In this edition, Joe shares:
The moment everything changed in the back of a taxi
How one person’s quick action saved his life
Why grit starts with who you have beside you
Hi, Joe here, writing from a New York taxi somewhere between meetings. Funny how life circles back. Every time I get into one of these cars, I flash back to Riyadh.
One moment I was running full speed through back-to-back business calls. The next, I was slurring my words and couldn’t move my arm. No warm-up, no warning—just like hitting a wall mid-race. I was having a stroke.
The man sitting next to me was Filip, the founder of Q Agency. Before I even understood what was happening, he was on the phone with emergency services, directing the driver, keeping me talking and conscious. He didn’t hesitate or freeze, but instead acted fast, and that fast action saved my life. You don’t forget that kind of moment, or that kind of person.
The Stoics had a term for this sort of awareness: memento mori. Remember that you will die - which is not to be morbid, but means to live sharper. Marcus Aurelius said, “When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” That day in Riyadh made those words real. We don’t control when the blow comes, we only control how ready we are for it, and who’s standing beside us when it hits.
That experience left an impression deeper than any pitch deck ever could, because when someone shows up for you in your weakest moment, you know they’ll show up when the stakes are business, not survival.
Later, Filip and his team at Q ran a full technology due diligence on Spartan from top to bottom. They uncovered weak points, streamlined our systems, and handed us a roadmap that changed how we operate. This is a business example, but it reminded me that persistence isn’t just about pushing harder, it’s about removing friction, getting the right people in the room, and refusing to accept blind spots. In this case, it meant:
32% lower infrastructure costs
47% faster deployments
Projects delivered twice as fast
That’s part of what inspired my next project: Persist, a book I’ve been outlining on the last four and a half years of chaos. Rebuilding Spartan through storms, setbacks, and close calls. This won’t be the filtered version, but the Hard Way one.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.” – Seneca
My advice to you is: if you want to prepare for your own “Riyadh moment,” start now. Build the habits, train the mind. That’s why we created The Hard Way Journal - a daily repetition for driving discipline, gratitude, and focus. I wrote about it here, if you’re interested.
You Ask, Joe Answers
Q: “Joe, how do you recover from something that almost kills you?” — Tina T.
A: "You don’t recover, you rebuild. The doctors said I’d never run again after getting thrown from a car at 85 miles an hour. I didn’t listen. I trained blood flow, rebuilt strength slowly, and refused every limit they tried to hand me. Pain’s a teacher. Listen to it, then move." — Joe
Just remember, the time will come where you get hit with something. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it always comes - because that’s how it all works. The question is: will you be ready?
Who will be beside you when it does?
Hurry up, Joe
