WARRIOR WEEK

Brandon Lemuel, a graduate of Warrior Week #54 is Coach Sam's special guest in this week's amazing podcast filled with stories of awakenings and unexpected encounters with the highest power.

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way.

Parable #1: Empty

• Two years ago, after attending a gathering with other chiropractors where Garrett's name was brought up in conversations, Brandon googled him and began listening to the Warrior on Fire podcast.
• "It literally felt like he had unscrewed the top of my head, looked inside to my brain, and could read every single fucking thought I was having at that moment. On the outside looking in, it seemed like I "had it all." I was married to a beautiful wife, had two healthy kids, a thriving business, and seemingly had everything anyone would ever want. But on the inside, I was feeling empty.

QUESTION

What was your introduction to Warrior?

Parable #2: The Unexpected Messenger

• While crushing it in all areas of his life, Brandon recently experienced a disconnect following a disappointing Friday evening with his wife. He awoke the next morning, knowing he was descending into a drift and told the queen he was going to grab some coffee at the coffee shop."I'll be back after lunch." He then grabbed his journal and headed out the door.
• While at the coffee shop, Brandon bought two cups of coffee, sat down at a table away from everyone else, placed his black hoodie over his head, put on his dark glasses, and began the evolution, "Meeting With God." It was at this moment in time when a most unexpected encounter with a stranger, also dressed in a black hoodie, took place. This unexpected messenger of God was about to teach Brandon a very powerful lesson.

QUESTION

As you look back in your life, how have messages from God been delivered to you?

Parable #3: Meeting With God

• What is this "Meeting With God?" How does it work? You go to a coffee shop first thing in the morning, journal in tow, and buy two cups of coffee: one for you and one for God. And then you begin the conversation with the words, "Dear God, I know you can, but will you?"
• This is an evolution created by Warrior Brian Q Davis, initially called "Meeting With the CEO." Brian found himself meeting with all kinds of people every week, but not with the man upstairs. So he began meeting with God every week (it's been years now) asking God about things in his business. Month after month, the things he has asked for show up in the things he's grateful for.

QUESTION

When are you going to schedule your first or next "Meeting With God?" What might be possible if this became part of your weekly routine?

Parable #4: Dear God, Please Help Me Find the Key

• Coach Sam's first spiritual awakening experience was when he was ten years old. It was raining, and there was a lot of snow on the ground. His mom told him she was not coming home until later that evening and gave him the key to the apartment. "But then I lost the key and began panicking and crying. I retraced my steps in the dark, all the while praying, "Dear God, please let me find the key."
• "At that point, I had traced my steps to the intersection and sill no key. It was was a dark night, the snow was knee-deep, the cars in the street were creating all of that dirty, slushy snow. It was a fucking mess. And what was an impossible fucking task was to find the keys with my eyes. I turned around to walk back, and guess what? I stepped on the fucking key! It was not a fucking coincidence. That was my first awakening and encounter with God."

QUESTION

How were you led out of an otherwise impossible situation?

Parable #5: Work Hard, Party Harder

• There was a point in time where alcohol played a part in Brandon's life. He was attending chiropractic school, where the slogan was, "Work hard, party harder!" He was brought in to be one of the speakers at a leadership conference and was out partying the night before the event. At one point, he blacked out and didn't know where he was.
• He awakened the next morning underneath a bush in a residential neighborhood. Having lost his phone at some point, at 4 am he began walking along the interstate through a construction zone. It was at this moment he felt the arm of God around him, saying, "Brandon, you're done with the drinking. I have other plans for you, and those plans do not involve you drinking. Everything is going to be OK."

QUESTION

Recall a moment in your life when you felt the arm of God around you. What were the circumstances? What was His message to you?

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit

"Invest in your spiritualithy and continually vibrate at a higher level. There is no other enter investment that will create the prosperity in your life that you're seeking and wanting, or put you in the place of healing, service, and generosity than that of investing in your spirituality. As you give more, be open to receiving more. Why? So that you can give even more."

—Sam Falsafi

"Hear what the Voice is saying, trust the process, and then move without hesitation. My experience has shown me that when I ignore the whispers, eventually, the screams are going to show up."

–Brandon Lemuel

In This Week's Episode…

Those of you who attended WC3 in December 2018 will no doubt remember Dan Cerrillo, Coach Sam's special guest on today's show. Dan, aka Taco is not only a brother and a mentor, but he is also a friend to the Warrior community. In this very special episode, Dan shares stories of heartbreak, triumph, sadness, betrayal, grief, and happiness. We learn what ultimately saved his life and what he is so passionate about doing for the rest of his life.

