161： Saved From Success ｜ Dale Partridge
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Summary
In this episode, Ryan Michler sits down with Dale Partridge to discuss his new book, "Save From Success" and why we should all be trying to learn how to be a better man. They discuss Dale's definition of success compared to society's, why men are hesitant to surrender to a higher power, how to develop a life of significance and meaning, and how we can all be saved from success.
Transcript
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Today, we talk about something we've never directly addressed on this podcast, God.
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Now, before you tune me out, based on that word alone, I believe that regardless of what
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you believe, there is something to be learned in every conversation and every experience.
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That's why when my friend Dale Partridge reached out to talk about his new book, Save
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At the risk of losing a few listeners and receiving a few disapproving emails, I thought
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We talk about Dale's definition of success compared to much of society's, why men are
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hesitant to surrender to a higher power, how to develop a life of significance and meaning,
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and how we ourselves can be saved from success.
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You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart your own path.
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When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.
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You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.
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This is who you will become at the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you
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My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and the founder of this podcast, The Order
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We have got so much going on, and frankly, it's become more than what I thought it would
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It's a movement to impact millions of men across the planet and in turn impact families
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and communities and businesses, and every single one of you who is listening to this
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If you've been around for three years or so, I'm glad that you're here.
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If you're just joining us for the first time today, I am also glad that you're here.
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If you don't already know, again, a show about being a better man, we are interviewing some
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What I do on a daily basis is I go out into the world, onto the internet.
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I find guys who are thriving, warriors, athletes, scholars, New York Times, bestselling authors,
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If they have an interesting story about becoming a better man, about overcoming odds and trials
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and improving their lives, then I want to interview those guys because what we are doing
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is we're extracting their lessons, their wisdom, their experiences.
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We're distilling that information down into a relatively short amount of timeframe in this
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podcast and again, delivering it straight to you.
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And if you would guys, please, if you would go ahead and share this show, share it with
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a friend, a colleague, a neighbor, a brother, a coworker, and then also leave us a review.
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That is how we get the word out about what we're doing.
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So this has grown primarily from word of mouth, from guys like yourselves sharing this with
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other men that, you know, and man, we all know that we need more guys in this fight of
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Now I do want to get into the show, but before I do a couple of quick announcements, I want
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Again, want to thank them for sponsoring the show.
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Now today I have the honor of introducing you to my friend and a repeat guest, Dale
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He talked about turning your passion into your profession.
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It was a great interview, a lot of great feedback from that one.
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And about a month or so ago, he reached out to me regarding his new book and I thought
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it would make for, let's call it an interesting conversation.
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For those of you who may not know, uh, Dale is an extremely successful entrepreneur and
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And what they do at startup camp is teach aspiring entrepreneurs, the ropes, the ins
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I've been following him and his message for a long time.
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And him and I have managed to build a friendship through our mutual work and calling men, frankly,
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to step up and be men in their homes, their communities, their businesses, and every facet
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Thanks for joining me for round two of the discussion.
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I know last week you were, uh, you were down and out last week, man.
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I learned why the flu is killing people last week and it was super intense.
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And yeah, if I wasn't a man in my thirties, uh, if I was a man in my seventies, I can understand
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It was really intense, had a fever for 11 days, but it feels good to be back in action and
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You told me that 4,000 people a week, I think that's what you said.
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I actually didn't tell my wife that during the flu.
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Just cause I wanted to shield her heart from the fear of that.
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But like, you know, USA Today rolled that out and a New York times did an article.
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So I'm thinking, okay, they, they, these people have probably done their research, but yeah,
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And it's obviously mostly older people and mostly, you know, babies.
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But, but I had an eight month old who had the flu with us.
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So we got, we got a four year old, a two year old and an eight month old.
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I got to the point where we were down for 20 days.
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I got to a point where I was going, all right, Lord, what are you teaching me here?
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Because I felt definitely weak and useless for a few days.
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I just felt like God was going, I want you to know what it feels like to be hopeless for
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a moment so that you can understand and empathize with the people that you're going to walk to.
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You know, I talk about manhood and these different things, but I come from it from a more,
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And to be reminded of, of there's people that live like this all the time.
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And there was a moment of hopelessness that I just go, everybody was getting better but
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And I was in the hospital again and had to get a CT scan because they were worried that
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And it was just a moment of just going, weakness is the position and the posture that God loves
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us in, in terms of, because that's where he can be strong.
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And we have to rely on him and not our own strength.
