Creating Opportunities out of Bad Situations, Building Local Men's Groups, Difficult Conversations with Your Wife | ASK ME ANYTHING
Episode Stats
Summary
In this episode of the Ask Me Anything podcast, I sit down with a good friend of mine, Kip, to talk about his journey to becoming a black belt in jiu-jitsu. We talk about what it takes to become a brown belt, how to get there, and how to stay there.
Transcript
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You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart
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your own path. 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. This is your life. This is who
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you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,
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you can call yourself a man. Kip, what's up, man? Glad to be joining you for another round
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of Ask Me Anything. I think you have a slight glow. I think someone's been messing around
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on the mats, maybe. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't be drawing any attention
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to me. Don't be calling me out. None of that stuff. Just don't worry about it.
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You have a little extra training in here when no one else is training.
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You'll find out when we roll next whether I've been training or not, but I can neither confirm
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nor deny whether I have. I got a message from Marcus. You remember Marcus? He was talking trash
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with you last time he came training. Yeah. He said he was going to choke me with my beard,
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so I cut it off. I'm like, what are you going to do now? Marcus is like, happy Brown Belt Day.
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It's been two years. Has it really? Yeah. And we're chatting this morning. I thought,
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I don't think I'm any better than I was in that photo, and it's been two years. I don't know if
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that's a good sign. What would be an average time for somebody who trains regularly, let's say
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three to five days a week, for them to go from brown to black? Brown to black? I think it's
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probably about average three years. Three years, if you're training three to five days a week
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consistently. Yeah. So for you, it'll probably be like six years, seven years, somewhere in there.
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Got it. Check. For me, we're looking at maybe two years. I got it. Six months. I just want to get on,
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you know, just figure this out. Holy cow though. Yesterday, man, when I rolled, I almost lost my
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lunch twice. Like legit, like my stomach wasn't queasy. I was legitimately on the verge of puking
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out my guts. I was like, and it's only been two months, man. And I'm, and I'm, it's not like I'm
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not active. Like I'm still training. I'm still running. I'm still lifting weights, you know? So
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the cardio is just brutal, but I caught my second wind about four, four rolls in and felt actually
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pretty good. Also known as anger. Yeah. Yeah. Just, yeah. Just got pissed enough that, yeah.
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Well, and what's funny is it doesn't, I don't even know if it's, it's just different cardio,
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right? Cause you, you can have guys that are like runners and then get on the mat and they're just
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like gassing out. So it's just, yeah. I remember that when, so I did CrossFit, uh, for like I
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started CrossFit about five, six years ago and I got pretty heavy into it for a couple of years.
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And then I had a buddy of mine who came down and he stayed with me from Northern Utah and I invited
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him. I'm like, Hey, I'm going to train in the morning. You want to come? He's like, yeah, sure.
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And he's, he's strong. He's physical. He's, he's always in good shape and it just demolished him.
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And I was like, why? I like, I didn't, it was hard for me to wrap my head around, but
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yeah, everything's just so different. And the body's ability to adapt to what you're asking of
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it is, is insane. Like if you're telling it to run, like I think of Cam Haynes, for example,
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the guy runs marathons on his lunch break and people are like, Oh, how can you do that? How are
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your ankles and knees? And he's like, yeah, my, I've just been doing it so long. My body is just,
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this is what I demand of it. And then you have other guys who are in the gym, you know,
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strength training, power, power lifting. I think like Brandon Lilly, for example, and you know,
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he, he adapted to power lifting the way that his, or Chris Duffin is another great example,
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just adapted to what the body required. And then you have jujitsu guys and their bodies adapt to that.
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And then you cross over to something else and it just, you think you're strong. You think you're
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capable and in good shape and you are for what you're doing, but not necessarily for a different
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practice. Yeah, totally. Totally. Cool, man. Well, lucky you. Yeah. Feels good. Yeah. I remember
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I went to your, right before this COVID-19 thing broke out, broke out. And this was how it broke
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out. You came to my gym and that's how it spread. Yeah. I brought it back here to Maine. Dude,
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I've been in the army. I'm an, I'm immune to everything. There's, there's nothing. I probably
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have some parasite or something that kills all the viruses anyway. So, well, I say that about being
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raised on a farm. I'm like, yeah, same thing. How much crap has been through my body? Like,
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yeah, exactly. Like literally crap. Totally. Um, I was, I was thinking about it and it was actually
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funny because I remember seeing something at your gym, in fact, and it said something to the effect
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of like, this was right before like everything kind of broke out. And it said something, it was a memo
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and it said like, due to the Corona virus, we're not going to shake hands or something anymore. And I'm like,
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what the hell? I was that a joke or was that serious?
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I don't know because I remember that same sign. I'm like, okay, hold on. So when I shake hands,
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but I'm going to like full out, just sweat into your mouth. Right. Right. Yeah. I thought he,
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I thought it was a joke, but like, it was so official. I'm like, I don't know. Maybe they're
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being like, maybe they're being serious about this. Yeah. Cause it's the hands that transfer. It's
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not nothing. Yeah. We don't want to do like, it'd be funny. You go into the gym. They don't do like
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fist bump before they roll. They're just like, sorry, we're not going to do that. And then you
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just get right into rolling. Okay. Whatever. Yeah. Actually, I think there's actually something
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to be said for, uh, I don't know. I'm, I guess I was going to say, I'm going to tread lightly and I
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don't, yeah, I just want to be like empathetic to what's going on and aware and intelligent about it.
