What a ride Darren McBurnett (“McB”) is having. After 24 years as a Navy SEAL combat veteran, he then pursued and succeeded as a professional photographer – with no prior experience. His work has appeared in major publications, film, and promotional advertisings. McB was in such superior physical condition, that he developed “Extreme Athletic Heart”, resulting in the need for a pacemaker (He’ll explain it in this episode). This ridiculous turn of events not only didn’t stop Darren from continuing his photography career, but has since authored a book, “Uncommon Grit”, and is a sought-after motivational speaker by major corporations – not to mention – a comic book collector & golfer.
In this episode you will hear:
- Do what you can with what you have. Never make an excuse as to why you can’t do something.
- I would ride my bike 50 miles to go run a 10k, which established my work ethic.
- I would run to school – 3 miles away; then do indoor track; then run to the swim team; then run home 6 miles, and then put on my McDonald’s uniform and run to work.
- I didn’t look around for praise – that’s just who I am.
- The very first lesson I learned was to work smarter.
- I’m naturally good at free fall. When I get in the air, I’m a natural.
- We need Alpha males because our society is getter weaker as it goes along.
- I didn’t know anything about photography, so I decided I wanted to learn.
- To get photos at BUDS, there were a lot of people in the right place, at the right time to make that happen.
- Uncommon Grit came through requests from Instagram & Social Media.
- While on a run at 44 years old on SEAL Team 3, my heart began to fail, and ended up needed a pacemaker due to what was referred to as “Extreme Athletic Heart”, which forced me into retirement.
- A purple smoke photo taken at BUDS (Navy SEAL Training) is how my photography career was launched.
- Never underestimate yourself and never think there’s something out there that you can’t do.
- You’re limited by how far you want to push it. It’s totally up to you.
