This week’s powerful podcast is filled with amazing stories from your host, Coach Sam, and his special guest, Drew Hooper, graduate of Warrior Week #52. Stay tuned as we discover what Drew faced inside his Pit at Warrior Week, the revelation Coach Sam received during a recent chaotic experience at a local restaurant, pivotal Stack revelations, the story behind The Shovel, and much, much more in this week’s episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.

Parable #1: Seeking Connection

• Drew’s journey into the Warrior’s Way began in March 2016 when he received a link from one of his buddies leading to a video of Garrett, the content of which resonated on a deep level with him. His entry point was WarriorBook 500.
• About 45 days into the process, Drew’s wife revealed to him, “If you hadn’t of done this, I was ready to leave.” At the time, Drew was oblivious to the signs.

QUESTION

What was your entry point into Warrior?

Parable #2: Feeling Lost

• At the time of applying to Warrior Week, Drew felt frustrated, unchallenged, and alone. He felt like he didn’t have anyone in his circle with whom he could connect. Warrior Week, for him, meant finding a group of men to connect with, learn from and relate to.
•  By this time, Drew and his wife had created a safe space for communication in their marriage and things were looking up in all areas of his life. Still, he felt lost. He was ready to burn it all down and was afraid that he was going to lose it all.

QUESTION

How does this resonate for you?

Parable #3: Leader or Dictator?

• For a time, Drew’s wife had lacked direction and ultimately didn’t know what she wanted. “Since I lived a very regimented life, she looked to me as her leader and her rock. As she became more comfortable with herself, I never pulled back from that leadership or dictatorship. I was leading in a way that was out of disregard to what she wanted.”
• Coach Sam had become a bully inside of his marriage, even though he thought he was just leading. “Today, I realize I was bullying, dictating, and not listening in my marriage, I had been controlling… but with a good heart and a good purpose. I had labeled it as security and protection but as I look back, I ask myself, what was I actually protecting?”

QUESTION

Where in your world are you dictating and bullying rather than leading?

Parable #4: Turning Points

• The Stack is a powerful tool inside of Warrior that takes you through a series of questions and ultimately leads you to view things from a different perspective. Inside of that, you get to create a new story surrounding an event, a person, or situation.
• “One of the Stacks I did, I was so pissed off at my wife. I felt she was flighty and non-committal on ANYTHING. When I had to walk the block and turn that trigger statement on me, I broke down in tears. The revelation I received was that I was the one who was being and doing everything I had been blaming her for.”

QUESTION

Where inside of your world are you projecting blame onto another person?

Parable #5: Dig Your Way Out

• In May of 2018, Drew had been called into the Brotherhood Boardroom during a live training where he revealed to Coach Sam that he had been struggling to lose weight. Sam instructed Drew to grab a shovel hanging on the wall behind him – a shovel that had been used for the groundbreaking of a new hospital – and essentially told Drew he was going to “dig his way out of this.”
• Sam had Drew write down targets on the back of the shovel and instructed him to carry it with him wherever went, with the idea that he was to bring it with him at the end of the year to WarriorCon3. “I took that fuckin’ token of a shovel with me everywhere I went!”

QUESTION

What would be a meaningful token and anchor for you as you move toward your desired outcome?

Parables from the Pit:

“It wasn’t that these people were doing anything to piss me off; it was because I was already sequenced to be fucking triggered and I was just waiting for the final victim to blame, which was the old guy with the fucking mustache.”

—Sam Falsafi

“I start to realize that the only reason why I’m pissed off is because there’s something about it that’s a reflection of myself. And that awareness is a little bit fucked up because it makes it difficult to stay mad.”

--Drew Hooper