Build an Indestructible Mindset With This Green Beret's Journey
Release Date: 10/20/2025
Training to Finish: Bronco Billy on Distance, Discipline, and Rules
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
What holds when everything breaks is not motivation, talent, or hype? It’s rules built under pressure. In this episode, elite ultra-endurance athlete and coach Jeff Browning, aka Bronco Billy, talks with Joe De Sena about how distance exposes weak standards and why rules, not motivation, decide who finishes. They break down hard calendars, pre-set rules, and the cost of quitting under pressure. This is a straight talk on ownership, preparation, and making clear decisions when fatigue hits. Listeners leave with simple rules they can apply immediately to training, work, and life. ...
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Get Off the X: A Navy SEAL on Pressure, Pain, and Action
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Pressure doesn’t ask if you’re ready. It hits, and most people freeze. Retired Navy SEAL officer and combat leader Jason Redman talks with Joe De Sena about Hell Week, Ranger School, combat failure, recovery, and the rule of getting off the X. They break down why thinking too long gets you stuck, why quitting in the moment is a mistake, and how discipline is built by moving first and fixing it later. The takeaway is direct: act under pressure, own the outcome, and build resilience through discomfort, not comfort. Things You Will Learn: How to act when pressure hits Why...
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What Holds Under Pressure: Ray Zahab on Endurance, Cancer, and Discipline
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
When everything gets hard, discipline decides the outcome. This episode cuts through the noise and shows what holds when the body quits and motivation is no longer an option. Explorer, ultra-endurance athlete, and expedition leader Ray Zahab talks with Joe De Sena about surviving cancer, crossing the Arctic, disconnecting from distraction, and choosing action under pressure. A no-nonsense breakdown of ownership, resilience, and rules tested by real pressure. Things You Will Learn: How to keep moving when energy is gone and comfort is no longer available Why simple decisions...
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What Holds When the Mind Quits: Zach Bitter on Endurance, Control, and Discipline
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Your mind quits before your body does. That’s where most people fail. World-record ultra-endurance runner and endurance coach Zach Bitter sits with Joe De Sena to talk about what breaks people when the miles stack up. Discipline under load. Mental control past mile 60. The rules that keep you moving when quitting makes sense. They cut through ego, impatience, and comfort, explain how to manage mental breakdowns, and show why comfort destroys performance. Things You Will Learn How to hold the line when your mind tells you to stop How to manage fatigue without negotiating with...
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What Smart People Miss Under Pressure: Chitra Nawbatt on EQ, Pivots, and Unwritten Rules
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Being smart won’t save you when pressure shows up. Why intelligence fails without discipline, ownership, and the ability to read what isn’t written? CodeBreaker Mindset author, former investment banker, journalist, and venture partner Chitra Nawbatt talks with Joe De Sena about making decisions under stress, voluntary versus forced pivots, and why comfort keeps capable people stuck. The focus is on simple rules, earned judgment, and building discipline that holds when conditions get hard. Things You’ll Learn: How to recognize unwritten rules before they cost you momentum ...
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What Holds When Everything Burns: JR Martinez on Combat, Recovery, and Relentless Discipline
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Most people fail under pressure because they never trained for it. What holds up under pressure is built long before comfort disappears. Army veteran, burn survivor, speaker, and actor JR Martinez sits down with Joe De Sena to break down how discipline is built before the crisis, why weak standards collapse fast, and how ownership, autonomy, and daily reps create real resilience. They cover parenting without rescue, pausing instead of reacting, using discomfort as data, and why refusing to lower standards is non-negotiable. Listeners leave with clear rules for holding the line when pressure...
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Michael Wardian: Turning Suffering Into World Records
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Mental toughness doesn’t come from motivation—it comes from choosing discomfort on purpose. In this episode, endurance legend Michael Wardian, elite ultra-runner and Senior Olympics competitor, breaks down the daily discipline that carried him through failed record attempts, a 3,332-mile run across the United States, and years of relentless endurance training. He explains why simple reps like 100 burpees a day build real accountability, how purpose outlasts motivation when everything hurts, and what sustained suffering teaches you about identity, resilience, and grit. ...
