MrBallen (Former Navy SEAL): I Wasn't Sleeping, I Became A Raging Alcoholic! I Was Disowned By The SEALS! This Will Turn Your Life Around In 2025!
In this episode of The Diary Of A CEO, the host, Steven Bartlett, interviews MrBallen, a former Navy SEAL who shares his journey from a struggling student to a highly decorated and accomplished military veteran. MrBallen reveals his path of self-improvement, detailing his decision to embrace intense challenges like SEAL training and how his family's skepticism motivated him.
The conversation also delves into MrBallen's harrowing combat experiences, his struggles with PTSD and depression, and his eventual transition into a successful content creator after leaving the military. Throughout his story, MrBallen highlights the transformative power of taking responsibility, confronting fears, and setting ambitious goals as driving forces for personal growth.
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1-Page Summary
The host's personal background and upbringing
MrBallen reveals he was born into a family of academic high-achievers, with siblings having won prestigious awards like Pulitzer Prizes, while he rebelled as an underperforming and reckless student. He failed out of college initially due to poor grades and disciplinary issues before eventually turning his life around.
His Journey of Self-Improvement, from Struggling Student to Navy SEAL
Determined to change, MrBallen set goals of graduating college and then pursuing an even loftier ambition of becoming a Navy SEAL. His willingness to embrace immense challenges like SEAL training's grueling physical and mental hardship was key to his success. According to MrBallen, his family's skepticism added motivation.
His military experiences, including combat deployment and mental health challenges
MrBallen recounts a life-threatening grenade blast in Afghanistan that made him confront mortality and desire fatherhood. Post-deployment, he experienced PTSD and depression, exacerbated during a stressful Peru assignment. This ultimately led to his medical retirement as he grappled with anger, identity loss, and needing therapy.
His transition to becoming a successful content creator and storyteller
After leaving the military, MrBallen cofounded a nonprofit assisting transitioning veterans before unexpectedly finding success as a storyteller. A viral TikTok video narrating the Dyatlov Pass mystery kickstarted his rise, allowing him to build a massive audience mesmerized by strange, dark mysteries.
Overarching themes of responsibility, confronting fears, and goal-setting
Key themes in MrBallen's journey include taking responsibility for one's choices, embracing discomfort to overcome fears, and setting ambitious goals as a driving force. He emphasizes the transformative power of these principles.
1-Page Summary
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Actionables
- Turn setbacks into a personal growth documentary by recording a video diary of your challenges and progress, sharing it on a dedicated YouTube channel to inspire others and hold yourself accountable.
- By documenting your journey, you create a visual and emotional record of your transformation. For example, if you're overcoming a fear of public speaking, record your practice sessions, the moments of doubt, and the successful speeches to track improvement and resilience.
- Start a "Challenge Accepted" journal where you write down one small challenge you take on each day, reflecting on the lessons learned and the skills gained.
- This practice helps you to actively seek out growth opportunities in your daily life. For instance, if you're usually shy in group settings, challenge yourself to initiate a conversation with a stranger or contribute an idea in a meeting, and then jot down your experience.
- Create a "Fear-Facing" support group with friends or online where members commit to confronting one fear each week and share their experiences and encouragement.
- This group provides a sense of community and accountability as you work on personal development. For example, if you're afraid of heights, you might decide to climb a tall ladder or go to the top of a building, and then discuss the experience with your group, gaining insights and support.
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The host's personal background and upbringing
MrBallen describes his upbringing in a family of extraordinary academic achievers and recalls his own rebellious journey and subsequent personal transformation.
The host was born into a family of academic high-achievers, with siblings who have won prestigious awards, while he struggled as a rebellious and underperforming student in high school.
MrBallen reveals that his mother, father, and two sisters all possess 'brilliant minds'—with accolades such as Pulitzer Prizes won by his father and one sister, and his other sister holding a PhD and working out of a Harvard lab. Conversely, during his youth in Quincy, Massachusetts, a working-class town near Boston, he chose to underperform academically as a form of rebellion. This was a stark contrast to his family's pattern of success. In his quest to be seen as edgy and tough, MrBallen frequently got involved in street fights and other forms of reckless behavior.
