Video summary
In this episode, MrBallen reflects on his experience during Hell Week of Navy SEAL training at BUD/S, identifying chronic sleep deprivation rather than physical pain or discomfort as the most brutal element. The regimen involved five and a half days without sleep, compounded by relentless extra chores such as filling instructor cars with gas, setting up coffee machines for their offices, creating daily comics about instructors, shining boots, and preparing gear. For MrBallen, who lived off-base due to being married, these tasks extended his day until 6:00 PM before a forty-minute drive home at night; after eating dinner around 7:00 PM, he would spend hours sharpening knives or polishing equipment, often not returning to base until 3:30 AM. This cycle of perpetual exhaustion led to a state where motivation vanished entirely, forcing recruits to confront whether they truly wanted the job or were merely chasing the excitement of being called SEALs. The necessity for such extreme endurance is underscored by real-world missions that demand withstanding enormous misery, exemplified by an operation in Afghanistan on Christmas Day 2013. Despite wearing every layer imaginable, MrBallen found himself unable to move his hands or use a weapon due to the freezing temperatures after spending twenty-four hours walking toward a target area without mittens, which would have compromised dexterity for shooting. This experience highlighted that SEAL training prepares individuals not just physically but mentally to endure suffering when there is a worthy reason to do so. MrBallen realized he possessed an ability to withstand discomfort for extended periods because he could find purpose in the struggle, distinguishing him from those who might panic or quit under similar pressures. Drawing parallels between military selection and his own career as a content creator, MrBallen describes how he applied lessons learned during Hell Week to his transition from TikTok shorts to long-form YouTube videos. During this period of rapid growth, he worked twenty hours at a clip with only three to six hours of sleep daily, often channeling the mental fortitude developed in BUD/S to push through fatigue while writing scripts and filming on his ninth day without rest. He notes that many challenges faced by creators are not bugs but features of success; for instance, statistics show that 90% of podcasts fail before episode three, and another 90% of those do not reach episode twenty-one. By reminding himself that these low points are where most people quit, he maintained the determination to outwork others and secure his place in the top percentile of podcasters. The discussion concludes with a broader philosophical takeaway regarding resilience and selection criteria: if one can endure the universal hardships faced by everyone else during their journey toward success, they have already overcome the primary barrier that eliminates competitors. MrBallen emphasizes that whatever challenges arise are built into the process itself, serving as filters rather than obstacles to be avoided. This mindset shift allows individuals to view suffering not as a sign of failure but as an integral part of achieving greatness, whether in military operations or creative endeavors. The episode ends with sponsorship details for Shopify, noting its role in powering 10% of U.S. e-commerce and helping brands like Gymshark launch successfully through features such as award-winning support and high-converting checkout systems.
Read the full video transcript
what was the worst element of Hell
weeken training for you pain discomforts
whatever was there a particular moment
that you went through that was the worst
you know I I think looking back I can I
can say that overall the worst part was
actually just the collective sleep sleep
deprivation um you know hell week was
you know five and a half days of no
sleep but actually in reality that was
less of a the sleep deprivation was so
expected with hell week that it wasn't
really the main thing that you're
worried about it was just staying
healthy but in the weeks leading up to
hell week I mean you're doing you're
working from sun up to sundown and
you're just getting destroyed and then
you have all these extra things you have
to do after the day ends from you have
to fill up the instructor's cars with
gas you got to make you got to set up
the coffee machine in the instructor's
office so that when they walk in they
just hit a button and it goes your
everyone in your class you have to have
at least one comic who makes a comic
about the instructors every day so when
they go in they they have to have a
comic ready like along with their dut
and coffee it's it's all these kind of
extra chores that take a bunch of time
you got to shine your shoes your boots
at the end of the night you got to prep
your gear and so you're done let's say
at 6:00 at night and and I lived off
campus cuz I was marri or off base
because I was married that's the only
