that have stopped you from experiencing life in the way you desire? Parable #5: Tune In and Listen <ul> <li>Everyday when I come to the revelation of the Stack, I get to move from my head into my heart. When my heart tells me one thing and my head tells me another, I listen to my heart and do what it says. When I do this, my life grows and things happen in a way that are not logical. The mind says you don’t have enough, and the heart says "you will always have more than enough, in one form or another.</li> <li>You’ve got to get in tune with your heart and that begins by unfucking your head and mind. There is the retraining of patterns and behaviors that must take place. At Warrior Week do this  in a structured experiential environment where we retrain you to listen to your heart.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What have been the results from listening to your heart in the last few days?   Parable from the Pit: "The guys who suddenly go out and shoot people are the guys who have shut down their feelings. You don’t have to be afraid of the loud guy because what you see is what you get. You have to be fucking careful with the quiet guys because they’re suppressing like crazy. There's a gorilla that lives inside of them with no permission to come out until all hell breaks loose.." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "The dark side of you can cause unbridled destruction upon those you love. So what the fuck do you do with this thing? Let me just sedate the fuck out of myself and be a nice, well behaved good man. You know how that ends? Not fucking well." --Mattie

DOG is GOD Spelled Backward | Parables from the Pit | Ep 015

Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Warrior Week 36 graduate, Navin Thukkaram, to the show today. Navim is a very successful entrepreneur and a man that has completely transformed his life in the past year by simply believing in the concept of becoming this greater version of himself. "It’s what the journey makes you become, it’s not getting to a finish line," says Navim. "The finish line does not exist."  Parable #1: Commitment  Navim is from Chicago, his parents are from India. He had a traditional upbringing with a strong emphasis on education. He loved playing golf and was really quite good, so he chose a University that had its own golf course - Princeton - and boasts that he got to play golf and do math all through college. Navim: I feel like when I was growing up, I was cranking non-stop at school from ages 5 to 18 to try to get into an Ivy League school. It was the contract of 'this is what you do.' I always had targets and outcomes I was working towards - go to college, get a lot of money, get respected. I had worked really hard for a very long time, and although it all actually worked out very well, I was super burned out.  Ask Yourself: What area of your life do you feel needs a deeper and more consistent commitment from you?   Parable #2: Cooks in the Kitchen  Navim: I made my first million in my late 20s. At the time I was a partner at a private equity firm. One of my investments went extremely well, it grew from there, and we sold a little bit of it which was well over a million dollars. I’ve been fortunate to have my good family and education and resources to be successful. Obviously, it’ not about the money, it’s about what the money represents. That represented unbelievable about of commitment and work over a lifetime, and in some ways, it also represented what my parents had done for me over that very long period of time. All those things had to come together to make that happen. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen that helped make that happen.    Ask Yourself: Who are the people who have contributed to your success?    Parable #3: The Missing Link  Coach Sam: In your late 20s, you achieve this and you continue to grind. Obviously, the reward of the money was great and you felt successful. You built a fucking empire. Life is good. And then you go to a Tony Robbins event, and inside of the event, you meet Garrett who tells you to 'talk to Sam.' After you watched some videos, what truly resonated with your heart for you to say: this is something that I want to do? Navim: It was one of Garrett’s first videos where he was walking in Vegas talking about the concept of sedation, and the concept of wanting something more. I’m always doing personal development in some way so it wasn’t like I felt I had hit rock bottom. But I felt like I didn’t have near the energy that I had experienced in previous years, and it was a lack of purpose.     Ask Yourself: What message resonated with you and was the catylist for your entry into Warrior?    Parable #4: Warrior Week  Navim: I come into Warrior Week. I’m doing well, but I’m not feeling that energy or purpose. I knew from our conversation and by the way you identified that so effortlessly, that this is the place I needed to be. I was thinking: I don’t know what the fuck these guys are doing, I don’t know why they're wearing all black, I hope this is not some sort of cult, but Garrett is obviously a great guy so I’m going to trust the process. The first thing I felt when you had me in the hole that we had dug for ourselves was that I was very confused. I knew I was in the right place, but I didn’t really know why I was there. I had a feeling as to why I was there, but I couldn’t really articulate it very well. But I knew I was not going to get out of that hole until I convinced you that I knew why I was there.    Ask Yourself: How has trusting the process impacted your life?  Parable #5: Measurable Results  Coach Sam: For the first time ever, I feel you are balanced enough to have a relationship. For a year you’ve been knocking at the door of fatherhood and relationship. For 27 years, you’ve been programmed as an assassin, and now you meditate and have these moments where you stop and you go to the void for no reason and no purpose, and then you come back. It’s creating balance in your character and the way you communicate. It is a totally different Navim, not that the Navim before was a bad one, but this one is a more dominating, powerful Navim. You’re a badass doing MMA right now, business is booming, the purpose behind your business is clear. You’re meditating, you’re connected to your being. The missing piece of the puzzle is the Balance, but you’re in the most attractive state ever.  Ask Yourself: How has being part of Warrior changed your life?  Parables from the Pit:  "Part of what was missing from Navim was fire. You saw a glance of that fire in Garrett. The heat of that fire warmed you up and attracted you, which brought you into this crazy conversion. Warrior Week burned you to some extent. You and the men of 36 forged this connection - this relationship that most men don't have. It's an invitation for collision, for calling each other out, prompting the highest standard. And that’s what we hold you accountable to." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "You have to remember that your business is a reflection of yourself. Just take a look in the mirror. You have to get that fire first - for yourself - if you’re going to set your business on fire and really take it to the next level. The thing is, when you get yourself right, you can make quantum improvements." --Navin Thukkaram

Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Warrior Week 36 graduate, Navin Thukkaram, to the show today. Navim is a very successful entrepreneur and a man that has completely transformed his life in the past year by simply believing in the concept of becoming this greater version of himself. "It’s what the journey makes you become, it’s not getting to a finish line," says Navim. "The finish line does not exist." Parable #1: Commitment <ul> <li>Navim is from Chicago, his parents are from India. He had a traditional upbringing with a strong emphasis on education. He loved playing golf and was really quite good, so he chose a University that had its own golf course - Princeton - and boasts that he got to play golf and do math all through college.</li> <li>Navim: I feel like when I was growing up, I was cranking non-stop at school from ages 5 to 18 to try to get into an Ivy League school. It was the contract of 'this is what you do.' I always had targets and outcomes I was working towards - go to college, get a lot of money, get respected. I had worked really hard for a very long time, and although it all actually worked out very well, I was super burned out.</li> </ul> Ask Yourself: What area of your life do you feel needs a deeper and more consistent commitment from you?   Parable #2: Cooks in the Kitchen <ul> <li>Navim: I made my first million in my late 20s. At the time I was a partner at a private equity firm. One of my investments went extremely well, it grew from there, and we sold a little bit of it which was well over a million dollars. I’ve been fortunate to have my good family and education and resources to be successful. Obviously, it’ not about the money, it’s about what the money represents.</li> <li>That represented unbelievable about of commitment and work over a lifetime, and in some ways, it also represented what my parents had done for me over that very long period of time. All those things had to come together to make that happen. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen that helped make that happen.</li> </ul> Ask Yourself: Who are the people who have contributed to your success?   Parable #3: The Missing Link <ul> <li>Coach Sam: In your late 20s, you achieve this and you continue to grind. Obviously, the reward of the money was great and you felt successful. You built a fucking empire. Life is good. And then you go to a Tony Robbins event, and inside of the event, you meet Garrett who tells you to 'talk to Sam.' After you watched some videos, what truly resonated with your heart for you to say: this is something that I want to do?</li> <li>Navim: It was one of Garrett’s first videos where he was walking in Vegas talking about the concept of sedation, and the concept of wanting something more. I’m always doing personal development in some way so it wasn’t like I felt I had hit rock bottom. But I felt like I didn’t have near the energy that I had experienced in previous years, and it was a lack of purpose. </li> </ul> Ask Yourself: What message resonated with you and was the catylist for your entry into Warrior?   Parable #4: Warrior Week <ul> <li>Navim: I come into Warrior Week. I’m doing well, but I’m not feeling that energy or purpose. I knew from our conversation and by the way you identified that so effortlessly, that this is the place I needed to be. I was thinking: I don’t know what the fuck these guys are doing, I don’t know why they're wearing all black, I hope this is not some sort of cult, but Garrett is obviously a great guy so I’m going to trust the process.</li> <li>The first thing I felt when you had me in the hole that we had dug for ourselves was that I was very confused. I knew I was in the right place, but I didn’t really know why I was there. I had a feeling as to why I was there, but I couldn’t really articulate it very well. But I knew I was not going to get out of that hole until I convinced you that I knew why I was there.</li> </ul> Ask Yourself: How has trusting the process impacted your life? Parable #5: Measurable Results <ul> <li>Coach Sam: For the first time ever, I feel you are balanced enough to have a relationship. For a year you’ve been knocking at the door of fatherhood and relationship. For 27 years, you’ve been programmed as an assassin, and now you meditate and have these moments where you stop and you go to the void for no reason and no purpose, and then you come back. It’s creating balance in your character and the way you communicate.</li> <li>It is a totally different Navim, not that the Navim before was a bad one, but this one is a more dominating, powerful Navim. You’re a badass doing MMA right now, business is booming, the purpose behind your business is clear. You’re meditating, you’re connected to your being. The missing piece of the puzzle is the Balance, but you’re in the most attractive state ever.</li> </ul> Ask Yourself: How has being part of Warrior changed your life? Parables from the Pit: "Part of what was missing from Navim was fire. You saw a glance of that fire in Garrett. The heat of that fire warmed you up and attracted you, which brought you into this crazy conversion. Warrior Week burned you to some extent. You and the men of 36 forged this connection - this relationship that most men don't have. It's an invitation for collision, for calling each other out, prompting the highest standard. And that’s what we hold you accountable to." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "You have to remember that your business is a reflection of yourself. Just take a look in the mirror. You have to get that fire first - for yourself - if you’re going to set your business on fire and really take it to the next level. The thing is, when you get yourself right, you can make quantum improvements." --Navin Thukkaram

Quantum Leap | Warrior Week | Ep 029

Welcome to the Warrior Week podcast with your host Coach Sam Falsafi. This week Sam welcomes guest Sebastian Huynh - the man who never belonged anywhere. They discuss his colorful and diverse background, explore racism, reveal the deep pain and isolation Sebastian has experienced in his life, delve into the world of drugs, prison, gangs and the Mexican mafia, share his unique spiritual journey and his jolting wake up call in the depths of the Pit at Warrior Week.  Parable #1: Identity and Purpose  Sebastian came to America with his German Catholic step father and began attending Catholic school as the only non white, non German student. Through the years he tested every religion as he sought for deeper meaning and purpose in life. He experienced Atheism for a season where he was angry at God: Fuck God. If there is a God, why didn’t he give me a dad? Why did I have multiple step fathers? Why am I always a minority? While in prison, he found his home in Christianity.  QUESTION: What is the pain from Sebastian that resonates with you? Parable #2: Cultural Separation  Sebastian had always been a natural leader until he became a Christian. For many seasons he became the student: "I had too much shame, guilt and dirt. I hid out and didn’t go to church because that’s what white people did. Asians? We're supposed to go to a Buddhist temple." Coach Sam: There is a separation between cultures that we cannot deny. We might be raising our children in a multicultural environment, yet cultures tend to stay within their own circles and not allow ‘outsiders’ in. You might be welcomed on the surface as a friend, but it is a false welcome because you will never be fully accepted within that circle.  QUESTION: Where in your life have you experienced this false welcome - as a recipient or as a contributor? Parable #3: Who Is Modeling Manhood For Your Sons?  Sebastian: I was lonely. I was being groomed for manhood by the mafia whose story was: men are powerful and they don't cry.  They were modeling drinking, drugs, sex and violence, so that is what I practiced. Violence became my signature, especially violence with knives. I went to prison because I stabbed three men. Coach Sam: If you are listening to this and you have a teenage son, and you're sensing that some shit is going on with a gang or organized crime, or who you feel is on the path of associating manhood with drugs, alcohol and sex - I would have you consider that you have not led him to a place where he can feel that he is being led towards being a man. You must lead your sons from a place of truth.  QUESTION: What are you hearing that is piercing your heart? Parable #4: Obstacles Removed By the Bigger Hand  The night Sebastian found God in prison was a turning point for him. He was facing 66 years to life when a miraculous turn of events started happening. One by one, life altering obstacles were being removed by this "bigger hand." At the time he thought he had just gotten lucky, but looking back from where he is today, he knows and recognizes it as the bigger hand of God. As the only white person in his Bible study groups, Sebastian was thirsting to know as much as he could about God. He was working three jobs and attending several bible study groups when the pastor asked him about attending Bible College. Sebastian had never heard about Bible College, and through a series of miraculous events, he received a full scholarship and eventually became a pastor.   QUESTION: Where in your life have you witnessed the miracles of "the bigger hand?" Parable #5: Circle of Trust  Coach Sam: You came into Warrior Week. It was a process but there is also a beautiful friendship that has grown between all of us. For the first time we have this circle of trust, a feeling of belonging. Sebastian: It’s the most authentic version I have been searching for my whole life: the true acceptance of another man. I didn’t have to sell drugs to you, I didn’t have to hurt anybody for you, I didn’t have to kiss your ass; it was because you said “you work on yourself, you lead yourself” while you were leading yourself. That was the first time I had brothers accepting me without me having to do shit for them.  QUESTION: Do you have a circle of trust? Who is in it?    Parable from the Pit:  "Out of all you experience in your life, the greatest pain comes from wearing a mask. Wearing a mask complete fucking isolates you where you feel alone. This is not a social aloneness. It's hell on fucking earth. It’s the biggest pain for men in society today where they are living and operating alone in the space of wearing a gdamn mask and saying ‘everything is fine.” -- Coach Sam Falsafi   "I’m not looking for another man to be my savior, I’m leading myself and taking 100% responsibility for the direction I am leading my family. I hunt every day for my purpose. Here’s the truth: Once I lead myself, I can lead others. --Sebastian Huynh

