Retired Lieutenant Commander From Deep Below in a Nuclear Submarine to Deep Truths of Life EP80

Welcome back to the 80th episode of Rumbling Facts Podcast where cultured truth meets real growth in mentality, spirituality, and knowledge. In this powerhouse episode, your host Sam—aka DjRetsam—sits down with Matt DiGeronimo, a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander who mastered leadership in one of the most high-pressure environments on Earth: nuclear submarines. But this episode goes far beyond military insights. Matt has transformed his submarine experience into life-changing leadership strategies for business, self-development, and decision-making under stress. With a background steeped in discipline, clarity, and relentless focus, Matt now helps organizations and individuals develop Extreme Operational Excellence—and today, he brings that blueprint directly to you.

Together, Sam and Matt dig deep into the truth about pressure, leadership, and growth. You’ll hear what most people get completely wrong about life aboard a submarine, and how Matt developed the mental toughness and emotional discipline to lead a crew where failure isn’t an option. He shares how “disciplined listening” and not needing the loudest voice became some of the most powerful tools in his arsenal—and how these same skills can help anyone navigate relationships, teams, or boardrooms. Matt doesn’t sugarcoat reality. In the Uncomfortable Truths segment, he confronts the messy parts of leadership—the biases he had to unlearn, the moment he realized he was the villain in someone else’s story, and a raw look at how society celebrates systems and values that are often completely backward.

Sam pushes the conversation further with questions about weaponized certainty, echo chambers, and why nuance has become so rare in our divided world. Matt breaks down why the obsession with “being right” actually poisons real communication—and how to apply the 20/60/20 rule to decide when to speak, lead, or walk away. The idea of “mental judo” becomes a key theme, showing how to influence without resistance, and how even small shifts in language can have massive ripple effects on thought, culture, and relationships. This isn’t just theory. Matt shares real stories from both the submarine world and corporate life where these tools saved missions, avoided disasters, and unlocked performance under pressure.

We also dive into his books—Breadcrumbs, Dear Hunter, and Suck: We Struggle, Therefore We Are—and explore the wisdom he hopes to leave behind not just for readers, but for his own son. He talks about the value of discomfort, how leadership begins with the self, and why struggle has become his greatest teacher. In the Critical Thinking segment, Matt unpacks how he trained himself to see nuance, spot blind spots, and make bold decisions even when intuition flew in the face of logic. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, coach, veteran, or just a curious soul trying to level up, this episode hits hard. It’s for the ones who want real wisdom—not fluff—and who understand that truth doesn’t always come gift-wrapped.

So if you’re ready to challenge your assumptions, sharpen your thinking, and learn how to lead yourself like your life depends on it—this conversation is your wake-up call. Tap in, subscribe, and don’t forget to like the video—it helps the tribe grow. Welcome to Rumbling Facts, my dogs. Let’s get it.

Matt DiGeronimo
Website
https://beyondplatitudes.substack.com/
LinkedIn URL
https://linkedin.com/in/mjdigeronimo
YouTube URL
https://youtube.com/@mjdigeronimo

Your Host = Sam Gladu @DjRetsam @Retsam64
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