Since pain is a building block of reality, I want to equip you with some tools for mental toughness. Today, I'm going to share some of the secrets and lessons I learned from paying 10, 000 to go through the MDK Modern Day Knight project, where I paid to get beat up by a Marine, a Navy SEAL, an MMA fighter, a SWAT operator, And Bedros Kulian himself.
This is your invitation to become the alchemist of your life. You decode your heaven on earth and go through the alchemical process. The alchemist is a master of himself so that he can master life. People thought alchemists were turning lead into gold, but they're really crystallizing their soul into form.
Alchemize your golden potential. Welcome to the Golden Life. And I'm going to share a little bit of my own journey of going through this experience. But really what I hope to give you is some lessons because whether it's been the political climate from the past year, whether you're in the dark night of your own soul, or maybe like my case, you're a man and you want to learn how to break through what might Um, and this is a video where I talk about how to be a warrior within.
So, if you're a man or a woman and you're looking for a way to embrace the warrior within, you can do this by embracing the warrior within. So, no matter if you're a man or a woman, by embracing the warrior within and having some tools on how you can embody grit and mental toughness, well, this is how you don't get crushed by life, but you can embrace a building block of this reality, which is So the modern day night project has been fully completed at this time.
There's no more classes, but this goes back in 2019 to kind of share my own hero's journey, right? And the call to adventure. I went down to this summit with Bedros Koulian, and it was, uh, during that time, he pitched this thing called the Modern Day Night Project. And it's ironic, because I showed up to this event, saying I'm not gonna pay anything, I'm not gonna sign up for anything, but the moment, you know, meeting the mentor, meeting the Yoda, I was going to the bathroom, and this was after one of the talks, and there was this guy, Ray Cash Care, that I met in the bathroom.
And he commented on my tattoo and I commented on his shoes because he had some crazy shoes on that day. And then he ended up being one of the speakers. But he was not only one of the speakers, he was one of the instructors of this new thing they just started called the Modern Day Night Project. And I went home from that and there was this, this tickling feeling of this feels like a call to adventure.
But I really tried to push that away, cause I put out my word, I said I'm not gonna sign up for anything, and I was a couple weeks in. And I was like, hey honey, hey babe, there's this thing I keep thinking about. I really felt this strong pull when I talked to this guy, Ray Cash Care, and I'm kinda thinking about doing this thing.
And she was like, oh no, not again, like we just went through a different one of these the year ahead, before that. And, long story short, I pushed through the refusal to call, and I decided to sign up. And at that time, it helps to be an OG, it was 10, 000, it's gone through higher prices, variations since then.
And I wasn't exactly sure what I was signing up for, but to kind of give you a little bit more context of my story, there was a moment closer to 2014 when I was so close to signing up for Kokoro, which is a similar experience by Mark Devine. And I was, you know, going through the seal fit, um, mental program back then.
And this always stirred something within me, but I could also see hindsight now. And in part, what I want to talk about too is, is embracing the divine masculine, but this is really underneath the model of, you know, the inner King warrior magician and lover, uh, which I'll talk about more towards the end.
But for me. This was fulfilling a hole in myself of wanting to step into the warrior. Like, I probably would have gone into the military if I didn't have back surgery in high school. Like, my best friend went off to buds. Uh, and I almost thought about going to the military again, later in life, later in my late 20s.
So this, you know, stirred something inside of me. I didn't know what it was, but I just knew I had to do it. So I said yes. Put the money where the mouth was, signed up for it, and there was only one 90 second trailer that existed about this experience at the time. You know, now there's these, you know, there's full social media profiles that showed everything that you go through.
By the time I knew nothing and I signed up and this was 75 hours with limited sleep where they take you through mental toughness exercises. Right? The, the, it was the intention to beat you down physically and mentally to show you that you have so much more potential. And I can share, by putting myself through this challenge, I was able to learn so much about myself.