Welcome to the Warrior Week podcast with your host Coach Sam Falsafi. This week Sam welcomes guest Sebastian Huynh - the man who never belonged anywhere. They discuss his colorful and diverse background, explore racism, reveal the deep pain and isolation Sebastian has experienced in his life, delve into the world of drugs, prison, gangs and the Mexican mafia, share his unique spiritual journey and his jolting wake up call in the depths of the Pit at Warrior Week. Parable #1: Identity and Purpose <ul> <li>Sebastian came to America with his German Catholic step father and began attending Catholic school as the only non white, non German student. Through the years he tested every religion as he sought for deeper meaning and purpose in life.</li> <li>He experienced Atheism for a season where he was angry at God: Fuck God. If there is a God, why didn’t he give me a dad? Why did I have multiple step fathers? Why am I always a minority? While in prison, he found his home in Christianity.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What is the pain from Sebastian that resonates with you? Parable #2: Cultural Separation <ul> <li>Sebastian had always been a natural leader until he became a Christian. For many seasons he became the student: "I had too much shame, guilt and dirt. I hid out and didn’t go to church because that’s what white people did. Asians? We're supposed to go to a Buddhist temple."</li> <li>Coach Sam: There is a separation between cultures that we cannot deny. We might be raising our children in a multicultural environment, yet cultures tend to stay within their own circles and not allow ‘outsiders’ in. You might be welcomed on the surface as a friend, but it is a false welcome because you will never be fully accepted within that circle.</li> </ul> QUESTION: Where in your life have you experienced this false welcome - as a recipient or as a contributor? Parable #3: Who Is Modeling Manhood For Your Sons? <ul> <li>Sebastian: I was lonely. I was being groomed for manhood by the mafia whose story was: men are powerful and they don't cry.  They were modeling drinking, drugs, sex and violence, so that is what I practiced. Violence became my signature, especially violence with knives. I went to prison because I stabbed three men.</li> <li>Coach Sam: If you are listening to this and you have a teenage son, and you're sensing that some shit is going on with a gang or organized crime, or who you feel is on the path of associating manhood with drugs, alcohol and sex - I would have you consider that you have not led him to a place where he can feel that he is being led towards being a man. You must lead your sons from a place of truth.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What are you hearing that is piercing your heart? Parable #4: Obstacles Removed By the Bigger Hand <ul> <li>The night Sebastian found God in prison was a turning point for him. He was facing 66 years to life when a miraculous turn of events started happening. One by one, life altering obstacles were being removed by this "bigger hand." At the time he thought he had just gotten lucky, but looking back from where he is today, he knows and recognizes it as the bigger hand of God.</li> <li>As the only white person in his Bible study groups, Sebastian was thirsting to know as much as he could about God. He was working three jobs and attending several bible study groups when the pastor asked him about attending Bible College. Sebastian had never heard about Bible College, and through a series of miraculous events, he received a full scholarship and eventually became a pastor.</li> </ul>  QUESTION: Where in your life have you witnessed the miracles of "the bigger hand?" Parable #5: Circle of Trust <ul> <li>Coach Sam: You came into Warrior Week. It was a process but there is also a beautiful friendship that has grown between all of us. For the first time we have this circle of trust, a feeling of belonging.</li> <li>Sebastian: It’s the most authentic version I have been searching for my whole life: the true acceptance of another man. I didn’t have to sell drugs to you, I didn’t have to hurt anybody for you, I didn’t have to kiss your ass; it was because you said “you work on yourself, you lead yourself” while you were leading yourself. That was the first time I had brothers accepting me without me having to do shit for them.</li> </ul> QUESTION: Do you have a circle of trust? Who is in it?   Parable from the Pit: "Out of all you experience in your life, the greatest pain comes from wearing a mask. Wearing a mask complete fucking isolates you where you feel alone. This is not a social aloneness. It's hell on fucking earth. It’s the biggest pain for men in society today where they are living and operating alone in the space of wearing a gdamn mask and saying ‘everything is fine.” -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I’m not looking for another man to be my savior, I’m leading myself and taking 100% responsibility for the direction I am leading my family. I hunt every day for my purpose. Here’s the truth: Once I lead myself, I can lead others. --Sebastian Huynh

Loneliness of False Leadership | Parables from the Pit | Ep 014

What causes a man to want to go to Warrior Week when his business is the most successful it’s ever been, and life is good? Welcome to this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit with Coach Sam and his guest, Mike Cottmeyer, where we discover the answer to that question and learn why Mike chose to walk through the gates of Warrior Week #52 even after learning about his wife’s life-threatening diagnosis a mere two days before. Parable #1: Feeling Isolated  In the summer of 2018, it was the viewing of one video that caused Mike to step into the world of Warrior via the Kings Kit Challenge, which proved to be a poignant turning point in his life. Although he had more monetary success than ever before, he was feeling disconnected on every level and was feeling completely isolated. The message from the video that resonated with Mike the most was this idea that guys who are really successful in business are bored. “I know people have problems paying their electric bill; I had a problem making my million and a half payroll every month. Who do you share that kind of pressure with?”  QUESTION  How is having an association of men to share life with making a difference in your life?  Parable #2: Taking a Leap  When Mike took the leap out of corporate America to start his company, he gave away the security and promise of the paycheck for the uncertainty of doing his own thing. “What I found was, that was just the first of many leaps.” Pre-Warrior, Mike felt that he had reached the ceiling on what he could accomplish as a leader, as a husband, and as a father. He was feeling overwhelmed. Two days before he entered the doors of Warrior Week, his wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  QUESTION  Where have you been taking leaps in your life? How has your life changed because of those leaps?  Parable #3: The Cemetery  When Mike was 23, his mother passed away from cancer, which was the most painful thing he had experienced up to that point in his life. Fast forward two decades to Warrior Week where the group is in a van traveling to visit a cemetery. When asked by one of the coaches what his reaction would be if his wife were to die from her illness, the best response Mike could muster in that moment was, “I would be sad.” “With my mother’s death, that was a pivotal time in my life which turned off a range of emotions for me. If it doesn’t crack that level, fuck it. It is what it is. You want to trigger an emotion in me? Put me in a cemetery thinking about my mom and writing letters to my kids about what would happen if I were to die. I can get to that emotion, but I’m not comfortable living there.”  QUESTION  When was the last time you gave yourself permission to experience deep emotion?  Parable #4: Modeling Behavior  Mike’s involvement in Warrior has allowed him to create space for conversations with his sons Zach, Daniel, and Noah. What he’s trying to model for them is “just because things get fucked up or go a little sideways, doesn’t mean it’s over. Don’t give up.” “Basically, it’s modeling behavior. They’re seeing me get into better shape, pray &amp; meditate, emotionally connect with their mom &amp; them every day. They’re seeing what’s going on in the business, that we’re going to continue to collide, and that I’m not giving up.”  QUESTION  What behavior are you modeling for your children?  Parable #5: Letting Go to Lead  Post-Warrior, Mike has chosen to spend more time with his wife which has meant letting go and whittling down the hours he works on his business. “In my little niche of the world, I’m the Garrett White of my industry. I’m the speaker, I’m the rain-maker, I’m the one who’s out there. When I take a step back, there’s a real risk for it to slow down.” “When you have strong leaders, you’ve got to give them space to lead. And when you’re a control freak like me, it’s hard to know which pieces you can let go of and which pieces you can’t. It’s a tough balance.”  QUESTION  Whether in your home or business, what can you let go of in order to create space for others to lead?   Parables from the Pit:  “It doesn’t matter what the fuck you say – whether it’s wrong or right – as long as you’re certain, people will follow.” —Sam Falsafi “Warrior Week for me was the beginning of a journey. It was like having a veil lifted and realizing there was a whole different way of looking at the world that I hadn’t been paying attention to.” -Mike Cottmeyer

What causes a man to want to go to Warrior Week when his business is the most successful it’s ever been, and life is good? Welcome to this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit with Coach Sam and his guest, Mike Cottmeyer, where we discover the answer to that question and learn why Mike chose to walk through the gates of Warrior Week #52 even after learning about his wife’s life-threatening diagnosis a mere two days before. Parable #1: Feeling Isolated <ul> <li>In the summer of 2018, it was the viewing of one video that caused Mike to step into the world of Warrior via the Kings Kit Challenge, which proved to be a poignant turning point in his life. Although he had more monetary success than ever before, he was feeling disconnected on every level and was feeling completely isolated.</li> <li>The message from the video that resonated with Mike the most was this idea that guys who are really successful in business are bored. “I know people have problems paying their electric bill; I had a problem making my million and a half payroll every month. Who do you share that kind of pressure with?”</li> </ul> QUESTION How is having an association of men to share life with making a difference in your life? Parable #2: Taking a Leap <ul> <li>When Mike took the leap out of corporate America to start his company, he gave away the security and promise of the paycheck for the uncertainty of doing his own thing. “What I found was, that was just the first of many leaps.”</li> <li>Pre-Warrior, Mike felt that he had reached the ceiling on what he could accomplish as a leader, as a husband, and as a father. He was feeling overwhelmed. Two days before he entered the doors of Warrior Week, his wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.</li> </ul> QUESTION Where have you been taking leaps in your life? How has your life changed because of those leaps? Parable #3: The Cemetery <ul> <li>When Mike was 23, his mother passed away from cancer, which was the most painful thing he had experienced up to that point in his life. Fast forward two decades to Warrior Week where the group is in a van traveling to visit a cemetery. When asked by one of the coaches what his reaction would be if his wife were to die from her illness, the best response Mike could muster in that moment was, “I would be sad.”</li> <li>“With my mother’s death, that was a pivotal time in my life which turned off a range of emotions for me. If it doesn’t crack that level, fuck it. It is what it is. You want to trigger an emotion in me? Put me in a cemetery thinking about my mom and writing letters to my kids about what would happen if I were to die. I can get to that emotion, but I’m not comfortable living there.”</li> </ul> QUESTION When was the last time you gave yourself permission to experience deep emotion? Parable #4: Modeling Behavior <ul> <li>Mike’s involvement in Warrior has allowed him to create space for conversations with his sons Zach, Daniel, and Noah. What he’s trying to model for them is “just because things get fucked up or go a little sideways, doesn’t mean it’s over. Don’t give up.”</li> <li>“Basically, it’s modeling behavior. They’re seeing me get into better shape, pray &amp; meditate, emotionally connect with their mom &amp; them every day. They’re seeing what’s going on in the business, that we’re going to continue to collide, and that I’m not giving up.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What behavior are you modeling for your children? Parable #5: Letting Go to Lead <ul> <li>Post-Warrior, Mike has chosen to spend more time with his wife which has meant letting go and whittling down the hours he works on his business. “In my little niche of the world, I’m the Garrett White of my industry. I’m the speaker, I’m the rain-maker, I’m the one who’s out there. When I take a step back, there’s a real risk for it to slow down.”</li> <li>“When you have strong leaders, you’ve got to give them space to lead. And when you’re a control freak like me, it’s hard to know which pieces you can let go of and which pieces you can’t. It’s a tough balance.”</li> </ul> QUESTION Whether in your home or business, what can you let go of in order to create space for others to lead? Parables from the Pit: “It doesn’t matter what the fuck you say – whether it’s wrong or right – as long as you’re certain, people will follow.” —Sam Falsafi “Warrior Week for me was the beginning of a journey. It was like having a veil lifted and realizing there was a whole different way of looking at the world that I hadn’t been paying attention to.” -Mike Cottmeyer