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And it was, it was a humbling moment to say the least.
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Just in terms of, maybe I should say walk with, but in terms of a pastoral figure, right?
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As I'm walking with other families, I know I will be confronted at some point with people
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who are walking in deep waters with sickness and illness and the way that they feel.
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And when you're, you know, 14 days in, you get to that point where you go, I'm starting
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Like this is starting to create a culture in the way that I think and behave for a, on a
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I've been sick, you know, three, four or five days, but to have a fever for 11 days
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and to be down after that for several more days, like it's just something, it does something
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I think this is a really interesting segue and I, and I hate to say that it worked out
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in our favor for this, for this conversation, obviously I don't wish that upon anybody,
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but it's really interesting because you wrote a new book called save from success.
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And one of the things that really stood out to me was, was this term, the word success
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And I bet in a moment, like you've dealt with over the past several weeks, that the definition
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I'll say, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'd really like to hear your perspective
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on what it means to be successful because it probably changes when you're in a situation
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And I, I've been to Iraq and certainly it changes in a situation like that, but I'm
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I mean, the book ultimately shows the two different sides of success in terms of what true success
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is from my definition and what I would say the definition is from the Bible or from a
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Christian perspective and the definition that culture has adopted.
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You know, I actually end the book with, with a statement.
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And I say, culture's distorted definition of success will leave you vacant, broken and
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washing up against the rocks of an empty glass.
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I mean, really, Ryan, this book is about closing the gap between what you say you believe and
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And so I challenge a lot of people about, I go, okay, what you say you believe and how are
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you living the other big question this book asks Ryan is, is the culture's definition
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of success something to seek after or to be saved from?
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And right out of the gate, this book forces the reader to define where they get their sense
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of morality because success implies what we ought to do, right?
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And if you've studied philosophy, the word ought really drives you straight into the morality
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In other words, what is right and what is wrong?
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Because success implies, you know, we're going to chase this direction because it is right.
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So those that are listening right now, how are you defining what is right and wrong?
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That's where if enough people believe it's to be right, then you believe it's right.
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You know, so that's a lot of people have these different things.
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Again, my philosophy is this book is really based off of the Bible, right?
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And for those of you that are uncomfortable with that in terms of just feeling like it's
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going to be a preachy book, it's whether you believe the Bible or not, the Bible is an
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There's so much to be learned from that, whether it's fiction or nonfiction.
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And so, you know, I actually had a gentleman a couple of weeks ago ask me this question.
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Why are you basing this whole book off the Bible?
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You're banking your eternity on the words of this book.
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He really challenged me to kind of come up with a legitimate answer to that question
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and not just like, oh, because I believe it's true.
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And so I thought about it and I realized that first off, I believe that truth as a category
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And the reason I say that is because, Ryan, let's just say that I said, hey, Ryan, I want
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you to leave your studio and I want you to open up the front door of your studio.
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And you walked out and you open up that door and indeed there was a red ball on the floor.
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Would that have been a true statement that I said to you?
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And ultimately, we as humans have the ability to evaluate if something is true or if something
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Now, we determine truth or lies all the time, just determining if something makes sense
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We define if something is true based off of confirmations, accuracies, reason, and harmonies.
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So that's what we're doing when we evaluate if someone's lying to us or if what was said
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We're looking for confirmations, accuracies, reasons, and harmonies.
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It just naturally feels like they're playing with each other, not against each other, right?
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Now, the way that we tell if something is false or unreliable is contradictions, conflicts,
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So we have two ways to evaluate truth right there, right?
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Confirmation, accuracies, reasons, and harmonies.
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And then the second group is contradictions, conflicts, clashes, and failures.
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So I think about this and I'm evaluating this question this gentleman asked me.
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It's 66 books written by 40 different authors over a 1,500-year period telling one pretty incredible
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Now, this is the pinnacle statement I have, Ryan, right here, is that now if the Bible made
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several assertions, one after another after another, that were false in history, that were
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false in philosophy, that were false in theology, and you have such a level of systemic contradiction
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and failure, then you have reason to believe that the Bible is untrue.
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That's how we just have to look at it from a pragmatic statement.
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And this is what I was doing, even when I was kind of evaluating the reliability of what
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The harmony of the Bible is actually quite impeccable if you've read it.
