My guest today is Joe de Sena, a serial entrepreneur, ultra-marathoner, endurance athlete, motivational speaker, and self-described maniac. For the past 17 years, Joe has been the CEO of the global fitness and wellness brand Spartan, which has a community of more than 10 million athletes around the world.Joe is the host of the CNBC primetime show, No Retreat business boot camp, and a New York Times bestselling author of four books, Spartan Up, Spartan Fit, The Spartan Way, and his latest, 10 Rules for Resilience.Time stamps:

01:46 Joe De Sena’s background and childhood

He grew up in Howard Beach, the organized crime capital of the worldMom was a long-distance runner, vegan, and yoga practitionerDad was a workaholic entrepreneurThe story about his dad and the missing package in the warehouseThe story about moving bricks all nightAn unbelievable BMX ride to Greene, New York

11:33 Working for Joe Bananno as a kid

Lessons from the head of the organized crime familyBecame a trusting kid and gained a lot of customersThe attractiveness of the mafia lifestyle and his dad’s adviceJoe Bananno as Joe’s friend and mentorThe best thing we can do in life is help people 

18:15 What’s wrong with the mentality of today’s interns

Human beings are naturally lazy and wired for comfortThe story about Shaun and moving artworksMake yourself invaluable and irreplaceable

26:48 Never ask for money

A story about a car dealer from VermontA risk worth getting numerous customersGet your foot in the door first and provide value

29:23 How rejections can fuel you

Applied to Cornell and was rejectedLearned hard to prove worthy of Cornell but kept being rejectedFinally, enrolled in The Textile Department of Human EcologyIf you just keep doing it, you eventually break through

35:05 The ability to hang in there and finish is changing your biology

If the obstacle you face is not fatal, it’s just a lessonFailure can be our greatest asset if we use it rightFinishing hard things creates tracks in the brainQuitting creates gaps and more quitting

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