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But I also think there's something to be said for, you know, being out in public, being around other
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people building up the antibodies and, and, and strengthening up your immune system through
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social interaction, through the things that we do. I'm not saying we need to be reckless about it,
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but I kind of, at this point question, like is isolation and making your immune system weaker,
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the best strategy? I don't know. It's tough, man. Well, there's so many, there's some ideas.
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Yeah. There's some surveys coming out of New York about some of the people that,
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that the highest percentage of individuals with COVID-19 are ones that were isolated in their home.
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Yes. And not moving around. So, right. I don't know. I, I, I think in the grand scheme of things,
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you know, there's a whole lot of data that we don't know. And then over time, you know,
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we'll probably look back at this and go, Oh yeah, that's not what we thought it was,
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or you know what I mean? And we'll be able to understand and have some retrospective or at least
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hopefully we do. I just think, I just think there's, this is being taken as like an opportunity to
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like wrestle some control. You know, there's probably some validity to it, but not to the
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degree that we're being led to believe. And it's a very powerful moment for the government to wrestle
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control over our lives, over our finances and the economy, over the way that we, we show up and what
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we're doing and the conversations that we're having. I'm in fact, I'm working on getting somebody
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on the podcast. In fact, he, he agreed to come on. He's a police officer. I don't know all the
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details, but he's a police officer. And he posted a video like, Hey, I'm not going to enforce this
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stuff. Like some of this stuff is unconstitutional. And just because some, some member of the chain of
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command, like my, my chief or, or a governor or a mayor says that we have to enforce these,
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these codes or these orders, like they don't get to supersede what the constitution says.
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Yeah. So he, he put this video out and it's been viewed millions and millions of times just in
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the past couple of days. And, uh, and, and he basically he's, he got fired. His, his police
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department fired him or, or he's on quote unquote administrative leave until they do an investigation
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and they told him to take the video down. He's like, no, I'm not taking that video down. And last
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I heard he was fired. So I just reached out to him. He's like, yeah, man, I want to come on the
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podcast. He's like, in all honesty, the past 48 hours have just been unreal. Uh, but yeah,
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I want to come on and talk about it. So he's going to come on. And I was looking, they're
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doing like a go fund me for him. It seems like if I remember correctly, again, this is just
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in the past 48 hours, they had a goal. Somebody, a family member or friend had set up a go fund
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me for him and his family. Cause he doesn't have work now. And it was like $50,000 was the
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goal. He's at like 200 plus thousand dollars already. So yeah, for sure. And that just
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proves that people are like, no, we, we back that right. We back his approach. Exactly.
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Exactly. So pretty wild stuff, man. We'll, uh, we'll see how it all plays out. Well, let's
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get into some questions for sure. Yeah. So we're fielding questions today from our Facebook
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group to join us there, go to facebook.com slash group slash order of man. All right. You're
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ready for these. I don't know. I'm a little nervous. It's not like we've done 200 of them
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or whatever. You guys have never heard these questions before. These are unique questions.
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Never be heard. Never heard before questions. All right. Let's get out. All right. Kurt Leach
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in a recent podcast, you mentioned that your calibration objective this quarter was to finish
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some work in your barn. The way the battle plan is laid out in my head, I probably would
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have chosen to put this underneath contribution. You often run into situations where you have
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an objective that you want to accomplish that would fit in multiple quadrants. How do you
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approach these situations? Yeah. Every single objective you could possibly think of spans multiple
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quadrants. You know, like if, for example, um, well, here's the one he's talking about with
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the barn is, is my goal. And I changed that by the way. And so I'll tell you that in a minute,
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but the initially it was the barn to do the barn renovation and build out. And it would definitely
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fall into contribution. He's right. Like it would definitely fall into contribution because I'm
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building that barn for the events that we're doing and, and, and, and make business kind of
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related. Yeah. But for me, that actually having the time to just be out there and, and work with
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my hands and swing the sledgehammer and see the progress, like that really helps me. That's like
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a form. I hate, I hate to say it, but it's like a form of meditation in a way. Like I just get lost.
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Yeah, exactly. So that's why I put it there. And I had other things for other components, but guys,
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we don't make decisions in a vacuum. And this is actually a very good thing, regardless of where you
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start on the self-improvement journey. Like I actually talk a lot about starting in the gym,
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start with your physical health. I just think it's the lowest barrier to entry. I think you'll
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see the results quicker than any other facet. And it translates perfectly over into other
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quadrants of your life. So that's where I recommend starting, but that's not where you
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have to start because if you decided, you know what, I'm just going to start with my, my spiritual
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wellbeing. And you decided, okay, I'm going to read, I'm going to read scriptures every single
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morning for 15 minutes. I mean, that's going to help you be a better husband.
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Yeah. It's going to help you connect better with your kids. It's going to help you lead
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more effectively at work. It's going to, it's, it's going to help every facet of your life.