LETTING GO OF THE GOOD FOR THE GREAT | Warrior Week | EP 061

Coach Sam Falsafi and Marine Corps Vet Deric Keller have an amazing conversation in this week's episode, where they share stories of war, anger, decisions, turning points, and liberation.  Parable #1: Anger Suppression  Sam: When we’re kids, we're given this checklist of what to do and what not to do, and part of that checklist is how we're not supposed to be angry at our parents. As children, there are emotional events and incidents that take place where we involuntarily adopt certain patterns and behaviors that are associated with that event or situation, which patterns unconsciously stay with us for years. If anger is a feeling that takes place as a result of that event or situation, since I'm not "supposed' to show my anger towards my parents, I begin sedating and suppressing it. Eventually, at some point later in life, that anger will show up because I'm never been given the frame of collision.  QUESTION: What emotional event took place when you were a child that you have been suppressing for years? Parable #2: Shattering the Armor  Coach Sam: When we deal with anger in whatever ways we learn to process it, the feelings of blame, guilt, and shame get forged into a type of armor that we carry for the rest of our life, until we go through the process that breaks the fucking armor with a hammer, and we suddenly feel 300 pounds lighter. Deric: I went through similar instances having shame and guilt with my kids. I used to sit on the couch and watch tv, then when it was time for punishment, "dad" would react. Today, we're in constant communication to where when it’s time for me to be the disciplinarian, it’s in a completely different way.  QUESTION: What has been your experience surrounding shame and guilt? Parable #3: Child of War  Sam: Between the ages of 8 and 10, my family and I lived inside of a Civil War. I saw things I should not have seen and witnessed so much pain. I would go to school and see the empty chairs of my friends whose homes had been bombed during the night. I didn’t know what the fuck was happening. For me, this was normal because I didn’t know anything else. There was no television or social media exposing us to another world, no education exposing us to another possibility. When we left the country and went to Canada, war was never spoken of again. I didn't talk about it, I suppressed it; I suppressed anything that symbolized war.  QUESTION: What reality were you previously unaware of but can now clearly see? What happened?  Parable #4: Worm On a Hook  Deric: We called ourselves worm on a hook. Basically, we were bait. On April 4, 2003, we got attacked by militia as we were headed into Southern Baghdad. We had a new lieutenant with bright blue eyes who ended up getting killed on that mission. Until an evolution at Warrior Week, for 14 years all I could see were his bright blue eyes staring at me each night went to sleep. It’s not that we’re leaving it all over there, the majority of our feelings don’t hit us until we’re back stateside. We’re processing things at a different level and a different manner. Over there, you just keep moving. You’re losing people and people are falling off to the wayside, but you’re constantly moving forward.  QUESTION: What emotional event has haunted you for years? Parable #5: The War Within Never Ends  Sam: For the past four years, I’ve lived and taught the Warrior’s Way and have been living in the greatness of being a dad. Inside of 24 hours, I have become the most shitty dad - twice. That’s proof that the war within never fucking ends. The old self? He’s always fucking there. The minute I believe he’s no longer there, he takes over. But if I acknowledge he’s there, from time to time I can be a shitty man, husband, father, or leader. If I don’t acknowledge that, then all I’m fucking searching is this imaginary game of perfection that doesn’t exist. I’m chasing something that is telling me to fail every time I chase it.  QUESTION: How long have you been chasing the imaginary game of perfection?   Parables from the Pit:  "You’re a man of war, I’m a child of war. Here we sit side by side. Although we can say the war within is not fucking over, we’ve won some major fucking battles and we’re at peace right now. But we know for sure that the war within never fucking ends." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I didn’t realize that I was trying to hide that I had PTSD because to me it was a weakness. I didn’t want everyone to judge me. I had a vision of guys with PTSD living in gutters or my uncle living in a VA home. That’s how I envisioned PTSD. So when I was labled with it, I did everything in my power to make sure people didn’t know. I was scared. I didn’t understand that I could still function." --Deric Keller

Coach Sam Falsafi and Marine Corps Vet Deric Keller have an amazing conversation in this week's episode, where they share stories of war, anger, decisions, turning points, and liberation. Parable #1: Anger Suppression <ul> <li>Sam: When we’re kids, we're given this checklist of what to do and what not to do, and part of that checklist is how we're not supposed to be angry at our parents. As children, there are emotional events and incidents that take place where we involuntarily adopt certain patterns and behaviors that are associated with that event or situation, which patterns unconsciously stay with us for years.</li> <li>If anger is a feeling that takes place as a result of that event or situation, since I'm not "supposed' to show my anger towards my parents, I begin sedating and suppressing it. Eventually, at some point later in life, that anger will show up because I'm never been given the frame of collision.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What emotional event took place when you were a child that you have been suppressing for years? Parable #2: Shattering the Armor <ul> <li>Coach Sam: When we deal with anger in whatever ways we learn to process it, the feelings of blame, guilt, and shame get forged into a type of armor that we carry for the rest of our life, until we go through the process that breaks the fucking armor with a hammer, and we suddenly feel 300 pounds lighter.</li> <li>Deric: I went through similar instances having shame and guilt with my kids. I used to sit on the couch and watch tv, then when it was time for punishment, "dad" would react. Today, we're in constant communication to where when it’s time for me to be the disciplinarian, it’s in a completely different way.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What has been your experience surrounding shame and guilt? Parable #3: Child of War <ul> <li>Sam: Between the ages of 8 and 10, my family and I lived inside of a Civil War. I saw things I should not have seen and witnessed so much pain. I would go to school and see the empty chairs of my friends whose homes had been bombed during the night. I didn’t know what the fuck was happening.</li> <li>For me, this was normal because I didn’t know anything else. There was no television or social media exposing us to another world, no education exposing us to another possibility. When we left the country and went to Canada, war was never spoken of again. I didn't talk about it, I suppressed it; I suppressed anything that symbolized war.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What reality were you previously unaware of but can now clearly see? What happened? Parable #4: Worm On a Hook <ul> <li>Deric: We called ourselves worm on a hook. Basically, we were bait. On April 4, 2003, we got attacked by militia as we were headed into Southern Baghdad. We had a new lieutenant with bright blue eyes who ended up getting killed on that mission. Until an evolution at Warrior Week, for 14 years all I could see were his bright blue eyes staring at me each night went to sleep.</li> <li>It’s not that we’re leaving it all over there, the majority of our feelings don’t hit us until we’re back stateside. We’re processing things at a different level and a different manner. Over there, you just keep moving. You’re losing people and people are falling off to the wayside, but you’re constantly moving forward.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What emotional event has haunted you for years? Parable #5: The War Within Never Ends <ul> <li>Sam: For the past four years, I’ve lived and taught the Warrior’s Way and have been living in the greatness of being a dad. Inside of 24 hours, I have become the most shitty dad - twice. That’s proof that the war within never fucking ends. The old self? He’s always fucking there. The minute I believe he’s no longer there, he takes over.</li> <li>But if I acknowledge he’s there, from time to time I can be a shitty man, husband, father, or leader. If I don’t acknowledge that, then all I’m fucking searching is this imaginary game of perfection that doesn’t exist. I’m chasing something that is telling me to fail every time I chase it.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How long have you been chasing the imaginary game of perfection? Parables from the Pit: "You’re a man of war, I’m a child of war. Here we sit side by side. Although we can say the war within is not fucking over, we’ve won some major fucking battles and we’re at peace right now. But we know for sure that the war within never fucking ends." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I didn’t realize that I was trying to hide that I had PTSD because to me it was a weakness. I didn’t want everyone to judge me. I had a vision of guys with PTSD living in gutters or my uncle living in a VA home. That’s how I envisioned PTSD. So when I was labled with it, I did everything in my power to make sure people didn’t know. I was scared. I didn’t understand that I could still function." --Deric Keller

The War Within | Warrior Week | Ep 025

Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Natalie Martin to this week’s episode of Parables from the Pit. Natalie has been a big part of the Warrior movement over the past three years. She not only put Garrett’s WarriorBook into written form but has witnessed the growth of hundreds of men inside the Warrior moment, including that of her own husband, Chris, and has been instrumental in helping change the lives of thousands of men through her writing. This is a rare and unique opportunity for us to get a glance inside of a woman’s Pit by exploring Natalie’s.  Parable #1: Losing Yourself In Service  Natalie was raised in an environment and culture where the women were told they needed to take care of the men in their lives. At the age of 10, after refusing to be at the beck and call of her father, she was labeled a feminist by him, a term that young Natalie wasn’t familiar with. This planted seeds of worthlessness inside of her where she felt that because she wasn’t male, that she was somehow “less than.” She had this constant feeling of needing to do more, yet never felt she was ever able to do enough. Natalie: In the Mormon culture, which is my background, women are always looking for ways to be of service to others, of losing themselves in service, and losing themselves in helping everybody else. It’s not really emphasized that you need to take care of yourself. We’re told to make sure we read our scriptures and do our hair for our husband. It’s very traditional; it’s very Donna Reed. I didn’t start out at college to get a degree unless it was an MRS degree. I have truly always just wanted to be a mom.  QUESTION  In your youth, what were you taught about the different roles of men and women, and how is this affecting your marriage?    Parable #2: Good Girl Syndrome  Sam has conversations with thousands of men where the wife’s portfolio mirrors that of Natalie’s. These men’s wives have been taught that femininity is all about taking care of the family. Many of these women are disconnected inside of their relationship, they don’t have sex with their husbands, and they end up living like fucking roommates. Sam asked Natalie about this and was curious as to what happens to a woman’s sexuality when they actually think this way. Natalie: Our sex life has always been good, which is on Chris because I had the Good Girl Syndrome. I was taught that sex was for marriage, sex was for procreating, and sex was not something that you’re supposed to enjoy yourself. Fortunately, Chris has always been really good at being patient with me. Sex became the glue that held our marriage together when it was otherwise falling apart.  QUESTION  How does this conversation resonate with you?    Parable #3:  The Empty Shell Syndrome  Natalie: As a police wife, you’re a single parent. As a woman in a culture where it’s always about everybody else, I didn’t know who I was anymore. It was in January of 2012 when I realized I didn’t feel anything for anybody. I didn’t know who I was other than a mom and felt like I was mediocre at that. Even though I would go through the motions with the kids, I felt empty. I call it the Empty Shell Syndrome. I felt like I was walking on eggshells around Chris all the time. He would blow up over the stupidest things, then I would blow up over the stupidest things. The only emotions I felt anymore were anger and resentment.  QUESTION  How can you help your wife when she is feeling empty?   Parable #4: The Pit of an Unhappy Woman  Coach Sam: Your Pit continued to become deeper and wider because of the series of “cant’s” coupled with the pressures of life that you were dealing with. You can’t pay your bills, you can’t have your husband at home very often, and on top of that, you have three kids. Inside of that, Chris was forced to lie the minute he walked through your front door. Although unintentional, the one place where Chris would actually experience a peace of mind and be able to disconnect, became a place where he had to fucking lie for the safety of the kids and to not worry you. Natalie:  He was always gone. It wouldn’t be until months later that I’d hear about some drug sting he was involved in. At one point, he grew his gotee really long and I eventually found out that he was working narcotics during that time. He would go to a different town and pose as a scumbag, then come home and try to operate as a father to his children. He wasn’t telling me anything and our communication became absolute shit.  QUESTION  What are you hiding from your spouse? What lies have you been telling them?  Parable #5: WarriorBook  Natalie: WarriorBook is a masterpiece; it’s my baby. I absolutely love everything about that book, even all of the Pits that I had to go through to get it published. The book tackles a Hero’s Journey. What’s beautiful about a Hero’s Journey is that everybody can relate to it. With it, I could see a mirror of the pain that I had in my own struggles. I could see the need to find an answer behind the pain. Otherwise, what’s the point? If we’re just experiencing pain for pain’s sake, there’s no point to it. But if there’s pain with a purpose, and we can see some clarity behind it, it becomes more relevant and it becomes a lesson to be learned to then teach to others so that they can have tools to navigate through their own Pit and pain. There are tools to help them realize that there’s a point to it all.  QUESTION  What stories in WarriorBook have influenced and affected you the most?   Parables from the Pit:  “Have a conversation with your wife and tell her that she’s enough, that she can be herself, and that she matters. — Coach Sam Falsafi “Literally, no one has read WarriorBook as often as I have, and in so doing, it gave me a grasp of what it takes to understand that we’re all like a book that has multiple chapters in it. Sometimes chapters have to be cut out; sometimes the chapters are expanded upon. Ultimately, it comes down to the power of the story of our own journey.” –Natalie Martin

Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Natalie Martin to this week’s episode of Parables from the Pit. Natalie has been a big part of the Warrior movement over the past three years. She not only put Garrett’s WarriorBook into written form but has witnessed the growth of hundreds of men inside the Warrior moment, including that of her own husband, Chris, and has been instrumental in helping change the lives of thousands of men through her writing. This is a rare and unique opportunity for us to get a glance inside of a woman’s Pit by exploring Natalie’s. Parable #1: Losing Yourself In Service <ul> <li>Natalie was raised in an environment and culture where the women were told they needed to take care of the men in their lives. At the age of 10, after refusing to be at the beck and call of her father, she was labeled a feminist by him, a term that young Natalie wasn’t familiar with. This planted seeds of worthlessness inside of her where she felt that because she wasn’t male, that she was somehow “less than.” She had this constant feeling of needing to do more, yet never felt she was ever able to do enough.</li> <li>Natalie: In the Mormon culture, which is my background, women are always looking for ways to be of service to others, of losing themselves in service, and losing themselves in helping everybody else. It’s not really emphasized that you need to take care of yourself. We’re told to make sure we read our scriptures and do our hair for our husband. It’s very traditional; it’s very Donna Reed. I didn’t start out at college to get a degree unless it was an MRS degree. I have truly always just wanted to be a mom.</li> </ul> QUESTION In your youth, what were you taught about the different roles of men and women, and how is this affecting your marriage?   Parable #2: Good Girl Syndrome <ul> <li>Sam has conversations with thousands of men where the wife’s portfolio mirrors that of Natalie’s. These men’s wives have been taught that femininity is all about taking care of the family. Many of these women are disconnected inside of their relationship, they don’t have sex with their husbands, and they end up living like fucking roommates. Sam asked Natalie about this and was curious as to what happens to a woman’s sexuality when they actually think this way.</li> <li>Natalie: Our sex life has always been good, which is on Chris because I had the Good Girl Syndrome. I was taught that sex was for marriage, sex was for procreating, and sex was not something that you’re supposed to enjoy yourself. Fortunately, Chris has always been really good at being patient with me. Sex became the glue that held our marriage together when it was otherwise falling apart.</li> </ul> QUESTION How does this conversation resonate with you?   Parable #3:  The Empty Shell Syndrome <ul> <li>Natalie: As a police wife, you’re a single parent. As a woman in a culture where it’s always about everybody else, I didn’t know who I was anymore. It was in January of 2012 when I realized I didn’t feel anything for anybody. I didn’t know who I was other than a mom and felt like I was mediocre at that.</li> <li>Even though I would go through the motions with the kids, I felt empty. I call it the Empty Shell Syndrome. I felt like I was walking on eggshells around Chris all the time. He would blow up over the stupidest things, then I would blow up over the stupidest things. The only emotions I felt anymore were anger and resentment.</li> </ul> QUESTION How can you help your wife when she is feeling empty?   Parable #4: The Pit of an Unhappy Woman <ul> <li>Coach Sam: Your Pit continued to become deeper and wider because of the series of “cant’s” coupled with the pressures of life that you were dealing with. You can’t pay your bills, you can’t have your husband at home very often, and on top of that, you have three kids. Inside of that, Chris was forced to lie the minute he walked through your front door. Although unintentional, the one place where Chris would actually experience a peace of mind and be able to disconnect, became a place where he had to fucking lie for the safety of the kids and to not worry you.</li> <li>Natalie:  He was always gone. It wouldn’t be until months later that I’d hear about some drug sting he was involved in. At one point, he grew his gotee really long and I eventually found out that he was working narcotics during that time. He would go to a different town and pose as a scumbag, then come home and try to operate as a father to his children. He wasn’t telling me anything and our communication became absolute shit.</li> </ul> QUESTION What are you hiding from your spouse? What lies have you been telling them? Parable #5: WarriorBook <ul> <li>Natalie: WarriorBook is a masterpiece; it’s my baby. I absolutely love everything about that book, even all of the Pits that I had to go through to get it published. The book tackles a Hero’s Journey. What’s beautiful about a Hero’s Journey is that everybody can relate to it. With it, I could see a mirror of the pain that I had in my own struggles. I could see the need to find an answer behind the pain. Otherwise, what’s the point?</li> <li>If we’re just experiencing pain for pain’s sake, there’s no point to it. But if there’s pain with a purpose, and we can see some clarity behind it, it becomes more relevant and it becomes a lesson to be learned to then teach to others so that they can have tools to navigate through their own Pit and pain. There are tools to help them realize that there’s a point to it all.</li> </ul> QUESTION What stories in WarriorBook have influenced and affected you the most? Parables from the Pit: “Have a conversation with your wife and tell her that she’s enough, that she can be herself, and that she matters. — Coach Sam Falsafi “Literally, no one has read WarriorBook as often as I have, and in so doing, it gave me a grasp of what it takes to understand that we’re all like a book that has multiple chapters in it. Sometimes chapters have to be cut out; sometimes the chapters are expanded upon. Ultimately, it comes down to the power of the story of our own journey.” –Natalie Martin

Ladies Create Gentlemen | Warrior Week | Ep028

Coach Sam Falsafi and Warrior Week graduate Brian Davis have a beautiful conversation about meetings with God, gifts on the mountain, unlocking masks, and discovering light in the darkest of Pits in this special edition of Parables from the Pit.  Parable #1: Knocking on Warrior's Door  Before entering the crucible of Warrior Week, Brian had come knocking on Warrior's door on two separate occasions. During his first encounter, he ended up having a brief conversation with Coach Sam. A year later, the doors of Warrior swung wide open as Coach Sam brought fire and passion in a video that was part of the package of WarriorBook 600 that Brian had just purchased. Although he wondered what he was getting himself into, it was very clear to Brian that he was exactly where he needed to be.  QUESTION: How and when did Warrior show up in your life? Parable #2: Overflowing Buckets  It was the birth of Brian's second baby that served as the catalyst for his entrance into Warrior Week. Tensions ran high as correctional casts were placed on the feet of his ten-day-old baby girl. After 48 hours of constant crying, and in the midst of a whirlwind of emotions, Brian snapped at his wife. He immediately felt guilt shame for his actions and was left wondering what kind of a man he was for not being able to hold space for his wife and newborn baby. Coach Sam: The kind of man you were showing up as is exactly the kind of man I am, and that most men are. There were just too many buckets of problems that you were carrying. At some point, you're going to spill the fucking buckets because there aren’t enough hands holding them. Now you have another bucket which is supposed to be a bucket of happiness, but instead, it's a bucket of sadness because of the unknown.  QUESTION: What happens when your buckets are overflowing?   Parable #3: You're a Locked Dude  Brian: In my journal from my initial brief interview with Sam, I wrote the words he spoke to me: You’re a locked dude. It was the beginning of the process of unlocking for me. In that place of darkness that first night in the Pit of Warrior Week, I uncovered things I had buried for years. It was in that place that Coach Jesse became a transformer and said to me, Hey man. Why don’t you just be yourself? Coach Sam: As you looked at yourself in the mirror in the darkness of the Pit that first night, you saw a man wearing a mask. And on that mask, there was a lock. Unbeknownst to you, most of your life you had been searching for the key that would unlock that mask. As you heard the voice of Coach Jesse, you realized the key to the lock had always been inside of you, and that by just being yourself, the lock was opened and the mask fell to the ground.  QUESTION: What masks are you wearing?   Parable #4: Gifts Atop the Mountain  Brian: The gift I received on the mountain was very clear: My family is a divine gift. God doesn't need us to take care of our families, He takes care of them. God gives us families to increase our capacity to hear Him. How might we treat our families differently if we thought of them as a gift vs a responsibility? I would never have been able to go on the journey that I'm on without my daughter providing the challenge and the pain to force movement. I now see that as God talking to me. God speaks to men through their families and through the challenges that they are facing. Walking off the mountain, I knew that my family was all the power source I needed in order to dominate everywhere else in my life.  QUESTION: What changes do your experience when you treat your family as a gift rather than as a responsibility?    Parable #5: Meeting With God  Brian: Before Warrior, I started scheduling meetings with God every Monday morning. I would go to a cafe and in my journal, I would write, "Thank You, God," and proceeded to write down everything I was grateful for. On the next page, I wrote," God, I know you can, but will you...help me with this sale, help ignite my marriage on fire, protect my family, etc. I was very specific. After doing this for six months, I looked back and was astonished by the results. I realized how honored I felt when my 2-year-old came to me and asked, "Poppa, will you read me this book?" God gives us these relationships with our children to provide an analogy of what it is like for Him with us. We are honored when our children come to us and talk to us, just as God is honored when we go to him and converse with him.  QUESTION: What messages have you received from God recently?  Parables from the Pit:  "I challenge you to set up a meeting with God tomorrow morning and see what he has to say to you. Whatever he has to say, that’s what you need to hear and believe." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I’m looking for caves to go into because now I’ve been trained, and I know there is always light in there. I’m going to go find a bigger Pit because I know I’ll come out with light." --Brian Davis

Coach Sam Falsafi and Warrior Week graduate Brian Davis have a beautiful conversation about meetings with God, gifts on the mountain, unlocking masks, and discovering light in the darkest of Pits in this special edition of Parables from the Pit. Parable #1: Knocking on Warrior's Door <ul> <li>Before entering the crucible of Warrior Week, Brian had come knocking on Warrior's door on two separate occasions. During his first encounter, he ended up having a brief conversation with Coach Sam.</li> <li>A year later, the doors of Warrior swung wide open as Coach Sam brought fire and passion in a video that was part of the package of WarriorBook 600 that Brian had just purchased. Although he wondered what he was getting himself into, it was very clear to Brian that he was exactly where he needed to be.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How and when did Warrior show up in your life? Parable #2: Overflowing Buckets <ul> <li>It was the birth of Brian's second baby that served as the catalyst for his entrance into Warrior Week. Tensions ran high as correctional casts were placed on the feet of his ten-day-old baby girl. After 48 hours of constant crying, and in the midst of a whirlwind of emotions, Brian snapped at his wife. He immediately felt guilt shame for his actions and was left wondering what kind of a man he was for not being able to hold space for his wife and newborn baby.</li> <li>Coach Sam: The kind of man you were showing up as is exactly the kind of man I am, and that most men are. There were just too many buckets of problems that you were carrying. At some point, you're going to spill the fucking buckets because there aren’t enough hands holding them. Now you have another bucket which is supposed to be a bucket of happiness, but instead, it's a bucket of sadness because of the unknown.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What happens when your buckets are overflowing?   Parable #3: You're a Locked Dude <ul> <li>Brian: In my journal from my initial brief interview with Sam, I wrote the words he spoke to me: You’re a locked dude. It was the beginning of the process of unlocking for me. In that place of darkness that first night in the Pit of Warrior Week, I uncovered things I had buried for years. It was in that place that Coach Jesse became a transformer and said to me, Hey man. Why don’t you just be yourself?</li> <li>Coach Sam: As you looked at yourself in the mirror in the darkness of the Pit that first night, you saw a man wearing a mask. And on that mask, there was a lock. Unbeknownst to you, most of your life you had been searching for the key that would unlock that mask. As you heard the voice of Coach Jesse, you realized the key to the lock had always been inside of you, and that by just being yourself, the lock was opened and the mask fell to the ground.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What masks are you wearing?   Parable #4: Gifts Atop the Mountain <ul> <li>Brian: The gift I received on the mountain was very clear: My family is a divine gift. God doesn't need us to take care of our families, He takes care of them. God gives us families to increase our capacity to hear Him. How might we treat our families differently if we thought of them as a gift vs a responsibility?</li> <li>I would never have been able to go on the journey that I'm on without my daughter providing the challenge and the pain to force movement. I now see that as God talking to me. God speaks to men through their families and through the challenges that they are facing. Walking off the mountain, I knew that my family was all the power source I needed in order to dominate everywhere else in my life.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What changes do your experience when you treat your family as a gift rather than as a responsibility?   Parable #5: Meeting With God <ul> <li>Brian: Before Warrior, I started scheduling meetings with God every Monday morning. I would go to a cafe and in my journal, I would write, "Thank You, God," and proceeded to write down everything I was grateful for. On the next page, I wrote," God, I know you can, but will you...help me with this sale, help ignite my marriage on fire, protect my family, etc. I was very specific. After doing this for six months, I looked back and was astonished by the results.</li> <li>I realized how honored I felt when my 2-year-old came to me and asked, "Poppa, will you read me this book?" God gives us these relationships with our children to provide an analogy of what it is like for Him with us. We are honored when our children come to us and talk to us, just as God is honored when we go to him and converse with him.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What messages have you received from God recently? Parables from the Pit: "I challenge you to set up a meeting with God tomorrow morning and see what he has to say to you. Whatever he has to say, that’s what you need to hear and believe." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "I’m looking for caves to go into because now I’ve been trained, and I know there is always light in there. I’m going to go find a bigger Pit because I know I’ll come out with light." --Brian Davis