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parable #1: WC3

• During WC3, Dan went on stage to raise money for the Navy Seals Fund. It was in front of that room filled with hundreds of men that he admitted to having a problem and that he was seeking the help he needed.
• "I have spent my whole life teaching others, but I was slowly losing what I had gained. I had been experiencing a lot of success and failure, but at that time, things were falling apart in my business and personal life. On top of that, I had gone from being a weekend drinker to an everyday drinker, barely able to hold down a job."

QUESTION

Where in your world do you know it's time to seek help?

Parable #2: The Pit

• Through tragedy and betrayal, Dan found himself trying to climb his way out of a pit. There were warning signs all around him, yet he didn't heed or listen to them. News of his wife's illness sent him over the edge. He had always been a weekend drinker, but now he started drinking every day of the week.
• "I become angry and depressed. Everything I was telling others NOT to do, I was doing. I had created this persona that I was better than everyone. Yet, I wasn't doing anything I was preaching. For the first time, I understood why others commit suicide. I felt my family would be better off without me."

QUESTION

What are the signs and messages you're ignoring in your life?

Parable #3: I Am a Drunk

• Once Dan admitted to the doctors that he had a problem, they concurred. "Your eyes are dead, and you're bloated. You got turned on in the military, but nobody turned you off." Dan found himself in a rented van on his way to Mexico to receive therapy & treatment, feeling so ashamed. He wondered how in the world he had gotten to this place in life.
• "In the military, the plan is simple and straight forward: we're going to mess people up, we're going to be the aggressor, and we're going to win. Once it's over, you then try to assimilate back into civilian life to be the 'normal' dude who isn't talking about killing people. In 36 hours of treatment, I went from "why me" to "ok, this is the way it is," to "thank you," and then the final phase of forgiveness. For the first time, my brain was free."

QUESTION

For help and more information, click on this link.

Parable #4: Trauma & Emotions

• Dan used to believe he had PTSD from the war and scoffed at the idea of "mommy and daddy issues." He now knows those are real issues; that childhood trauma is real. He experienced trauma as a child and as an adult, and then found himself inflicting trauma on his own family.
• "When you go to war and do horrible things, if you don't get that out of your soul, it will crush you. We're told to suck it up and push all the emotions down. But men NEED to express their emotions. If you suck it up too long and push it down too deep, you will drink it away, rage it away, and snort it away. "

QUESTION

What are the patterns & behaviors you tend to repeat that aren't serving you or your loved ones? What are you doing to change them?

Parable #5: Life Sans Drama

• Dan lives by a phrase he was once taught: make seven people smile each day. "I used to be known as 'Taco,' the guy who would throw and smash things, the guy with a constant frown on his face, and the road rage guy who would follow people home. Taco is now the character I bring out during training sessions, but I used to be him ALL the time."
• "Today, at 46, my life is so peaceful & calm. I listen to classical music while I'm driving, and if someone cuts me off, I don't care. If I only live for 20 more years, who am I going to be? I'm going to be the dude I have always wanted to be: the guy who takes care of everybody around me; the guy who wants happiness throughout life."

QUESTION

What adjective best describes your current attitude toward people and life?

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit

"3 1/2 years ago, Garrett asked you to come train with us. There was an instant connection. Out of all the training from you, what impresses me are the thousands of lives you have impacted, including mine."

—Sam Falsafi

"Simplify your life to what really matters."

–Dan Cerrillo

In This Week's Episode…

Brenden King, Warrior Week #52 graduate, is Coach Sam's special guest in this Warrior Week episode of Parables From the Pit. We learn about Brenden's introduction to the game of Warrior, what impact his military and swat experiences have had on his life, how he created his successful business, and how learning to let go has been one of the biggest blessings & choices he has ever made.

Parable #1: What's The Point?

• At the time Brenden was introduced to Warrior, his business and marriage were not in a great place. As he watched the Las Vegas video, Garrett's words deeply resonated with him. "I was feeling hopeless, wondering what's the point? I was doing ok financially yet sucking across so many areas of my life."

• It was inside the Kings Kit challenge, where the former Marine experienced a measurable difference at a deeper level. After completing that, he immediately felt the calling of growth, knowing there was a breaking down and building back up that needed to take place within him. Enter the crucible of Warrior Week.

QUESTION What is calling you forth to further growth within yourself? What actions are you taking toward that calling?

Parable #2: Liberated King

• Most are used to hearing stories about the broken marriages that are lit on fire as a result of attending Warrior Week. Brenden's situation did not play out that way.

• Sam: "We are not talking about a guy who came in and fixed his marriage. Brenden found himself and worked on himself, he stood by his words, and was willing to go to war for this woman." Adds Brenden, "Luckily for me, the king I became in Warrior Week prepared me for what was to come."

QUESTION How have you dealt with life experiences that may not have turned out the way you wanted them to?

Parable #3: Crisis Consulting

• When Brenden came back from war, he used the 90 days given to him to put together his future business plan. Day in and day out, he would retire to his walk-in closet in his pajamas, where he worked, wrote, and detoxed, ultimately birthing his successful business, Crisis Consulting.

• "There was this burning question inside of me: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? I knew it was helping and teaching with my skills, but I had no idea what it was going to be, or where it would lead me as I sat & worked in my closet day after day after day."

QUESTION Have you asked and answered the question, "What am I supposed to do?"

Parable #4: The Art of Letting Go

• When Brenden separated from his wife, he bought a house for his mom and began moving his shit there. "I was throwing away a lot of plaques, certificates, and pictures which alarmed my mom. She asked me what I was doing, reminding me that one day, I was going to want to have my own "love me" wall to see my accomplishments.

• "While acknowledging my past, I also told her it was time to make room for the next chapter of my life." Adds Coach Sam, "The art of letting go is literally the hardest fucking thing. As you work on the new thing, knowing that at some point you will also let IT go, sometimes you wonder if you should go ALL IN on it? But, in the end, we always do."

QUESTION Where in your world would practicing the art of letting go make room for the new?

Parable #5: Awareness

• Coach Sam: You and I now have this awareness that wasn't present back in the day. But today, we swim in a world of conversation and development, which is why 40 years from now, we can talk about the moments & memories with our loved ones, moments that matter and that they will remember.

• "We want to talk about how we helped our kids or how present we were, not how many baseball games we went to. Let's talk about some real shit – my experiences at war, or when my son made the choice to cut his hair for the first time, or when we watched something together and laughed and laughed. These don't take enormous amounts of time but are very concentrated memories of being present and living in the moment."

QUESTION What memories are you making with your loved ones?

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit

"The tool is awareness. Invest in the man you want to become in 40 years."

—Sam Falsafi

"You have to recognize and trust the process; you must be willing to accept and let go."

–Brenden King

In This Week's Episode…

You're in for a treat as Coach Sam welcomes special guest Dr. Derek Price to the show. They exchange stories of how & where they first met, the tragedy that struck early on in Derek's life, the story of his college & NFL days, how Derek overcame significant setbacks, how he met his soulmate, and how mentors have played an essential role in his life. We also discover the one voice he has always listened to and trusted… and how that one voice has led Derek to live an extraordinary life.

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parable #1: Tragedy Strikes Early

• When Dr. Price was seven years old, life as he knew it changed drastically after the death of his father. At his young age, he stepped into the role of the man of the house and instantly becoming a father figure to his two younger brothers. Day-old bakeries, dented can sales, and tortillas & butter for breakfast were the norms. However, he had no idea they didn't have a lot of money.
• During Coach Sam's childhood, he and his family escaped from Iran to Canada, where they declared refugee status. Life changed in a moment for them. They found themselves driving around the neighborhood a couple of times a week picking out items from other people's garbage. Most of the time, they ate cornflakes with sugar and water.

QUESTION

What did you experience early in your life that has helped shape who you are today?

Parable #2: NFL

• At the age of nineteen, Derek felt he was at the right place at the right time. He had earned a scholarship, was excelling at football, and was presented with a very tempting offer. Following his intuition and the advice of one of his mentors, he made a decision that turned out to be a big pivotal moment in his life.
• In his first year as an NFL player in Detroit, with four games left, Derek was running off on a kick-off and dove into a pile of guys. What happened next would ultimately change the course of his life. "I was 22, I was living in the moment, I had a one year contract, and I had to keep it under wraps."

QUESTION

Where in your world are you following & trusting your intuition and/or the advice of a trusted mentor?

Parable #3: Soulmates

• It was on a blind date right out of high school that Derek met the love of his life. It was on that first date that he remarked to her, "Wouldn't it be funny if we ended up getting married?!"
• "I was a football player, she was a cheerleader with dreams of her own, and she chose to throw in the towel and say, "I'm on your team. Let's do this together!" Today, they are happily married, have three daughters, and live a life that they absolutely love.

QUESTION

Where and when did you meet your wife? Did you know right away that she was the "one" for you?

Parable #4: Three-Legged Stool

• In Dr. Price's practice, he has developed his personal executive program – The Three-Legged Stool – which represents how he looks at humanity. All three of the legs must be balanced.
• The platform of the stool represents you, your total life experience, and your personal growth. The three legs represent the following: 1- Health & Wellness, 2- Relationships, and 3- the Pursuit of Happiness, the leg that often gets overlooked.

QUESTION

How do you pursue happiness? What does that really mean to you?