The host's academic struggles continued into college, where he initially failed out due to poor grades and disciplinary issues, before eventually getting his life on track.
MrBallen admits to bombing his first semester at the University of Massachusetts, achieving a GPA of just 1.016. He was on the verge of expulsion after getting caught in the midst of a campus riot, which had been recorded by the college's security cameras. This brush with expulsion forced him to withdraw from college and move back into his mother' ...
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The host's personal background and upbringing
Additional Materials
Actionables
- Reflect on your life trajectory by writing a "future autobiography" that includes the challenges you've faced and how you overcame them, similar to how a pivotal moment in a basement led to a change in direction. Start by writing about your past and present, then project into the future, detailing the steps you took to achieve your goals, the obstacles you overcame, and the personal growth you experienced. This exercise can help you visualize a path to success and understand the value of taking responsibility for your actions.
- Create a "responsibility jar" where you write down instances where you could have made better choices on pieces of paper and place them in the jar. At the end of each week, review the contents and reflect on how different actions could have led to more positive outcomes. This tangible method of acknowledging past behaviors can encourage you to think proactively about future decisions and foster a mindset of personal accountability.
- Draft a person ...
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His Journey of Self-Improvement, from Struggling Student to Navy SEAL
The host shares his transformative journey from being a "colossal failure" to turning his life around and becoming a Navy SEAL, showing how embracing challenges and responsibility led to profound personal growth.
Determined to turn his life around, the host set a goal of graduating college and then pursued an even more ambitious goal of becoming a Navy SEAL.
Looking to reclaim his life, the host decided to go to a local college to improve his grades with an eventual goal to graduate from the University of Massachusetts. This academic pursuit provided him with a newfound sense of purpose and drive. Once he was nearing graduation and feeling that he had righted his ship, he sought a more challenging objective—becoming a Navy SEAL. Inspired by friends who had joined the military and motivated by the challenge, he saw in the SEALs an opportunity to serve his country and reinvent himself.
The host's determination and willingness to take on difficult challenges were crucial to his success in making it through the grueling Navy SEAL training program.
Determining to become a Navy SEAL because of the small percentage that make it through the training, the host embraced the immense challenge it posed. Despite facing immense difficulty during SEAL training, including physical, mental, and emotional hardship, the host persevered. He embraced responsibility and owned his mistakes, which made him a stronger and more capable operator. When discussing his motivation with his family, the host surpr ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
His Journey of Self-Improvement, from Struggling Student to Navy SEAL
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Counterarguments
- The host's decision to become a Navy SEAL, while admirable, may not be the best path for everyone seeking self-improvement or personal growth.
- Embracing challenges and responsibility is important, but it's also crucial to recognize and respect one's limits to avoid burnout or injury.
- Determination and willingness to take on difficult challenges are important, but success also often involves external support, luck, and timing, which are not mentioned in the text.
- Perseverance through hardship is commendable, but it's also important to acknowledge when seeking help or changing course might be the healthier or more strategic option.
- Choosing military service over law school is a personal decision, but it's not inherently superior and depends on individual values and goals.
- While skepticism from family can be a motivator, it's also important to consider that support and encouragement can be equally powerful in driv ...
Actionables
- You can set a personal challenge each month to foster growth, such as learning a new language or a musical instrument, which requires consistent effort and helps build resilience.
- Start with something small and manageable to ensure success, like dedicating 15 minutes a day to your new skill. As you progress, increase the difficulty and time commitment to continue challenging yourself, mirroring the escalating challenges of Navy SEAL training.
- Create a "Resilience Journal" where you document daily hardships and your responses to them, aiming to reflect on how you can handle similar situations better in the future.
- At the end of each day, write down any difficult situations you faced, how you reacted, and what you could do differently next time. This practice helps to build self-awareness and determination, akin to the mental fortitude required in SEAL training.