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If you decide I'm going to get in shape. Uh, and so I'm going to, I'm going to focus first
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on spending an hour in the gym every single day. And I'm not going to eat any crap, like
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no processed sugars, processed foods, that sort of thing. And that's the only two things you did.
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You're going to be a better husband. You're going to be a more energetic father. You're going
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to be a more successful employee or business owner because of that thing. So we, it, that's
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the beauty of it. It doesn't matter where you plug into the system. What matters is that you plug in
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and then you'll see that this is all cyclical and it all is interconnected in, in, in ways that maybe
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you didn't even initially think. So yeah, that's why I chose to put it into calibration. Although
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to, I can't remember who asked this question to his point, Kurt to Kurt's point. Yeah. It could
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have very easily fallen into another quadrant. I just happened to put it here because that was
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appropriate for me. So what do you say to the guy, the, the opposite scenario where a guy goes,
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oh, you know, I just, I'm going to double down on this one thing and I'm not going to. Yeah. So
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what's, what's the advice there? Cause you're right. It bleeds over, but there's some risk too,
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to just saying I'm focused on contribution for instance. Yeah. Well, so let me, let me play out
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a scenario, which is actually fairly common. Like I'll hear a lot of guys, young, young men.
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Hey, I'm in school right now. And I'm just, I'm so swamped with classes and that's my focus.
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It's everything. Right. And so they don't do anything else and I get it. I understand. And I
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also believe to a degree that we have seasons in our lives, right? And seasons start and seasons end.
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And they're usually short term, 90 days, you know, six months, a year, and then they're done.
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So yeah, I understand that, but I just think that you're doing yourself a huge disservice.
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If you're in school, as an example, and you're not taking care of your mental health,
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like you'd carving out just a little bit of time. I'm not talking about hours and hours a week. I'm
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talking about 10 minutes here, 15 minutes, every single morning. And you carve that out of your day.
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Everything else will be more effective. Like you'll be a more, a diligent and a successful
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student because, because you're doing that. Your level of focus to study and to get your test scores
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right and where they need to be and to be engaged will go up because you took 15 minutes to think
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about your mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing, or because you took 30 minutes to go in
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and exercise. You're just going to be a better student. So it is tempting to think that because
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it is a season and you have to be hyper-focused on this one thing that you shouldn't do anything else.
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I just, I don't think that's, I don't think that's advantageous. I don't. I think, I think you're just
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going to burn out very quickly. Okay. For you guys listening to podcasts that, that you're, you're,
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you might be hearing some new terms, right? Like contribution and calibration and quadrants and
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battle plans and those kinds of things to learn more. There's really a handful of things. Uh,
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one, you can get Ryan's book sovereignty, which really lays out the entire approach around battle
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plans and these four different quadrants and how we can use them to become more effective.
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You can also get your hands on those battle plans, um, at the order of man store,
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store.orderofman.com. All right. Yeah. Can I give one more thing real quick on that? Um,
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so in two weeks I'm coming out with a free course. It's available to anybody. It's called four weeks
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to battle ready or battle readiness. I struggle with the name cause we don't have, have it quite
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pinned down, but four weeks to battle readiness. So if you just go to our website, orderofman.com
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and sign up for our emails, you'll be the first to be notified when that course is available. And it's
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a 30 day course that comes directly to your email inbox, gives you actionable strategies that you
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need to do every single day. You can focus on those things and it'll walk you through everything that
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we're talking about, but ultimately it's not about what we're talking about. It's about producing
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the results that you want over the course of a 30 day timeframe. So yeah, that's, that's what it's
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about. Love it. All right. Robert McDowell. One of the things his, uh, this pandemic has brought to
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the forefront of my awareness is how disconnected we've become in knowing and understanding the
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purpose of our constitution and the rights and responsibilities we have as American citizens.
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Have you considered having a guest on who would be considered a constitutional scholar,
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someone who could do our enthusiasm as well as informed citizens that you have done, uh, that what
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you have done for encouraging males to become better men? Uh, I'm open to that. I have not considered
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that specifically, but yeah, I'm certainly open to that. I actually think somebody who would be
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really good would be Mark Levin. Like I think Mark Levin would be the perfect individual. I mean,
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he's highly, highly intelligent. Um, if I understand and know correctly, I believe he's,
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he's a lawyer, I believe is his background. Um, and he knows the constitution inside and out.
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Like he's somebody I think would be very good, but if you have other suggestions, then let me know.
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Cause I'm certainly open to that. Cause I agree. We don't, we don't know. And it's unfortunate. Like
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how many people don't understand the, the, the rights, uh, that we have and how this country
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was, was founded. It's actually pretty disturbing. Isn't the group, uh, was it a heritage foundation?
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Heritage foundation. Yeah. I'm wondering if they have some good resources because that's like
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kind of their bread and butter, right? Yeah. Yeah. I was signed up for their stuff for a while,
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or I was getting their, their, uh, their newsletter. I think it was called in primus or primus
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or in primus or something like that. Anyways. Yeah. Uh, either way, I agree with Robert,
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man. I think that would be a great episode. I'd be really interested in that. Yeah, for sure.