Parable #5: Habits

• Derek: You have to create habits, and habits develop in baby steps. Baby step habits done over a long period of time become a reality that ultimately shapes you. In the process of building small habits over a long period of time, you have a sustainable, life long change.
• When someone wants to make a change in their life, they already know their desired destination, but that just don't know how to get to that destination from where they are today. I believe you shouldn't talk about something unless you've been about something, and I take that to heart inside of my "Walk in Your Shoes" program where I mentor you, it becomes your life, and where there is ultimately a completion.

QUESTION

As you look across all areas of your life, what are you doing to create those baby step habits?

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit:"

"What if you gave yourself permission to pursue happiness which means bringing harmony into your existing life?"

—Sam Falsafi

"In my discussions with thousands of patients, the reality is, I have discovered that brilliance comes from simplicity."

–Dr. Derek Price

In This Week's Episode…

Just over five years ago, Coach Sam Falsafi and Brandon James Duncan met at the gates of Warrior for the very first time and experienced the life-changing crucible, Warrior Week. What was going on in their lives when they first heard Garrett's message? What was Warrior Week #5 like for them? How have their lives changed in the last five years? You're bound to enjoy and resonate with the stories and experiences in this extraordinary episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit.

Parable #1: Origins: Brandon

• "I was coming out of a really dark place. My father had passed away in 2011, and eight months before that, I became a dad. I was going through the journey of addiction, which sent me on a dark, depressing path for the next two years." Navigating all of these obstacles, Brandon was lost and confused. "I had no friendships with men that I could talk to about what I was experiencing. Sometimes I would stay up all night searching for answers online."
• It was during that process when Brandon saw an ad on Facebook featuring Garrett, who was wearing an orange shirt and a surfer hat. "The message back then was still pretty much the same; it was just packaged differently. This was in 2013. This was the first time since my dad had passed away that I felt connected to another man in a way that was almost like a father figure."

QUESTION

As you look back over the dark times in your life, who or what drew you out of the darkness and into the light?

Parable #2: Origins: Coach Sam

• Sam: It's very similar to how my mind was cracked open to receive the idea and concept of going to such an event. I didn't know anything about coaching or that such a thing even existed. I didn't know that you could even talk with other men about the relationship you have with your wife. I was raised with the mentality of, "It's my wife, so it's super private. I'm supposed to handle this because if I don't, I'm not a man."
• Sam was new to CrossFit at the time and he had delved into the Tony Robbins community. And then, Garrett came into the mix. "I started respecting his message because it linked to the work I was doing, which was CrossFit. He would come out of the CrossFit gym all sweaty, still on fire, and turn on his phone to deliver a message about what he learned and how it applied to his life. It started opening a space in my head, and I knew that what this guy was saying was absolutely true."

QUESTION

When you were introduced to Warrior, what was the message from Garrett that resonated the most with you at the time?

Parable #3: Co-Parenting

• "The gates of Warrior will always fucking expose you. There's no hiding unless you choose to hide." Recently, Sam came to the realization that his co-parenting has aways been random and lacking any real strategy. His thoughts have been, "Mom is giving them enough quality time, so it's okay for me to back off. If I'm there or not, they're not going to notice."
• Brandon: When parenting our kids, meet them where they are. What worked when my daughter was six, is not going to be useful now that she's nine. I believe that as a dad if you can be present and patient, your relationship with your kids will be amazing. When you're present, you'll notice things you've never noticed before. Kids are present – that's all they know. As they seek our attention, they are simply seeking connection with us.

QUESTION

As you take a step back and look at your relationships, what can you do to be more present with the people that matter most to you?

Parable #4: Awareness & Alignment

• Brandon: As men, a lot of the time, we tend to judge, label, and shame ourselves, which is not useful. Instead, acknowledge to yourself how you've been showing up and how, moving forward, this is how you intend to show up, which is more in alignment of who you are.
• Sam explains that it begins by being brutally honest with yourself. "It is when we are in that space, that we actually have a chance – and that's exciting." Brandon adds, "When you're showing up as your absolute best self with your wife, what's that like for her? She's going to reflect that back to you and be a version of her best self. And from there, everything gets better."

QUESTION

How are you showing up in your life?

Parable #5: Connection

• When it comes to connection, Brandon believes that when we are inside an environment where we feel the connection and energy of everyone around us, that energy begins to rise because we are all contributing to that experience.
• "I believe we are all connected, and that we come from the same source, the same light, and the same energy. If more people could pause to truly bring some attention to this possibility, it would heal a lot of the trauma and soften a lot of the stress we are experiencing as a global society."

QUESTION

What do you do to contribute to the energy of others around you that uplifts and strengthens?

* Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit:"

"When you see God in others, game fucking over."

