The Unbeatable Mind Podcast With Mark Divine

In this episode, Mark talks with Brian MacKenzie and Phil White about their new book “Unplugged: Evolve from technology to upgrade your fitness, performance & consciousness.” Brian is an athletic and conditioning expert, and a NYT Bestselling author. Phil is an athlete and an Emmy-nominated writer and together with Dr. Andy Galpin, they’ve collaborated to write “Unplugged.” Hear how the mania for “plugging-in” for fitness is self-defeating. The authors are hoping that we can move beyond the tech back to an understanding of our own bodies. Listen to hear how by minimizing our technical dependence, we will enjoy fitness more.

John Assaraf (@johnassaraf) is a speaker, a NYT bestselling author of books including “The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life” and “Having It All” and a successful entrepreneur with several million dollar companies.  John has learned from his own experiences and he and Mark discuss everything from the importance of mindset and having control over your emotions to achieve success to the importance of mentors and of being ready to be guided. Listen to this episode to hear how John overcame a difficult youth to achieve huge entrepreneurial success, set and achieve your goal and build your confidence.

Lori Harder is a leading expert in the field of fitness, transformational work, self love and mindfulness. She’s a fitness model, speaker and podcaster as the host of the podcast “Earn Your Happy.” Mark and Lori find many commonalities between the kind of mental exercises that she does and his integrated approach. Listen to this episode and hear how you can use Unbeatable Mind techniques in different ways and places.

Gretchen Rubin (@gretchenrubin) is a Three-time #1 New York Times bestselling including "The Happiness Project” and most recently, the just released book "The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too).” She also hosts a podcast called “Happier with Gretchen Rubin.” Listen in as she and Mark talk about the four tendencies that she’s identified and how they affect our Unbeatable Mind. Learn how to use your own tendency to make it easier to motivate yourself.

Tom Bilyeu is the host and co-founder of the new show “Impact Theory” exploring how different entrepreneurs are making an impact on society and culture. He was also a co-founder and partner in Quest Nutrition, the enormously successful brand for nutrition that grew 57,000% in its first 3 years. He is a huge advocate of “mindsets” and the recognition that a person successes are shaped by effort rather than talent.  Listen to this episode to get further insight into the psychology of mindsets and Tom’s own journey to success.

Brent Gleeson is a former SEAL and a prominent entrepreneur. He’s been very successful as a digital marketer and real estate.  He’s also a well known speaker merging his leadership lessons from the SEALs and how to apply them to business. Most recently, he’s also an author of the book “Taking Point: A Navy SEAL’s 10 Fail-safe Principles for Leading Through Change.” Mark and Brent talk about his work and his principles of leadership. Listen to this episode to gain insight on how an Unbeatable Mind is necessary both in the military and the business world.

As a leader, whether in the military or the corporate world, you step into various archetypal roles to achieve your goals. In this solo episode, Mark tells us about the archetypes that leaders must be able to utilize, from the “Warrior” and “Scholar” to the international, world-centric “Sage” role. He also discusses the “Joker,” who can show up wherever he needs to be as a kind of “morale officer” for your team. Listen to this solocast to get further insights into the kinds of tasks and roles that a leader will need to play in our increasingly chaotic world.

Tim Larkin is the founder of Target Focus Training and one of the world's foremost experts in self-protection.  Tim and Mark go back a long way, and Tim was formerly an intelligence officer with the Navy. He’s trained various branches of the Spec Ops community on close combat. Tim is also the author of several books, including, most recently, “When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake.” Tim teaches that it helps to focus on the similarities that every human body shares, so that we can learn the ways that all people will be vulnerable. This podcast is both informative and very counter-intuitive.  Listen to this episode to get an insight into how we avoid thinking about violence instead of learning it and where it fits in. 

Dean Karnazes has run most of the toughest endurance races in existence. He has completed 50 marathons in 50 days, won the Badwater race in Death Valley and ran 350 miles in just over 80 hours…without stopping.  Time Magazine named him one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.” He’s also a NYT Bestselling author. Among his books, Dean’s most recent is “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner.” He’s also written a book called “The Road to Sparta” regarding Dean’s faithful re-creation of the run that the Athenian Pheidippides took from Athens to Sparta in 490 BCE. Mark and Dean  discuss the upcoming “300” ruck that Mark will do in September from Sparta to Thermopylae and get into the importance of mental toughness in ultra-endurance sports, and the preparation that goes into one of Dean’s feats of endurance.  We all need to welcome greatness and use obstacles for our greatest successes.  Listen in to understand Dean’s determination and mindset, and to be inspired.

Jordan Harbinger, an authority on social interactions, has traveled places in the world that most people have never gone and that many people wouldn’t dream of. He tells us hair-raising stories about being in the former Yugoslavia as it disintegrated and his time in North Korea. As he describes his kidnapping, you get an idea of how he is able to use his communication skills to talk his way out of what were literally life and death situations. Now he’s the co-founder of the internationally recognized “The Art of Charm” podcast and consulting with business and individuals on developing networking and communication skills. Listen to this episode to hear some quick tips on communication and networking for entrepreneurs.

