Order of Man - 141： Live Life on Your Terms ｜ Hunter McIntyre

00:00:00.000 There was a time in my life when I felt as if I was living for everybody else. I woke up to a

00:00:05.380 marriage that was in shambles, a business that was failing a bank account. It seemed to be in

00:00:10.880 the red more often than it was in the black and a lifestyle I hated. That has all changed for me 0.69

00:00:15.440 and my guest today, Hunter McIntyre, although taking a different path was also living a life

00:00:19.800 other than what he really wanted. And that was until he found obstacle course racing

00:00:24.280 and the passion for life that you're going to hear in his voice.

00:00:27.080 Today, we talk about how that discovery of his changed his life, how to identify where you need

00:00:32.840 to grow the most, the power that comes in trying new things, and how to live life on your terms.

00:00:38.580 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart

00:00:43.420 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not

00:00:49.300 easily deterred, defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are.

00:00:56.140 This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:01:01.240 you can call yourself a man.

00:01:03.900 Men, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Mickler, and I am the host and the founder of

00:01:07.980 this podcast, The Order of Man. What an amazing, an amazing couple of weeks for me that has been.

00:01:13.340 I just got back from my very first hunt in Texas. I know a lot of you guys who listen to this show are

00:01:18.560 hunters, and I had some success there. I took two bucks, one with my rifle, one with my bow. That was an

00:01:23.360 exciting time. I'm going to talk with you about that in an upcoming Friday Field Notes. But between

00:01:28.240 that and trying to get back on top of everything this week and Thanksgiving and the couple events

00:01:32.960 that we have coming up, things are extremely, extremely busy, but I wouldn't have that any

00:01:37.140 other way. For those of you guys who are joining us for the first time, I do want to welcome you.

00:01:42.000 This is a show about becoming a better man, a better protector, provider, and presider over

00:01:48.500 ourselves and those that we have an obligation and responsibility for. So each week to that end,

00:01:53.380 guys, we are interviewing some incredible men from all walks of life. This week is no exception,

00:01:58.140 and we're going to deliver those conversations straight to you each and every week. Now,

00:02:02.540 I do have a couple of quick announcements before we get started and into the main conversation today.

00:02:06.920 If you haven't heard of our meetup yet, you need to make sure you get registered. Do that quickly.

00:02:12.080 We're starting to fill up, and those spots are going to go. So we're going to be hosting this

00:02:16.820 meetup in Nashville, January 26th and 27th. This is also a book launch party. A lot of you guys know

00:02:23.240 about the up and coming book that's going to be available in February. So when you register for

00:02:28.220 the meetup, you're going to get an early signed copy of the book, and then you're going to join me

00:02:32.720 and a hundred other guys or so for a couple of days of brotherhood and camaraderie and gaining

00:02:38.680 access to the tools and the resources and the conversations and the men who are going to help you

00:02:43.220 on your journey to become a better man. You can do that at order of man.com slash Nashville.

00:02:47.640 Again, order of man.com slash Nashville. I hope to see you there. Now, outside of that,

00:02:52.840 make sure that you subscribe to the show so you never miss a single episode. And if you would do

00:02:57.540 this for me, do me a favor, just share it with the other guys that you know, who could use the

00:03:01.420 information that we're sharing. And of course the mission behind the order. Now guys, today I have

00:03:06.060 the privilege of introducing you to Hunter McIntyre. He is a professional obstacle course racer.

00:03:12.080 He's a two-time winner of Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge, and he's one of the highest paid

00:03:17.140 obstacle course racers in the world. What's even more interesting is that what you might recognize

00:03:22.140 in Hunter today was nowhere to be found when he was younger. Most of his younger years were spent

00:03:28.120 doing drugs, getting drunk, run-ins with the law. He had several rehab stays, but eventually he found

00:03:34.000 his way into modeling, working with companies like J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch. But it really wasn't

00:03:39.900 until he found obstacle course racing that he truly transformed his life. I just watched this

00:03:46.080 guy compete in the Spartan World Championships in Tahoe. He is the real deal. It's pretty incredible

00:03:50.860 for as big a guy he is. He's loud. He's in your face, but there is no doubt he thinks big. You're

00:03:56.860 going to hear one of the announcements he has. And of course he lives life on his terms.

00:04:02.800 Hunter, what's going on, man? Thanks for joining me on the show today.

00:04:05.420 Hey man, happy to be here. Thank you very much for having me. It's been a while in the scheduling.

00:04:09.000 It has been a while. I know we've just played phone tag and back and forth, man. We just talked

00:04:13.340 before I hit record on this podcast and you are a busy man, my friend.

00:04:17.900 Well, yeah, it's interesting between a couple of ventures in television and the OCR industry

00:04:23.320 really blossoming. It's something that kind of has fully taken over my schedule, but I get a few

00:04:28.840 days down in between and it's nice to be able to sit with somebody like yourself and talk about the

00:04:32.580 world. Well, I'm excited to dig in. I've got a lot of things I want to talk with you about today,

00:04:36.920 but I think the way we need to lead this thing off is they call you the sheriff. And I'm really

00:04:40.880 curious as to why they call you the sheriff. What's behind the name, man?

00:04:44.120 Honestly, it was a party persona in college. It was something that me and my friends really just

00:04:49.520 enjoyed laughing about, kind of just getting ourselves into trouble. But then when I came

00:04:54.900 out to California, I started racing and started to kind of get a little bit more intense.