—Sam Falsafi

"That which you seek is seeking you. If you can pause long enough to get really honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are truly seeking, you will see that the path to discovering that is already within your reach. Your willingness to go down that path is also your opportunity to discover that which you seek."

–Brandon James Duncan

In This Week's Episode…

Dan Nagy, Warrior Week #49 graduate, is Coach Sam Falsafi's guest in this special episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit. We learn about Dan's first miraculous encounter with the message of Warrior, how he was truly forged in fire, and his unexpected & beautiful "gift from the sky" that came into his life once he completely loved himself. *Coming Soon: Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parable #1: Act of God

• Dan describes his introduction to Warrior as a "total act of God." At the close of a conference he was attending in Toronto, Canada, everyone had cleared out of the building with the exception of "one dude who was sitting at his computer. I have no idea why, but I sat down next to him and said, "Hey man, what's up?"
• A conversation ensued which led to grabbing supper together. It was during their meal that Tony Leblanc introduced Dan to "a psychopath named Garrett White" and Warrior. Dan went home and immediately listened to the Warrior On Fire podcast and describes it as if "Garrett had reached in the back of my head, took every single one of my thoughts out, and was displaying them to the world."

QUESTION

How were you introduced to the message of Warrior?

Parable #2: WarriorX

• At this point in time, there was pressure and angst building inside of Dan to do something crazy and really big with his life. His seven-year marriage was coming to an end, which fucked him up and crushed his power. Enter WarriorX which was calling to him, and which seemed to fit the bill for what he was seeking at the time.
• After WarriorX, Dan found himself in the best place he had been in over fifteen years. "To come in and get slapped in the face physically, emotionally and spiritually… I was in a place where I was finally able to look at myself for the first time with clear lenses. I could see where I had dug a deep hole for myself, seemingly with no way out of it…except for telling the truth."

QUESTION

What path did you take when you felt called to do something big with your life? How did your life shift?

Parable #3: Warrior Week 49

• "WarriorX was a patching up of the hemorrhaging and making sure I didn't die. It took about a year, but I was put back together and could see me for the first time – where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be."
• It was Warrior Week where I was ready to have the jet fuel poured on; where I could really get to the root of all this shit. It let me truly find God again, and let me truly connect to something bigger than myself."

QUESTION

What was one of the gifts you received from Warrior Week?

Parable #4: Blessing From the Sky

• Dan became clear about he truly wanted. He had arrived at a place of loving himself completely and was truly happy spending time alone and with his son. It was at this point in time that a woman walked into his life who was everything he had ever wanted.
• "I wasn't looking for it; I was looking to heal myself and become a better man." Coach Sam: It's amazing how God creates these miracles once the way is clear and the fog has been removed. It's a blessing from the sky; it's truly the power of the miracle.

QUESTION

Has something like this happened in your world? What was it?

Parable #5: Copy/Paste World

• Coach Sam: It seems like nobody's asking the important questions but are instead doing the shit that they've always done. We have become slaves to the old procedures and the old processes.
• As men, we have given too much fucking power to "time" and "supposed to's." Most men are living in a copy/paste world rather than an innovative and customized world. Nobody deals with the re-work. No one wants to innovate, and no one wants to re-do the work that serves the timeline of now .

QUESTION

How does it feel to do what you're "supposed to do" vs what you truly feel called to do?

*Coming soon: Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way. betheman.com

Parables from the Pit:"

"Clarity truly collapses time. When we're unclear, we fuck around and time owns us. When we're clear, there's no fucking doubt."

—Sam Falsafi

"There's more than fire fighting, there's more than a shitty marriage, there's more than buying an RV and going camping every weekend and drinking with your buddies. Believe the voice that's telling you there's more than your current situation."

–Dan Nagy

Blake Sloan, Warrior Week graduate #16 & #46, is in the house as Coach Sam's special guest in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit where underlying stories are uncovered and several "a-ha" moments are revealed. We find out what happens to a young man who, at the young age of seventeen, loses his father to the feminine influence of a woman other than his mother, and how he creates and lives inside of a story that he will carry and run with for the next 15 years until he enters the gates of Warrior Week.

Parable #1: The Missing Pieces

• Coach Sam: As you look back, what was it that was missing from your life? You had money, you had your significant other, you had status, so what the fuck was missing? Was it other dudes that were missing? Did you have guys with whom you could really share the things that were going on in your life?
• Blake: I think it was the lack of anyone that understood me or the pain that I was feeling on the inside, and ultimately the sacrifice it takes to actually be able to own and grow a business as I had.

QUESTION

Who do you surround yourself with that truly understands what you are experiencing in life and with whom you can share?