And then so much about how to embody the next level of mental toughness. I don't want to share some of those tools with you and just to share a little bit about the project. I'm not going to share all the moments and all the lessons and all the insights, uh, you know, could sit down for hours and be fun actually to do that with other project, uh, people who have gone through the classes, but some of the key things for today, you know, showing up.
And, and that challenge of just, when you sign up for a transformative experience, that challenge just to get there. Woo! I remember driving up and my stomach was churning. Like I was, I had to stop and take a poop. I maybe took, took, took, took a shit. Two poops before I got there. I don't even remember. And feeling that, that as you get closer and closer and closer and trying to focus on your breath and maybe doing a little box breathing, but at the same time, your heart rate just, just going up and that is part of the hero's journey.
Right? Like crossing the threshold like that in of itself is almost one of the hardest parts of the journey to get yourself there And we know the data from the the modern day night project actually shows this to be true Why because you will not believe how many people pay ridiculous amounts of money for this experience and then don't even make it to the beginning They don't cross the threshold, which is to say maybe there was a class of 30 or 40 people and like 20 or 30 actually show up pretty freaking crazy.
So just know, whatever transformative experience is calling you, that threshold is going to be one of the most difficult parts. And I know for myself, I finally got there, I got in the parking lot of this rinky dinky hotel, and there's a couple other guys, and we're all just trying to shoot the shit, but also just nervous as hell, not knowing what we got ourselves into.
And this was a smaller class than other ones they had like 10 to 12 people and then it begun and we go through a PT test and luckily I prepared, I wasn't a dummy, some people show up to these things unprepared which I don't understand but kudos to them, do what you want, uh, total freedom there right, uh, so Go through the physical training test, doing all right, still exhausting.
And even in those first moments, like what the hell did I get myself into? Is this, can I complete this? Like I know for myself, I got to learn so much about how my mind works because instantly those, those voices of doubt try to creep in. And I knew, like I prepared, like I physically got ready and shaped for this.
And then even a little bit of mentally too. But even during that first bit and then I remember we did a next evolution where they put bags over our heads This this looks horrible Like if you saw this out in public and you saw what you would shit your pants and be like are there terrorists? What is going on and Steve when the instructors does look like a terrorist?
But anyways, you would not believe the things that happen. So they put bags over our heads. They throw us in a van turn on horrible music and they drive us somewhere and we have no idea and I could remember me trying to utilize some of my tools I know like heart coherence and box breathing to like get myself into What I would not, you know, use Steve Eckert's terms of staying in the green emotionally and physically, uh, not being in the red where you lose control, but it was so much that I remember getting out of the van and they were doing their best to, you know, keep us as, as, um, protected and healthy as possible.
So they took our heart rate. And my heart rate was through the roof, and this was with still trying to do heart coherence during the thing. Uh, but they took us to the beach, and they had us do this beach evolution. And this is when I really started to get to notice the thoughts that go through the mind.
Like when you're tired, and you don't know if you can do it, and The invitation for you, right, is what are the opportunities you can put yourself in a similar situation to learn more about yourself? Because putting myself in this shitty, expensive opportunity, I got so much gold because I found out. When I'm under pressure, when I'm sleep deprived, when I'm physically beat down, how do I operate, right?
What are my patterns? What are my mental patterns? Where does my mind go? I know for myself, there was a moment on that first beach evolution, just the first night, this isn't even 12 hours into the experience, I was just about ready to give up. Uh, because I learned in that moment, well, Ray Cash care said, get ready, gentlemen, you're going to enjoy, uh, enjoy the sunset because you're going to see the sunrise.
And for me, you know, being on the beach to tie in my story, it was like, uh, I wanted to do Corcoro, which was a similar experience of doing the beach training from Navy SEALs. Uh, and I found myself there and we were in the water and out and then it was getting cold and then I was losing my body awareness.
I wasn't shaking so much. I was losing control of my body that I, I seriously thought I wouldn't be able to make it through the night. Now, luckily we didn't stay there all night. And there was probably an opportunity of, of how to, you know, break through in different ways, and I don't know what would have happened if we did.