This week’s episode features Dr. Daniel Chao, with a degree in biochemistry, MS in neuroscience and a medical degree from Stanford University.  He explains the science behind neurostimulation. Dr. Chao has developed HALO Sport which uses proprietary technology called Neuropriming to improve the brain’s response to training and drive accelerated performance gains.   This type of “hyper-learning” allows you to learn and become comfortable with new kinds of movement much more quickly than you can through regular training. In effect, it is able to make training more effective through stimulation of specific parts of the brain. They talk about the science, how the military is undergoing the ultimate testing with the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group and how he is trying to inspire and train not just athletes, but pilots, musicians, surgeons and even stroke victims.  We all want to improve our lives and unlock our brains full potential. Don’t miss this interview.    In order to encourage the Unbeatable M

Jim Rome is a legendary sportscaster and media personality. He shares with us the trials and challenges he faced in becoming what he always wanted to be. He and Commander Divine discuss mental and emotional toughness and how Jim inadvertently was working on developing an Unbeatable Mind in order to succeed as a broadcaster.  He and Mark also talk about how they are trying to raise children in light of the changed and very competitive world in which we live. Find out how Jim has worked on mental toughness, and the determination he was able to use to succeed in his career.

Joshua Mantz is a retired Major who commanded in the Army for a decade.  Joshua has also recently authored the book to be released in August: “The Beauty of a Darker Soul: Overcoming Trauma Through the Power of Human Connection.” In 2007 he was very seriously wounded by a sniper on the outskirts of Sadr City, and he actually died for 15 minutes. He talks with Commander Divine about what the experience of dying was like, and the mental challenges of emotional trauma.  Find out how you can help with his mission and how he has dealt with the kind of very serious trauma that he has faced.

In this episode, Commander Divine discusses the different aspects of fear and anxiety. They are based on false expectations or perceptions, and are solely based on thinking either in the future or the past. When we are experiencing the present-moment directly, we can overcome fear. How can we use that energy to fuel ourselves for peak performance in the present?  Don't miss this solocast.

Sean Esbjorn-Hargens is the founder of The MetaIntegral Foundation and is a champion of the kind of integral philosophy best known through Ken Wilber. He has a PhD in integral theory and has worked extensively in helping coach leaders to be effective in the chaotic, and endlessly changeable modern world. He and Commander Divine talk about the philosophy of meta-integration and the importance of integral theory for business leadership. Learn how you’re will need to pull together understandings of different areas to make yourself more effective as a leader.

Erik Weihenmayer is the only blind person to climb the seven summits.  He also solo kayaked 277 miles of the Grand Canyon. He has done all of this and more, blind.  Weihenmayer, who lost his sight at 13, suffers from a genetic disease that eventually took his vision. He talks about what it takes to mentally and emotionally overcome his challenges and what motivates him to engage in adventuring that many sighted people would find near impossible.  Erik’s book about kayaking is called “No Barriers,” and is a must read.  Commander Divine and Erik get into what it takes to take the first steps to live a life of risk and adventure. Keep listening after the interview for a brief out-take regarding Erik’s upcoming trip to the Himalayas and Mark’s Spartan 300 march in Greece.

Dr. Hill is the founder of The Peak Brain Institute where the Commander and Ben Greenfield spent some time recently experiencing brain mapping with the Q EEG. By using the Q EEG brain scan, Dr. Hill is able to look more closely at the brain to see what might be going on. His institute uses neurofeedback, scanning and meditation in conjunction to help you develop your cognitive capacity and help treat people with TBI or other cognitive dysfunction. Find out more about his work and the kind of training that they offer.

Wim Hof is the holder of 26 world records for his feats withstanding cold temperatures using breath-work. He is now devoted to spreading the message of how to use his methods of breathing to maximize people’s physical potential.  Most recently, he is the author of “The Way of the Iceman,” which is about his own exploits and how anyone will be able to use his methods. Anyone familiar with Unbeatable Mind and SEALFIT will also be familiar with the importance of breath-work. Find out how you can use Wim’s breath methods to up your game.

Steven Kotler is co-author of the book “Stealing Fire” with his friend Jamie Wheal. He is an expert on flow state, and has deep insight into the physical and emotional aspects of flow. No doubt, everyone is interested in how this kind of effortless perfection or “Shibumi” works. He talks with Commander Divine about flow, and both he and Mark are able to give us some clues as to how we will be able to access this state. Listen to the episode to learn more and  be able increase your performance.

Chris Ring is a former SEAL who was the first American to swim the entire Mississippi river to raise awareness of military casualties and their families.  Oddly, for a SEAL, he’s not really that fond of swimming, but swimming the Mississippi seemed like the right thing to do, so he did it. Hear how about his SEAL training, deployment, and the Mississippi swim. Find out how he was able to use mental toughness and an Unbeatable Mind to endure and overcome challenges.