The Divine Walk | Warrior Week | Ep 027

Welcome to the 32nd episode of Warrior Week, Parables from the Pit. The show has a new format where every week the conversations will be driven by three lead trainers inside the Warrior Movement: Sam Falsafi, Jesse Ewell, and Kevin Voisin, who combined have led and trained thousands of men inside the experience known as the Warrior’s Way. Each week they will have a real and raw conversation about a specific aspect of the pain of the modern man. Today is a powerful conversation about the overall pain of all men, which is feeling alone and lonely. ________ Parable #1: Pain that Men Resist  Coach Jesse: The pain the men are resisting that comes up consistently is the pain from a father. It comes down to the pain we experienced as a child that we carried for many years, almost like a weight on our back that we never let go of, and never learned how to work past it. Coach Kevin: The one pain I see across the board is that men are unable to endure the pain of vulnerability. Even if that feeling is having love for their child, they have a hard time expressing it because they’ve been taught that those feelings belong in the realm of women and not real men.  QUESTION  What is the pain that you are resisting the most? Parable #2: Operating Alone  Coach Sam: The current path of a man inside his pain is this idea of being alone – not socially alone, but operating alone. It ties back to no instructions from dad, and that emotions are not part of the playlist. Coach Jesse: Feeling alone is disconnection. When you’re alone, you disconnect from people and from the things in your life, and that is what gives you the feeling of being alone.  QUESTION    What pattern have you noticed about yourself when you begin feeling all alone? Parable #3: False Feeling of Significance  Coach Kevin: By believing I’m alone, my ego fucks me up and says no one has ever felt this pain before; that no one can understand. We give ourselves this false feeling of significance that somehow in the history of the universe, no one has ever felt this before. We had a miscarriage in our marriage, which was a painful loss. When I started opening up and sharing it with people, I was so amazed. It seemed like everyone had a miscarriage story. I wasn’t alone at all.  QUESTION   What is something you have opened up about recently from a place of vulnerability? How did you feel afterward? Parable #4: Backpack Full of Pain  Coach Sam: In certain areas when I feel that things are not going well, I have a tendency to get a backpack and put all of my pain inside of it and carry it alone. I have these old tendencies that have a major impact on me the minute I start feeling alone. Coach Jesse: A pattern we have as men is this feeling of alone that takes us back to the place where we first began feeling it, between the ages of seven and ten. We try to hide to make ourselves feel better about being alone.  QUESTION   What’s coming up for you in this part of the conversation?   Parable #5: Share Your Pain  Coach Jesse: When I feel alone, I close off everyone around me. It’s me not letting anybody in. I feel I’m not vulnerable enough to expose myself, therefore I’m all alone in my own Pit that I created because I wouldn’t let anybody else in. Coach Kevin: There is no reality in the idea that you’re alone. My father used to tell me: If God wanted you to do everything by yourself, he would have put you on your own little planet, and you could just do it all. Instead, he put you here with 7 billion other people.  QUESTION   What is one thing you need to share with someone this week? ________ Question:  “Where in your life are you feeling the most disconnected? As you feel that pain, what the fuck are you going to do about it? Are you going to give yourself permission to have a conversation?”   Parables from the Pit:  “The source of the pain of being alone is disconnection. We experience this trauma of disconnection many times and each time we do, we find ourselves attached to different things – any type of attachment that takes away the pain.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “The pain of feeling alone comes from the pain of not communicating that you’re experiencing feeling alone. Communication is the gateway to not feeling alone.” –Coach Jesse Ewell “Most men are sedating away from any emotion. They don’t want to feel anything. Even the positive emotions scare the fuck out of them because there’s been this conditioning that men don’t feel, and that to open up and be vulnerable is a weakness.” –Coach Kevin Voisin

Welcome to the 32nd episode of Warrior Week, Parables from the Pit. The show has a new format where every week the conversations will be driven by three lead trainers inside the Warrior Movement: Sam Falsafi, Jesse Ewell, and Kevin Voisin, who combined have led and trained thousands of men inside the experience known as the Warrior’s Way. Each week they will have a real and raw conversation about a specific aspect of the pain of the modern man. Today is a powerful conversation about the overall pain of all men, which is feeling alone and lonely. ________ Parable #1: Pain that Men Resist <ul> <li>Coach Jesse: The pain the men are resisting that comes up consistently is the pain from a father. It comes down to the pain we experienced as a child that we carried for many years, almost like a weight on our back that we never let go of, and never learned how to work past it.</li> <li>Coach Kevin: The one pain I see across the board is that men are unable to endure the pain of vulnerability. Even if that feeling is having love for their child, they have a hard time expressing it because they’ve been taught that those feelings belong in the realm of women and not real men.</li> </ul> QUESTION  What is the pain that you are resisting the most? Parable #2: Operating Alone <ul> <li>Coach Sam: The current path of a man inside his pain is this idea of being alone – not socially alone, but operating alone. It ties back to no instructions from dad, and that emotions are not part of the playlist.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: Feeling alone is disconnection. When you’re alone, you disconnect from people and from the things in your life, and that is what gives you the feeling of being alone.</li> </ul> QUESTION    What pattern have you noticed about yourself when you begin feeling all alone? Parable #3: False Feeling of Significance <ul> <li>Coach Kevin: By believing I’m alone, my ego fucks me up and says no one has ever felt this pain before; that no one can understand. We give ourselves this false feeling of significance that somehow in the history of the universe, no one has ever felt this before.</li> <li>We had a miscarriage in our marriage, which was a painful loss. When I started opening up and sharing it with people, I was so amazed. It seemed like everyone had a miscarriage story. I wasn’t alone at all.</li> </ul> QUESTION   What is something you have opened up about recently from a place of vulnerability? How did you feel afterward? Parable #4: Backpack Full of Pain <ul> <li>Coach Sam: In certain areas when I feel that things are not going well, I have a tendency to get a backpack and put all of my pain inside of it and carry it alone. I have these old tendencies that have a major impact on me the minute I start feeling alone.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: A pattern we have as men is this feeling of alone that takes us back to the place where we first began feeling it, between the ages of seven and ten. We try to hide to make ourselves feel better about being alone.</li> </ul> QUESTION   What’s coming up for you in this part of the conversation?   Parable #5: Share Your Pain <ul> <li>Coach Jesse: When I feel alone, I close off everyone around me. It’s me not letting anybody in. I feel I’m not vulnerable enough to expose myself, therefore I’m all alone in my own Pit that I created because I wouldn’t let anybody else in.</li> <li>Coach Kevin: There is no reality in the idea that you’re alone. My father used to tell me: If God wanted you to do everything by yourself, he would have put you on your own little planet, and you could just do it all. Instead, he put you here with 7 billion other people.</li> </ul> QUESTION   What is one thing you need to share with someone this week? ________ Question: “Where in your life are you feeling the most disconnected? As you feel that pain, what the fuck are you going to do about it? Are you going to give yourself permission to have a conversation?” Parables from the Pit: “The source of the pain of being alone is disconnection. We experience this trauma of disconnection many times and each time we do, we find ourselves attached to different things – any type of attachment that takes away the pain.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “The pain of feeling alone comes from the pain of not communicating that you’re experiencing feeling alone. Communication is the gateway to not feeling alone.” –Coach Jesse Ewell “Most men are sedating away from any emotion. They don’t want to feel anything. Even the positive emotions scare the fuck out of them because there’s been this conditioning that men don’t feel, and that to open up and be vulnerable is a weakness.” –Coach Kevin Voisin

Pain of the Modern Man | Warrior Week | Ep 032

Coach Sam's guest in this week's episode of Parables from the Pit is Thomas Mifsud. They engage in a riveting conversation on the topics of children, relationships, and how one's life can drastically change once they start telling the fucking truth and listening to the Voice.  Parable #1: It's All a Lie  Leading up to his first experience with Warrior, Thomas had been watching the Warrior videos for eighteen months. The messages of the videos resonated with him on a deep level, almost as if they were screaming out to him, and he felt compelled to pick up his phone and make the call. At WarriorX after his life was cracked open and exposed, he had the realization that he was living a false realty, a lie; that his life consisted of bullshit stories that he had made up. From the outside looking in, his life seemed awesome, like he had it all. But in all actuality, he was dying on the inside.  QUESTION: Where in your life are you living a lie and pretending all is well? How is that working for you? Parable #2: Separated by Chaos and Noise  As a father, Thomas was experiencing a huge disconnect with his eldest daughter who, at the age of 14, was starting to pull away from him. She was surrounded by an army of people who were filling her head with stories about him, causing her to withdraw and put up walls. Thomas discovered a greater version of himself at Warrior X where he began to rewrite the operating system of his life. He decided to take a stand of no longer tolerating or accepting what had been taking place in his relationship with his daughter. At long last, his own voice became louder than the fucking noise and chaos that had been surrounding them.  QUESTION: Where in your life are you tolerating and accepting lies? Parable #3: Throw Yourself Under the Bus  In order for Thomas to become someone his daughter wanted to have in her life, he had to accept the truth that if his daughter didn't know him, how could he expect her to trust and confide in him or have a meaningful relationship with him? This led to a conversation with her where they connected from a place of truth and power. He shared stories of struggle, pain and joy; stories of alcoholism and drug use. This sharing of truth strengthened their bond, empowered his daughter, and created new levels of love and trust in their relationship.  QUESTION: What relationship would benefit from you sharing your stories of struggle and pain? Parable #4: True Love  The concept of a loving, connected relationship with a female was foreign to Thomas. He didn't have the time nor the energy for anything serious and was concerned about how a relationship would affect his three children. His experiences with Warrior opened Thomas up to feelings of true love, not the version the world teaches. He is currently engaged to the woman of his dreams and for the first time he knows what it's like to have a woman in his life whom he can truly love and trust.  QUESTION: What relationship in your life would benefit from a deeper connection of love and trust?  Parable #5: Connecting to the Voice  Thomas: The first time I was able to connect with my inner Voice was on the mountain during WarriorX. Now, it's with me everyday. From the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep, the Voice is what guides my life. When I feel there is a download coming, it doesn’t matter where I am, I'll pause, stop and listen. Coach Sam: For 25 years I had a story that robbed power from me and connection with God. I was told that if you are not physically clean you should not pray or connect with God because it’s disrespectful. I woke up one day, changed that story, and now anytime I want to connect with God, I do. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing. I no longer allow a story or a man to come between me and my conversations with God.  QUESTION: What stories were you taught as a child that have placed limitations on your connection and communication with God?    Parable from the Pit:  "There's a Voice in our heart that is able to override any fuckin logic. There's a Voice in our heart that gives us so much confidence, certainty and peace. There's a Voice in our heart that backs us with massive, unlimited power and courage." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "The Voice is so strong that I can overcome anything in my mind when I decide to listen to it. --Thomas Mifsud

Coach Sam's guest in this week's episode of Parables from the Pit is Thomas Mifsud. They engage in a riveting conversation on the topics of children, relationships, and how one's life can drastically change once they start telling the fucking truth and listening to the Voice. Parable #1: It's All a Lie <ul> <li>Leading up to his first experience with Warrior, Thomas had been watching the Warrior videos for eighteen months. The messages of the videos resonated with him on a deep level, almost as if they were screaming out to him, and he felt compelled to pick up his phone and make the call.</li> <li>At WarriorX after his life was cracked open and exposed, he had the realization that he was living a false realty, a lie; that his life consisted of bullshit stories that he had made up. From the outside looking in, his life seemed awesome, like he had it all. But in all actuality, he was dying on the inside.</li> </ul> QUESTION: Where in your life are you living a lie and pretending all is well? How is that working for you? Parable #2: Separated by Chaos and Noise <ul> <li>As a father, Thomas was experiencing a huge disconnect with his eldest daughter who, at the age of 14, was starting to pull away from him. She was surrounded by an army of people who were filling her head with stories about him, causing her to withdraw and put up walls.</li> <li>Thomas discovered a greater version of himself at Warrior X where he began to rewrite the operating system of his life. He decided to take a stand of no longer tolerating or accepting what had been taking place in his relationship with his daughter. At long last, his own voice became louder than the fucking noise and chaos that had been surrounding them.</li> </ul> QUESTION: Where in your life are you tolerating and accepting lies? Parable #3: Throw Yourself Under the Bus <ul> <li>In order for Thomas to become someone his daughter wanted to have in her life, he had to accept the truth that if his daughter didn't know him, how could he expect her to trust and confide in him or have a meaningful relationship with him?</li> <li>This led to a conversation with her where they connected from a place of truth and power. He shared stories of struggle, pain and joy; stories of alcoholism and drug use. This sharing of truth strengthened their bond, empowered his daughter, and created new levels of love and trust in their relationship.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What relationship would benefit from you sharing your stories of struggle and pain? Parable #4: True Love <ul> <li>The concept of a loving, connected relationship with a female was foreign to Thomas. He didn't have the time nor the energy for anything serious and was concerned about how a relationship would affect his three children.</li> <li>His experiences with Warrior opened Thomas up to feelings of true love, not the version the world teaches. He is currently engaged to the woman of his dreams and for the first time he knows what it's like to have a woman in his life whom he can truly love and trust.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What relationship in your life would benefit from a deeper connection of love and trust?  Parable #5: Connecting to the Voice <ul> <li>Thomas: The first time I was able to connect with my inner Voice was on the mountain during WarriorX. Now, it's with me everyday. From the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep, the Voice is what guides my life. When I feel there is a download coming, it doesn’t matter where I am, I'll pause, stop and listen.</li> <li>Coach Sam: For 25 years I had a story that robbed power from me and connection with God. I was told that if you are not physically clean you should not pray or connect with God because it’s disrespectful. I woke up one day, changed that story, and now anytime I want to connect with God, I do. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing. I no longer allow a story or a man to come between me and my conversations with God.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What stories were you taught as a child that have placed limitations on your connection and communication with God?   Parable from the Pit: "There's a Voice in our heart that is able to override any fuckin logic. There's a Voice in our heart that gives us so much confidence, certainty and peace. There's a Voice in our heart that backs us with massive, unlimited power and courage." -- Coach Sam Falsafi "The Voice is so strong that I can overcome anything in my mind when I decide to listen to it. --Thomas Mifsud