Parable #2: Embracing the Dark & the Light

• There were two massive takeaways from Blake's experience in Warrior Week 16. "The biggest one by far was that I gave myself permission to finally be all of me – the dark side AND the light side. I used to be ashamed of the dark side because by the time I would let it out, there was so much rage and anger that I would nuke everybody around me."
• "I would bottle it up and bottle it up… and then I would explode. Then I would try to be the nice guy. But it's hard to be a good businessman while you're trying to hold that back. It was during some evolutions that I had this big aha moment: I'm going to be ALL of me, the good and the bad. And from that day on, I feel like my entire life has been different."

QUESTION

What have you been afraid to embrace about your dark side?

Parable #3: Inside the Pit of #46

• In the midst of an evolution inside the Pit during WW 46, Blake closed his eyes and saw his father (who had been dead for a few years) staring back at him, something that really surprised him. "There was a whole history there. My dad cheated on my mom, he wasn't showing up as a husband and father, and the next day he was gone. At the age of seventeen, that fucked me up a little. And that's when I had to grow up."
• In the end, his father chose to go with the woman with whom he had the affair, who incidentally didn't like Blake. This resulted in a tumultuous relationship between Blake and his father, ultimately leaving Blake with this feeling of abandonment. "That was the person I looked up to the most who literally abandoned me."

QUESTION

What did you face inside the Pit at Warrior Week that took you by surprise but in looking back made perfect sense?

Parable #4: Connecting the Dots

• Another huge a-ha moment came to Blake after colliding with Coach Sam as they peeled back layer after layer regarding his failed engagement. The story he had been running with was that he was over it and that everything was ok…but it wasn't. "Once we went through that process where I wrote it all down on paper, and then burned it, that was one of the most liberating things I've ever done in my entire life."
• Coach Sam helped Blake see the connection between this and the abandonment of his father, who was under the feminine influence of a woman other than his wife. He realized his father had no tools to work through this and no one to actually have a conversation with about it. "There was no awakening that was brought to him; no one to collide with him and tell him, "Dude, you are fucking up right now!"

QUESTION

How have the tools of Warrior coupled with the association inside the Warrior Brotherhood served you?

Parable #5: Guilt & Shame

• Blake came into the game of WW #48 as a Certified Trainer serving and guiding men on their journeys going into and coming out of the Pit. He was a witness to the guilt and shame that adult men were carrying, just like his own father had.
• "In observing all of that guilt and shame, I had a huge a-ha moment where I could see how much everyone's issues of guilt and shame came from their fathers." Blake was a witness to the journey of one man who ultimately decided to leave Warrior Week. "He didn't want to address the one issue that ultimately could have freed him."

QUESTION

What are you hearing from this conversation? How does it resonate with you?

*Coming soon: Be the Man Challenge, an adventure that will take you through six weeks of self-discovery and introduce you to some of the conversations and belief systems inside of the Warrior's Way.

Parables from the Pit:

"When you look at this big puzzle called life, you realize that each piece of the puzzle needed to happen in order to be able to put the puzzle together. I want you to visualize the last piece of the puzzle being a piece of metal that is burning like fucking lava. And you had the balls to pick it up knowing it was going to hurt."

—Sam Falsafi"

"Looking back at the hundreds of books, coach after coach and all of the high-level mastermind events with top leaders such as Tony Robbins, Dan Kennedy, and others – all of those together could not touch the transformation that I had through my Warrior Weeks."

-Blake Sloan

As this week's episode with Coach Sam and special guest, Luke Kayyem unfolds, it is sure to have you on the edge of your seat. It confirms the existence of miracles and a higher power, that each of us has a divine purpose, and that in the depths of our darkest pit there is a light shining on the life we are meant to live and the person we are meant to become.

Parable #1: Phantom Dad

• Luke is an only child, was born to his mother when she was 43 years old and grew up without a father. "My dad was a phantom." When Luke was old enough to speak, he asked his mother where his father was. "He's got some problems & issues."
• While in the seventh grade, Luke's father actually reached out to him from prison and began writing him letters, promising Luke that when he got out on January 1st, he would return and become the father he was missing in his life. That day came and went until finally his mother told Luke, "He's not coming."

QUESTION

Did you have a phantom dad? Are you that phantom dad?

Parable #2: Burning It All Down

• After receiving that news, Luke began burning his young life down. He partied, stole, joined a gang, and sold drugs. "Thank goodness the other side of the coin was sports and a mom who did give a shit and who was there for me." But the damage that he did during grades 8-12 was irreversible. "I did some really dumb, dark shit." And from the ages of 20-25, Luke did whatever he could to try to forget it all.
• At that point in his life, Luke questioned if there was even a purpose to his life, other than his mother. He had no real goals or aspirations aside from "make some money, spend some money, party and drink." One Saturday afternoon in June 2015, Luke went to see his mom. Life would take a sharp left turn that day which become one of the darkest moments in his life. "The one person in the world that's ever believed in me is gone…"

QUESTION

How have you burned down your life?

