Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman on Lifelong Learning

Charlie “The Spaniard” Brenneman joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Charlie was a fighter in mixed martial arts MMA where he got up to the #7 ranked fighter in his weight class. He also won a contest in the reality TV show, “Pros vs. Joes.” Charlie has become obsessed with this idea of being a lifelong learner and learning how he can show up in his career, for his family, and what his mindsets should be for those scenarios. Today, Charlie is a thought-leader who focuses on giving talks, workshops, he has a podcast, he has written a book and is writing another book, and he’s really trying to help people learn how to be bold. He has developed a systematic approach to learning and teaching that is easy to consume and built upon the five elements of excellence – vision, values, success, accountability, and surroundings.

In this episode, they discuss where he got the nickname “The Spaniard,” (5:00), when wrestling came into his life (7:50), what his childhood was like (9:50), his mom (11:00), the values his parents gave to him (12:30), if he’s more like mom or dad (13:45), how he’s an emotional person (14:30), how he thinks about judgment and following what others do (18:30), his experience as a wrestler (22:00), if he liked wrestling (25:00), where the idea of sacrificing something now for something later came from (28:30), when he started to gain awareness (30:15), what triggered exploration into self-awareness (32:30), his thoughts on lifelong learning (35:30), how he sets his mind in different areas of his life (38:50), shifting from the preparation to performance mindset (43:30), why he went into teaching (44:30), what allowed him to change his mindset when performing (48:20), why he doesn’t still fight (50:50), how he leverages his warrior mentality (52:20), his lowest point and what he learned from being there (53:30), the brightest moment (56:40), his perspective on if his kids wanted to be MMA fighters (1:00:00), and his current business (1:02:20)

Thank you to Charlie for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check out his book, “Driven: My Unlikely Journey from Classroom to Cage,” and also be on the lookout for his next book, “Becoming the World’s Toughest Lifelong Learner.” He also does speaking engagements for youth and for corporations. He has a show called the Spaniard Show and you can check out everything he does on his website at https://charliespaniard.com/ and charliespaniard.com/email is a great way to get signed up to receive his content.

Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

-Brian