00:04:59.480 I kind of started to really live the lifestyle of like, you know, being one of these wild men and

00:05:03.840 kind of living in the world, like I might be a professional wrestler type attitude.

00:05:08.120 And I just put it down. I think like kind of all of the most badass dudes in the world,

00:05:13.680 like The Rock and, you know, Mr. T, those kind of names, those guys, they have their names for a

00:05:19.140 reason and it kind of really adds to their character and their lifestyle. So I just kind of put it in

00:05:23.200 there and it's been working ever since. But I don't think that this is just a persona. I mean,

00:05:28.680 getting to know you and researching and understanding a little bit more about what

00:05:32.740 you're about. I mean, you live this attitude. It's not a persona. This is your life. I'm really

00:05:36.560 curious as to where this drive and ambition and motivation, and we're going to get into some of

00:05:41.140 your races and the things that you're doing. But I'm really curious where all this comes from, man.

00:05:46.240 Honestly, I came from a family where success was something that was on the dinner table. And,

00:05:54.160 you know, if you didn't put your fork in it first, somebody else would. And I grew up with

00:05:58.940 three older brothers. My father was very ambitious and competitive. My grandfather's the same. You

00:06:05.120 know, not to say that the women in my family weren't as well, but, you know, I kind of learned

00:06:09.540 from the men and it kind of absorbed that attitude of masculinity and also having, being the first

00:06:16.660 person in line is always the best position. So I just was the person who kind of really fed off

00:06:22.060 that kind of attitude and lifestyle. And, you know, my, my dad was a Harvard graduate and he

00:06:28.500 ran big media businesses. My brothers are doctors, lawyers, hedge fund men. And I just, I didn't have

00:06:36.100 that in my blood. I didn't want to be that person, but I also didn't want to be the person who was

00:06:40.560 going to not have anything to talk about at the dinner table. I wanted to be the guy who was

00:06:45.720 appreciated and also respected across the board. So my real strength with us was athletics and just

00:06:52.980 kind of my all around courageous attitude towards life. You know, whether it be getting on a skateboard

00:06:58.720 and jumping the biggest stair set, whether it be on the wrestling mat or, you know, hanging out with

00:07:04.140 a bunch of friends at a frat party and arm wrestling, it had to be something where I was always

00:07:09.840 challenging myself to be the greatest in the room. And I couldn't really understand what day started

00:07:15.600 it, but I just was born with it. And, uh, I've refined it now. And I think it's something that

00:07:20.560 you can always improve upon. And I always try to tell that to people who look up to me and reach out

00:07:24.860 to me and say, Hey Hunter, how'd you get to be so like yourself? And I'm like, well, dude, you gotta

00:07:30.060 work on it every single day. You know, I wake up and I'm sore and it hurts and it's hard,

00:07:34.800 but, um, it's a, it's a process and you grow, it grows on you. Yeah. I'm really curious how

00:07:41.100 this was received by your family. Cause you talk about your dad being a Harvard business grad. You

00:07:45.820 talked about doctors, lawyers. I think your grandfather maybe is a military man. So you

00:07:50.540 come from this very rigid, maybe structured environment. I don't want to put words in your

00:07:54.800 mouth. And then you've got you. I mean, are you looked at as the black sheep? How does your family

00:07:59.300 receive this compared to maybe the rest of them, if you will? Well, I would say black sheep was 0.92

00:08:04.640 definitely the start of it all. My mother would come to me and be like, Hunter, would you please

00:08:09.640 just stop this and go back to college? Like it will, it will be so much better for you.

00:08:15.280 I don't think my mom was trying to get in the way of my success, but I think she just didn't

00:08:19.740 understand it. She was, she was just terrified by the idea of why it wasn't taking the normal path

00:08:26.180 of what everybody else in the family was doing. And my brother and my father, Garrett and my father,

00:08:31.880 Douglas, they were the first people to ever like kind of really sponsor me. They said,

00:08:35.660 Hey, look, you're a pretty bad-ass dude. We'll put a couple of dollars behind you. And they paid

00:08:39.460 for my flights and hotels to a couple of these races. From there, I kind of, I flew my own kite

00:08:44.040 after that. But I think everybody in my family really respects it now. It took a while because

00:08:49.080 it's a pretty crazy industry to get into. It's a little bit odd to say that I told them, I was like,

00:08:53.300 I'm going to become the best mud runner in the world. And not many people put that into a sentence.

00:08:57.560 And it was hard for them to really fathom that that was going to be a job. But now my parents

00:09:02.960 see me on television all the time. My mom's a real estate agent. They'll say, wait a second,

00:09:07.460 are you Hunter McIntyre's mother? And they'll be like, we saw him on television the other day.

00:09:12.180 So I think my family finally understands that it's, it's something that is real and is something

00:09:17.840 that they, they can all appreciate and be proud of. So I hope that answers your question. I'm not a

00:09:22.760 black sheep anymore. Yeah, no, it answers my question. I'm really curious what you would say

00:09:27.060 to the guys who are starting a new business or going their own path, because we have these

00:09:32.900 conversations a lot. And I think a lot of guys feel like they're entitled to their family or their

00:09:38.020 friends support. But based on what you're saying, in a way you had to earn that because now you're

00:09:43.380 one of the top earning obstacle course racing athletes in the world. Is this something that

00:09:49.020 has to be earned? What would you tell a guy that's trying to go his own path?