But going, continuing to go through this journey, and, and being sleep deprived, like, I learned that my mind would every maybe 20 minutes be like, Alright, are you done yet? Can we, can we just, can we just stop? Can we just go home? Luckily I had a strong enough why that I was there to push through that I was there to just fulfill on this need and and it was really a sense of proving within myself that I'm capable and luckily for me and and also having my wife and kid and like being able to know that if I could push through that like I'll be a better father and husband was a enough for me to stick through whereas there's a lot of other guys we actually had six 5, 6 other guys in my class, let alone the other classes that rang the bell early.
And why was that? It wasn't because of the physical aspect. It was purely because of the mental. And this is the opportunity we have. To strengthen our mental toughness and going through the experience, there's, there's so much to share and cover the lessons that were taught by all the instructors, as well as having these other men that you're going through this experience with, as well as understanding your patterns of how you show up under difficulty, how you show up under conflict and stress and even high amounts of stress to where you don't even know if your body can take it.
You know, not going to share all those lessons and insights because it was so there was almost countless that that came from it. But I'm going to kind of fast forward now because I want to keep this more about you than just me sharing the story. I want you to walk away with some gold and the unexpected surprise and beautiful lesson from this, which was ties into self discovery, right?
As we go through this whole project. And they set it up. So at the end of the 75 hours, if you make it through all the stages and you graduate, well you get to ring the bell and then they get you, you get to have the instructors share with you honest man to man opinions or occurrences of how you could step up.
And this is where I got called out and we all did, but I got called out especially for what Pedro said was a thousand yard stare. And what he meant by this is being able to go through like that experience and being emotional, emotionally stoic. And this is something that did really land because yeah, it's one thing when you go through a hard experience, right, to kind of put that stoic face on and just keep pushing through.
But it's another thing to go through life like that. And I was absolutely have been guilty of that and something I'm still working on But that was such an opportunity to have that reflection So the other thing about putting yourself in transformational experiences, and I say transformational not just challenging because You could think of challenging, sometimes we just think physically, but maybe there's another place you could put yourself, where you can gift yourself the opportunity to get that reflection back.
Right? Because for me, if I really wanted to be the best father and husband that I could be and leader, well, it doesn't serve me to have this emotional wall put up. And I'll be honest, this is something I still struggle with. This is something that just recently my own coach, my own meta performance coach called me out on yet.
It's another of one of the biggest walls or opportunities I have to climb over that when in the future being the alchemist and being able to transform who I become to create the vision at hand can shift and start to really express myself fully in all situations. That is going to be some of my greatest gold to alchemize.
So what is that opportunity for you to put yourself in a place of self discovery? Right? Understand how you perform. If we know life is going to serve valleys, if we know life is going to serve you curve balls, if you know life is going to challenge you on all levels, how can you put yourself be proactive and put yourself in that situation?
Because for me, getting to tear down this emotional wall, even though sometimes it feels impossible, and sometimes, like, I'll get in my own head of, like, how I showed up in a certain group setting, cause it's not the way I, my vision of how I would like to show up, and I, I, you know, that's when the inner critic will try to jump in, and the inner judge, and, like, get to work on that.
But it's also my greatest gold. So what is that opportunity for you? And then finally, I want to leave you with some tools that you can implement immediately. And one is now they ingrained it into our being by forcing us at the end of, you know, 70 hours in the last little bit to sprint up hills to just prove that you always have more in the tank.
Like David Goggins, like you always have 40%. When you think you hit your bottom, you have 40 percent more to go. And they use this metaphor of attacking the hill. And this is the same idea of your lead, your obstacle, is the way. Right? The pain is the path because that's where the gold lies. Not by avoiding it, not by complaining about it, but by going through it.
And if you could attack the hill of whatever challenge you have, you are going to get your greatest gold on the other side, right? I could just. Be a victim of life and say, no, I was born in a stoic household and there wasn't a lot of emotions expressed and I'm a guy and it's easier to just be in my comfort zone and not be fully expressive and seen in a community environment where I want to be, you know, known or expressed, or I could be the creator and choose to go through that.