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I mean, there's no other ancient book that is aligned so accurately represented with ancient
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There's literally, I found this out, Ryan, there's modern images of choralized chariots
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lining the bottom of the Red Sea, matching up perfectly with the story of Moses, like
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Currently, right now, there's chariots in the middle of the Red Sea lining up like as if
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they were riding across the bottom of the Red Sea, and they're all lined up as an army.
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There's so many archaeological things like that, that, again, have these confirmations,
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Time is based off of the events of the Bible, right?
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The word AD, Anno Domini, means the year of our Lord.
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Like, the reason it's 2018 is based off of the main character of the Bible's life.
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You know, there's no other book that has predicted the future over and over again from
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the prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah and David to Jeremiah.
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When you see the prophetic schema from Adam to the patriarchs to the prophets all the way
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down to Jesus, you immediately start to see the supernatural.
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Like, when you start reading this book, you just go, whoa, this is wild.
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On the other side is you can't talk about, you can also talk about the unarguable fruitfulness
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of just following the Bible, meaning, like, my parents got a vicious divorce.
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If they would have followed the Bible, that wouldn't have happened.
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You know, my brother at a time was addicted to drugs.
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If he would have followed the Bible, that would not have happened.
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You know, I had anger issues and was a workaholic.
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If I would have followed the words of the Bible, that wouldn't have happened.
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Divorce, adultery, racism, human trafficking, all crime are a result of people who have chosen
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I don't care if you're a New York Times bestseller.
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And Billy Graham had said this fascinating quote.
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He said, it's been ridiculed, burned, refuted, destroyed, but it lives on.
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The Bible is the anvil that has worn out many hammers.
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I want to say that as we start our conversation, because I'm not just choosing the Bible because
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I have an emotional connection or spiritual connection with it.
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The reason I wrote this book is based off of the principle of the Bible, because I believe
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the Bible is true because I've evaluated its confirmations, accuracies, reasons, and harmonies.
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But when we just have that conversation first, then you and I, Ryan, could go into a conversation
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about going whether you believe the Bible to be true in terms of its claims about who Jesus
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is or not, the Bible has an incredible information for men to be great leaders and to live great
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I want to go back actually to something you said a minute ago, which is that there's a
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There's a gap between the way that we, and I can't remember exactly what you said, but
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And this is a question I've asked a lot of people because I agree that gap is prevalent in
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the guys that are listening to this in my life, I'm sure to a degree in your life as
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And so, you know, when you say what you do and you do what you say, that is just someone
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And there's a variety of other reasons why those gaps might be there.
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It might be that you're afraid to actually walk out what you say you believe.
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You don't actually believe what you say you believe.
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So there's a false reality in terms of how you live.
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And again, this is ultimately the grand narrative of this book for me is that I started realizing,
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I go, I believe these certain things about the Bible, but I actually wasn't walking them
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And instead, I was actually walking out a different lifestyle, a lifestyle that is very common
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And I say that because just because something is common doesn't mean that it's normal.
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Again, I'm going to go back to the Bible because I believe the Bible defines what is normal.
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See, it's very common for you to get a divorce.
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It's very common to have disobedient children who disrespect you.
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You should have, as a father, you should have children who love you, who respect you, who
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actually fear you in a healthy fear, but you shouldn't have terrible children.
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So again, I'm trying to take this book and remind people what is normal about marriage,
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about children, about freedom, about relationships, about money, about some of these very basic
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things and going, okay, as a Christian person or someone who's willing to look at the scriptures
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or look at the Bible, am I willing to actually live out what I say that I believe?
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It's really interesting that we're talking about this because what I've seen in our Facebook
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groups and our organizations and the things that we have going on is so many people will
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defend things that I think generally most people know is not necessarily in their best
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One of the things I think about, for example, is pornography.
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And it's amazing to me because I believe it's a distorted view and perception of healthy
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And it's amazing to me how many men will defend that and say it's okay when we pretty well
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know that there is some negative ramifications of pornography itself.
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I really question why we fight so hard against some of these, what I would consider universal
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Yeah, and again, it comes back down to, this is why it's so important as a man to define
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And a lot of us are so busy that we don't ever take the time to consider where do we actually
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You know, because a lot of people that are listening and go, yeah, I was raised in the
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church or I was raised Catholic or, you know, yeah, if God does exist, then it's probably
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Jesus, you know, like you guys kind of have these, I'm agnostic.
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I believe God exists, but I don't know who or which person it claims to be, you know.
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And so that kind of absence on such a critical component of our lives is not good.
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You can't lead anybody in an area that you have not already made a decision.