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We've got some good ones coming out, man. We've got, so I saw your list the other day on your
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Instagram. That was slick. I mean, that's look like we've got, we've got some very powerful guys
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coming on. Like I just had a great interview, uh, with Matt Fraser, the second person to win four
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consecutive CrossFit titles. Uh, so he, I just had a really, really good conversation with him
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yesterday. That one will be released. Yeah, I'm sure. Keep telling yourself that maybe,
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maybe it's jujitsu. I don't know. Well, that's what I, that's the, that's the only thing I meant.
00:17:40.800
Yeah. Um, so I had him, Steven Pressfield, the author of Gates of Fire, which I'm reading. I
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haven't read yet, but I'm reading now. Have you read that book? No. Holy cow. That's an awesome book.
00:17:53.240
Really? Awesome. Gates of Fire. Gates of Fire. It's about, um, the Spartans and the battle of
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Thermopylae, which is like, everybody knows 300, right? The movie 300. That's the battle of
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Thermopylae. So this is actually the historical account of it. It's really good. Oh, the, because
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they, that's right. The passage was right. It gave you fire, right? Yeah. Yep. So, um, and then he
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wrote the, uh, art of war, excuse me, the war of art, war of art, war of art. And that's a great,
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I really enjoyed that book. That's one of my favorites. Yeah. Uh, and then the, his follow-up to
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the war of art was, uh, I think it's called do the work. I think that he also wrote, if I,
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if I understand correctly, he wrote the legends of Bagger Vance. So really the guys, yeah, the guy's
00:18:39.460
very talented. He's coming on, uh, Dave Rubin, the author of don't burn this book that, that one
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should be really interesting. I'm sure people will hate me and despise me. Cause I had him on
00:18:49.020
cause he's, he's conservative. Yeah. Uh, which is interesting because kind of a polarized guy,
00:18:54.160
he's polarizing, but it's interesting. Cause he is conservative. He used to be ultra left.
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He's, he's gay and he believes in abortion, but he's a conservative. It's like really interesting
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guy. Yeah. Very fascinating man. So I'm excited to have him on. Um, but look, this is the power
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of just asking people like just asking them, right. And, and, and swinging for the fences.
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I've got a, I've got a great lineup of potential guests and people I want to have on. And I've
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had a couple of people turn me down over the past several weeks, but I'm taking the at-bats
00:19:24.360
taking the rips. So yeah, I love it. Yep. Okay. Gary Gray, Ryan, my job is typically an action
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packed job in college athletics where I thrive on adrenaline. However, during this shutdown
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phase of college athletics, working alone each day, I find it very dull and so far out of ordinary.
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Do you have one tip or word of advice to help those who usually function in a very upbeat
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environment with lots of people pushing through this period of dullness? Thanks.
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Yeah. I still think you can create challenge with not only yourself, but with other people.
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Cause if you're looking at sports, college sports, I mean, you're a competitive environment. You're
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probably more of a red personality. I imagine at that level, you kind of have to be, it seems like
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to be competitive and to win and to be successful in that, in that Avenue. So I would just rally people
00:20:16.900
together. Maybe there's some competitions that you can do online, you know, like where you guys do a
00:20:21.540
workout or you do a thing. And then you guys all submit your scores online and you get on a zoom
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call and you talk trash with each other and compete and just make it a good time. Make it, make it fun.
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But also making yourself the project. And I've talked about this and I've used this term before
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is like, just make yourself the project, you know, like what, what area of your life can you try
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something new, something you'd never done before? How can you gradually level up? Uh, for me, you
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know, like I was going to say jujitsu, but again, that's limited. Right. But, uh, guitar, I've talked
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about that over the past several weeks. Like I actually just have a lot of fun seeing how I've
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improved. And I was playing last night. Uh, and it was, it was funny. Cause my wife was there reading
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and I was like playing and she's like, Hey, do you mind if I go read in the other room?
00:21:04.240
Like, I'm like, what? It doesn't sound good. She's like, you're like the kid that's like
00:21:09.480
practice your drum drums. Yeah. But I was, so she left, she did go in the other room while I was
00:21:15.840
playing. And then I was like, man, I don't sound awesome. I know that, but I actually sound better
00:21:20.120
than I did two weeks ago. Yeah. Right. And so you start to see those incremental improvements and it
00:21:25.060
feels good and it feels exciting and it re-energizes you and gives you some motivation to keep going.
00:21:29.140
Uh, so make yourself the project, look for things that, that normally you haven't done,
00:21:34.240
and look, the way you view this is important too. If you're like, this sucks, this is dull,
00:21:40.520
this is miserable. I hate my life. Then you're making it worse. Like you're taking a bad situation
00:21:46.480
and you're making it worse because it's self-fulfilling prophecy. And I'm not saying
00:21:51.220
you have to put your head in the sand to be ignorant and pretend like everything is amazing,
00:21:54.760
but maybe it's actually a pretty good moment to focus on some things that you've never considered
00:22:00.460
before that you've always wanted to do, but never had the space and margin to do.