00:09:51.980 I would say that I think it's more exciting to have someone tell you that it's not going to work

00:09:57.940 out than it is going to work out. Like, I'm not going to lie. I don't like it when people come up

00:10:02.280 and they're like, Oh my gosh, you're so fricking amazing. Like you did so well in this, or you're

00:10:06.740 going to do so great at that. That right there kind of doesn't really appeal to me because it doesn't

00:10:13.300 give me a reason to work harder. It gives me a reason to take it easy and think to myself,

00:10:18.460 well, all these people think I'm so great that it's just going to work out. Having people like

00:10:24.700 reach out and pat you on the back constantly isn't necessarily what you should be looking for.

00:10:28.680 I think really that you take that kind of grain of salt that comes with it all and you work with

00:10:34.840 it. You make it more part of your passion and it's always going to be hard. You know, I've tried

00:10:39.440 to start a couple of small businesses and I've gotten involved in gyms and stuff. And a lot of people

00:10:43.520 have said, no, don't do it. Don't do it. Some of them have certainly been failures. I've lost a lot

00:10:48.000 of money and a lot of time, but the ones that have been successes, you know, it's yours and it's

00:10:53.540 something that you and you only can really say to yourself that I did this. So I look more for those

00:10:59.620 kinds of opportunities than I don't. You know what I mean? Like I, I'd rather have somebody get in my

00:11:04.420 way a little bit and tell me it's not going to work out. Well, and one thing that I see from my

00:11:09.280 perspective is that you're always willing to push the bounds and you're always willing to try

00:11:13.300 something new, regardless of how wild and crazy it's going to be. How do you determine what you're

00:11:17.500 going to do next? Like what is the next adventure in your life? You know, I'm a big time reader.

00:11:21.740 I spend a lot of time, oddly enough, on Twitter and trying to find source information of just like

00:11:28.140 kind of the wildest challenges. Then I spend a lot of time on the phone with my friends and I will

00:11:33.540 kind of spitball with them and try to figure out what would be the craziest idea and what could we do

00:11:39.100 next? And I have a lot of free time on my hands and I just allow this stuff. I have a pad of paper

00:11:44.580 everywhere I go and I'll write out goals of what I want to do or what might be crazy or what kind of

00:11:50.240 storylines I would like to make out of things. And it kind of just is my imagination, to be honest.

00:11:55.680 I've gotten out of the boundaries of what a typical season would look like for me. And the majority of

00:12:02.140 the athletes in our sport will only do certain championships to get certain points, to get certain

00:12:07.840 money and certain titles. I've walked out of that because I really would like to define my life

00:12:13.980 in ways that would challenge me and that I can look back and really realize that I have done

00:12:21.240 everything that I wanted to do rather than what other people wanted me to do. Like an example I'll

00:12:25.740 tell you right now is on my desk in front of me right here, I only have medals and race bids of races

00:12:32.440 that I didn't do well in. Like this Chamonix race is a mountain bike race. It's the hardest one in the

00:12:38.000 world. You go across the French Alps. I quit halfway through and it destroyed me. I have that on my desk

00:12:44.320 every single day because it makes me recognize that that's something I didn't finish. I need to go back

00:12:49.460 and do and it challenged me more than anything. But I have in my closet where no one looks, tons of gold

00:12:55.000 medals, plaques, covers of things that I've been on. And I put those things in the closet because I don't

00:13:00.480 need to look at those anymore. I look at things and try to reach out to things that I've lost that

00:13:05.020 or I haven't done yet or scare me. So once again, I hope that answers, but it was a long answer.

00:13:11.480 One thing that you said is this idea of storylines. I'm really curious what you mean by that,

00:13:16.060 because I think when I hear that, I think it's somebody who's literally crafting the story of

00:13:20.760 their life. Help me understand and wrap my head around that a little bit better.

00:13:23.560 About the storylines?

00:13:24.740 Yes.

00:13:25.660 One of my mentors tells me that, you know, this is not a dress rehearsal.

00:13:29.200 You only have one chance. So for me, I really try to take it into the idea that I'm part of a

00:13:36.540 show. I really try to think to myself that if I was watching this or people were watching me,

00:13:42.780 what would they really be amazed by? And I try to make it the most exciting,

00:13:49.140 most hysterical thing that I could ever be a part of. Now, that might not necessarily be a write down

00:13:54.520 of like how Hunter's going to get a gold medal, but do it while wearing like pink tights. Not that

00:14:00.060 kind of stuff, even though that would be funny. It's more so me saying to myself that I'm going

00:14:05.260 out to go race this Swim One World Championship over in Sweden. And I don't really have a chance,

00:14:10.980 but I'm telling everybody that I do have a chance. And I keep on going online and telling people that

00:14:16.240 I'm going to beat the crap out of those Europeans. And I'm going to do it in an American way. 1.00

00:14:20.320 And I'm going to do it for the rest of the world to see how great we are at it. And no Americans 1.00

00:14:25.840 have ever won that title. Now, I'm a pretty fit dude, and I've got a good chance, but I wouldn't

00:14:31.460 say that I'm the number one pick. And I write that storyline in my head, and I build it up so much,

00:14:36.680 kind of like Rocky. The story of Rocky just being underground, working hard, and these montages,

00:14:42.920 I build it all out in my head because that right there gives significance to it. And even though

00:14:48.060 nobody else might be watching, in my mind, I've created this gigantic story of why it's going to

00:14:53.840 be a great success. And it may sound like a crazy person doing it, but it's really guided me in the

00:14:59.040 right direction. And I put that really towards a lot of the things I do because that's the only way

00:15:04.640 I can really give energy to it is like 110% and on these grandiose scales.