So how can you attack the hill in your life? How can you lean in to that difficult thing? And maybe it's a little bit painful, beautiful, because you can choose the pain of stepping into the new version of yourself, or you can live in the pain of your comfort zone and the regret that comes with that. And then another way to say this, and this is really what, if the project, if there's one thing I had to just share, like the top that the project left me with, is understanding the greatest skill is being able to meet life where it's at.
So similar to the idea of tacking the hill, if you have a huge challenge, lean into it, go for it. But how can you meet life where it's at? And then finally, a mental toughness tool that I found from my own experience that I know would help you when you do get into those challenging circumstances. It's this three part process, almost like a triangle.
And you can use this anytime, anywhere, and it will help you. Push through really hard, especially physical experiences. So this is what you're going to do. Number one, you're going to need a mantra. What is a mantra? A mantra is a mindset tool. If you think about your mind, like a, like a bowl, let's just say what happens when, and like, there's the light that is your mind of like your thoughts.
Like if we just have a little bit of a focus, it's like a dim light in that bowl. So a lot of blackness, right? And a little bit of light. And this is like open space for thoughts to creep in, especially negative thoughts. And if you're doing, if you're going for a marathon, run on a marathon, let's just use that metaphor.
If you're running a marathon, you're going to have the thoughts pop in. No, we need to stop. No, the body hurts. No, I need to go pee. No, I'm about to poop my pants. Oh, I think we're pooping our pants. All right, we pooped our pants. Now, how do you close your mind? Well, you need to fill up the space in that bowl.
With the light of your conscious awareness. So what does that mean? Something like a mantra is filling up your mind to focus on this one thing. It's giving you a mental, uh, you know, words to focus on that you get to loop that will block out some of those negative thoughts. They might still try to creep in, but you're creating so much noise intentionally that they can't enter.
Now you also have a focus, right? Like what is the end goal? What is the vision? I'll sometimes do this. I'll have a mantra. If it's running up a hill, I'll use can't stop, won't stop. I'll just repeat that. Can't stop. Won't stop. Can't stop. Won't stop. And then sometimes, either if there's like a race or something I'm preparing for, or getting through an evolution like the project, like that's the focus.
Other times, if I don't have anything, I just visualize like a golden sun. And I'm focused, I only focus on that. Literally, if you're visual, I'm visual. Just focus on that one thing, and like that's where I'm headed. Right? Even on the deepest spiritual levels, it's like Christ, like focusing on Christ. And you just keep that focus.
You're playing the mantra. So that's repeating. And then the last part is your physiology, right? So we got focus, we got language, we got words, and then your physiology. My favorite breath work practice to control your physiology under high demand physical activity is doing a double inhale with a short exhale.
And that's just going to. It's going to produce a lot of oxygen, carbon dioxide in your body. So they have a little bit more capacity. But if you focus on your breath moving forward, playing the mantra in your head, and then if you still have space, sometimes that's all you could focus on that end result or that highest sun, that highest potential golden potential.
There's no space for those negative thoughts to creep in and your will. So, that is a powerful tool that you can use getting into the cold, like getting into the ocean or getting into a cold bath. You can use running up hills, you can use in whatever circumstance you find yourself where normally you think you wouldn't have the capacity to continue.
Really, what we're talking about, right, is training your will and I'll say it again. All you need is your will and your breath and you can transform whatever it is ahead of you. So if there's one skill that you could practice as the alchemist, training your will, put yourself in those circumstances, train that will utilize those tools to control your physiology and your mind.
And you will become unstoppable. So stay golden and I look forward to hearing how you are pushing through your lead. And if you want to put it in the comments below or share it, express this is my biggest challenge. Like I got to share some of my biggest walls or leads with you, right? We could be in community, be alchemist together and work on overcoming this and stepping into the next level of freedom, abundance, and love.
Thank you, and stay golden.