- Volunteer for a local organization that puts you in unfam ...
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His military experiences, including combat deployment and mental health challenges
The host recounts his intense and harrowing military experiences, the subsequent mental health struggles, and how those experiences led to his medical retirement from the Navy and a process of personal reevaluation.
The host's combat deployment to Afghanistan was a pivotal experience that exposed him to the harsh realities of war, leading to significant mental health struggles after returning home.
The host, MrBallen, details a life-threatening moment during his service in Afghanistan in 2014. During a gunfight, a grenade detonated near him, and he faced the very real possibility of death. This event made him contemplate his mortality and the future he envisioned, especially the desire to start a family. This brush with death and the daily portrayal of war caused him significant mental distress. Even after returning from deployment, the harsh realities he confronted, including acting in ways that weren't necessarily wrong but difficult to reconcile with, lingered.
During a firefight in Afghanistan, the host narrowly survived a grenade blast, an event that made him confront his own mortality and the impact it could have on his desire to start a family.
In that moment of near-fatal injury, the host experienced profound sadness and regret at the thought of not having started a family, a cherished goal that was highlighted by his close encounter with death.
After his deployment, the host experienced symptoms of PTSD and depression, which were exacerbated by a subsequent deployment to Peru where he struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar environment and language barrier.
His mental health issues, initially brushed aside as he aimed for another deployment, came to the forefront during his assignment in Peru. MrBallen described the deployment as incredibly stressful, exacerbated by a language barrier and safety concerns, leading to severe depression and the fear of losing his mind.
The host's struggles with his mental health eventually led to his medical retirement from the Navy, forcing him to confront his identity and purpose outside of the military.
Following his experiences in Afghanistan an ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
His military experiences, including combat deployment and mental health challenges
Additional Materials
Actionables
- You can explore your own resilience by journaling about past challenges and how you overcame them, which can help you understand your strengths and areas for growth. Start by writing down a difficult situation you've faced, describe your feelings and actions during that time, and reflect on what you learned from the experience. This can be a powerful way to recognize your own capacity for resilience and identify strategies that have helped you in the past, which might be useful in future challenges.
- Create a personal mission statement to guide your life decisions and help you find purpose outside of your career or current role. Take some time to think about your values, passions, and what you want to achieve in life. Write a statement that encapsulates these elements and use it as a compass for making choices that align with your sense of self and purpose.
- Engage in a mindfulness practice, such as meditation or deep-breathing exer ...
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His transition to becoming a successful content creator and storyteller
After leaving the military, the host, known as MrBallen, embarked on an unexpected journey that would lead to his success as a captivating storyteller and prominent content creator. His transformation from a veteran to a digital sensation encompasses inspiration, adversity, and serendipity.
After leaving the military, the host initially struggled to find his footing in the civilian world, but serendipitously connected with an entrepreneur who helped him start a nonprofit to assist transitioning veterans.
The host's chance meeting with the entrepreneur led to the creation of a successful charity organization, Elite Meet, which helped veterans find employment opportunities.
While facing medical retirement from the Navy, the fear of being cut without a job or plan in place loomed over the host. In this period of uncertainty, he reached out on LinkedIn and connected with an entrepreneur, Jordan Selig. Together they established Elite Meet, a networking initiative designed to help transitioning military veterans find private sector employment opportunities. This collaboration provided the host with structure and purpose, as well as a modest salary.
With the Navy unexpectedly extending his contract, he was spared from needing a salary from Elite Meet. This allowed the organization to grow without his financial dependence. Utilizing storytelling, the host initially drew attention to the nonprofit, capitalizing on his SEAL experiences to generate support and donations.
The host's natural storytelling abilities and fascination with the strange, dark, and mysterious eventually led him to find immense success as a content creator, particularly on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Posting a viral video about the Dyatlov Pass mystery on a whim kickstarted the host's transformation into a renowned storyteller and podcaster, allowing him to build a massive following by sharing compelling narratives.