00:15:10.100 Have you ever done anything like this where you've either fallen short or it's backfired and walk me

00:15:15.200 through that experience? Oh, 100%. I lose all the time. I did a show called Boundless a couple

00:15:21.980 years ago where I signed up and I thought I was Mr. Tough Guy. And it was these 10 episodes of going

00:15:30.660 to do all the hardest races in the world. They were all super long distance and the craziest weather,

00:15:36.160 the craziest terrain, the craziest obstacles, whatever you had in front of you, it was just

00:15:40.800 above and beyond. And I dropped out of four of the races and it was on television. I looked like

00:15:46.920 a total fool. But I also was talking up a big game the entire time I was doing them like, oh man,

00:15:52.540 I'm going to win this race. I'm doing so amazing. And a lot of the time I got embarrassed, but never

00:15:58.040 once did I ever look at that and say, maybe you should shut your mouth next time. I said, maybe you

00:16:03.940 should train a little bit harder and maybe you should be a little bit more prepared. So the next time you

00:16:08.560 go run in your mouth, you're going to prove people wrong. And that was pretty embarrassing to have to

00:16:13.520 drop out of all those things. Like, you know, I haven't been beaten by a lot of girls, but I was

00:16:17.460 humbled by my friend Rory who was on the show and she's probably the best ultra endurance athlete in

00:16:23.180 the world for chicks. And she beat me on, I think every single race, but one of them. So I teased her a lot 0.98

00:16:30.140 saying that I was going to whoop the crap out of her, but she beat me every time. And I learned my lesson.

00:16:34.920 It sounds like this persona that you have and the way that you communicate and even hype yourself up

00:16:41.360 is more for you than it is for anybody else. I think a lot of people from the outside looking in

00:16:46.520 would say you're trying to get at other people or whatever it may be, but it sounds like it's

00:16:50.500 the opposite. You're trying to hype yourself up and prove to yourself you can do it.

00:16:55.340 Yeah. I think that the most important streamline of communication has to be with yourself.

00:17:00.040 I mean, you can't ignore the rest of the world, but it's you and you only. And those really

00:17:04.620 tough times that you have to really fall back on. And if your mindset and your communication

00:17:09.780 line between yourself and some of those deep, dark places is weak or just, you know, not refined,

00:17:16.380 then things are really going to get bad. But I'm not, I wouldn't say I'm much of a meditator,

00:17:21.960 but I will sit down and I will do kind of powerful, positive self-talk in the mornings.

00:17:29.840 Like this morning I sat down for 10, 15 minutes and I just repeat lines over and over to myself.

00:17:36.800 Now that could be in ways of just saying that, you know, going through certain obstacles,

00:17:41.260 preparing myself for certain ways that I'm going to talk to people, really kind of going

00:17:45.600 over places where I failed before and just saying that you can do better here. You're stronger

00:17:50.280 than that. You will be better next time. And I talk to myself constantly. And those lines really

00:17:58.220 end up showing up and coming to me when I'm in the, in the toughest moments. It all of a sudden,

00:18:03.520 when I rely back and think to myself like, Oh man, you're going to fail this. Instead,

00:18:08.060 that line that I rehearsed like a dozen times in my head ends up being the words that come into my

00:18:13.220 mouth at those points in time. And it makes a big difference. Yeah. I mean, I know this has been

00:18:17.540 true for me. I've talked with the guys about an experience that I had doing the Spartan-a-goge,

00:18:21.960 which I'm sure you're familiar with. Have you participated in the Spartan-a-goge yet?

00:18:24.720 No way, Jose, man. That is, that is some crazy people stuff. You did it?

00:18:29.620 I did it. Yeah. I did the summer one too, the class two for the Spartan-a-goge.

00:18:34.060 Yeah. You met my friend Dylan. I think he was one of the coaches for that thing.

00:18:38.120 Okay. Yeah. It was brutal. And I remember there was certainly times where I was,

00:18:42.480 it's a little scary to look back and think about how close I was to giving up. But

00:18:45.560 rather than the lines, the things that I went back to was the visualization of being able to

00:18:51.160 get on the phone and tell my kids I hit all 60 hours. So I definitely can see what you're saying

00:18:55.820 there and how powerful that can actually be. For sure. For sure. That's honestly the greatest tool

00:19:01.480 I think that anybody can have is really rehearsing those things. So obviously you have your skill set

00:19:07.460 as well. You have mentioned the word refine a couple of times now. And based on me knowing a

00:19:14.800 little bit about who you are in your past, it sounds like you are the same person, but you

00:19:19.540 refined a lot of who you are and even a way honed who you are to, I guess, serve yourself better and

00:19:25.800 maybe those around you. Can you talk to me about the process of refining yourself and how we might

00:19:29.740 do it for ourselves? Man, that is the golden question. For me, I would say I really started to

00:19:38.020 understand that idea when I watched Pumping Iron a couple of years ago, many years ago. And I saw

00:19:44.600 Arnold Schwarzenegger talk about how he was not just a bodybuilder, but he was like an artist putting

00:19:50.060 clay on a sculpture. I was really into bodybuilding and modeling at the time. And I, it was very,

00:19:55.880 very applicable to me where I was able to say like, wow, well, that's exactly what you have to do.

