Overview

On this episode of Build Your Network, Host Travis Chappell interviews Joost Janssen, Joost is a former Navy Seal, counter-terrorism agency hire, trainer, advisor, and stunt performer.

Topics Discussed:

• About Joost Janssen
  • Had a 12-year military career as a U.S. Navy Seal.
  • Had 5 years as agency direct hire in support of counter-terrorism.
  • He’s deployed and conducted operations in over 12 countries.
  • Performed as a trainer, advisor, stunt performer, and cast on several film productions.
• What is Joost most excited about now?
  • Life in general.
  • Right now he’s very blessed and can stay home with his family.
  • About a year ago, he got into learning about cryptocurrency.
• How did you become a Navy Seal?
  • He grew up in Canada and didn’t know what a Navy Seal was.
  • He moved to the U.S., got married, and became a paramedic.
  • His wife was killed in a car accident and he spiraled into a destructive pattern.
  • He decided he wanted to become a Navy Seal and 6 months later he was off to boot camp.
• Tell us about boot camp training and how your body reacted.
  • He was on a program where you could go from boot camp to Seal training.
  • He came to boot camp and he was already hurt – stress fractures and shin splints.
  • He cruised through Navy boot camp and healed a little bit and then showed up to Seal training.
  • The first week of Seal training he was just excited to be there.
  • Seal training is so broad that you have to be decent at everything.
    • If you have a weakness, they’ll find it.
  • What happened at the end of boot camp?
    • During Seal training, they’re not training you as much as weeding people out.
      • It’s not enough to not quit, you also have to function.
      • Hell week is the fifth week of the first phase where you stay awake for 5.5 days.
        • This shows who can really finish the training.
        • Most people drop out during hell week.
      • He got set back due to injury but then overcame most of the obstacles that came after that.
      • He almost got kicked out due to not being an American citizen, but they helped him sort that out.
    • Tell us about how doing hard things has helped you live an enriched and successful life.
      • He found a new family within the Seal teams and after graduating you feel like nothing can stop you in life anywhere.
      • You can’t do something difficult once and have it ride you through the rest of your life.
      • If you don’t continue to do difficult things, you get way comfortable very easy.
    • Give us a couple of examples of what doing hard things looks like.
      • The standard of “good parenting” right now is removing all struggle from your kid’s life and make them comfortable.
      • Nobody’s asking their kids to go through pain, suffering, and building mental fortitude.
      • It takes so little for kids to become entitled, so he does difficult things with his kids.
        • They went to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
      • Just pursuing something that very few others are pursuing is very satisfying.
      • Nobody knows their limits unless they push themselves all the way to their limits.
      • Words are powerful, be careful not to establish a pattern of deceit.
    • Share an anecdote of something you’ve experienced on your deployments?
      • When he was working for the agency and he had to be in an armored vehicle to do recon on an area.
      • He didn’t want to go and they were short staffed.
      • You could see that the locals in the area were all high and things started getting out of control.
      • The natives opened fire on them but none of the rounds penetrated.
      • Things went from bad to worse and then they ran into gun trucks.
      • None of their communications were working, but the other military was trying to get into their car.
      • They got pushed off the road, and all of a sudden they were able to communicate again.
      • Someone from the embassy negotiated a deal and they got the attackers to call the number.
    • Do you believe that what you know or who you know is more important, and why?
      • A few years ago he would say what you know.
        • He loves learning, and research, he gets obsessed.
      • Now that he’s out of special operations, he finds having a network super valuable.
      • It’s valuable to have people judge you and discover if you’re reliable.
      • In Hollywood, you have limited time to gain people’s trust.
    • Who are a couple of the actors that you’ve really enjoyed working with?
      • John Krasinski
      • Dylan O’Brien
      • No matter how successful someone is, they’re really not that much different than everyone else.

The Random Round:

• What profession other than your own do you think it would be fun to attempt?
  • Hollywood stuntman, full time
• If you could sit on a park bench with anyone for an hour who would it be, and why?
  • Winston Churchill
  • To hear how everything went down and what he was thinking.
• How do you like to consume content?
  • Used to be books, now podcasts.
• What’s a podcast you’d recommend?
  • Joe Rogan
• Give us a glimpse of your morning routine?
  • Focus on the things he doesn’t want to skip first.
  • One to two workouts a day.
  • Get up and do some work early on the computer.
  • Do morning workout.
  • Drink bulletproof coffee.
• What is your go-to pump up song?
  • Anything by Eminem
• What is something that you are not very good at?
  • Athlete
• What is one place where we can find you the most?
  • The Billion Dollar Brotherhood on Facebook

Tweetable Quotes:

• In every situation, you either practice quitting or not quitting.
• If you feel you can do anything, typically you can do anything.
• When I start working for a goal, and that goal is comfort, I know that it’s not the goal for me.
• Nobody knows their limits unless they push themselves all the way to their limits.

Resources Mentioned:

Buildyournetwork.co – Podcast website

BYN.media/fb – Facebook Group

The Billion Dollar Brotherhood Facebook Group