way you can live off base and so I drive
you know 40 minutes to get back to my
house get back at like 700 I'd eat a
burrito you know California Burritos are
awesome get a burrito and then I it's
like I would do extra stuff at my house
shining booths sharpening my knife and
before long it's like you know 10:00
which is not that late but it's a Monday
it's 10:00 and I have to be back at buds
at like 3:30 in the morning you know
it's so you just you're perpetually
genuine like for real just you have not
gotten enough sleep chronic protracted
sleep deprivation what does that feel
like you have no motivation motivation
goes out the door and so that is what
they're talking about instructors are
talking about when they say you really
got to want to be here because it's like
when your motivation is gone what does
your core want do you really want to be
a seal or is it just exciting at the
idea of calling yourself a seal and
there really is a difference because
ultimately seal like what what you're
being trained to do is just withstand an
enormous amount of misery because a lot
of seal missions require it I mean we
did a mission in Afghanistan on
Christmas Day in
2013 that for real I've never been
colder and I went through SEAL training
like the mission itself was so cold in
Afghanistan I had every layer on you
could imagine but you also need to be
ready to use your weapon you can't have
like mittens on you can't use your
unless you're shooting like a rocket
launcher or something but you need
dexterity and so I remember we we I'm
not going to tell this whole story but
we we walked on Target and it's this
long long infill and it's Christmas Day
and I'm thinking like we're going to be
here for 24 hours I think that it was at
least 24 hours and by the time I just
got to the outskirts of the target I
couldn't even move my hands and I'm like
I can't use my gun that's how cold it
was but truly when you're in those
moments in real life you do actually
look back at at Buds and Seal training
and you do think well I've been through
the stuff before and that's that's the
point they want people that can like
preparation suffer just unbelievably and
put up with it because the job is a lot
of suffering what did you learn about
yourself that I can suffer really really
well basically I I am someone who
actually is prone to panic to a degree
which is my fight ORF flight I'm I'm a
flight guy and it's it's it took a lot
to harness that part of me and I I don't
even necessarily think I've done it but
that was that was something that was
really challenging to work through but I
would say that
I'm I'm able to to withstand discomfort
for a really really long period of time
and it's not because I'm some superum
it's just I don't know if it feels like
if there's some worthy reason to suffer
I can suffer for a really really long
time um and it's actually when I think
about it's funny to compare you know the
military to this but when I first
started making YouTube videos so not the
viral Tik Tok video I did at the water
park but when I transitioned about 6
months later because Tik Tok was going
so well uh to making long form YouTube
videos um I was a Onan band and I was
putting out four or five featurelength
videos a week which basically meant I
was not really sleeping at all I was
just spending 20 hours at a clip working
on a video to get it out the door
sleeping for like 3 to 6 hours Max and
going right back into making another
video and there were loads of times
where I would actually think back about
hell week it it's like 4 in the morning
and I'm trying to write a script and I'm
so tired I can't keep my eyes open I
would channel that I've struggled with
things before I can do it now and I
would say this is how I'm going to make
it to the top I'm going to outwork other
people that have had this opportunity
and it worked it put me on the map out
of just sheer determination and
willingness to suffer people don't know
how painful it is to sit in front of a
camera when you're dog tired on your
like ninth day of filming it's miserable
yeah it's
uh it's one of the most reassuring
things to realize that whatever the
challenges are that you're facing aren't
bugs their features and that everybody
else has to go through this as well yeah
uh there's this stat I always throw
around 90% of podcasts don't make it
past episode 3 and of the 10% that do
90% of those don't make it past episode
20 W so if you make 21 podcasts you're
in the top percentile of all podcasters
ever and the point being well what what
is the universal selection criteria
between episode zero and episode 21 it's
the same thing that everybody goes
through yeah my friend Alex
says that whenever I get to a low point
when I ask myself why do I even bother I
just remind myself that this is where
most people quit and this is why they
don't win yeah it's like this is a
feature this isn't a book yeah like it's
it's way look at it it's built into it
and I think that's quite reassuring in
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