It can be hard to find great guests for Hardcore MBA sometimes – people who have walked the walk rather than just talking the talk. So I’ve been looking forward to having Dan Pena on the show since the day we arranged it, because he is the definition of walking the walk – after all, not many of us have been successful enough to take up residence in a Scottish castle. Dan called in to talk to us about the secrets of his success and the mentoring he does for others.
In this week’s podcast, Dan and I discuss:
- The importance of learning through failure, rather than fixating on success.
- The need to focus on filling our emotional bank account with self-esteem.
- And the benefits that come from getting a mentor who will force you to take action.
“My aim as a coach,” Dan tells us, “is to get you to do the things you don’t wanna do, so that you can be what you wanna be. People are scared of taking action because they’re scared of failing – hell, in many cases, they’re scared of succeeding as well, because they worry about whether they can replicate that first success the next time around. So they need me to force them to take action. Alexander the Great failed in his first mission to Persia. You know how he made sure he’d succeed on the second mission? When they arrived in Persia, he burned all the boats. His men no longer had the option of retreating and giving in, they had to fight and go forward. So I teach people how to burn their own boats.”
Dan is a really larger than life character, and can truly get you to think about how you are dealing with issues like courage and failure in your own life. As he mentions throughout the podcast, his written material is all available for free online, so don’t forget to check out his website to find out more info.