00:20:00.680 Ever since then, I've recognized that for me now, I can't say that for people who are business

00:20:07.360 developers and things like that, because I don't have as much experience, but in athletic endeavors,

00:20:12.400 it's always been a way of trying to kind of trim away the fat and find that some things like I

00:20:20.160 write down in a notepad every single day, what I train, what I eat, where I sleep. And I try to

00:20:26.860 keep those metrics in. And that for me is the easiest way of doing it. Now I can tell people who

00:20:31.640 are doing things that are outside of that. It can be very similar. You just have to find ways of where

00:20:37.120 you're spending your time, who you're spending it with, how you're spending it, so on and so forth.

00:20:42.840 And if you start to track those things down, you can really create formulas in your mind of where

00:20:47.580 you're going to become better, become more efficient. And I think you're always the same

00:20:53.240 person. Like someone told me once that you're always the same person. You just get better at

00:20:56.920 being yourself. And that's something that I really hold true to myself. Like I, I think I've always

00:21:02.740 been the same person since I've been five years old and I've really kind of started to develop my

00:21:06.500 mind, but now I'm better at explaining myself. I'm better at really portraying myself in front of

00:21:13.240 certain people. And I can really, I found who I want to be in the highest power, meaning that

00:21:20.500 I used to want to model and I just wanted to be really, really fit and be really, really

00:21:24.560 good looking. But then all of a sudden I said, that's not who I really am. I want to put my body

00:21:29.240 to a different test. So I want to go to athletics. So I did athletics. Now I'm understanding that I

00:21:35.120 really want to do athletics, but I also want to be able to consumer of just how exciting the world

00:21:41.640 can be. So I start to do YouTube blogs and I've even reached out to the WWE and I've, I got the

00:21:48.100 opportunity to work with them and maybe take it into that kind of athletics meets theatrics world.

00:21:53.260 And I keep on refining myself to find where I'm going to be most happy and I'm able to get the

00:21:59.940 most out of myself. So I am never going to be content necessarily from the start, but by the

00:22:06.220 time I get to the finish line, that means the day I die, I've tried out so many different things to

00:22:12.620 the point where my last days on earth, I really know myself to a T and I've also done everything

00:22:18.320 and tried everything to know where my limits are, where my weaknesses are and how to improve on all

00:22:23.940 of those things. And I'd say the most important thing of all of it is I've never been scared to

00:22:28.960 give it a chance in any realm, whatever it might be, even if it means massive failures or great

00:22:34.920 successes, each and every single one of them has this value. Is that part of the way that you define

00:22:39.900 success for yourself is just trying as many new things as possible and experiencing everything

00:22:44.240 that life has to offer? For sure. I think you have to, it kind of breaks my heart when I see

00:22:49.580 somebody go through high school, straight into college and then get a job and hold onto it for

00:22:55.860 the next like 50, 60 years of their life. And some of the people it really might make sense for, but

00:23:01.660 I have noticed a lot with my friends. I'm only 28 years old now. I feel like their lives, they haven't

00:23:07.660 seen any of it because they picked a career path at the age of 15 and now it's almost 15 years later

00:23:14.720 and they haven't really even figured out who they are. They've only figured out how to be a doctor

00:23:20.320 or how to be a lawyer or how to be an engineer. And they haven't seen the rest of the world or really

00:23:26.360 test themselves. So I think I see those people and I want to live the life that they never get through.

00:23:32.740 And I'm not trying to tell anybody who's listening to this podcast, quit your doctor job and go travel

00:23:38.660 the world and test yourself out. But maybe learn a little bit from hearing these words and recognize

00:23:43.800 you have a lot of opportunity and live the years that you have to the fullest, I guess.

00:23:49.140 So through that refining process that you've been going through and sounds like you'll continue to

00:23:53.000 go through, what are some things that you've had to let go of? Whether that's behavior, mindset,

00:23:59.800 thoughts, vices, or even friends, what are some of the things that you've personally had to

00:24:04.640 let go? Well, I'll tell you right now, being in my position, you have to become professional at using

00:24:10.780 the word no. It's very heartbreaking at times. I've had a lot of trouble with relationships,

00:24:16.380 girlfriends, friendships, family, because to be the best of the best at whatever you are is a very,

00:24:24.880 selfish thing at times. And it is very hard for other people to understand the amount of commitment

00:24:30.820 and attachment to your own time that you have to develop. I'm very much like a house cat. When I'm

00:24:37.700 home here in Malibu, you can't get me outside of my house. I need to train. I need to rest. I need to

00:24:44.260 focus. And I need to be so dedicated to my time that when my family wants me, needs to see me,

00:24:53.100 I have to say no. I've missed a lot of funerals, weddings, birthday parties. And it's been tough

00:25:02.400 using that word no. If you want me to elaborate more, you'd have to really repose the question.

00:25:07.540 But I would say that the word no is probably synonymous with the word success.

00:25:14.360 Just a quick break to talk with you about our show sponsor, Stitch Fix. It's starting to get a

00:25:19.180 little colder out there these days. So it's time to pull out the long sleeve shirts, the sweaters,

00:25:23.740 the jackets. And if you need something new this year, it does not have to involve going shopping.

00:25:29.160 I do not want to shop. And this is why this is such a great solution. You can get your cold weather

00:25:34.220 clothes from the style experts over at Stitch Fix. They've taken everything that you don't like about

00:25:39.320 shopping for clothes, the malls, the salespeople, the endless options you have to choose from.

00:25:44.400 And they've replaced them with one simple website that does all of that work for you.