00:22:04.240
it. And you could really use this time as an opportunity for your own personal growth and
00:22:09.040
development. What if instead of thinking this was dull, you're like, no, this is actually really
00:22:13.200
exciting because I get to write that book I've always wanted to write. Or I get to pick up that
00:22:17.640
new hobby that I've always wanted to participate in. Or I get to think about a way that I can take my
00:22:23.840
college athlete training and make it available online. I'd never thought about that before. I didn't
00:22:30.940
have the space to think about it, but now I can make it available online. And you're giving all
00:22:34.980
these, these thoughts to these like new ideas and perspectives that had never been considered
00:22:40.140
before. So yeah, the circumstances have changed. I think in a way you're believing that the default
00:22:46.620
is this, just a shitty situation. It's not, it's not, it's actually a very powerful situation filled
00:22:53.660
with opportunities for you to create something. So look at it that way and then find a way to create
00:22:59.800
something, build yourself into something more, look for ways to add value. This goes back to the
00:23:05.580
contribution objective we were talking about earlier, add value to your athletes. You can do
00:23:10.040
this if you look at it that way, as opposed to like, I'm dull, I'm dull. It's boring. Like, how do I,
00:23:14.700
how do I fix this? Well, you fix it. You create new opportunities.
00:23:17.660
Yeah. And Gary, I think the iron council is a perfect example of that, right? I, we we've done
00:23:23.120
pushup challenges. We have other challenges in, in, in the past. We continue to do monthly challenges
00:23:28.200
and it, you know, I found myself running a, I think ended up running 16 miles on a Saturday morning
00:23:34.340
because of stupid challenges in the iron council. Right. And I probably wouldn't have done that if I
00:23:40.080
didn't have guys on my team running that morning as well and kind of pushing each other via text message
00:23:45.820
and on, on calls and stuff. And so there, there's lots of ways that we can level up with other
00:23:49.960
people. And I think the iron, iron council is a perfect example of that. We do it on a regular
00:23:54.780
basis. Yeah. Literally what we do. So. And maybe it's not as advantageous as doing it in person,
00:24:00.720
but actually maybe it's better because there's better opportunities, more access to individuals
00:24:06.360
you'd never have access to in any other environment. So yeah, you're like, Oh, face-to-face is always
00:24:11.300
better in a lot of ways. Yeah. But in some ways, like you're going to meet people who you never
00:24:17.240
would have run across. They have different ideas and thoughts and challenges and ideas that you'd
00:24:22.100
never consider before. So in a lot of ways it could actually be better. Yeah, for sure.
00:24:29.660
Austin Meech, after talking, uh, to a couple of close friends, we decided to start a men's group
00:24:35.320
of between five to 10 men aspiring to become better in all aspects of life. What are some tactics we can
00:24:40.700
address to continue to have these meetings as well as cover topics that would keep us engaged in
00:24:45.680
becoming better? Uh, well like question, different angle. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're, yeah, your topics
00:24:52.780
should pertain to each other. So if there's five to 10 of you, I mean, if you're meeting to, let's just
00:24:57.600
say you're meeting every two weeks as an example, uh, and you've got, you know, 10 topics, you know,
00:25:03.720
you're good for four or five, six months. I mean, just, just right off the bat. So what I would do
00:25:08.440
if it were me is I would let each individual pick the weekly topic. So if Kip, you, you and me,
00:25:13.860
and I picked week one or weeks one and two were my topic, I'd give you the heads up and say, okay,
00:25:18.760
Kip, like in, in two weeks, it's going to be your topic. So start thinking about what you want to
00:25:23.080
address. And then that way you're engaged. And then the other cool thing about that is maybe now
00:25:27.920
you moderate those two weeks. So it isn't always the same moderation. I moderate the first two,
00:25:32.880
you moderate the second two, the next guy moderates the third two and so on. Um, I mean,
00:25:38.640
that's what I would do. I don't think this is really that difficult. I think you just have
00:25:42.480
these topics and discussions. I would say, be very, very careful of turning it into a Bible study.
00:25:47.520
And I don't mean literally like studying the Bible. I mean, be very careful of sitting around
00:25:53.040
in a circle and holding each other's hands and singing Kumbaya and praying and like that kind of
00:25:57.200
stuff. I'm not saying that's bad. I'm just saying like what men need. And this is why I think
00:26:02.360
the churches have failed men and continue to fail men because they're doing that. They're preaching
00:26:08.060
to men like they're women. And we know that women bond best in, in communities, right? Looking at each
00:26:15.720
other, facing each other, circling up, facing inwards. That's actually a big difference between
00:26:20.520
women and men. Women, when they circle up, they face inwards towards each other. When men circle up,
00:26:26.800
what do they do? They face outwards towards the enemy. Yeah. Right. So we naturally as men,
00:26:33.260
we don't want to sit in literal or figurative circles, talking to each other, knee to knee,
00:26:38.400
holding hands and talking about all of our problems. There's a time and a place for that,
00:26:43.120
but very rarely is that like something that we want to do. We can actually address our problems
00:26:48.200
and work through our issues when we're still standing shoulder to shoulder, but we're faced towards
00:26:52.840
enemy, right? So we're engaged in a common objective or against a common enemy. And so
00:26:59.700
we're still working through our issues, but we're doing it together. Like how often I remember this
00:27:05.020
playing sports, me and my buddies, like we would bust each other's balls hard. You know, like, dude,
00:27:11.380
you screw that up or, Hey, you mess that up. And I mean, I, I remember guys like, yeah, we lost the
00:27:16.400
game because of you. I mean, like heart, like hard stuff. Right. Yeah. And so it's a casual observer
00:27:23.340
looking from the outside in was like, Oh, what an asshole, except for not really, because that forced
00:27:29.420
me or the other person who had the guilty conscience or who messed up to get better, to improve.
