Ferate's 5: Who do you admire? One of the coolest things I learned in 2023. (016)

Let’s Go!!! Pumped You Are Here!

First, it’s Ferate like karate with an F or kinda like, Ferrari.

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What’s up everyone? What’s one of the coolest things you have learned in 2023? Here is my answer in less than 5 minutes.

Recently I started reading Hidden Genuis by Polina Pompliano and joined a monthly book club with my guy Nate Graham (Director of Sports Perfomance at Rokke). The book club was created by Henry Barrera (Alabama MBB Director of Performance) and I am fired up to connect with other people who are interested in something similar to me.

The real magic here is the back story to Polina’s book. Her newsletter The Profile, features the best long-form stories on people and companies in business, tech, sports, entertainment, and more.

In Hidden Genius she said…

Her learning style of diving into everything about one specific human, the actions they take, and their attributes, the why, reminded me of one of the coolest things I have learned this year until 2023.

Introjection from Billy Oppenheimer. Oooooooooo Let’s go!!! This lights me up.

Introjection is when you identify key attributes, qualities, core values, maxims, aphorisms, and lessons learned from the experiences of specific people that you look up to. BUT THE KEY HERE IS NOT ONLY identifying them, but keeping them top of mind, better understanding why you admire that specific attribute, and embodying it daily.

“Who do I admire?” is the question that Billy recommends we consistently ask ourselves. That could be a clue about where to take a deep dive or where to direct your energy (and why). It could be that wink from the universe that you are on the right path.

Over time you begin to absorb those qualities, inherit the lessons, become more of the person you want to be, and take those attributes from being top of mind because of how much you have immersed yourself in them and directly apply them to your life.

(POLINA) Learn everything you can about one specific person to better understand who they are, the events around their life, and the experiences that helped them become who they are.

(BILLY) Keep attributes top of mind, easy to be intentional if seen often, simple & repeatable slogans, and embody those attributes in your day-to-day habits, behaviors, and actions.

So who is it for me right now in this moment?

For me, it is Jesse Itzler. He is a absolute legend! I can’t stop consuming his podcasts and what he has most recently shared on Instagram. The funniest part is I learned about Misogi previously from The Comfort Crisis and then discovered Jesse talking about it a few weeks before completing my first 100-mile ultramarathon.

So here we go, what I love, what I admire…

• Husband to Sara Blakely (One of the top female entrepreneurs in the world, founder of Spanx)

• Father of 4 kids

• Entrepreneur of multiple companies

• Founded All Day Running Company

• Written two books (Lived with David Goggins for a month and Russian Orthodox Monks for 15 days)

• Sauna, cold tub, running, biking, hard things enthusiast

• Rapper - he wrote the NY Knicks Jingle

But it gets even better! What I am obsessed with is his insane sense of urgency, relationship with time/designing his life, & ability to play the long game. That is a combination of two polar opposites. Insane urgency and playing long-term games is what fascinates me…

Practically what does look like?

1. Big A## Calendar - Getting a view of entire year on one poster. Design your year and live life on offense.

2. 1 on 1 experiences with his kids - He plans out 1 on 1 experiences or vacations with all four of kids.

3. Consistent date nights are Wednesdays with his wife.

4. Misogi - Choosing to do something that is a year defining challenge/experience.

5. Kevin’s Rule - his friend who was a police officer said he does one new thing that he wouldn’t normally do, once every 8 weeks. That adds up to 6 new things per year.

6. Jesse’s IMMENSE FEAR for wasting his life and time. Building a life resume is the best way to beat time and not let time beat you. He shared a story about his mother. She wanted to go to London and stay in a castle. In his 20s he couldn’t because he needed to make money, 30s he was building a business, 40s he had to raise his family, and in his 50s his mother was too old to go. That is a moment when time beat him. If he would have just gone in his 20s, no matter what happened in their lives, time could not have taken that experience away from them. In taking action they stamped it on their life resume. ACTION IS THE ONLY WAY TO COMPETE WITH TIME.

7. He shared another story where he and his friends attempted to climb Mt. Washington in the winter. Without a guide they failed. When he got back home his wife said “Good try, next winter you could get a guide.” Jesse replied “Next winter? I am going next weekend!” Immense urgency!

8. On the Lewis Howes podcast, Lewis asked about being married to a billionaire Sara Blakley. She shared that most men she dated would say they weren’t intimidated by her success but ended up taking her success as a hit to their ego. “Jesse just gets exponentially more excited for my success. My success is separate from who he is, what he is doing, and who is trying to be.”

Boom! Not sure what else to say besides that is DOPE!

His mantra at 50 is just more evidence & proof that he inspires me “I want to put more on my plate, of what I love to do, with the people I love to do it with.”

This dude is running ultra marathons and hosting events like Running Man in Georgia. How can I not keep diving into his life and absorbing, inheriting, and then most importantly applying it to my life?

Feels like a responsibility to embody being insanely urgent, relentlessly elite at planning/living life on offense, and playing long-term games.

Best Day of the year, until tomorrow…

Ferate

Resources:

1. Hidden Genius by Polina Pompliano: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Genius-secret-thinking-successful/dp/1804090034 

2. Billy Oppenheimer Newsletter: https://billyoppenheimer.com/newsletter/ 

3. Billy Oppenheimer Introjection with Danny Miranda: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YRsdwPr4ythiidhdVh6lx 

4. Jesse Itzler: https://jesseitzler.com/