Parable #3: The Dark Years

• Two hours after losing his mom, Luke bought all the alcohol he could find. Drinking became a way for him to forget everything. "I got so fucked up during the funeral that I can't even tell you what I said."
• Business-wise, things were going really well for Luke. But he looked like he was 50 years old because he was drinking, eating like shit, and making terrible choices. At this point, Luke decided that a move to Hawaii with his 20 person entourage would solve all of his problems. A year later, after being told 'fuck you, I never want to talk to you again' from his girlfriend, Luke returned to California.

QUESTION

What form of sedation to you consistently turn to?

Parable #4: Twist of Fate

• Here he was, back where he started as a trainer when he was 19. One of his buddies had invited him to Lake Tahoe for New Year's and within an hour of his arrival, he ran into his ex-girlfriend. "The one person who believed in me and still does to this day more than anybody was this queen whom I had not treated well for a very long time." They didn't leave the hotel for three days.
• "At 24, she's a high-level executive in real estate, she's crushing it in San Francisco, and wants nothing to do with this ass-hole." Two weeks later while sitting at a bar, he gets a phone call, "I'm pregnant." In her eyes, Luke is "an alcoholic, you've slept with all my friends, you're a piece of shit." He promised her if she would trust and believe in him, he would never make another "shitty fucking decision" again. As the story continues, time would tell if Luke was able to keep that promise and how life would unfold for them.

QUESTION

How are you seeing yourself in Luke's story?

Parable #5: Letting Go

• During his life, Luke had turned his back on religion. It wasn't until he entered the gates of Warrior Week where he was introduced to this idea of Meditation as being something beyond an app on his phone. "Finding that reconnection to this power or this third eye was the biggest thing I was missing."
• His big a-hah moment during the interview with Sam revealed to Luke that he had been using fitness a tool of sedation. "Just nine months ago, I was running away from my missing father and the death of my mom. Those two weights were like carrying around 100 lb sandbags on each shoulder." It took the power of the brotherhood, the coaches and Warrior Week to allow Luke to express the demons he had been carrying around his whole life.

QUESTION

How have you felt as you've let go of the heavy weights you've been shouldering your entire life?

Parables from the Pit:

"Men don't come to Warrior Week for transformation; they come to Warrior Week to find themselves; to find who they've always been and who they've always known themselves to be."

—Sam Falsafi

"My gap is not my client's gap, and it's not my son's gap."

-Luke Kayyem

This week's guest is a very old friend of the Warrior's Way, Joel Portman, a graduate of Warrior Week 17 and Warrior Week 41. Together, Coach Sam and Joel share a very special story that includes tragedy, obstacles, miracles, and angels.

Parable #1: Uncovering Lies

• Joel's first encounter with Warrior was a video where Garrett looked straight into the camera and asked, "Why do you lie?" It was a 'deer in the headlights' moment for Joel which activated a sense of awareness of his unspoken lies. This pivotal encounter led him to attend Warrior Week #17.
• Joel had been lying inside of his relationships which was hurting the people he genuinely loved. This was uncovered during Warrior Week and Garrett helped him discover the lie under the lie under the lie: Joel is afraid to get close to someone.

QUESTION

What lies have you recently uncovered? What has changed?

Parable #2: Going All In

• At the time of entering Warrior #17, Joel was involved in two relationships: one actual relationship and another that he let people believe he was in, even though he wasn't. After Warrior, he was able to clean that up, make a commitment to go all in with his actual relationship which caused it to flourish. And then the unexpected suddenly happened.
• Before this time, a woman with whom he had been in a relationship passed away from brain cancer. As she neared the end of her life and was in an unconscious state, Joel was able to experience some divine moments with her, filled with a lot of emotions, some regrets, and commitments which he has since kept.

QUESTION

Describe a pivotal moment in your life.

Parable #3: Obstacles & Tragedy

• Years passed, things started falling apart, and Joel found himself knocking at the doors of Warrior Week 41. The pain that was uncovered was the guilt Joel felt about not going all in sooner than he did with the one who passed away suddenly. He eventually came to a place where he felt like she went home and he was still here to finish the work they had started.
• Joel has encountered and felt her presence numerous times, which has turned him into an entirely different man than he was during Warrior Week 17, and the man who continues to evolve through obstacles and tragedy.

QUESTION

What keeps you going in the face of obstacles and tragedy in your life/?

