Billy Billingham on Growing Up in Gangs, Surviving SAS Selection, and Why Time Is All You Have

Billy Billingham joined a gang at nine years old. By eleven, he had a criminal record. At thirteen, he was expelled from school. At fifteen, he was stabbed and nearly died in a hospital bed. Two years later he walked into military recruitment and never looked back. Joe De Sena sits down with the former SAS operator, one of seven to pass selection out of 283 candidates, to talk about the moment a boxing instructor changed his life, the day he saw a Falklands War veteran with a bullet hole through his face and decided that was the man he wanted to become, and why 70 to 80% of what he does now is giving back to the kids and veterans who need what he needed at nine. Things You Will Learn:

The mindset shift that took Billy Billingham from gang warfare and juvenile court to SAS selection, and why it started with one honest conversation with his father.
Why looking around and feeling outmatched on day one is an advantage, not a warning sign.
The one resource you cannot earn back and why wasting it is the only real failure.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:

Own It, Do Not Excuse It: Billy's father told him to be a thief before a liar. Owning the truth is the foundation of every correction that follows.
Day One Hunger: On the first day of both basic training and SAS selection, Billy looked around and saw people who were bigger, stronger, and more experienced. He used that feeling to stay humble, stay hungry, and outlast 276 of them.
Time Audit: Time is the only resource you cannot replace. Every hour on the couch is an hour you chose not to move forward. Progress does not require speed. It requires motion.

Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Billy Billingham, SAS veteran and original Peaky Blinder 0:21 Gang member at nine, criminal record by eleven 2:15 Kids know right from wrong 5:06 Learning weapons, maps, and medical training at eleven 6:56 Joining the military at 17 8:26 Walking three miles to school with cardboard in his shoes 09:49 SAS selection: 283 started, 7 finished 13:15 What he would change 16:01 Joe offers Spartan events 19:00 Advice for anyone stuck on the couch Billy Billingham grew up in the West Midlands near Birmingham, England, the same streets that inspired Peaky Blinders. He joined a gang at 9, had a criminal record by 11, was expelled from school at 13, and was stabbed and nearly killed at 15. At 17, with no education past age thirteen, he enlisted in the British Army and joined the Parachute Regiment, one of seven to pass out of seventy who started. After nine years of airborne service and combat, he passed SAS selection, again one of seven, this time out of 283 candidates. He went on to serve in the Special Air Service across multiple operational tours. Now 61, Billingham is known internationally through the TV series Special Forces: World's Toughest Test and SAS: Who Dares Wins. Connect to Bill: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBillinghamSAS/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billingham22b/ X: https://x.com/billingham229b ?

We gave you the tools, now use them during your next SPARTAN RACE! Use codeword PODCAST on checkout for 10% your next race. 👉 Find Your Next Spartan Race: https://www.spartan.com/en/race/find-race 👉 For everything Spartan: https://www.spartan.com/ 🎧 Listen & Subscribe: 👉 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-way-with-joe-de-sena/id952870930 👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1pYBkk1T684YQg7CmoaAZt 📲 Short, Impactful Content 👉 Instagram: @spartanuppodcast 👉 From me directly: @realjoedesena The Hard Way Podcast With Joe De Sena, Hosted by Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, this podcast delves into the principles of resilience, discipline, and the Spartan mindset. De Sena's journey from building a multimillion-dollar pool cleaning business in his teens to establishing a successful Wall Street trading firm showcases his entrepreneurial spirit. In 2001, he transitioned from finance to operate an organic farm in Pittsfield, Vermont, where his passion for endurance events like ultramarathons and adventure races flourished. This led to the creation of Spartan, aiming to inspire individuals to embrace challenges and push their limits.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1024)

Jovon Quarles on Growing Up in D.C., Ringing the Bell in Hell Week, and Becoming a Navy SEAL

Jovon "Q" Quarles grew up on the northeast side of Washington, D.C., with a drug-addicted mother, no father, and a crack house across the street. His grandparents raised him: his grandfather, an Arm...

29 Sep 27min

Rudy Reyes on Marine Corps Culture, the Special Forces Jungle Season, and What Harsh Conditions Actually Fix

Rudy Reyes is a Recon Marine who grew up in a boys' home, lost brothers to combat and suicide after service, and now leads military selection courses on Fox's Special Forces and the UK's SAS Who Dares...

22 Sep 21min

Ashley Hunter on FitKids, 195 Schools, and Why Kids Need Hard Things Before They Need Anything Else

Ashley Hunter walked away from investment banking to teach kids how to move. Fifteen years later, Fit Kids operates in 195 schools across 13 states and has reached roughly 500,000 children. Joe De ...

15 Sep 22min

Tyler Andrews on Surviving Aplastic Anemia, Running Everest in 9:55, and a Decade of Grinding

Joe De Sena sits down with Tyler Andrews, a cancer survivor turned elite endurance athlete who just set the fastest known time from Everest Base Camp to the summit: 9 hours and 55 minutes, breaking a ...

8 Sep 24min

Mark Allen, Dane Miller, James Lawrence, and Leif Babin on Daily Consistency, the Three Best Lifts, and Extreme Ownership

Joe De Sena opens this Labor Day episode with a direct question: what does it actually look like to show up every day, year after year, with no days off? Six-time Ironman World Champion Mark Allen,...

1 Sep 21min

Andy Stumpf on Getting Shot, Watching Hundreds Quit SEAL Training, and Why Momentum Beats Direction

Andy Stumpf's BUD/S class started with 180 students. 18 graduated. As a BUD/S instructor years later, he got to do something most SEALs never do: sit down with the hundreds who quit and ask them why. ...

25 Aug 25min

Richard Baker and Adam Weitsman on Capital, Discipline, and What Separates Entrepreneurs Who Survive

Richard Baker raised $700 million in February 2021 and burned through it in three years. Adam Weitsman served time in federal prison, lost his ego, and rebuilt his business with a level of discipline ...

18 Aug 26min