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Yeah, so yeah, you need to ask yourself, if I die today, what happens?
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It's a serious question that we need to take the time to consider as men.
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Don't get too busy for those kind of questions.
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You know, when your little boy comes and asks you those kind of questions, you need to have
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an answer for him and not like some off-the-cuff kind of perspective.
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Yeah, because I said so, or this is what I thought, go figure it out for yourself.
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If the claims of all religions are true, in terms of if the claims of the Bible are true,
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then we're talking about eternity with your kids here, you know.
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And so it's important that you just spend time evaluating why you believe what you believe
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If you don't believe in Jesus, then determine that you don't believe in Jesus.
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Because then at least you have conviction about that.
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Like, where are you getting the unmovable truths in your life?
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And based off of that, you get to determine what is right and wrong,
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which is what is successful and not successful.
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You know, you talked about success being hijacked and saved from success.
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What do you generally see as the world's definition of success?
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And then how does that differ with your definition of success specifically?
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Well, the cool thing is, is that, you know, the world's definition of success,
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if you just like type in success on a thesaurus, right?
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You're going to get victory, financial triumph.
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Abundance, prosperity, celebrity, you know, good life.
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That's kind of what you're going to get for that in terms of fame, fortune.
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And as shallow as that sounds, don't kid yourself.
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You know, oh, I'm not I'm not that shallow fame and fortune.
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You are that shallow in terms of you are trying to get your influence on social media
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And again, what I've found is in most areas, it's completely backwards, right?
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You know, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God is what the Bible says.
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It hit me hard when it said that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.
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And I just go, OK, what you're saying is that what's popular might not be superior.
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And when the whole world is metaphorically running left, then maybe you need to run right,
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You know, the world says if you make lots of money and you got lots of money in the bank
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account, you're standing on thick ice and you're safe.
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Well, the Bible says if you make lots of money and you got lots of money in the bank, you're
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And so it's just backwards and counterintuitive, right, where, you know, children, children
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are viewed today as kind of like a nuisance, as kind of a, you know, one, none or some in
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Even the words use protection, like we're protecting ourselves.
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It actually says that 134 times that children are a blessing in a variety of different ways.
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You know, do you want to go put a body condom on to protect yourself from fame?
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And so I open up the front of the book and it's an Old Testament scripture that I just
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And it says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord.
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For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
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And so this scripture to me forced me to yield and at least be skeptical of the world's definition
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of success and go, okay, like what if God's thoughts are my, like, like, like I read something in the
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It's uncomfortable to my flesh, but you're saying that this is right.
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Like I have to, there's a faith required in terms of believing that, that this is actually
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the right thing, even if it's unpopular to the world.
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So yeah, like believing that kids are a blessing, you know, and not being determined to not have
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any, you know, or that marriage is a good thing or that having no debt.
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But I could have spent that money on a ton of different things that in my opinion, I could
00:25:35.960
But again, I, I decided to pay off our house and again, it's backwards to the freedom.
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You know, we worship independence, self-actualization and freedom.
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I mean, we work as hard as we possibly can to be as free as we possibly can.
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Like entrepreneurship is all about so that you don't have to answer to anybody and you
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What I've realized is the people with the most freedom end up having the hardest lives.
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They end up having no checks and balances, no boundaries.
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And so for me, having community in the way that, again, you see in the Bible, I have men in
00:26:21.720
my life who have been given permission, who have authority, not just counsel, but authority
00:26:28.700
to speak and for me to listen and submission on how I should live in certain ways.
00:26:35.560
And I don't get to walk just a private life where nobody gets to see in and, and no, I
00:26:43.720
have an insurance policy with men in my life who care about what I do.
00:26:47.880
And if they see me working more than I should be working, they're going to tell me if they
00:26:52.300
see me being angry with my wife, they're going to tell me if they see me making bad decisions
00:26:58.000
with our money, they're going to tell me if they see my wife and my wife tells their
00:27:03.380
wife that I've been irresponsible in some capacity in the home, they're going to go tell
00:27:09.660
their husbands and then they're going to talk to me.
00:27:11.380
And I love it because I have men who look after me and I don't want ultimate freedom
00:27:19.000
Just like all of you men that are listening with ultimate freedom, I want boundaries and
00:27:23.220
I want rules and I want morals and a moral code to follow.
00:27:29.420
And that is, again, a part of this book about going, are we really fighting for freedom or
00:27:34.640
do we want certain freedoms are important, but at the end of the day, accountability is
00:27:43.620
If you have not heard of the Iron Council by now, you might just be missing out on the
00:27:48.040
one, the one critical component of becoming more successful in every area of your life.