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Navy SEAL Ryan “Birdman” Parrott: The Blast That Changed Everything and How He Rebuilt From Scratch
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Ryan “Birdman” Parrott grew up without direction, failed classes, and struggled to connect. One sentence from a Marine teacher flipped a switch and pushed him toward the Navy SEALs. That decision dropped him into one of the toughest training pipelines on the planet and later into Iraq, where a roadside bomb almost killed him. In this episode, Ryan breaks down the mindset that carried him from a chaotic childhood to SEAL Team deployments, a near-fatal blast, and the long climb to rebuild purpose after war. His story shows what grit, discipline, and resilience look like when the...
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The Choice That Built a Bomb‑Suit Warrior Mindset
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
She grew up with no roadmap, no support, and no clear path forward. One pull-up changed everything, leading her into the Army and a career in explosive ordnance disposal. Twelve years later, Kaitlyn Hernandez built a life defined by discipline, resilience, and service. She shares how daily discomfort, purpose, and small hard choices shaped her mindset, helping her run a bomb-suit mile, set a world record, and tackle some of the military’s toughest challenges. 3 Key Learnings: Small daily challenges build discipline, mental toughness, and high-stakes performance Leaning into...
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How a Navy SEAL Rebuilt Discipline and Control After Service
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
When the mission ends, the mindset stays. Navy SEAL veteran and leadership coach Kevin Stark talks with Joe about rebuilding identity after service, finding calm in pressure, and using simple daily discipline to stay grounded when life shifts. This conversation goes inside the habits, decisions, and mindset work that strengthen resilience, mental toughness, and control under stress. Timestamps 00:58 Why Kevin joined the SEALs at 18 02:29 How BUD/S training builds mental control 05:15 How he rebuilt identity after service 09:55 How service shapes leadership and humility 14:51 How cold...
info_outlineHe served multiple deployments, faced injury, and returned to duty with discipline and focus. Pain is the best teacher, and failure is where real growth begins. Joe De Sena talks with Ryan Hendrickson, retired Green Beret and landmine removal advocate, on mental toughness, navigating hardship, and rebuilding life through ownership and daily discipline.
What You Will Learn:
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How failure and pain accelerate real growth.
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Why ownership and discipline matter more than medals.
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Daily routines and habits that reinforce resilience.
Episode Highlights:
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[01:43] Ryan’s military background and joining the Green Berets.
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[02:50] Surviving a landmine and continuing multiple deployments.
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[04:28] Mental health struggles and strategies for recovery.
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[08:11] Three lessons for overcoming hardship.
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[12:45] Using failure as a tool for growth and learning.
Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Learned:
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Pain as Teacher: Using difficult experiences to build toughness.
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Failure Utilization: Reframing setbacks as learning opportunities.
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Daily Discipline: Habits that reinforce resilience and mental clarity.
Closing Insight or Key Takeaway:
Real toughness isn’t about muscles or medals. It’s about getting up when life keeps trying to bury you.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:26 Meet Ryan Hendrickson, retired Green Beret
01:43 Ryan’s background & joining the military
02:50 A 22-year military career & stepping on IED
04:28 Mental health struggles & rebuilding life
08:11 Three lessons for overcoming hardship
12:45 Failure as a tool for growth and learning
15:13 Ryan’s daily routine
16:24 How to support Ryan’s organization
16:59 The most heavily mined country in the world
18:20 The dangers of untracked minefields
Connect to Ryan:
🌐 Website: ryanmhendrickson.com
📸 Instagram: @ryanmhendrickson.tipofthespear
📘 Facebook: Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal
💼 LinkedIn: Ryan Hendrickson
▶️ YouTube: Ryan Hendrickson – Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal
✖️ Twitter/X: @tipofthespear42
🎧 Listen & Subscribe:
👉 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-way-with-joe-de-sena/id952870930
👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1pYBkk1T684YQg7CmoaAZt
📲 Short, Impactful Content:
👉 Instagram: @spartanuppodcast
👉 From host directly: @realjoedesena
💥 Join the Spartan Community:
👉 Find Your Next Spartan Race: https://www.spartan.com/en/race/find-race
👉 For everything Spartan: https://www.spartan.com/
About The Hard Way Podcast:
Hosted by Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, this podcast explores resilience, discipline, and the Spartan mindset. De Sena’s journey from building a multimillion-dollar pool cleaning business in his teens to Wall Street success, then running an organic farm and creating Spartan, showcases how embracing challenges and endurance can transform life.