How To Defeat Your Inner Coward - John Lovell - #666

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello everybody, welcome back to the show. My guest today is John Lovell. He's a former United States Army Ranger, firearms instructor and founder of the Warrior Poet Society. It's often quoted that it's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. But how should you cultivate this state of readiness? How can you become capable of standing strong when there is a battle to be fought and sufficiently peaceful to be in touch with your emotions once it's over? Expect to learn what it means to live free and die well. How the army prepares soldiers to face challenges once they integrate back into the real world. What happened to John when he came closest to death? Why America needs more warriors despite a lack of war? How people can express their vulnerability without feeling weak and fragile? What it means to be the most dangerous man in the room? Why it's important to face death before actually dying? And much more. In other news, this episode is brought to you by Bubs Naturals. Bubs Naturals make my favorite collagen protein powder. I used collagen protein when regrowing an entire Achilles three years ago. It was a huge part of my recovery. I was taking every single day for the entirety of my recovery, which took six months. And I was a massive, massive fan of it. Bubs Naturals has 20 grams of protein, all seven amino acids with one single ingredient. It is the purest form of collagen that you'll find on the market. You can actually mix it in with a coffee decaf or caffeinated. Like 10 to 20 grams will mix in with a big cup of coffee. And you can't taste it at all. So it's not even like you need to make an additional shake. It'll mix in with a lot of other stuff that you're having. So if you're looking to improve your hair, your skin, your nails, your teeth, or if you're recovering from an injury and need an extra assist, I would highly, highly recommend that you try collagen protein from Bubs Naturals. Head to bubsnaturals.com and use the code modern Wisdom for 20% off everything site-wide. That's bubsnaturals.com and modern Wisdom, a checkout. In other, other news, this episode is brought to you by Mudwater. Mudwater is a coffee alternative with adaptogenic mushrooms and ayurvedic herbs. It provides the energy without the anxiety, jitters or crash of coffee. The blend includes limes, main for alertness, cordyceps for physical performance, chaga and reishi for immune support, turmeric for soreness and cinnamon for antioxidants. The blend can help to alleviate pain and inflammation in the body. It's got organic ingredients, they're Whole30 approved, USDA organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan and all of that good stuff. Basically it is a very nice tasting, very different, fully adaptogenic drink to have first thing in the morning. And I think it's a great alternative if you're looking for a healthy and sustainable way to start your day with natural energy and improved brain function. Head to mudwtr.com/mw and use the code MW15 for 15% off. That's mudwtr.com/mw and MW15, a checkout. And in final news, this episode is brought to you by Collars & Co. If you wear sweaters or quarter zips with dress shirts to the office, you know, it can be very uncomfortable. The shirts bunch up around the shoulders or the waist, ruins the look and the fit and the comfort. However, Collars & Co. have found the solution. It's the dress collar polo. It's a four-way stretch performance fabric polo, but the top has a firm dress collar on it. So you get the dress shirt look with an extremely comfortable polo feel. These guys went on Shark Tank last year and two billionaires, Mark Cuban and Peter Jones invested a million dollars into Collars & Co. because these polos are a game changer to menswear. If you are going to the gym, if you are gaining size, if you are looking good without your top on, and then you have to put a shirt on and it's all stiff and uncomfortable and you hate your life, this is the solution for you. Head to collarsandco.com and use the code MW15 for 15% off your first order. That's collarsandco.com and MW15, a checkout.
But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome John Lovell.
What does it mean to live free and die well?

**John Lovell** (4:15)
Sure, so it's wrapped up in our whole Warrior Poet ethos, that's living for higher purpose, being ready to sacrifice in the defense of others. Ultimately, to live well in the present, you have to really start with the end in mind. Lots of folks just go through life in an extremely reactionary manner. Things happen, the tyranny of the urgent comes up, and before you know it, all of your waking hours, and even your off hours, are spent stressing about stuff. Though, if you are given a death diagnosis, you are terminally ill, much of the stuff that we droll on with every single day would immediately sift to the edges of our attention is not important. What can happen in the tyranny of the urgent is the most important stuff gets shuffled to the back. Being able to die well means that you lived a life that was worthy of your calling, so to speak, and in so doing, you're able to live well with kind of that end in mind. And so in my estimation, having faced death, you know, many different times, it really allowed me to focus on what I wanted to do in life. And so it turns out that you'll die the exact same way that you live, whether that's poorly or well.