00:25:48.280 Just go to stitchfix.com and answer some very basic questions about your sizes, your styles,

00:25:53.420 your budget. Five items are going to be delivered to your home. You try them on,

00:25:56.800 you pay for what you keep, send back anything you don't want. And the best part, there's no

00:26:00.800 subscription you need to worry about or no club that you need to join that you can't ever get out

00:26:04.780 of. Get started now at stitchfix.com slash order of man. And you're going to get 25% off when you

00:26:11.180 keep all five items. Again, that's stitchfix.com slash order of man to get started today, stitchfix.com

00:26:17.120 slash order of man. You've heard me talk about our exclusive brotherhood, but I think it's way

00:26:23.980 more valuable and probably a little bit more credible to hear about it straight from our

00:26:28.340 members. So here's what Kip Sorensen has to say about the iron council. My name is Kip Sorensen and

00:26:34.340 I'm a member of battle team echo within the iron council. I could probably spend a great deal of time

00:26:39.660 explaining some benefits of the iron council. However, I'd like to just focus on one thing

00:26:44.920 that I think makes the biggest impact on me. And I do believe it makes the biggest impact

00:26:49.720 on the other men within my battle team. And it is certainly something that rarely exists in our

00:26:55.220 society today. And that is accountability. Far too often. I think we have people in our lives that

00:27:00.960 just buy into our bullshit excuses. They listen to your reasons. They listen to your stories.

00:27:06.540 Meanwhile, they just use that as fuel to justify their own lack of progress and ownership.

00:27:12.120 Most people live life being victims and not owning the outcomes or the circumstances of their lives.

00:27:18.520 This lack of responsibility, as well as having a limited mindset is at the very center of what

00:27:24.700 holds us back from becoming better men. And that is what we address within the iron council.

00:27:29.700 We identify what we need to work on. We focus on removing that limited mindset.

00:27:34.420 We take responsibility for our lives and we hold each other accountable. I can truly say that I

00:27:40.780 am a better man because the men within my battle team, and that is because they hold me accountable

00:27:45.520 and because we stand for one another. If you are interested guys in learning more and joining us

00:27:51.280 on the mission of becoming a better man, you can claim your seat at order of man.com slash iron

00:27:56.140 council order of man.com slash iron council. Now let's get back to the conversation with Hunter.

00:28:01.520 I'm really interested in going into this deeper because we've had guys like Grant Cardone,

00:28:06.900 for example, who just wrote a book called be obsessed or be average. And I think this is very

00:28:11.980 in line with what you're talking about. And then we have other guys who will say everything is more

00:28:18.760 important than me to almost an unhealthy level where it's all service and not taking care of me.

00:28:23.880 How do you reconcile wanting to show up big for yourself and be successful and obsessed with

00:28:29.960 what it is you're doing, but then also finding that time to serve others and participate in

00:28:36.040 things that you also care about? It's a fine line. I know that there's a finite amount of time that I

00:28:41.780 have to do what I'm doing right now. So, you know, I do want to have a family. I do want to really be

00:28:47.860 able to delve into the relationships that I have now deeper, but I know that probably I have about

00:28:54.000 five, 10 more years to really dedicate myself to find out who I am and test my body to its limits.

00:29:00.960 That right then and there is a big thing that's in my mind. But also I probably within those 10 years,

00:29:05.660 I'll find another passion and it will prolong itself and I'll have to dig deeper into whatever

00:29:10.800 that might be. But the idea of dedicating yourself to success is kind of like a stoic kind of thing.

00:29:18.800 It's an idea that, you know, the world and all it has to offer might not be part of your dinner

00:29:25.900 plate. You might only have just one thing to focus on every single night for the rest of your life

00:29:31.640 if you really want to find that path of righteousness and absolution when it comes to whatever you're

00:29:38.820 trying to do. I think those are truly the most epic people you've ever met or the people that they

00:29:45.100 write books about. I mean, Muhammad Ali can't say his own name anymore for Christ's sake because he

00:29:50.340 got beaten into a bloody pulp so many times, but he's recognized as the greatest boxer of all time.

00:29:57.400 Now, do you think he would come to you right now if he was able to tell you and say that I would take

00:30:02.460 that all back just to have my mind now? I don't think he would. And it may sound sad saying these

00:30:09.200 things, but I think these kind of extreme lengths of sacrifice are meant for only a few. And that's

00:30:16.480 why there's only so few people who are so great. And, you know, there's only a few Bill Gates in the

00:30:21.160 world. There's only a few Muhammad Ali's and such as like, you know, so on and so forth. And they might

00:30:27.580 not have these incredible lives that they're able to tell you that are so rich and beautiful, full of

00:30:32.040 friendships, laughter and love. And when it comes to people who sacrifice themselves for everything,

00:30:39.360 you know, there's a place for that in this world. I think there are those people who do need to offer

00:30:43.100 themselves completely because the world needs a lot of help in that way. And, you know, people are going

00:30:49.240 to become better for that. I'll say I'm not that person. I don't have that piece of me that I can just

00:30:55.360 give absolutely everything to the world. And I recognize that and I accept it. So I don't try to get

00:31:01.480 upset when I when I'm the person who's not putting in that kind of time. But I think everyone who's

00:31:06.640 listening to this has to recognize that finding even middle ground between the two of those things

00:31:12.220 is something that you can take yourself down and be very, very happy with in life. But if you're ever

00:31:16.920 going to be somebody who's the absolute best and, you know, to either end of the spectrum, you have to

00:31:23.140 recognize that you're going to have to cut out a lot of things that will get in the way. And that's

00:31:29.560 where I'm at right now. And I'm sure a lot of people are recognizing what I'm saying is

00:31:34.720 both scary and exciting.