00:27:54.760
I think it would be very hard to find a man who didn't believe that having a core group
00:27:59.380
of motivated and ambitious men around him would help him level up in his life.
00:28:04.580
But that said, I think it would be very easy, very easy to find a man who hasn't done that,
00:28:10.180
who hasn't surrounded himself with a band of brothers.
00:28:15.120
It takes time and it takes a lot of energy to find other men who have the same desire to
00:28:20.400
And that gentleman is where the Iron Council comes in.
00:28:24.340
It's a group of men, and we're all committed to doing more than talk about what it is we
00:28:30.000
We're actively working towards it in four main areas of our lives.
00:28:34.200
It's calibration, connection, condition, and contribution.
00:28:38.560
So when you band with us, we're going to give you access to the tools, the resources, and
00:28:43.000
the framework to help you make more money, connect deeply with the people that you care about,
00:28:48.340
learn who you are and how you best show up and every other goal and every other ambition
00:28:54.580
So to join us, head to orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.
00:28:58.580
You can learn a little bit more about what we're up to and of course, reserve and claim
00:29:07.420
Guys, with that said, let's get back to my conversation with Dale.
00:29:14.140
One of the things that you mentioned in the book is you have found that a lot of people
00:29:17.720
don't want to subject themselves to a Lord is the term that you used.
00:29:22.860
And they feel like if I surrender to his way, that somehow that makes me less of a man maybe
00:29:31.800
But it's really interesting through the Bible, through Aristotle, who 2000 years ago talked
00:29:38.340
These are a set of self-imposed limitations and parameters that actually open up opportunities
00:29:44.780
that would be overlooked, I think, and just surpassed altogether as if you strove for ultimate
00:29:51.940
freedom and liberty over every possible decision you could possibly make on a daily basis.
00:29:57.740
Really, the book is broken down into kind of the main categories of how we think or how we
00:30:05.820
So I open up with just this critical introduction.
00:30:12.480
Guys, if you don't know part of my story, I built multi-million dollar companies.
00:30:20.440
I set a goal when I was 18, told my dad that I was going to be a millionaire by the time I
00:30:25.480
And just a few months shy of my 30th birthday, I stood there as a broken, miserable millionaire.
00:30:31.900
So there's nothing worse than chasing, you know, there's a, there's a quote that talks
00:30:36.200
about like, there's nothing worse than climbing the ladder and really like realizing that you're
00:30:48.600
Because I can guarantee you that most men, I'm not going to say all men, but most men,
00:30:53.420
if you're determined to be single, it's because of selfishness.
00:30:58.660
There's a difference between being single because you, you just haven't found the right
00:31:01.640
woman yet and determined to remain single so that you can continue to fulfill your own
00:31:08.000
I talk about children and this is a hard thing, you're right.
00:31:11.280
Because again, in order for us to properly grow older, we have to raise someone younger.
00:31:16.940
And that's what I've learned as a man is that, I mean, you know, Ryan, you're a father.
00:31:20.880
It's an important part of life and it's not something to be avoided.
00:31:28.040
Most of us have to learn how to have the right principles about money.
00:31:33.200
You know, then I talk about purpose, influence, freedom, and youth.
00:31:37.200
This idea that we've elevated the youth above the elderly.
00:31:42.820
Yeah, that was one of the chapters that really stood out to me where we give our youth more
00:31:48.640
I mean, I think about when I was a kid and for anybody to take me seriously would have
00:31:52.900
been laughable and looking back would not have been prudent knowing what I know about
00:31:58.800
Right now, culture says that getting older is depressing.
00:32:01.580
The Bible says that getting older is a blessing, right?
00:32:07.980
You know, gray hair is, he says, it's a wisdom, is a crown to a man.
00:32:12.880
Generally, my life gets better as I get older, as I have more responsibilities, not less,
00:32:17.960
as I learn more, as I develop more and implement more truth into my life.
00:32:27.160
If I don't do what I need to do financially, for example, well, I could potentially lose
00:32:31.240
the house or not put food on my family's table.
00:32:33.760
But generally speaking, those greater obligations have enhanced my life, not detracted from it.
00:32:39.200
And we're trying to constantly hide our age, embrace our age, right?
00:32:43.780
Like if you want to be successful, show the world your age, not your youth.