00:27:34.840
And men really respond and engage in this way. That's why it's very difficult for me. Like when I
00:27:40.920
hear women who are like, Oh guys need this, you guys need to be more vulnerable and need to open up.
00:27:45.520
Yeah. If we were women, we would actually listen to what you have to say and we would apply it.
00:27:50.580
But anytime a man tries to apply stuff like that, he feels weird and awkward and uncomfortable.
00:27:55.780
And it actually produces the exact opposite result that we're trying to produce.
00:28:01.120
Like women want to feminize men. It's like, Hey, you're what you're saying is actually right.
00:28:06.940
Like men need to work through their issues. You're right. We do, but we don't need to do it like
00:28:12.060
women. We need to do it like men. Oh, I don't understand that. Right.
00:28:15.520
Cause you're not a man. So you shouldn't understand it. It's the same thing. When guys say,
00:28:19.840
I don't understand my wife. Well, no shit. You're not a woman. Like why would, what makes
00:28:24.920
you think that you should understand her? Now you can be empathetic and you can try to see
00:28:29.960
her perspective, but you're never going to fully understand how her brain and body works.
00:28:34.640
Cause if you did, then you too would be a woman, but you're not. This is why men and women work
00:28:40.140
well together. Given that we can work through our differences and not fully understand and
00:28:45.980
appreciate the differences that we have to offer. So anyways, I'm getting on a soapbox. What I would
00:28:50.560
say though, is like find something that you can rally against or towards so that your shoulder to
00:28:57.140
shoulder front towards enemy, not sitting in a circle, holding each other's hands and, and,
00:29:02.640
and having this sort of like prayer circle thing. And I get, I'm not talking about necessarily
00:29:07.060
spirituality, but I think you guys get the point. Totally. And I think topics could be tied to
00:29:12.480
activities. So like if I'm covering a topic this week, everyone has homework, do these actions
00:29:19.040
before a call on Thursday. And then we're going to have a talk conversation of what did you struggle?
00:29:24.060
What was the internal dialogue that you had? You know, what did we learn through that experience?
00:29:28.700
It's like the, the more you can tie it to actually take an action. I think you'd get better engagement
00:29:32.820
from men during the actual conversation itself versus just speaking in hypotheticals.
00:29:37.700
Yeah. Well, I think the, I think the thread in that, because I agree with you. And I think the,
00:29:42.200
the foundation of that is responsibility. Yeah. Right. Like if you get some ownership,
00:29:47.280
that's right. You put responsibility and the responsibility doesn't end when this meeting
00:29:52.100
ends. It's like you now, okay, here's what we talked about. Here's what we discussed. Here's what
00:29:55.740
scenarios we went through. Now you have some, you got to shoulder the responsibility, like go out
00:30:00.960
there. Here's your homework. Here's your challenge. Here's your assignment. That's your burden to bear
00:30:05.540
for the team. And then you bring it back with what you've learned. If you're not willing to do that,
00:30:11.820
like, I don't want you in my circle. And if I'm starting a men's group, like I'm going to weed people
00:30:16.900
out and invite the right people in. And you do that by giving them responsibility. And here's what
00:30:21.260
happens when you give men responsibility. They either step up and you're like, cool, this is a guy I want
00:30:25.340
on my corner or they don't. And one of two things happen more often than not, they leave themselves.
00:30:30.640
They self-select themselves out. Cause they're like, this is stupid. I don't want to be part of
00:30:36.420
this. All they do is blah, blah, blah. And really what that means is they didn't have what it takes.
00:30:41.380
And that's fine. Like if that's the excuse they want to tell themselves, Hey, if somebody leaves
00:30:46.060
because of that, it's like, cool, that's okay. Like I have no ill will, but you just weren't right for
00:30:51.560
the group. So you want to start selecting these or having them select themselves out of it by giving
00:30:56.680
them responsibility because they will step up or they'll step out and both are good for your group.
00:31:02.640
Yeah. Invite them to commit. And if they don't commit,
00:31:05.180
yeah. What are you some sort of like missionary or something?
00:31:12.040
Well, I'm thinking of like, we do this in work, right? You like you set expectation,
00:31:17.200
but the next thing is, are you going to do it? Expectation. Yeah. Like for sure.
00:31:22.260
Don't just set expectation and then sit back and, you know, have past, you know, commitment.
00:31:27.220
Exactly. Yep. Exactly. All right. You're making, making fun of missionaries.
00:31:33.780
All right. Daniel, I'm making fun of you, not missionaries.
00:31:37.220
Well, but if that's the answer, did you serve a mission by the way?
00:31:52.940
what ways can one use to develop their son's belief in God?
00:32:04.780
I mean, I'm trying to think about something different than the obvious answer.