00:31:36.780 You say that you're not one of those guys who is willing or able or maybe capable to give

00:31:42.020 everything that you have. But I imagine to some degree, because you've been so willing to put

00:31:46.740 yourself out there and you're so passionate about what it is you're doing, that you do feel like the

00:31:51.120 world needs something from you, whether that's inspiration or motivation or a message. If that's true,

00:31:56.340 what would that be? What does the world mean from you?

00:31:59.380 I don't know. I'll take this in a little bit of a different direction and come back.

00:32:03.340 I will say that I met with a man named Sam Dancer at a competition recently. You should look him up

00:32:08.240 and have him on your show because he's a brilliant man, one of the top CrossFitters in the world.

00:32:12.760 He told me that what I've done with my life as I've led a path and also shined a light on this kind

00:32:19.360 of lifestyle. And he also let me know that there's a lot of people who follow me, look up to me and

00:32:25.740 really need me to continue the story that I'm telling. I told him, I was like, I have a really

00:32:30.780 tough time sometimes really keeping that fire alive and working super hard. But he's like,

00:32:36.400 that's part of the process. And you need to, you know, it's part of your job and your responsibility

00:32:41.560 to continue to carry that torch. For me, if I had to say anybody who's listening to this or follows

00:32:48.320 me closely, I would say that every single day and the rest of your life is an opportunity to make the

00:32:55.920 most of it. Wherever you came from, whoever your family was, whatever your circumstances are,

00:33:01.080 you need to make the most of it. And you always have a chance to just make a complete 180 and do

00:33:07.360 something with yourself that you never thought you could do before. I mean, 10 years ago in August 24th,

00:33:13.920 I was released from rehab. I was sent to rehab after high school. I had lost all my scholarships,

00:33:20.060 all my opportunities because I just kept on screwing up. And I was the biggest mess up in all of our

00:33:25.540 county, if not the state. I was just a mess. Everybody thought I was going down this gutter hole

00:33:31.540 where I was never going to come back from. Now I've completely changed my life in a way that

00:33:36.960 I wouldn't even recognize the person I was back then. It's all because one day I just woke up and

00:33:43.260 said, I can be better than everybody else if I dedicated myself to it. And everybody has that

00:33:48.440 opportunity. You know, if you look at yourself in the mirror and you say, I'm going to become an

00:33:51.840 Olympic weightlifter and you weigh 110 pounds, that might not be the case, but you can find out

00:33:56.440 what you're the best at and really chase that dream. For me, that's what I've done. And I hope that I

00:34:02.220 can show that to people every single day that I'm getting better at it every single day. And I might

00:34:08.420 do another 180 even at this age and I'll find a new path and I'll chase it till the day I die and be

00:34:13.940 content. You know, that's just part of it. Talk to me about this next step on your journey,

00:34:20.020 on your path of the WWE. I mean, tell me how this came about and what that process looked like for you,

00:34:25.160 because that's pretty exciting news. Yeah. I don't know if it's 110%, but it was amazing

00:34:31.000 to take the opportunity to go try out with the WWE. Steve Austin, a friend of mine now through the

00:34:37.640 show that I compete on, he said, go for it, man. Just give it a try. Go learn about it. If you love

00:34:42.840 it, take the chance. If not, you know, at least saw what it was all about. I see where I am right now

00:34:49.360 with my life and I love it. I've reached the top and I'm very content, but at the same time,

00:34:56.000 I'm not a hundred percent. I still have a little bit of room to grow. Part of me wants to take that

00:35:00.720 risk and just kind of hit the restart button and go into this world of wrestling where it's just such

00:35:06.700 an incredibly high level of athleticism, but also a level of showmanship where there's a hundred

00:35:13.920 thousand people in a room who are there to watch you just put them in awe. Part of me wants to just

00:35:20.040 do that. Saying it right now has got me excited. My heart rate's going a little bit faster because I

00:35:25.160 want the challenge, man. It's honestly an incredible, incredible environment. Getting to meet those

00:35:30.280 athletes and the coaches and the amount of work that they put in and to hear the schedule that they

00:35:34.840 have, you recognize that I have to say they're the hardest working athletes on earth. There's nobody who

00:35:40.640 competes as often, as hard as them. It's incredible to see. And I'll admit I'm a little bit scared of

00:35:48.580 it, but if it, if it does come, you know that I'll put my best foot forward. So maybe you'll see me in

00:35:54.420 my tights and ring in the next year. I do. And I don't want to see that man. So, so I think you'd be

00:36:01.160 more excited than you wouldn't. Well, I know my, I know my son would be excited because we'll sit there

00:36:06.960 in the afternoon or take a lunch break and we'll watch some WWE for ourselves. So it's incredible.

00:36:13.160 Yeah, it is incredible. And hopefully we'll, we'll see you there, man.

00:36:16.440 Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

00:36:17.860 So where do you feel like you need to grow most? I mean, you talk about,

00:36:20.820 you feel like you're not a hundred percent and there's room for growth. What does that look like?

