Joe De Sena

Joe De Sena is the founder of the Spartan Race. He’s also, as Angela Duckworth, author of Grit, tells us: “a paragon of grit” who “shows you how you’re capable of so much more than you think.” A paragon of grit. That’s the perfect description. After inspiring us with stories of real-life heroes and ancient Spartan lore, De Sena walks us through the seven pillars of Spartan training + a 30-day plan to get Spartan Fit. Big Ideas we explore include getting to the starting line, developing obstacle immunity, making thousands of small decisions and your gritty oath.

Joe De Sena created Spartan Race. He's one of my favorite people on the planet. His mission? To "yank 100 million people off their couches to start living instead of being passive observers of life.” Angela Duckworth calls him a "paragon of grit" and, as you know if you've been following along, I'm ALL IN on Spartan Races as an epically awesome way to use obstacles to make ourselves stronger. We featured his first two books Spartan Up! and Spartan Fit! In this one, Joe walks us through the ten Spartan Core Virtues—from Self-Awareness and Commitment to Grit and Integrity. If you’re into embodying the classic virtues of ancient Greece as much as I am, I think you’ll dig the book as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore: A quick look at our Top 10 Spartan Virtues, how to find your True North, commitment (do you know what it *truly* is?), marshmallows (and our six-year-old sons), and what you'll know at the finish line (get there!!).

Spartan Up!! Want a swift kick in the optimizing butt?! This is the book for you. It truly is "a take-no-prisoners guide to overcoming obstacles and achieving performance" delivered with enthusiasm by Joe De Sena--the renowned endurance/adventure racer who created Spartan Race. We'll look at what's impossible vs. just really hard, how to pass the cookie test as we develop grit and learn how to get to the next telephone pole in the race of life.

This is our fourth note on one of Joe De Sena's great books. Joe De Sena is the founder of Spartan and one of my favorite human beings on the planet. In this note we explore De Sena's 10 Rules for Resilience. It's packed with Big Ideas that will help us collect "Resilience Data Points", make a mark on the world, and respect fear as normal so that our children may do the same. Aroo!