00:32:08.340
Like, oh, read the scriptures and pray and like all that stuff.
00:32:11.320
Right. We call those the primary answers, right?
00:32:20.680
Like I'm trying to give you something you don't already know.
00:32:25.840
I guess this depends on the age and the maturity level.
00:32:28.280
I would just actually talk with my son about it and, and not like talk, but like get his perspective.
00:32:38.420
What do you, what do you think about where we come from?
00:32:41.860
And then when he says, well, I think this challenge it like, oh, really?
00:32:47.760
Like encourage him and challenge him to build his own testimony.
00:32:53.140
A lot of, I think parents are afraid of having this conversation because, well, it's awkward,
00:32:59.280
but also somebody who's a religious parent, for example, doesn't want to push their child
00:33:06.740
So they're like, oh, I don't want to talk about it.
00:33:09.500
Like, isn't that the reason we should talk about it?
00:33:12.220
So I asked my kids, you know, my, my son, my oldest son and I, we enjoy hunting together
00:33:16.120
and I'll ask him questions like not always about God, but sometimes like, what do you
00:33:23.760
Or we're sitting outside, you know, and we're looking at nature cause we're turkey hunting.
00:33:32.720
Do you think that it's different than when God created it?
00:33:36.100
If you believe, like, I'm just asking him questions out of genuine curiosity for what he believes,
00:33:41.200
but also the beauty of it is that it encourages him to start thinking about it and formulating
00:33:47.000
connections that he wouldn't have formulated by listening to somebody on the pulpit or hearing
00:33:54.340
I want him to build and foster his own, which means I need to get him thinking and working
00:33:59.900
So yeah, just look for opportunities and moments to have some powerful, powerful conversations
00:34:04.720
that normally you just don't have with your kids.
00:34:08.400
And, and I try, I actually feel like one of my strengths is being pretty aware of the
00:34:14.280
relationship I have with my kids and what my objective is and to getting them to be self
00:34:18.620
sufficient human beings and, and fully capable of taking care of themselves.
00:34:24.280
And even like knowing that that to me is a strength that I have, like even still, it's
00:34:29.200
hard for me to get into these deep conversations.
00:34:32.020
Uh, it's just something that I haven't conditioned and trained myself to do.
00:34:36.760
But man, when I do, when I have these kinds of conversations with my kids, it's awesome.
00:34:43.980
I'm like, Whoa, like that was deep, you know, for a 12 year old kid to be talking about.
00:34:49.460
And a lot of the times I come away with a perspective that I hadn't even considered before.
00:34:54.340
So yeah, I just think you have these really powerful conversations.
00:34:59.560
One more qualifier with these things is don't do it with an intended outcome.
00:35:16.900
And that's why I think the podcast is part of the reason the podcast is better now than
00:35:21.960
Cause five years ago I would have like scripted questions, scripted, scripted questions and
00:35:30.320
And now like, here's, here's some notes from one of my conversations with Scott Carney.
00:35:37.260
Um, but like, for example, let me just pull it to one of these pages here.
00:35:42.500
And you're just writing those out as you're talking like, Oh yeah, I'm curious about this.
00:35:46.700
Well, so here's Matt Fraser's, um, notes from yesterday.
00:35:50.080
Like when I started this yesterday, it looked like, it looked like this.
00:36:06.140
No, I write that down so I can review back later and know who I'm talking about, but it's
00:36:11.460
Look, I have, I'm not saying I don't know anything about this guy.
00:36:16.700
And then I just leave a blank page and he says something.
00:36:20.020
Like Matt yesterday, uh, for example, was talking about his, his rules of life, like
00:36:28.120
And I'm like, Oh, that's actually really fascinating.
00:36:33.300
Um, and, and that level of curiosity without an intended outcome.
00:36:39.260
I gotta get Matt to say this one thing about this one situation.
00:36:42.440
I'm like, no, I just want to see where it goes.
00:36:44.900
So just be curious, no intended outcome, no, no motive other than to get to know your child
00:36:52.760
and have them think about things that maybe they haven't thought about yet or put, put
00:36:59.900
I think, I mean, this is one of those typical examples, I think, or answers that we would
00:37:05.260
have given in the past is like, be the example, you know, kind of thing.
00:37:09.660
But, but I had a little bit of a, an experience just this past weekend around the same conversation
00:37:16.080
where, you know, I called up a buddy and said, Hey, you know, do you have a minute?
00:37:19.500
And let's, which we literally just like went for a walk around the neighborhood and was
00:37:23.420
And it was funny because in my conversation with him, you know, his approach to the conversation
00:37:35.940
And you have tough circumstances and you grow translation in his world was that's how the
00:37:46.480
And, you know, and I'm like, Oh, I didn't even see it that way.
00:37:49.460
Like I approached that like completely from a selfish, I will do it myself, kind of no
00:37:56.360
involvement kind of thing from God in my life where his thought process was drastically
00:38:02.000
And a little bit of me like walked away from that conversation from like, well, you know
00:38:05.660
I, I don't correlate some of those things that happened in my life religiously enough.