00:36:24.060 Where do you feel like you're falling? I don't want to say falling short, but that you need to grow in

00:36:27.660 your life. I'll tell you something that struck me really, really deep. Not too long ago,

00:36:32.040 my friend Bobby opened up this book and it's a book of love cards. I don't know if that's a proper

00:36:38.700 title, but it's called love cards and it's the 52 cards in the deck. And every single card is

00:36:45.300 basically one person. And it's based on your birth date and a few other things. And I ended up being

00:36:51.680 the ace of spades. It says you have this insane hunger to achieve and, you know, accrue riches and

00:37:00.160 all these things, but also you have the greatest opportunity for failure when it comes to

00:37:05.780 spirituality. And that's kind of what we were just talking about. It's like, there's two sides to the

00:37:10.980 coin and I'm so focused on one side of it. I can't even see the other side. And that's kind of

00:37:15.860 my spirituality, my, just my depth of understanding myself, the world, and kind of the connections

00:37:21.860 between all of it. And I think that's probably the next big thing for me is really kind of heightening

00:37:28.460 that sensitivity. And I don't know if the WWE will help that, but it would also put me in front

00:37:33.760 of a lot more people and it would take a lot more pull on different cords. So whether or not it's the

00:37:40.380 job that gets it out of me or just my own personal growth, that's kind of the thing that I'm probably

00:37:45.380 going to have to work on next. Right on, Matt. Hey, well, Hunter, we're bumping up against time

00:37:49.620 right now. I want to ask you a question that I gave you a little bit of a heads up on. And that

00:37:54.200 question is, what does it mean to be a man? I think being a man is to be recognized as

00:38:01.040 successful, caring, loving, and substantial in your community. I'll give a quick example.

00:38:08.040 My grandfather, to this day, we can walk anywhere in Rhode Island and someone will say,

00:38:12.620 doctor, how are you doing? Doctor. And he is respected and loved by everybody he has touched.

00:38:18.320 And to me, that is success. Now, he is not a guy who has millions of dollars or has books

00:38:26.000 written about him or anything like that. But what he's done is he's created a community where he's

00:38:30.260 respected, loved, and he's made an impression on the world, at least in his world. And I think that's

00:38:35.720 what everyone should strive to be. I don't think you need to think about being on the cover of

00:38:39.180 magazines, television shows, or having a big bank account. You just need to affect those around

00:38:43.960 you positively and hold that standard of what it is to be a man.

00:38:48.540 Right on, man. I love it. I appreciate you sharing. Well, how do we track you down? How

00:38:52.000 do we connect with you, learn more about what you're doing, and follow you into maybe what

00:38:56.540 could be the next WWE career for you? Let's just start out by saying you can

00:39:03.340 follow me on Instagram, Facebook. They call me Hunt the Sheriff, as you asked earlier. And

00:39:09.900 I'm very easy to get a hold of. I'm a very talkative person. If anybody listens to this

00:39:14.040 and ever wants any help, just reach out and I'd love to speak with you.

00:39:17.280 Right on, man. We'll make sure we link all of that up in the show notes so the guys can find you.

00:39:20.740 I got to tell you, man, I appreciate you. I've been following you for a couple of years now. And

00:39:24.560 the way that you show up and how you show up is inspiring to me. And it makes me want to think

00:39:30.340 bigger too. So I appreciate that of you. In fact, I think I just got in the mail. Were you just

00:39:35.120 recently on the cover of Men's Health? Or was it Men's? I can't remember. Men's Health? Men's

00:39:39.740 Journal? I was part of Men's Health. I was part of Men's Health. I wasn't on the cover in the near

00:39:44.140 future. But if you flip through there, you'll see some pretty exciting pictures.

00:39:47.940 Right on. Yeah. I got that just a couple of days ago as I knew I was going to have a

00:39:51.280 conversation with you. So that was pretty cool to see as well. So Hunter, I appreciate you, man.

00:39:54.960 Thanks for taking some time, imparting some of your wisdom and joining us for the show today.

00:39:59.200 Of course, man. Thank you for your time. Thanks everyone for listening.

00:40:01.460 Gentlemen, Mr. Hunter McIntyre. I hope you enjoyed this conversation and you're walking

00:40:07.120 away with some ideas to live life on your own terms. If you want the links for this show,

00:40:12.060 you can grab them at orderofman.com slash 141. And if you would, let me know. Let me and Hunter

00:40:17.660 both know what you thought about the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, wherever you are.

00:40:22.220 Let us know what you thought. Again, remember we have our meetup in Nashville, January 26th,

00:40:26.620 27th, 2018. You're going to want to be there. You're going to want to get a copy of the book.

00:40:30.740 And of course, we're going to have all those conversations, brotherhood and camaraderie

00:40:33.740 with that. You can get registered at orderofman.com slash Nashville. And then also, if you would,

00:40:39.340 again, look at the iron council, this is going to be a big life changer. A lot of us are thinking

00:40:43.180 about what we're going to do moving into 2018, no better time to try something new and hopefully

00:40:49.660 look at life a little bit differently in the way that you're showing up in it as a man. Again,

00:40:53.960 Kip had some great things to say about the iron council. And I think you're going to find

00:40:57.860 what he said to be true. When you decide to join us, you can do that at orderofman.com

00:41:02.820 slash iron council, orderofman.com slash iron council. Gentlemen, I will look forward to

00:41:07.720 talking with you on Friday for our Friday field notes, but until then take action and become the

00:41:12.180 man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take

00:41:18.500 charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order

00:41:23.140 of man.com.

Order of Man - November 28, 2017

141： Live Life on Your Terms ｜ Hunter McIntyre

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