00:32:47.760
You know, if you want to move quickly, walk slowly.
00:32:50.500
And most of all, if you want to be wise, celebrate the elderly, celebrate age, you know,
00:32:55.640
embrace their pace, care for their position in culture, because one day that position is
00:33:02.040
And so we just have to just remember that, like seeking counsel from older people, walking
00:33:09.760
I mean, specifically with youth, how we glamorize it and uplift them and put them on a pedestal
00:33:18.700
Stanford University professor Robert Harrison, he did a pretty incredible study.
00:33:24.440
He ultimately said that we have become the youngest society on earth.
00:33:30.160
I mean, the young people have become a model of emulation for the older population rather
00:33:37.400
OK, so that's what we're at right now is that like forever 21, right?
00:33:40.920
You know, like we're we're literally the older population is looking down.
00:33:44.500
It's completely backwards to how it should be or how it always has been.
00:33:50.180
I mean, you can look just if you go to the mall, right?
00:33:54.340
You know, you see moms dress like daughters and fathers, you know, dress like sons.
00:33:57.560
And there's just kind of this egalitarian age kind of thing that's going on.
00:34:01.960
And the language is, you know, not different and it's awkward.
00:34:05.300
And, you know, instead of disciplining their children, people are becoming their friends.
00:34:09.220
And there's just a lot of that kind of behavior that's occurring inside of the culture today.
00:34:13.860
I mean, gyms, fitness centers, we've idolized kind of a body that's to be young, you know,
00:34:19.360
plastic surgery, all these types of things are occurring to hide our age instead of embracing
00:34:27.040
Do you think that has to do with fear of being older or the uncertainty of death itself that
00:34:34.380
It's absolutely the fear of death because it is whatever they can do to superficially slow
00:34:40.760
down the process of death because they don't know where they're going to go when they die.
00:34:44.900
People who have a confidence in their faith and have a confidence in eternity are excited.
00:34:53.120
I don't want to say excited, are ready to celebrate death.
00:34:56.360
I don't know if you watched all the Billy Graham stuff.
00:34:58.260
Dude, he was all about, he's like, I'm eager to die.
00:35:01.780
Like, not that he's like trying to go anytime soon.
00:35:05.880
Yeah, I mean, the book of Proverbs says that a wise man thinks of death daily.
00:35:15.260
They haven't taken the time to evaluate their own personal faith and to build that confidence
00:35:20.540
And so instead, what they do is they try to prolong life as much as they possibly can.
00:35:24.680
How do you suggest somebody then begin to identify what they believe about a higher power
00:35:30.780
potentially about their purpose in this world and a potential afterlife?
00:35:34.840
If we just look at just pure numbers, sheer numbers, the Bible is the world's bestseller
00:35:41.320
in terms of just, I would have first evaluate just the Bible and just read the thing.
00:35:56.180
But you know, we're also talking about like eternity here.
00:36:00.360
Like you spend more time building a business than you do thinking about what happens after you
00:36:04.260
Well, I do think it is in a lot of ways easier, at least momentarily to bury your head in the
00:36:09.300
sand and pretend that, you know, we'll just postpone this or push this off and maybe it
00:36:14.340
And quite honestly, that's a little, not a little, it's a lot delusional to approach life
00:36:21.100
And it's just an important thing that we need to prioritize.
00:36:24.160
And so I'm going to fight for the Bible, just going, hey, you should take some time to
00:36:28.680
But like, ask yourself, like, why has some of the smartest people on the planet, I'm
00:36:34.160
talking currently, like some of the smartest people on the planet, go watch a video with
00:36:39.740
I mean, this guy is literally one of the smartest people on the planet.
00:36:42.500
And he believes in God from a pragmatic standpoint.
00:36:45.820
And so if you're the intellectual side, you can go that angle, go look at the most intellectual
00:36:51.160
If you're an emotional side, then you can approach God that way.
00:36:55.100
But at the end of the day, yeah, I don't think that you can define your self-defining success
00:37:00.060
or you're either following someone else's definition of success until you've evaluated and determined
00:37:07.620
And if, let's just say that you are, you know, supposedly 50% of America says that they're
00:37:13.600
And so I guess 40, 50% of this audience that's there says that you're Christian.
00:37:17.400
If you are that person and you do believe the Bible, try to figure out the gap.
00:37:22.040
Is there a gap between how you're living and what you say you believe?
00:37:25.540
Like I, like that was my problem and try to close that gap.
