Experimenting Without Limits with Chris Sparks

Chris Sparks joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Chris is the founder of The Forcing Function which is a company empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs by transforming the way they think about work. Chris was once ranked in the top 20 in online poker and we’ll talk about his experience playing online and in-person. Now he trains executives on some of the tactics he used to develop a competitive edge so they can reach their highest limits. Chris is a journeyman who has experienced the world, but he is also grounded having done a lot of work on himself. Chris is currently hosting workshops and retreats around NYC and he is helping clients consistently perform at their peak, accelerate business growth, and build lives with greater freedom and purpose. In this episode, we discuss his upbringing (4:30), his hobbies (9:10), the values his parents passed down to him (12:30), when he became interested in marketing (14:20), when he thought he could play poker full time (15:40), how people reacted when he said he was going to play poker full time (19:20), why he was always trying to be more (22:10), how he handled becoming with being present (28:30), his habits (31:20), his nightly routine (35:40), the differences in online vs. in-person poker (37:00), how his game changes online (39:30), his thoughts on Rounders (43:30), his mindset when preparing vs. performing (45:50), his decision to shift out of poker (47:10), what he was like when he stopped playing poker (51:40), how his life has changed in his new career (57:20), and the power of being in service to others (1:02:30) Thank you to Chris for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check out his website https://www.theforcingfunction.com/ where you can get the “Experimenting Without Limits” workbook and take his performance assessment. You can find him on all social media channels @SparksRemarks. If something resonated with you, please feel free to reach out to Chris directly. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian