During this episode of A Richer Life, host Rich Weingart speaks with Alden Mills. San Francisco-based Alden Mills began taking control of his life at age twelve, when his doctor told him to learn chess because his asthma would keep him from playing sports. His first goal was to conquer the asthma, and he went on to achieve extraordinary things in sports, academics, military service, business, and philanthropy. 

Alden became a nationally ranked rower, a gold medalist in the Olympic Festival, and captain of the freshman and varsity teams at the U.S. Naval Academy. As a Navy SEAL he led his platoon through multiple missions.

After discharge from the military, he founded Perfect Fitness and led it to growth of over 12,000% annual sales of $90 million, and Inc. magazine recognition as the fastest-growing consumer products in America in just three years. He developed over 40 patents, including the Perfect Pushup, Perfect Pullup, Perfect Sit-up and Perfect Ab Carver.

Alden’s books include Be Unstoppable: The 8 Essential Actions to Succeed at Anything and Unstoppable Teams: The Four Essential Actions of High-Performance Leadership. He has been featured on ABC’s Nightline, CBS This Morning,The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and more. He serves on boards of a number of nonprofits.

For tools and resources to help you become unstoppable, visit alden-mills.com

Episode Highlights: 

• Alden recounts his childhood asthma diagnosis and how his parents helped him realize it didn’t need to hold him back.
• Alden explains how the sport of rowing really unlocked a change of mindset for him.
• How does rowing lead to your recruitment in the Navy?
• How did the Navy lead you to becoming a Seal?
• What was the hardest moment that you had and what kept you from quitting?
• During hell week, after many, many members of his class quit, Alden was pulled aside and told he was a terrible leader.
• After leaving the Navy, Alden starts the company Perfect Fitness.
• What inspired you to start Perfect Fitness?
• As Alden was building his business, he reached a point where everyone was telling him to give it up, which he nearly did.
• Alden realized he should have started with innovation instead of invention.
• What led to you ultimately pivoting again and selling that company?
• Alden wanted to know how he could achieve a broader impact.
• He published his first book, Be Unstoppable, in November, 2013.
• Alden started working on becoming a “content entrepreneur.”

• Be Unstoppable is really a book about persistence.

• Alden explains the 8 essential actions to succeed in life.
• Alden discusses the role exercise plays in persistence and taking control of how you think, feel, and act.
• Rich transitions the conversation to ask Alden about parenting.
• Alden discusses the importance of letting children fail so they can learn from their failures.
• Why do people stay in the “harbor” of their lives and how can they break out?
• What does it mean to you to have a richer life and what are you doing today to live a richer life?
• Have the courage to push yourself out of your comfort zone and create a challenge for yourself.

3 Key Points:

1. Surround yourself with a tribe.
2. Stay curious in life and keep learning.
3. It’s only a failure if you don’t learn anything.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “The best way to thank a veteran is to go out there and serve somebody else.” -Alden Mills
• “The importance of having somebody else to believe in us cannot be understated enough.” -Alden Mills
• “I’ve still failed way more times than I’ve succeeded.” -Alden Mills
• “I’m no more extraordinary than the next person, I just have the willingness to keep going.” -Alden Mills
• “There is no greater lesson than learning from failure.” -Alden Mills
• “You’re not failing unless you’re not learning from it.” -Alden Mills

Resources Mentioned:

• Alden Mills: Website | Instagram | Twitter