Let Me Tell You Who I Am | Parables from the Pit | Ep 017

Coach Sam and Coach Jesse are hours away from leading men in the crucible of Warrior Week 50 as they continue this conversation around pain, and inside of that, the pain of betrayal. ________ Parable #1: It Begins in the Mind  Coach Sam: Of the over 1,000 men who have graduated from Warrior Week, at least 50% of them have come from a betrayal situation – either they have betrayed their wife, or their wife has betrayed them. Coach Jesse: Betrayal starts early in the relationship before something actually happens. If I feel that you have betrayed me, I create a story about it and then act that story out in energy.  QUESTION  What stories have you been creating in your mind about your spouse?  Parable #2: Not Created Equal  Coach Sam: There is a difference in the character of a man who has cheated on his wife and the man who has been cheated on by his wife. Coach Jesse: What we’ve experienced in Warrior is when a woman cheats on her husband, they rarely come back together, but typically when the guy cheats, they can work it out.  QUESTION  How has betrayal entered your marriage?    Parable #3: Submission  Coach Jesse: At the end of the day, women don’t want a guy who is going to submit. When he’s in that place, a woman will eventually find someone else who won’t do that. Coach Sam: The reality is, modern men have submitted to this weak version of themselves, which means there is no leadership when it comes to them.  QUESTION  How does submission play out in your relationship?  Parable #4: Modern Mike  Coach Sam: Modern men use their ego to justify their assumptions. “Modern Mike” is the guy who is distant with himself. Coach Jesse: As we betray our soul and believe our mind over our heart, we begin to betray ourselves as a modern-day man; we submit because we’re numb to what’s going on around us.  QUESTION  How do you resonate with this conversation about the modern man?   Parable #5: Warrior Week 50  Coach Sam: Warrior Week enables a sense of awareness of your true self, which is the aspect of your heart and mind. Leadership is making a distinction between them and the ability to lead with both. Coach Jesse: When you think about it, we are actually taking hundreds, if not thousands of people through Warrior Week when you consider the number of people one man has an influence over.  QUESTION  What has been your experience with Warrior Week?   Parables from the Pit:  “As we become aware of the soul, the mind, and the heart, we start experiencing the difference between leading from our hearts rather than from our minds.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “Betrayal is a sedation mechanism for guilt and shame. When I feel betrayed or betrayal, I immediately go to this place of guilt and shame which starts me cascading into my pit.” –Coach Jesse Ewell

Coach Sam and Coach Jesse are hours away from leading men in the crucible of Warrior Week 50 as they continue this conversation around pain, and inside of that, the pain of betrayal. ________ Parable #1: It Begins in the Mind <ul> <li>Coach Sam: Of the over 1,000 men who have graduated from Warrior Week, at least 50% of them have come from a betrayal situation – either they have betrayed their wife, or their wife has betrayed them.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: Betrayal starts early in the relationship before something actually happens. If I feel that you have betrayed me, I create a story about it and then act that story out in energy.</li> </ul> QUESTION What stories have you been creating in your mind about your spouse? Parable #2: Not Created Equal <ul> <li>Coach Sam: There is a difference in the character of a man who has cheated on his wife and the man who has been cheated on by his wife.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: What we’ve experienced in Warrior is when a woman cheats on her husband, they rarely come back together, but typically when the guy cheats, they can work it out.</li> </ul> QUESTION How has betrayal entered your marriage?   Parable #3: Submission <ul> <li>Coach Jesse: At the end of the day, women don’t want a guy who is going to submit. When he’s in that place, a woman will eventually find someone else who won’t do that.</li> <li>Coach Sam: The reality is, modern men have submitted to this weak version of themselves, which means there is no leadership when it comes to them.</li> </ul> QUESTION How does submission play out in your relationship? Parable #4: Modern Mike <ul> <li>Coach Sam: Modern men use their ego to justify their assumptions. “Modern Mike” is the guy who is distant with himself.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: As we betray our soul and believe our mind over our heart, we begin to betray ourselves as a modern-day man; we submit because we’re numb to what’s going on around us.</li> </ul> QUESTION How do you resonate with this conversation about the modern man?   Parable #5: Warrior Week 50 <ul> <li>Coach Sam: Warrior Week enables a sense of awareness of your true self, which is the aspect of your heart and mind. Leadership is making a distinction between them and the ability to lead with both.</li> <li>Coach Jesse: When you think about it, we are actually taking hundreds, if not thousands of people through Warrior Week when you consider the number of people one man has an influence over.</li> </ul> QUESTION What has been your experience with Warrior Week? Parables from the Pit: “As we become aware of the soul, the mind, and the heart, we start experiencing the difference between leading from our hearts rather than from our minds.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “Betrayal is a sedation mechanism for guilt and shame. When I feel betrayed or betrayal, I immediately go to this place of guilt and shame which starts me cascading into my pit.” –Coach Jesse Ewell

Betrayal is a Bitch | Warrior Week | Ep 033

Blake Bourque joins Coach Sam as they discuss the amazing set of circumstances that brought Blake to Warrior, which brought an energy of alpha yet honest men that have learned to not be saviors to others, but leaders instead.  IN THIS WEEK'S EPISODE....   Parable #1: Pigs Don't Know They Stink  The energy of Wake Up Warrior resonated with Blake and he was attracted to the fact that men were willing to be honest, no matter what. He had been living as a liar amongst liars for so long and was tired of stinking like a pig because pigs don't know they stink.  His encounter was unlike anything he had ever experienced in all his years in Corporate America and he wondered, "Could this be home? Have I found my people?" Blake: The Holy Spirit was bringing me to a place where my whole body was being crushed. Everything in my personal and business life was gone - everything. So when Warrior found me via someone sending me a link to a video, six minutes into it when I saw Garrett on stage saying "stop fucking lying," I was all in.  QUESTION What was your first encounter with Warrior like? What resonated with you? What reeled you in?  Parable #2: Look in Mirrors to Avoid the Tailspin of Sedation   Blake: After my wife and I lost our twin girls in 2009, in the midst of my grief I felt I had found my Purpose - I was going to go out and save lives. I began sedating myself from the pain with drugs and work, and in the process built a multi-million dollar business, yet with that, I lost my relationship with my wife. When you numb yourself against pain, the counter to that is you’re numbing yourself against joy. I looked at my wife every single day and didn’t know she was mirroring me. That’s what Warrior taught me - people mirror you. They mirror your energy, your grief, lies and pain. What happens is you see that mirror and you don’t like that mirror and then you get mad at them for that mirror. I would be pissed at her and would verbally take things out on her. It was a very dark period.  QUESTION What are you seeing about yourself in Blake's experience?  Parable #3: That's What I Did, Blake  Blake: On the run up to Warrior Week while I was bonding with the men inside social media, I kept talking to my wife about it and she would say, "that’s what I did, Blake. I did yoga, I did meditation, I did journaling and writing. Do you want me to show you my journals? Do you remember when you told me this was stupid? A waste of time? That you didn’t want to do it?" "I’m going to let you do this. Not that I’m giving you permission to do something, because you can do whatever the hell you want. I’m gonna peel back my scars, I’m gonna rip open my wounds and I‘m gonna let yours stick to me so we can heal together. But if you fuck this up, if you don’t go all in and you leave me with open wounds again, it’s over."  QUESTION Are you really seeing your wife? Your children? Are you really listening to them?  Parable #4: Retrace, Face, Replace and Embrace  In the darkness lies the truth. When we talk about the Pit, you have to go there and you have to look at an emotional  charge that took place at one point in  your life. What you were, what you are, what I was and what I am is a series of emotional charges that took place in us. Call them feelings, events - whatever the fuck took place at one time in our childhood or recently. These emotional charges are stored in the dark under the truth because they’re the facts. In order for us to process them, we must first do the work and retrace them, then we’re going to face them and most important of all, we are going to replace the story. This happened but the story that we fabricated that builds the truth around it needs to be rewritten and finally embraced.  QUESTION When will you choose to process the emotional charges stored inside of you?  Parable #5: Warrior Week is a Test of Your Heart  Sam: Warrior is not a physical event. We are not here to present that we are military guys or that we know how to break you down. We are here to look for what you have inside of  your heart. Warrior Week is the test of your heart. Blake: Sedated men need to be woken up. If the Trainers don’t scream at you, you won’t wake up because there’s something inside your fucking heart that you’ve put to sleep - and Sam Falsafi is going to fucking wake it up. Warrior didn’t teach me how to be a badass with a boot on the back of someone’s neck, Warrior taught me how to give time, how to feel and how to tell the fucking truth.  QUESTION What will it take for you to open your heart?     Parables from the Pit:  "In this place, we will tell the truth as it happens. And the truth is very different from the facts. Between the facts and the truth there are a number of stories. Those stories are behavior justifications and assumptions fed by your ego, and in the midst of that lies the truth, which is the version that has always been there. We built this podcast so men can come here and share their pain, and through this sharing, the pain is divided one more time; but more importantly, it can pierce your heart and say:  I know you. I know you mother fucker. You have the same pain." --Coach Sam Falsafi "I need to find people who have been through similar circumstances. They don’t have to be exactly like me, but they need to be able to relate. I know there are people far worse than me and I want to be able to help them. It sounds strange, but it’s the truth. I want to meet people who have the same pain in their souls. Maybe they can help me or I can help them. I think that whole sharing process may be good for me right now." --Blake Bourque  (This was penned in his journal while on a silent retreat in 2009, four months after the loss of his twin daughters.)

