Joey Gindi is Coach Sam’s special guest in this episode of Warrior Week: Parables From the Pit. What did he discover in his Pit? What was a pivotal point for him at Warrior Week? What does this mean, Comfort vs. Combat? How do we help our children face and triumph in their modern-world battles?

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Parable #1: Is This All There Is?

• Joey’s initial introduction to Warrior came through his physical trainer, who had found Warrior and had developed his own version of it. Eventually, Joey and his father attended WC3, where they both signed up for a Warrior Week interview with Coach Sam.
• At the time, Joey felt like he was searching for something outside of himself to give purpose to his life. He felt trapped, almost as if he were living someone else’s life. On the surface, all looked good and was working, but on the inside, there was a nagging question, “Is this all there is?”

Where in your world does evertything appear to be “good” on the outside, but in reality is far from it?

Parable #2: The Pit

• Inside the Pit on that first night at Warrior Week, Joey couldn’t get angry or pissed off. He was going through the motions trying to find his Pit but felt out of place.
• He came to the realization that he had been coasting through life without any emotions. “I had blocked myself from feeling sadness and hurt, which stopped me from feeling joy.”

How do you relate to Joey?

Parable #3: Pivotal Point

• On the beach during the Hand of God evolution, Joey finally got that God was with him. “In that moment, I felt that all I searched for, I had been searching in the wrong fucking places.”
• Throughout his life, Joey felt that the answers he was seeking were found outside of himself, when, in the end, he discovered they are all found within him. “I am no longer searching for a shiny object outside of myself.”

Describe a pivotal point has changed the trajectory of your life.

Parable #4: Comfort vs Combat

• For years, men have been compliant inside this game of comfort. But the piece that has been forgotten among many modern men is combat.
• Combat is conflict; being able to collide for what you want, not physically but by telling the truth and not lying; by being honest about everything about your life. It’s the ability to go and create conflicts and handle them not so that you create problems, but so that you get what you want.

What domain do you find yourself avoiding collision?

 

Parable #5: Judgement

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• As Coach Sam began telling the truth, he found himself casting judgment on others and holding them to his newfound standard.
• As he started mastering the art and science of telling the truth, he accepted that he was going to be among people who may not be the same wavelength and that it wasn’t his job to identify the liars.

Where do you find yourself casting judgement and holding others accountable to your own standards?

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Parables from the Pit

“I am not abandoning; I am upgrading. I am fighting for progress to get out of this comfort zone, and I am willing to accept the mission to the unknown”

—Sam Falsafi

“We get to teach our kids to believe in themselves and be their own fuckin gurus.”

–Joey GindI