MrBallen recounts branching out into different content types after leaving the SEALs, including sketch comedy and general trends, as he sought to build a personal brand independent of his military background. Facing backlash from the SEAL community for using his experiences for content, he removed the related videos, yet this did not deter him from content creation.
His pivot to storytelling came when he stumbled upon a document on his computer about the Dyatlov Pass incident. Captivated by strange, dark, and mysterious topics, MrBallen recorded a video narrating this mystery at an indoor water park where he was with his family and posted it to TikTok. With no initial following, the video went viral, amassing over 5 millio ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
His transition to becoming a successful content creator and storyteller
Additional Materials
Actionables
- Explore your past experiences for transferable skills by writing down all the roles you've had and identifying skills from each that could apply to new endeavors. For example, if you were a teacher, skills like public speaking, organization, and leadership could translate into corporate training roles.
- Create a short narrative video about a topic you're passionate about and share it on social media to test audience engagement and storytelling ability. You might choose a local legend or a personal experience, then gauge the response to understand what resonates with viewers.
- Volunteer with a l ...
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Overarching themes of responsibility, confronting fears, and goal-setting
Discussions with MrBallen highlight significant thematic elements in his life, including the decisive role of personal responsibility, the significance of challenging personal fears, and the centrality of goal-setting as a means of personal development.
A central theme in the host's journey is the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions and choices, rather than blaming external factors.
MrBallen's epiphany in his mother's basement was a pivotal moment in his life. Initially furious with his parents for making him withdraw from college, he realized that his situation was his own fault. This realization marked the beginning of his path to self-improvement. He further reflected on his college experience, acknowledging that owning his failures was crucial to his growth, allowing him to finish college and become a better SEAL.
The host's willingness to own his mistakes, even in the face of public scrutiny, such as during SEAL training, demonstrated his commitment to responsibility and personal growth.
During SEAL training, MrBallen shared a failure where he instinctively ran from a tear gas exposure exercise. Rather than making excuses, he chose to embrace the mistake, showing strength of character by acknowledging and owning the error. He emphasizes taking responsibility for what he did, showing that even at his lowest, others could trust him to give the best version of himself.
Another key theme is the host's embrace of confronting his fears, recognizing that the best opportunities in life often lie on the other side of discomfort and challenge.
MrBallen acknowledges that confronting fears is essential for a fulfilling life. He decided to become a Navy SEAL despite his significant fear and intimidation by the challenge. Moreover, he also chose to confront his fear of public speaking by deciding to go on a live tour, facing this fear head-on and demonstrating his comm ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
Overarching themes of responsibility, confronting fears, and goal-setting
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- While personal responsibility is important, it's also necessary to acknowledge that external factors can significantly influence one's life circumstances and opportunities.
- Embracing mistakes is valuable, but it's also important to recognize the role of support systems and mentors in personal growth and learning from failures.
- Confronting fears is indeed beneficial, but it's also crucial to balance risk-taking with personal safety and mental health considerations.
- Goal-setting is a powerful tool, but it's also essential to recognize that flexibility and adaptability can be just as important as persistence, espe ...
Actionables
- You can start a "Responsibility Journal" where you document daily instances where you took ownership of your actions, especially mistakes. This practice will help you develop a habit of personal accountability. For example, if you missed a deadline, write down the sequence of choices that led to it, acknowledge your role, and plan steps to avoid repeating the same mistake.
- Create a "Fear Ladder" to systematically confront and overcome your fears. Begin with a fear that's mildly discomforting and work your way up to more significant fears. If public speaking makes you nervous, start by speaking to a mirror, progress to small, informal groups, and eventually to larger, more formal gatherings, reflecting on your growth at each step.
- Implement a "Goal Milestone Tracker" app or spreadsheet ...
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1-Page Summary- The host's personal background and upbringing
- His Journey of Self-Improvement, from Struggling Student to Navy SEAL
- His military experiences, including combat deployment and mental health challenges
- His transition to becoming a successful content creator and storyteller
- Overarching themes of responsibility, confronting fears, and goal-setting
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