Blake Bourque joins Coach Sam as they discuss the amazing set of circumstances that brought Blake to Warrior, which brought an energy of alpha yet honest men that have learned to not be saviors to others, but leaders instead. IN THIS WEEK'S EPISODE....   Parable #1: Pigs Don't Know They Stink <ul> <li>The energy of Wake Up Warrior resonated with Blake and he was attracted to the fact that men were willing to be honest, no matter what. He had been living as a liar amongst liars for so long and was tired of stinking like a pig because pigs don't know they stink.  His encounter was unlike anything he had ever experienced in all his years in Corporate America and he wondered, "Could this be home? Have I found my people?"</li> <li>Blake: The Holy Spirit was bringing me to a place where my whole body was being crushed. Everything in my personal and business life was gone - everything. So when Warrior found me via someone sending me a link to a video, six minutes into it when I saw Garrett on stage saying "stop fucking lying," I was all in.</li> </ul> QUESTION What was your first encounter with Warrior like? What resonated with you? What reeled you in? Parable #2: Look in Mirrors to Avoid the Tailspin of Sedation <ul> <li> Blake: After my wife and I lost our twin girls in 2009, in the midst of my grief I felt I had found my Purpose - I was going to go out and save lives. I began sedating myself from the pain with drugs and work, and in the process built a multi-million dollar business, yet with that, I lost my relationship with my wife. When you numb yourself against pain, the counter to that is you’re numbing yourself against joy.</li> <li>I looked at my wife every single day and didn’t know she was mirroring me. That’s what Warrior taught me - people mirror you. They mirror your energy, your grief, lies and pain. What happens is you see that mirror and you don’t like that mirror and then you get mad at them for that mirror. I would be pissed at her and would verbally take things out on her. It was a very dark period.</li> </ul> QUESTION What are you seeing about yourself in Blake's experience? Parable #3: That's What I Did, Blake <ul> <li>Blake: On the run up to Warrior Week while I was bonding with the men inside social media, I kept talking to my wife about it and she would say, "that’s what I did, Blake. I did yoga, I did meditation, I did journaling and writing. Do you want me to show you my journals? Do you remember when you told me this was stupid? A waste of time? That you didn’t want to do it?"</li> <li>"I’m going to let you do this. Not that I’m giving you permission to do something, because you can do whatever the hell you want. I’m gonna peel back my scars, I’m gonna rip open my wounds and I‘m gonna let yours stick to me so we can heal together. But if you fuck this up, if you don’t go all in and you leave me with open wounds again, it’s over."</li> </ul> QUESTION Are you really seeing your wife? Your children? Are you really listening to them? Parable #4: Retrace, Face, Replace and Embrace <ul> <li>In the darkness lies the truth. When we talk about the Pit, you have to go there and you have to look at an emotional  charge that took place at one point in  your life. What you were, what you are, what I was and what I am is a series of emotional charges that took place in us. Call them feelings, events - whatever the fuck took place at one time in our childhood or recently.</li> <li>These emotional charges are stored in the dark under the truth because they’re the facts. In order for us to process them, we must first do the work and retrace them, then we’re going to face them and most important of all, we are going to replace the story. This happened but the story that we fabricated that builds the truth around it needs to be rewritten and finally embraced.</li> </ul> QUESTION When will you choose to process the emotional charges stored inside of you? Parable #5: Warrior Week is a Test of Your Heart <ul> <li>Sam: Warrior is not a physical event. We are not here to present that we are military guys or that we know how to break you down. We are here to look for what you have inside of  your heart. Warrior Week is the test of your heart.</li> <li>Blake: Sedated men need to be woken up. If the Trainers don’t scream at you, you won’t wake up because there’s something inside your fucking heart that you’ve put to sleep - and Sam Falsafi is going to fucking wake it up. Warrior didn’t teach me how to be a badass with a boot on the back of someone’s neck, Warrior taught me how to give time, how to feel and how to tell the fucking truth.</li> </ul> QUESTION What will it take for you to open your heart?   Parables from the Pit: "In this place, we will tell the truth as it happens. And the truth is very different from the facts. Between the facts and the truth there are a number of stories. Those stories are behavior justifications and assumptions fed by your ego, and in the midst of that lies the truth, which is the version that has always been there. We built this podcast so men can come here and share their pain, and through this sharing, the pain is divided one more time; but more importantly, it can pierce your heart and say:  I know you. I know you mother fucker. You have the same pain." --Coach Sam Falsafi "I need to find people who have been through similar circumstances. They don’t have to be exactly like me, but they need to be able to relate. I know there are people far worse than me and I want to be able to help them. It sounds strange, but it’s the truth. I want to meet people who have the same pain in their souls. Maybe they can help me or I can help them. I think that whole sharing process may be good for me right now." --Blake Bourque  (This was penned in his journal while on a silent retreat in 2009, four months after the loss of his twin daughters.)

Two Men, One God | Parables from the Pit | Ep 013

Parable #1: Change of Plans  Stephen was striving to reach his goal of collecting $1M in a year. He hired chiropractic consultants along the way and figured with his track record of collecting $960k in 2017, he would easily reach that $1M figure in 2018. 2018 turned out to be a year of struggle for him, however, where he was running out of cash. He had reached the point where he was ready to pull money out of his savings, sell his dream home, and move closer to his office in order to meet payroll and dig himself out of the pit.  QUESTION  Looking back, when have you experienced something similar to Stephen’s experience? What happened?    Parable #2: Kings Kit 3  As he searched for other options, he ran across an ad on Facebook featuring Garrett. As he watched the hour-long video, he felt that he was viewing the story of his own life. That night, Steven invited his wife to watch the video, both agreeing they were watching their story. Stephen pulled the trigger, bought the book, and enrolled in Kings Kit 3. “This is what I have been searching for my whole life!”  QUESTION  What was your initial impression or reaction of Warrior?  Parable #3: Warrior Week  null While attending WarriorCon3 in December of 2018, Stephen met other chiropractors. After the first of three days, he felt the call to do Warrior Week, no matter the cost. However, during the weeks leading up to Warrior Week, he had a change of heart and mind due to the stress of his financial situation. As he resultantly spoke with Coach Sam on the phone, Sam reminded him he was living in a story and that, yes, he would refund his money. But then he said something that caused Stephen to have another change of heart and opt to go all-in with Warrior Week.  QUESTION  What resistance did you experience leading up to Warrior Week?  Parable #4: The Bridge Between Darkness &amp; Light  null The story of the White Warrior and the Dark Warrior was by far one of the biggest takeaways from Warrior Week for Stephen. “I knew I had the dark side, but I never wanted to let that beast out of the cage. It was a HUGE realization that it was ok to utilize that power to make everything work. The Stack is the tool that allows that to happen. It is a series of questions where you express your feelings and how those relate to what you truly want. Inside of that, that there is a Voice giving you instruction. This channels the darkness, blame, anger, and turns it into a gift.  QUESTION  What is your experience using the Stack?  Parable #5: A Calling at Eleven Years Old  When eleven years old, Stephen knew he was going to be a doctor. He had this fascination with the brain and believed he would be a neurosurgeon. His little sister was born premature and struggled for six months with ear infections. The doctors wanted to put tubes in her ears, but his parents didn’t want her to go through surgery. They took his sister to a chiropractor who did an exam and an adjustment and told them her body would heal itself. That night, her ears drained. Stephen was blown away from this experience and had four words imprinted forever in his mind: THE BODY HEALS ITSELF.  QUESTION  What did you feel called to do at an early age? Are you doing it today?   * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com  Parables from the Pit“ “We all have that level of darkness. We can take all of that and generate light out of it, but the majority of us don’t know how to do that. At Warrior, the tool of the Stack becomes the bridge between the darkness and the light.” —Sam Falsafi “The Stack is a powerful tool that has helped me access the dark Warrior in me and use it to create production in my life. I live to find moments I can go deeper with so that I can Stack it. I also use it to journal and to express gratittude &amp; love.” –Stephen Vincent

Parable #1: Change of Plans <ul> <li>Stephen was striving to reach his goal of collecting $1M in a year. He hired chiropractic consultants along the way and figured with his track record of collecting $960k in 2017, he would easily reach that $1M figure in 2018.</li> <li>2018 turned out to be a year of struggle for him, however, where he was running out of cash. He had reached the point where he was ready to pull money out of his savings, sell his dream home, and move closer to his office in order to meet payroll and dig himself out of the pit.</li> </ul> QUESTION Looking back, when have you experienced something similar to Stephen’s experience? What happened?   Parable #2: Kings Kit 3 <ul> <li>As he searched for other options, he ran across an ad on Facebook featuring Garrett. As he watched the hour-long video, he felt that he was viewing the story of his own life.</li> <li>That night, Steven invited his wife to watch the video, both agreeing they were watching their story. Stephen pulled the trigger, bought the book, and enrolled in Kings Kit 3. “This is what I have been searching for my whole life!”</li> </ul> QUESTION What was your initial impression or reaction of Warrior? Parable #3: Warrior Week <ul> <li>null</li> <li>While attending WarriorCon3 in December of 2018, Stephen met other chiropractors. After the first of three days, he felt the call to do Warrior Week, no matter the cost. However, during the weeks leading up to Warrior Week, he had a change of heart and mind due to the stress of his financial situation.</li> <li>As he resultantly spoke with Coach Sam on the phone, Sam reminded him he was living in a story and that, yes, he would refund his money. But then he said something that caused Stephen to have another change of heart and opt to go all-in with Warrior Week.</li> </ul> QUESTION What resistance did you experience leading up to Warrior Week? Parable #4: The Bridge Between Darkness &amp; Light <ul> <li>null</li> <li>The story of the White Warrior and the Dark Warrior was by far one of the biggest takeaways from Warrior Week for Stephen. “I knew I had the dark side, but I never wanted to let that beast out of the cage. It was a HUGE realization that it was ok to utilize that power to make everything work.</li> <li>The Stack is the tool that allows that to happen. It is a series of questions where you express your feelings and how those relate to what you truly want. Inside of that, that there is a Voice giving you instruction. This channels the darkness, blame, anger, and turns it into a gift.</li> </ul> QUESTION What is your experience using the Stack? Parable #5: A Calling at Eleven Years Old <ul> <li>When eleven years old, Stephen knew he was going to be a doctor. He had this fascination with the brain and believed he would be a neurosurgeon. His little sister was born premature and struggled for six months with ear infections. The doctors wanted to put tubes in her ears, but his parents didn’t want her to go through surgery.</li> <li>They took his sister to a chiropractor who did an exam and an adjustment and told them her body would heal itself. That night, her ears drained. Stephen was blown away from this experience and had four words imprinted forever in his mind: THE BODY HEALS ITSELF.</li> </ul> QUESTION What did you feel called to do at an early age? Are you doing it today? * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a> Parables from the Pit“ “We all have that level of darkness. We can take all of that and generate light out of it, but the majority of us don’t know how to do that. At Warrior, the tool of the Stack becomes the bridge between the darkness and the light.” —Sam Falsafi “The Stack is a powerful tool that has helped me access the dark Warrior in me and use it to create production in my life. I live to find moments I can go deeper with so that I can Stack it. I also use it to journal and to express gratittude &amp; love.” –Stephen Vincent

THE BRIDGE | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 075

Coach Sam Falsafi has a powerful conversation with Warrior Week 37 graduate, Matt Skinner.  Parable #1: Warrior Week 37  Matt: When I signed up for Warrior Week, I thought it was going to be something very physical like SEALFIT. Yes, the physical aspect is part of it, but it’s so much deeper than that. It’s a mental endurance test, an emotional deep dive into the Pit and back. Getting into a program where I had to be somewhere every day at the same time, do certain tasks, follow assignments and listen to people tell me what to do – all of which I knew was benefiting me – my immediate knee-jerk reaction was fuck you. It was so difficult for me to get into that pattern, and I initially rejected the structure of it.  QUESTION: How do your knee-jerk reactions play out in your life? Parable #2: Fat Matt  Matt had a very traditional upbringing. He looked up to his father and aspired to be manly like him, yet he totally rebelled against his father’s definition of being manly. Matt wanted power and respect and found that he could gain these through violence and sex. “I thought these were the stronger, more masculine traits that my father didn’t possess that I could outperform him in.” In fifth grade, I beat the shit out of a kid for calling me Fat Matt. He was bigger and older than me and had some social status on campus. I gained respect that day from the other students and learned that through violence and intimidation, I would be respected. That violence carried on through high school and eventually into football. Offseason, I was looking for fights. I was a fucking bully. My motto was drink, fuck, or fight.  QUESTION: What does “being a man” look like to you? Parable #3: Midas Matt  Matt: At age 21, I was a horrible person doing all kinds of crazy shit. My dad sent me the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. My first reaction was, fuck you. Once I started reading it, I realized that everything I had chosen up to that point was my responsibility, and therefore everything moving forward would also be my choice and responsibility. For nearly a decade, I felt like Midas Matt. Coach Sam: Everything is going your way, production is the name of the game, everything you touch turns to gold. You meet this beautiful woman, you’re on the path to a white picket fence life, and two days before the wedding you get hit with the news that causes the world you’ve known for nearly a decade to begin crumbling and falling apart all around you.  QUESTION: What book has had a significant impact on your life? Parable #4: Significance  Matt: The stress of the situation kicked in on my honeymoon where I spent all of my time on the phone trying to save our asses. Eventually, everything collapsed. I no longer felt like a man and returned back to the behaviors from the past that had given me respect and power. I started training at a boxing gym in L.A. with a professional fighter, eventually leading me to get involved with mixed martial arts. I know now that I can feel powerful with just being myself. I don’t need to have that fight or step into a cage, I don’t need to beat down another man or be with other women – things that, at one point in time, made me feel whole and significant as a man. Once you can find that peace and truth in your heart, when you can say, “Hey, I’m enough,” that’s so powerful.  QUESTION: How do you find significance? Parable #5: Iron Sharpens Iron  Matt: Life’s a team sport. There’s no man that does it on his own; there’s no fucking ranger who handles all his business on his own. We need to stand independently, but we’re stronger when we’re interdependent. Iron sharpens iron. When as bothers we hold each other accountable, we are stronger together. When truth finds us, or when truth is presented to us, we know it’s true because we already had it. What Warrior does is attach a system to it and a Brotherhood around it, which is the magic of Warrior. Being able to utilize that and being able to lean on other men is powerful.  QUESTION: How does being accountable to others affect how you choose to live your life?  Parables from the Pit:  “There is impact in education that is backed up by experience.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “Sure, we get power from physicality, but we really get our power from handling our business. In CORE4, when you’re standing up to the plate and handling your shit in every category and advancing forward at least a little bit each day, that makes a man feel significant.” –Matt Skinner