Parable #4: Hannah

• Years ago, when Joel and his former wife began having children, their two daughters were born with cystic fibrosis. The girls were treated and taken care of, and everyone was very optimistic about their future. Somewhere down the road, due to the nature of the disease, the possibility of a lung transplant loomed in the future.
• Fast forward to the Fall of 2018. Joel's daughter, Hannah, is in the hospital awaiting treatment and her husband texts Joel out of the blue informing him that things have suddenly gone south and that if he wants to say his last good-bye's, he's got to come immediately.

QUESTION

What do you do when you're faced with unexpected news?

Parable #5: Miracles & Angels

• Hannah was stabilized and put into a medical coma. As Joel was having a conversation with her, he saw a tear form in the corner of her eye and was so happy they had made a connection. But when her oxygen levels started to go down, it became an "oh shit" moment as the alarms went off and doctors scrambled to get her stable.
• Through a series of determining factors, Hannah was placed at the top of the list for a lung transplant, something that had been on Joel's radar since her childhood. But time was of the essence and what they needed now, more than ever, were some miracles.

QUESTION

Describe the moments when you have experienced miracles and angels.

Parables from the Pit:

"When you feel chosen, certainty kicks in and your mission becomes very clear; your logic goes away and your emotion cannot fight it."

—Sam Falsafi

"Make your spouse and children feel special. Skip the books, skip the to-do list and have a heart-to-heart using your language."

-Joel Portman

Welcome to today's episode of Parables from the Pit with your host and head Warrior coach, Sam Falsafi, and Warrior Week 51 graduate, Daniel Giordano. In this revealing conversation, they uncover the new language of man, unveil the modern currency, and discuss the reality that in a world of connection through technology, disconnection and the feeling of being alone is at an alarming all-time high.

Parable #1: F-Bombs

• About five years ago, Daniel saw his first Warrior video featuring Garrett J White. He thought it was actually someone at the church he attended and wondered why the guy suddenly had a "potty mouth." Keeping his language in check was important to Daniel at the time, so the Warrior videos became an instant 'no view' due to all of the F-bombs Garrett was dropping.
• With the passing of time, however, circumstances changed and Daniel was re-introduced to Warrior via Kings Kit. He knew it was time to make some changes in his life and figured since Garrett was still going strong, he must have something figured out.

QUESTION

Where in your life do you let your judgments about a person dismiss the actual message?

Parable #2: Just Like Dad

• From the firsts moments of the initial Kings Kit webinar, Coach Sam reminded Daniel of his dad because he was "screaming all the time," which triggered the hell out of Daniel to the point where he had no desire to talk to Coach Sam for the Warrior Week interview.
• At the time, Daniel felt unworthy as a father and felt he had fucked up a lot of shit in his life. Deep inside, he knew it was time to do something different. The strong pull towards Warrior Week was completely undeniable.

QUESTION

Describe an experience or situation where you felt the undeniable pull to move forward with something.

Parable #3: A Time of Uncertainty

• A few years back, Daniel awakened one morning and said 'fuck you' to everything. He was tired and found himself falling asleep in the middle of the day. After getting tested, it was determined that Daniel had low levels of Testosterone. He began a regime that would ultimately bring those levels back up within the normal range.
• During this time, Daniel's marriage nearly ended. "Things started to get ugly and I got to the point where I slept at my office for three months. To make matters worse, when we started to work on our marriage, we'd go out to dinner, have too many drinks, and things would get even uglier."

QUESTION

How do you resonate with Daniel's experiences?

Parable #4: Daniel's Pit

• Inside the Pit on the first day of Warrior Week, Daniel faced something that had taken place years before when he and his wife first got together. "We made some poor choices and she decided to have an abortion. It just killed me. We knew it wasn't the right thing to do, but we did it because of what other people would think at the time."
• His experience of facing this in the Pit "was freeing because I didn't realize it was the big barrier between me and my wife." Daniel was able to let go of the guilt and shame and turn his focus to his wife to see how he could help her deal with her feelings about it.

QUESTION

What have you been able to face and let go of?

Parable #5: Silence: The New Language

• Coach Sam: In a world of technology that enables us to be so connected, we are so fucking disconnected and so alone. How is that possible? If we're all connected and have the technology to leverage that, how is it that we are more disconnected than ever before?
• As men, we're alone, we're afraid and constantly hiding what we feel. The new language has become silence where we don't have the energy to put into others or into ourselves. Somewhere inside of our lives, we have forgotten ourselves and have been forsaken.

QUESTION

What is one thing you can do today begin opening up yourself to share another's pain and joy?

Parables from the Pit:

"You awaken to a new reality of what is and what you want it to be… and you remember what was, in order to continue to become."

—Sam Falsafi

"If you're struggling inside of your relationships and feel spiritually lost, get plugged into Warrior with a group of guys who genuinely want you to have it all. Show up, step up, be willing to fight for what you want, and start doing things differently."

-Daniel Giordano.