Recap: 5 Deep Into The Bryant Ferate Podcast.

Recently I reflected on the progress of the podcast I started this past year. I recorded over 24 episodes and published 20. As I write this I am finishing up my prep for a solo episode to cap off getting 21 podcast episodes published.

Reflecting on these episodes and the weekly newsletters, my WHY in 2023 became more clear. Crazy that is 2023. Sometimes it feels like it just keeps speeding up. Turned 31.5 years old this week. (Big half-birthday guy).

“Obsession” and “The Voice” have been imprinted into my brain these past 6 months. I have thought about these almost daily since Zach Pogrob sat down with Danny Miranda in July. Reflecting on them during a walk, workout, or in silence while driving helps me better understand who I want to become and my why.

My Why In 2023:

1. Consistently Cultivate Curiosity In Others By Exploring And Sharing My Curiosity.

2. The Richness of Our Life Is Determined By The Questions We Choose To Ask.

Those two give me goosebumps, make me smile, say “Let’s Go!” out loud, and remind me to keep going. Especially when things get tough and lows creep in. The why and obsessions are my inner compass. Let’s get it in 2023.

My goal was to record 22 episodes in 2022. The joke is on me because I recently went back to read the article from Jack Butcher that inspired me and I screwed it up! 22 wasn’t the threshold 21 was. Reddit/Jack Butcher article explained that 90% of podcasts don’t make it to episode 4 and of that 10% that do, 90% of them don’t make it to 21 episodes. INSANE!

I wanted to publish and share all the episodes before the end of the year but holidays and traveling got in the way of actually publishing the episodes I recorded. The important part is I got the freaking reps of recording over 22 podcast episodes. Not all were published as I had a few do-overs due to wifi connection and other factors but the goal is getting the reps! The practice.

Episode One was with a former student-athlete and now fellow creator/writer, Noah Cracknell. Crack’s episode was a huge push. He helped me get this train going. He helped me realize I can freaking do this. By reminding me of how much I impacted him as a coach when he was 18. I am so grateful he returned the favor by impacting me the day we recorded. What I took away from his podcast the most, was the idea of keeping the main the main thing and his go-to mantra “Fortune Favors The Bold.”

The greatest part of this episode was the belief. The belief Crack had in me, instilled, and reminded me of the ways that I had impacted him during his freshmen year of college 2018-2019. I said in the podcast that it is easy to forget those specific moments as the years go by. Crack reminded me of those important moments, especially because in so many moments you only get one “first”. For example, you only get one “first” time coming into the weight room, freshmen year, competition against teammates, a hug when you haven’t seen someone in forever, and the first episode of The Bryant Ferate Podcast. I will remember this one for the rest of my life.

I recently read this from Steven Pressfield’s book “Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be”. 

Crack was the reinforcement that I needed from going to step 0 to step 1.

Matt Welch brought the juice. Matty Ice has so much to share with this world and we dove straight into this conversation, recorded for an hour and a half, and didn’t even get to his story of riding his bike from PORTLAND OREGON TO PORTLAND MAINE TO GEORGIA TO CALIFORNIA BACK TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST! I was like what??? How did we not get to that? During his bike trip, I recommended one of my favorite books, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Matty Ice disagreed with a specific part of the book which I was excited to unpack. How much is your hourly rate in life? The rate that you value your own time. Matt followed up his disagreement with an absolute banger of a Naval quote which I believe was my first reel from the podcast.

The biggest hitter from the Matty Ice episode was Dual Truths. He discussed being curious about what is next, wanting to build a future while at the same time with full intensity being present, making the most of now, and being where your feet are!

In episode 3 Nick Hauger turned this podcast into a former student-athlete and running podcast with 2 out of the first 3 guests in the professional running circuit. Amor Fati was something we both connected with, the Stoic phrase that translates to "love of fate”. Ryan Holiday has an amazing two-minute video summarizing it.

Nick leaned into the power of repeating mantras to help him thrive when facing obstacles and in the process of believing more and more in himself.

• I can, I will

• Belief starts and ends with you

• Amor Fati

• Be your strongest self in the toughest moments.

Episode 4 with Nick Finney was awesome because this was the first podcast I recorded with someone who I recently met. Nick and I met at Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in Portland. We connected through training and then soon over writing because he is a copywriter and went to school at Wieden+Kennedy.

This conversation reminded me that people you see every day have amazing stories inside of them. You can learn about them by simply giving them space, listening, and asking good questions. I trained with Nick many times but there was never space to bring up his epic story about working with Kobe Bryant. He helped write and re-write in 45 minutes Kobe’s retirement video for China.

I think we can all relate to the powerful point Nick brought up about consistency. “Consistent in One thing, Consistent in A lot of things.”

Consistency comes out in everything you do. Consistent with training jiu-jitsu, writing every day, and meditating. Consistency in life starts to blend into a handful of other things that mean a lot to you in life. Nick said the opposite is true as well “When the only thing I was consistent with was drinking and partying that meant I probably wasn’t consistent in anything else.”

Skyler Young closed out the first five episodes. Sky gives you the truth and it is something I admire about him. I was grateful for this 2-hour conversation because Sky is a straight shooter in coaching and life.

The Mirror Test: Do you like the person you see? Do you want to know the truth?

This one is tough and it was one of my favorite things Sky said. Two lofty questions. First, do you like the person you see in the mirror? Yes or No? Okay, then what? What are you going to do about it? Doing something about it is deeply asking yourself, do you want to know the truth? If not, guess you’re not ready for the truth, can’t handle it, or can want to keep pretending which isn’t great for the long run. If you say yes, it will be difficult but saying yes to knowing the truth and being real with feedback is where the magic happens.

We are all perfectly imperfect: “Playing your own course.”

Sky said he has revisited being perfectly imperfect with his longtime friend. They would connect about how we are always playing our course. This is a great lesson to focus on, not getting into the comparison game and focusing on what is within our control. When you are playing your course you rarely look over at the competition, how they are playing, or what hole they are on.

“You can always walk” hit me deeply because of how special walking has become and the story about his mother before she passed away. Using the time while walking to call friends, and loved ones, investing in his health, being in nature, not overindulging at the grocery store because he has to carry it, and creating moments for him to be with himself.

The first five meant a lot because they created momentum. Excited to stay curious, keep learning, growing, and becoming the person I want to be.

Ferate

Best Day of The Year, Until Tomorrow…