Coach Sam Falsafi has a powerful conversation with Warrior Week 37 graduate, Matt Skinner. Parable #1: Warrior Week 37 <ul> <li>Matt: When I signed up for Warrior Week, I thought it was going to be something very physical like SEALFIT. Yes, the physical aspect is part of it, but it’s so much deeper than that. It’s a mental endurance test, an emotional deep dive into the Pit and back.</li> <li>Getting into a program where I had to be somewhere every day at the same time, do certain tasks, follow assignments and listen to people tell me what to do – all of which I knew was benefiting me – my immediate knee-jerk reaction was fuck you. It was so difficult for me to get into that pattern, and I initially rejected the structure of it.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How do your knee-jerk reactions play out in your life? Parable #2: Fat Matt <ul> <li>Matt had a very traditional upbringing. He looked up to his father and aspired to be manly like him, yet he totally rebelled against his father’s definition of being manly. Matt wanted power and respect and found that he could gain these through violence and sex. “I thought these were the stronger, more masculine traits that my father didn’t possess that I could outperform him in.”</li> <li>In fifth grade, I beat the shit out of a kid for calling me Fat Matt. He was bigger and older than me and had some social status on campus. I gained respect that day from the other students and learned that through violence and intimidation, I would be respected. That violence carried on through high school and eventually into football. Offseason, I was looking for fights. I was a fucking bully. My motto was drink, fuck, or fight.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What does “being a man” look like to you? Parable #3: Midas Matt <ul> <li>Matt: At age 21, I was a horrible person doing all kinds of crazy shit. My dad sent me the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. My first reaction was, fuck you. Once I started reading it, I realized that everything I had chosen up to that point was my responsibility, and therefore everything moving forward would also be my choice and responsibility. For nearly a decade, I felt like Midas Matt.</li> <li>Coach Sam: Everything is going your way, production is the name of the game, everything you touch turns to gold. You meet this beautiful woman, you’re on the path to a white picket fence life, and two days before the wedding you get hit with the news that causes the world you’ve known for nearly a decade to begin crumbling and falling apart all around you.</li> </ul> QUESTION: What book has had a significant impact on your life? Parable #4: Significance <ul> <li>Matt: The stress of the situation kicked in on my honeymoon where I spent all of my time on the phone trying to save our asses. Eventually, everything collapsed. I no longer felt like a man and returned back to the behaviors from the past that had given me respect and power. I started training at a boxing gym in L.A. with a professional fighter, eventually leading me to get involved with mixed martial arts.</li> <li>I know now that I can feel powerful with just being myself. I don’t need to have that fight or step into a cage, I don’t need to beat down another man or be with other women – things that, at one point in time, made me feel whole and significant as a man. Once you can find that peace and truth in your heart, when you can say, “Hey, I’m enough,” that’s so powerful.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How do you find significance? Parable #5: Iron Sharpens Iron <ul> <li>Matt: Life’s a team sport. There’s no man that does it on his own; there’s no fucking ranger who handles all his business on his own. We need to stand independently, but we’re stronger when we’re interdependent. Iron sharpens iron. When as bothers we hold each other accountable, we are stronger together.</li> <li>When truth finds us, or when truth is presented to us, we know it’s true because we already had it. What Warrior does is attach a system to it and a Brotherhood around it, which is the magic of Warrior. Being able to utilize that and being able to lean on other men is powerful.</li> </ul> QUESTION: How does being accountable to others affect how you choose to live your life? Parables from the Pit: “There is impact in education that is backed up by experience.” — Coach Sam Falsafi “Sure, we get power from physicality, but we really get our power from handling our business. In CORE4, when you’re standing up to the plate and handling your shit in every category and advancing forward at least a little bit each day, that makes a man feel significant.” –Matt Skinner

 No Man is an Island | Warrior Week | Ep 024

In This Week’s Episode… Just over five years ago, Coach Sam Falsafi and Brandon James Duncan met at the gates of Warrior for the very first time and experienced the life-changing crucible, Warrior Week. What was going on in their lives when they first heard Garrett’s message? What was Warrior Week #5 like for them? How have their lives changed in the last five years? You’re bound to enjoy and resonate with the stories and experiences in this extraordinary episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.   Parable #1: Origins: Brandon  “I was coming out of a really dark place. My father had passed away in 2011, and eight months before that, I became a dad. I was going through the journey of addiction, which sent me on a dark, depressing path for the next two years.” Navigating all of these obstacles, Brandon was lost and confused. “I had no friendships with men that I could talk to about what I was experiencing. Sometimes I would stay up all night searching for answers online.” It was during that process when Brandon saw an ad on Facebook featuring Garrett, who was wearing an orange shirt and a surfer hat. “The message back then was still pretty much the same; it was just packaged differently. This was in 2013. This was the first time since my dad had passed away that I felt connected to another man in a way that was almost like a father figure.”  QUESTION  As you look back over the dark times in your life, who or what drew you out of the darkness and into the light?    Parable #2:  Origins: Coach Sam  Sam: It’s very similar to how my mind was cracked open to receive the idea and concept of going to such an event. I didn’t know anything about coaching or that such a thing even existed. I didn’t know that you could even talk with other men about the relationship you have with your wife. I was raised with the mentality of, “It’s my wife, so it’s super private. I’m supposed to handle this because if I don’t, I’m not a man.” Sam was new to CrossFit at the time and he had delved into the Tony Robbins community. And then, Garrett came into the mix. “I started respecting his message because it linked to the work I was doing, which was CrossFit. He would come out of the CrossFit gym all sweaty, still on fire, and turn on his phone to deliver a message about what he learned and how it applied to his life. It started opening a space in my head, and I knew that what this guy was saying was absolutely true.”  QUESTION  When you were introduced to Warrior, what was the message from Garrett that resonated the most with you at the time?    Parable #3: Co-Parenting  “The gates of Warrior will always fucking expose you. There’s no hiding unless you choose to hide.” Recently, Sam came to the realization that his co-parenting has aways been random and lacking any real strategy. His thoughts have been, “Mom is giving them enough quality time, so it’s okay for me to back off. If I’m there or not, they’re not going to notice.” Brandon: When parenting our kids, meet them where they are. What worked when my daughter was six, is not going to be useful now that she’s nine. I believe that as a dad if you can be present and patient, your relationship with your kids will be amazing. When you’re present, you’ll notice things you’ve never noticed before. Kids are present – that’s all they know. As they seek our attention, they are simply seeking connection with us.  QUESTION  As you take a step back and look at your relationships, what can you do to be more present with the people that matter most to you?   Parable #4: Awareness &amp; Alignment  Brandon: As men, a lot of the time, we tend to judge, label, and shame ourselves, which is not useful. Instead, acknowledge to yourself how you’ve been showing up and how, moving forward, this is how you intend to show up, which is more in alignment of who you are. Sam explains that it begins by being brutally honest with yourself. “It is when we are in that space, that we actually have a chance – and that’s exciting.” Brandon adds, “When you’re showing up as your absolute best self with your wife, what’s that like for her? She’s going to reflect that back to you and be a version of her best self. And from there, everything gets better.”  QUESTION  How are you showing up in your life?    Parable #5: Connection   When it comes to connection, Brandon believes that when we are inside an environment where we feel the connection and energy of everyone around us, that energy begins to rise because we are all contributing to that experience. “I believe we are all connected, and that we come from the same source, the same light, and the same energy. If more people could pause to truly bring some attention to this possibility, it would heal a lot of the trauma and soften a lot of the stress we are experiencing as a global society.”  QUESTION  What do you do to contribute to the energy of others around you that uplifts and strengthens?   * Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. betheman.com  Parables from the Pit:“ “When you see God in others, game fucking over.” —Sam Falsafi “That which you seek is seeking you. If you can pause long enough to get really honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are truly seeking, you will see that the path to discovering that is already within your reach. Your willingness to go down that path is also your opportunity to discover that which you seek.” –Brandon James Duncan

In This Week’s Episode… Just over five years ago, Coach Sam Falsafi and Brandon James Duncan met at the gates of Warrior for the very first time and experienced the life-changing crucible, Warrior Week. What was going on in their lives when they first heard Garrett’s message? What was Warrior Week #5 like for them? How have their lives changed in the last five years? You’re bound to enjoy and resonate with the stories and experiences in this extraordinary episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.   Parable #1: Origins: Brandon <ul> <li>“I was coming out of a really dark place. My father had passed away in 2011, and eight months before that, I became a dad. I was going through the journey of addiction, which sent me on a dark, depressing path for the next two years.” Navigating all of these obstacles, Brandon was lost and confused. “I had no friendships with men that I could talk to about what I was experiencing. Sometimes I would stay up all night searching for answers online.”</li> <li>It was during that process when Brandon saw an ad on Facebook featuring Garrett, who was wearing an orange shirt and a surfer hat. “The message back then was still pretty much the same; it was just packaged differently. This was in 2013. This was the first time since my dad had passed away that I felt connected to another man in a way that was almost like a father figure.”</li> </ul> QUESTION As you look back over the dark times in your life, who or what drew you out of the darkness and into the light?   Parable #2:  Origins: Coach Sam <ul> <li>Sam: It’s very similar to how my mind was cracked open to receive the idea and concept of going to such an event. I didn’t know anything about coaching or that such a thing even existed. I didn’t know that you could even talk with other men about the relationship you have with your wife. I was raised with the mentality of, “It’s my wife, so it’s super private. I’m supposed to handle this because if I don’t, I’m not a man.”</li> <li>Sam was new to CrossFit at the time and he had delved into the Tony Robbins community. And then, Garrett came into the mix. “I started respecting his message because it linked to the work I was doing, which was CrossFit. He would come out of the CrossFit gym all sweaty, still on fire, and turn on his phone to deliver a message about what he learned and how it applied to his life. It started opening a space in my head, and I knew that what this guy was saying was absolutely true.”</li> </ul> QUESTION When you were introduced to Warrior, what was the message from Garrett that resonated the most with you at the time?   Parable #3: Co-Parenting <ul> <li>“The gates of Warrior will always fucking expose you. There’s no hiding unless you choose to hide.” Recently, Sam came to the realization that his co-parenting has aways been random and lacking any real strategy. His thoughts have been, “Mom is giving them enough quality time, so it’s okay for me to back off. If I’m there or not, they’re not going to notice.”</li> <li>Brandon: When parenting our kids, meet them where they are. What worked when my daughter was six, is not going to be useful now that she’s nine. I believe that as a dad if you can be present and patient, your relationship with your kids will be amazing. When you’re present, you’ll notice things you’ve never noticed before. Kids are present – that’s all they know. As they seek our attention, they are simply seeking connection with us.</li> </ul> QUESTION As you take a step back and look at your relationships, what can you do to be more present with the people that matter most to you? Parable #4: Awareness &amp; Alignment <ul> <li>Brandon: As men, a lot of the time, we tend to judge, label, and shame ourselves, which is not useful. Instead, acknowledge to yourself how you’ve been showing up and how, moving forward, this is how you intend to show up, which is more in alignment of who you are.</li> <li>Sam explains that it begins by being brutally honest with yourself. “It is when we are in that space, that we actually have a chance – and that’s exciting.” Brandon adds, “When you’re showing up as your absolute best self with your wife, what’s that like for her? She’s going to reflect that back to you and be a version of her best self. And from there, everything gets better.”</li> </ul> QUESTION How are you showing up in your life?   Parable #5: Connection <ul> <li> When it comes to connection, Brandon believes that when we are inside an environment where we feel the connection and energy of everyone around us, that energy begins to rise because we are all contributing to that experience.</li> <li>“I believe we are all connected, and that we come from the same source, the same light, and the same energy. If more people could pause to truly bring some attention to this possibility, it would heal a lot of the trauma and soften a lot of the stress we are experiencing as a global society.”</li> </ul> QUESTION What do you do to contribute to the energy of others around you that uplifts and strengthens? * <a href="https://www.betheman.com/premiere" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Be the Man Challenge</a>, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior’s Way. <a href="http://betheman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">betheman.com</a> Parables from the Pit:“ “When you see God in others, game fucking over.” —Sam Falsafi “That which you seek is seeking you. If you can pause long enough to get really honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are truly seeking, you will see that the path to discovering that is already within your reach. Your willingness to go down that path is also your opportunity to discover that which you seek.” –Brandon James Duncan

THE CONNECTOR | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 070

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