00:37:28.840
The cool thing about this book, Ryan, is it's 19,000 words.
00:37:39.080
I spent a couple hours, sat down, cranked it out, and it was a quick read.
00:37:47.280
But at the end of the day, this is a short book.
00:37:50.700
It's actually, when it comes out, it's a hard case, simple book.
00:37:56.040
And if you can't take two hours to evaluate your direction of success or your direction
00:38:02.640
of morality, then yeah, you've got a problem as a leader, as a man, because it's an important
00:38:06.580
conversation that we should all be having as men.
00:38:10.380
I want to extract one of the topics that you had talked about in the book, and that is
00:38:15.420
Because I think there's a lot of men out there listening to this podcast, and I have certainly
00:38:20.740
I know you have as well, because we've had conversations about this, where you feel like
00:38:25.800
you don't have a purpose, a direction, a course.
00:38:29.940
And I know for me that that has been some of the most difficult times in my life.
00:38:35.400
I feel like I'm aimless, and I'm just wandering around, treading water, not really getting anywhere.
00:38:40.680
How does one begin to identify and find purpose in their life?
00:38:48.420
For me, I kind of put a simple formula down for how I found my purpose and how I continue
00:38:53.420
to reveal that purpose, because I don't want to fulfill my will in this world.
00:39:04.840
I go, well, if it's a calling, who's calling you?
00:39:16.760
But mine is, if you do the obsession with reading the Bible plus fanatical prayer life
00:39:21.680
equals rapid spiritual maturation, and your calling is revealed.
00:39:26.380
That is what it did for me, is that—and again, that's just my pilgrimage that I'm sharing
00:39:31.900
But when you read the word—because what the Bible is, is it is the record of God's word
00:39:39.180
So if you want to hear from God, go pick up a Bible and read it.
00:39:45.440
And so when you read God's word, and you have fanatical prayer life, meaning that, like,
00:39:50.340
for me, guys—and this sounds maybe a little bit weird—but, like, I get on my face and
00:39:55.660
Like, I lay down on my stomach on the floor, and I go, God, tell me what you want in my life.
00:40:05.660
It brings rapid spiritual maturation, and I can prove it because my life is more fruitful.
00:40:20.820
You know, there's fruit from this, and you can't argue with fruitfulness in someone's
00:40:28.980
And when you do that, my calling has been revealed.
00:40:32.280
It's been—for me, it's been like a paragraph of text, and I feel like God's just revealing
00:40:40.640
You're like, can we speed this up a little bit here?
00:40:42.940
There's a quote that I always say that God has far more to do in you than through you.
00:40:49.500
It means that I've literally sat on my face and gone, Lord, use me.
00:40:55.300
Like, I watch guys like Billy Graham and Ravi Zacharias and some of these incredible
00:40:59.240
dudes that are out there that are, like, changing the world.
00:41:06.780
And again, God reminded me, Dale, I have more to do in you.
00:41:10.300
There's more spiritual maturity and development and character development that has to occur
00:41:25.120
And that is very much my experience is that the moment I'm ready to run, God says, no,
00:41:30.460
And we got some stuff to fix internally before you get there.
00:41:34.320
Well, Dale, I know that this is kind of a shorter read based on what you had said in
00:41:41.900
We can't talk about it all for the sake of time.
00:41:43.560
I want to ask you some questions as we wind down.
00:41:45.840
And then, of course, encourage the guys to go pick up a copy of the book, Save from Success.
00:41:49.540
The first question is, what does it mean to be a man?
00:41:51.900
Gosh, I remember you asking me about this before.
00:41:55.460
I think I'm going to drop a quote that is just, I think it's a part of manhood.
00:42:04.060
Reputation is kind of the sum makeup of all things that you are.
00:42:09.960
A quote that I always say is that a bad reputation with the world will cost you your popularity.
00:42:14.680
But a bad reputation with God might cost you your eternity.
00:42:20.240
What I'm learning is that sometimes what is viewed as right in the Bible is viewed as wrong in the culture.
00:42:27.460
And there's lots of moments as the world changes that those are becoming more and more prevalent.
00:42:31.740
And so, remaining strong to my moral compass is becoming a very difficult journey.
00:42:41.900
And the standard of a man is someone who can stick to that moral compass and not stray from that moral code.
00:42:50.300
And define what is right and be able to lead people through morality.
00:42:55.480
And again, it brings us back to that core conversation is that how can you lead people in an area that you haven't defined yourself?
