Coach Sam Falsafi welcomes Warrior Week graduate #52, Branden Orr, to today’s show. “When you have a good business, a healthy family, and a beautiful wife – and yet you’re not happy – you begin questioning why that is. I have a great life and should be excited about that. But instead, I’m filled with the feelings of guilt and shame and there’s nobody to share that with.” Enter Warrior and the association one finds with the other guys, knowing they are going through the same things you are…and there’s no dollar value you can put on that.

Parable #1: Knocking At Warrior’s Door

• Branden initially learned about Warrior in the first quarter of 2015 via a video. Although he wasn’t sure what it was at the time, it intrigued him and he thought it looked like fun, so he filled out the application…but never turned it in. “At that point, I wasn’t in the right mindset for it. Something in the Universe prevented it from happening and allowed Warrior to come into my life when I actually needed it the most.”
• Fast forward to July of 2018 where things inside every area of Branden’s life seemed to be falling apart. “I felt a general disconnect from everything in my life. After a huge fight with my wife, I told her it was time for us to divorce…and this time I actually meant it.” Later that evening, something from Warrior came across his computer screen and with one click of the mouse, there was Garrett asking a question that resonated deeply with Branden, “Why does that even matter?”

QUESTION

How did you get introduced to Warrior? What has your journey looked like?

 

Parable #2: Going to War For Your Wife

• In a world where the threat of divorce is used as leverage by couples who are in the throes of ugly arguments, Coach Sam truly believes there could be a reframing of this entire game of marriage by eliminating the option of the “easy” way out, aka divorce. After a divorce, the question becomes, “Did you ever really go to war and fight to keep her?”
• In an imaginary world where divorce would not be an option, Brenden believes couples world work together more and learn to embrace each other’s differences. “The more I come to accept my wife’s differences, the more I actually appreciate them and can see how they complement me, rather than seeing them as a threat against me.”

QUESTION

How would life itself change for you if instead of going to war against your wife and children, you went to war for them?

 

Parable #3: The Pit

• Inside of his Pit at Warrior Week, Branden came face-to-face with his upbringing and all of the resentment he had been holding onto from the past, namely his father leaving him when he was seven, and the unhealthy example of his mom and stepdad’s volatile marriage.
• “The door that started opening up for me after the life-changing experience of Warrior Week was a deeper love than I had ever experienced for my wife and my children, and an immense appreciation for them. Up until then, I felt like I was living somebody else’s life where I never felt completely connected.”

QUESTION

What are you hanging onto that you know you it’s time to come face-to-face with?

Parable #4: Before & After

• Before Warrior Week, Branden felt that just showing up and being there for his family was enough. But he learned that wasn’t the case. “What’s different now is our communication. I’m actually listening to and being attentive to my wife and children, and I’m actually showing them how I feel about them.”
• Inside of the business realm, the idea of expansion did not appeal to his business partner, which caused Branden to feel stuck. “At the end of the day, regardless of the dollar figure, if I’m not growing and the business isn’t expanding, then what am I even doing this for?” At the time of this recording, they are days away from selling the business and embarking on a new journey of expansion.

QUESTION

What are some “before and after” moments of your own?

 

Parable #5: From Private School to Home School

• About a month after Warrior Week, Branden and his wife decided to pull their children out of the private school they were attending and to home school them instead.“We’re so excited about it! We love that we get to teach our children and that they get to see what we do day in and day out. And it’s amazing seeing my eight-year-old come up with business plans that might actually work!”
• Coach Sam: Years ago if you were to talk to me about that, I would have said no, that’s insane. Weird people do that! Today…I’m in a totally different place.

QUESTION

How can you take more of a hands-on approach with your children’s education no matter where they attend school?

 

Parables from the Pit:

“If I’m not happy, there’s a source of this unhappiness that is fueling this unhappiness that I have to seek and hunt down, whatever that is. And that’s what Warrior does: it brings you to the source and asks you if you’re willing to find out why.”

—Sam Falsafi

“I was buying stuff I didn’t want, to impress people I didn’t like.”

-Branden Orr