“If you can get your mind clear of negative thoughts, you win.” (Photo: Getty Images/Mustafa Hacalaki/Yahoo Health)
What drives success?
Getting dirty and overcoming obstacles. At least — that’s the way Joe De Sena believes it to be.
As an endurance racer, his resume is legendary. He has done over 50 ultra events in total and 12 Ironman events in one year alone. Most of his races are 100 miles or more with a few traditional marathons in the mix (but those are like an average human’s two-mile jog in the park for him).
As if that wasn’t enough, Joe turned his passion into a global movement that involves building obstacle courses for millions of people all over the world. His mission: to get people off the couch!
You’ve probably heard of Joe’s races. They are getting more and more popular with each passing year. If your friends have ever tried to convince you to do a Spartan Race with them, you know what I’m talking about.
These are some of the toughest obstacle courses around, and they tend to attract ex-military, athletes, and Cross-Fitters.
But when I sat down with Joe a while back to ask him about how he came up with these races, we ended up talking a lot about how to get to your best level of physical achievement in — or outside of — grueling obstacle courses.
Joe follows the philosophy of the Spartans, a group of people who lived in ancient Greece and were known for their incredible warriors and mental strength. He interprets this ideology as committing to a goal, putting in the work, and getting it done.
When it comes to physical performance, he emphasizes that the factor that makes the biggest difference is in your mind. As he puts it, “If you can get your mind clear of negative thoughts, you win.”