00:43:04.860
Well, how do we connect with you, pick up a copy of the book, and learn more about what it is you're doing?
00:43:08.500
Yeah, so I write on family, faith, marriage, parenting, cultural topics.
00:43:16.220
I have about a half million people that are following me on Facebook and Instagram.
00:43:25.680
And you can pick up a copy of this book anywhere books are sold.
00:43:32.040
And there's like a whole bunch of freebies that come with it.
00:43:34.340
There's a video course that goes with it that you'll get for free.
00:43:36.520
But yeah, the way that I talk generally on the internet is about – there's lots of great moral conversations that I have that are even free of some of the scriptural components.
00:43:48.880
So if you're not a believer in Christ and you're not a Bible follower, you can still absolutely get some value out of the things that I'm – I have lots of people that follow my journey because they just want to hear about what I have to say about parenting or what I have to say about marriage.
00:44:04.900
I'm trying to build an army of righteousness, good godly men, men who are just willing to be fathers and to be great husbands and to be great friends and to be honest and integrity.
00:44:16.280
And it's pretty cool to have as many people as I do following along on that journey.
00:44:22.580
I will say that your Instagram page is one of the best out there.
00:44:26.380
I really get so much from everything that you post about your family life and your business and the way that you view the world, and it's really, really insightful.
00:44:33.660
So, guys, if you're not following Dale on Instagram, make sure you do everything else, but certainly make sure you do that.
00:44:40.240
I've been following you for years, and we've just been connected over the past couple of years now.
00:44:44.280
But I'm always inspired by you, your thoughts, your ideas.
00:44:47.460
You're a deep thinker, which I definitely appreciate and appreciate you coming on the show today.
00:45:01.440
And everybody that's listening, thank you for taking the time.
00:45:05.500
Gentlemen, there it is, my conversation with Dale Partridge.
00:45:08.340
I know that this was probably an interesting conversation for you, may have been even polarizing for a lot of us.
00:45:15.680
I'm not suggesting that you have to obviously take this stuff to heart, but I would have you consider it because I think there's truth everywhere.
00:45:22.540
And I think the more that we can have difficult or uncomfortable conversations, the more well-rounded that we'll become.
00:45:31.060
It's either going to solidify what we already believe or, and this is the second option, is it's going to open us up to new opportunities and new experiences and a new way of looking at things.
00:45:49.260
And I would encourage you to reach out to me, reach out to Dale on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, wherever you are on social media.
00:45:58.780
The good, the bad, the indifferent, what did you enjoy?
00:46:01.280
What are you going to be implementing in your life?
00:46:02.880
What are you going to be changing or doing different?
00:46:05.040
Having listened to our conversation and then, of course, reading his book, Saved From Success.
00:46:09.900
Now, in the meantime, while you're doing that, I would also encourage you to go ahead and take a look at our exclusive brotherhood, The Iron Council.
00:46:16.380
You heard me talk about it about 20 minutes or so ago.
00:46:21.760
It's three hundred and roughly seventy five men right now, all working together towards some common goals and also some individual, some unique goals that we have in our own lives.
00:46:32.760
We're giving the framework and the tools and the discussion and everything else that goes into becoming a better man, better man for yourself, your family, your business, your community, however you choose to look at it in all of those areas.
00:46:44.480
So you can check that out at order of man dot com slash iron council.
00:46:48.380
Now, I put this little announcement here at the end because I just wanted to plant a bug in your ear for those of you who stuck around to the end in September.
00:46:59.280
This is actually going to be a father son event.
00:47:01.860
It's called Order of Man Legacy, and it's designed for fathers with sons between the ages of eight to 15.
00:47:11.500
It's for fathers and sons, sons between the ages of eight to 15, and it's going to be in September.
00:47:18.020
I'm going to give you the details in the coming weeks so you can sign up and register.
00:47:21.140
But I'm telling you, this is going to be an amazing, amazing event.
00:47:24.180
It's a rite of passage in a way for your son and for you in a way to forge a bond that hopefully and the goal here is to last a lifetime.
00:47:38.460
I appreciate you, as always, being on this expedition, being on this journey, if you will, of reclaiming in a society that doesn't quite understand what it means to be a man, teaching all of us, myself included, and learning how to step up more fully in our businesses, our families, our communities, and our lives.
00:47:58.660
So, gentlemen, until Friday, take action and become the man you are meant to be.
00:48:04.080
Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.
00:48:06.540
If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be, we invite you to join the Order at orderofman.com.