SHOULDER to SHOULDER | Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit | EP 090

Shawn was led to the gates of Warrior by nothing less than perfect timing and divine intervention. After searching for answers to his wife’s eighteen-year condition, it was during a month-long stay at the Mayo Clinic while waiting for his wife that Shawn randomly opened up Facebook. Enter Garrett J White promoting a 30-day challenge. Welcome to the Warrior Week podcast with your host, Coach Sam Falsafi, and his special guest, Shawn McDonald, Warrior Week 54 graduate. Parable #1: Divine Intervention null Shawn was led to the gates of Warrior by nothing less than perfect timing and divine intervention. After searching for answers to his wife’s eighteen-year condition, it was during a month-long stay at the Mayo Clinic while waiting for his wife that Shawn randomly opened up Facebook. Enter Garrett J White promoting a 30-day challenge. At the time, Shawn’s relationship with his wife had gotten to an all-time low, and they were moving closer to divorce. “I was financially very successful, career-wise very successful; I was an executive doing very, very well. Inside? I was literally dead. I was hopeless as to where my wife’s situation was and very hopeless where I was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So… I took the challenge.” QUESTION Where were you when you were first introduced to the message of Wake Up Warrior? Parable #2: The Garage The first evolution in the Kings Kit Challenge takes place virtually in the guy’s garages. Previously organized because of his wife’s skills, his garage was now a complete mess, which was a vivid and glaring reflection of the shit taking place in his life, in his heart, and in the relationship with his wife.  “The whole process of bringing practical circumstances to the forefront of my perspective, and helping the other men and me literally walk through a journey of breaking things down piece by piece, helped me to completely get out of my pit and was the beginning of a revolution for me.” QUESTION What is your garage a reflection of in your life?   Parable #3: Exposed One challenge led to another until Shawn eventually found himself in the throes of the crucible, Warrior Week. During the Inquisition process, it felt like someone had peeled back the vale and had exposed where he had been for over 20 years of his life. Although he was ready to understand what was going on inside of him, admittedly, it was so much harder than he expected it to be. “When you finally get down to an understanding of things you have danced around forever, that awakening means everything.  The biggest thing for me was literally coming to a place of acknowledging that I hate myself and that I’ve never loved my wife.” QUESTION Where in your world is it time to shine a light to expose what you’ve been hiding? Parable #4: You’re Not Alone All around us, families are being crushed and shattered. Men are operating at the lowest version of themselves and have been conditioned to believe they have to go through this life alone. But that is simply not the case. “We underestimate the importance of men who have gone before us. In order to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with somebody, you have to have been tested by the fire yourself. You’ve had to have gone into your own pit, and trust another man to help you walk out of that pit.” QUESTION Who has your back in this world? Parable #5: Own Your Why On the second day of Warrior Week, Shawn experienced the next major step in opening his eyes to the work that lay ahead of him. He began identifying and imprinting into his soul the purpose for his existence, shouting to the world the names of his wife and children. “This is why I’m alive! This is my family that’s been entrusted to my care.”He realized it was his unwillingness to show up for himself and his family that led to a path of destruction for all of them. “It led me to five affairs, two bankruptcies, kids who didn’t want to have anything to do with me, a son who got on drugs, and a daughter that got raped.” QUESTION What is your why?   “Parables from the Pit“ “The majority of men don’t have the courage to admit their faults because they don’t want to remind themselves of their mistakes. And so they hide and hang with “positive” people who are also liars, and who will never have the fucking balls to remind them of their mistakes and lies.” –-Sam Falsafi “It’s one thing to point out another man’s lies; it’s a completely different thing to help lead him to the light.” –– Shawn McDonald