00:38:12.620
And, and because of that, my kids may not hear, hear that in my conversations with them
00:38:20.200
So I guess what I'm saying for Daniel is like, there's probably conversations where you're
00:38:29.120
And in those conversations enough that, that probably could benefit that relationship with
00:38:39.440
Jonathan Pina, uh, what is more important in today's society, IQ or EQ?
00:39:03.900
And me, and me, uh, criticizing you means that I need to work on my, my emotional intelligence.
00:39:23.740
So I just don't, I don't see the point of asking this question.
00:39:28.700
Like, so what if I said emotional intelligence is the right answer that?
00:39:33.080
So what are you going to do with that information?
00:39:38.220
But, and I'm not trying to dismiss the question.
00:39:40.340
I'm just saying like, this isn't, I just don't know what the point of the question is.
00:39:45.540
You should develop both and certain situations are going to call for one or the other, or more
00:39:53.900
Like, for example, when we're talking about the ramifications of COVID-19, then probably
00:40:01.340
the way that we lay out the strategy for overcoming it would be an intelligence discussion.
00:40:08.720
Like we're going to look at the, the facts as objectively as possible, and we're going
00:40:13.820
to make an objective recommendation based on the data and information.
00:40:18.900
Now, the way that you share that with an individual who's going to be directly impacted by the decisions
00:40:26.900
you're going to be making requires a heavy dose of emotional intelligence, right?
00:40:32.480
So there's the logical side, which is important.
00:40:36.440
And then now how I communicate it is going to be more of the emotional side of things.
00:40:41.660
So that it doesn't like, it's just not a great, like a, not a solid question because
00:40:51.760
Like you need to work on both and you need to understand when both are appropriate, when
00:40:59.540
Some people, myself, I need to work probably more on emotional intelligence because I tend
00:41:04.700
to be pretty fact-driven, pretty black and white.
00:41:07.860
There's not a whole lot of gray in my life and this is the way it is because this is the
00:41:14.140
And, and then sometimes that comes off and I, and I communicate it that way because that's
00:41:20.360
And then I end up, you know, hurting friendships or insulting my wife when like, I didn't mean
00:41:26.360
to, it wasn't what I intended, but the way that it was received was insulting.
00:41:31.540
And then looking back on it, I'm like, oh yeah, I could kind of see how that was.
00:41:34.040
Although that wasn't my intention, my intention was like, well, here's the facts, here's the
00:41:40.840
So some of us need to focus more on emotional intelligence and some of us need to focus on
00:41:44.960
actual intelligence, what, what the situation calls for.
00:41:49.160
And based on your own personal, your, your own personality.
00:41:55.400
Paul Ives, I took over leading a sixth grade boys youth group virtually because I didn't want
00:42:01.340
to see it fall apart during the quarantine besides faith lessons.
00:42:08.820
Uh, what, what other virtual things, uh, do you think we might be helpful in teaching
00:42:24.120
And like above anything else, like I didn't want this to fall apart for sixth grade boys
00:42:28.220
or were they sixth graders or six year old boys?
00:42:32.900
Nine, 10 years old, 10, 10, 11, somewhere in there.
00:42:39.880
And way to epitomize what we talk about here, which is leading, you know, not even,
00:42:44.260
not just ourselves and our families, but expanding that or you're doing that.
00:42:49.560
Um, as far as topics, I think he said faith is, is the first thing he said.
00:42:58.960
Like my son has every Thursday night, he does a virtual call with some, some boys, his age,
00:43:10.360
I'm going to get on there and I'm not going to, I'm going to be, you know, like everybody
00:43:18.180
I'm like, dude, it's not going to take us 30 minutes to run a mile.
00:43:23.140
He's like, ah, I'm like, you said, I'm like, you said, I'm like,
00:43:26.180
you said you would, do you want to go there and be the kid who didn't do it?
00:43:34.500
And he came back and he talked to the boys about it.
00:43:38.540
Cause after the class I said, so how did it go, man?
00:43:49.000
He's like, no, I was like actually really proud that I was one of the few who decked or the only
00:43:56.620
So I think there's ways to like incorporate the physical fitness challenge of it.
00:44:04.000
Like have them, I don't know, start a little business or do some chores around the house
00:44:09.460
I think having the financial discussion is important.
00:44:12.500
Uh, you could have a book of the month club where you read something for those boys.
00:44:16.040
I would say like hatchet would be a really good book.
00:44:18.740
Uh, maybe even, uh, 11, I don't know, is 11, maybe like into Harry Potter and some of that
00:44:28.140
And you guys could even like read the chapters together.
00:44:30.160
Like, okay, we're all going to read this chapter and then talk about it.
00:44:33.220
So then that way it's a little bit more group activity.
00:44:43.860
Um, relationships, service to other people that, that would actually be a really good
00:44:51.820
Whether it's your sister or your brother, your parents, a neighbor, you know, maybe you
00:44:55.660
need to go pull some weeds for the elderly couple that, that lives next door.
00:44:59.940
So you challenge them to go do that, or you do it all together.
00:45:02.400
That might be hard with what we're dealing with now, but yeah, I think those are some
00:45:06.780
pretty good topics that, that I would personally address and deal with.
00:45:10.880
You know, what else I would do is I would look in the Facebook group and I would look
00:45:15.000
for the reoccurring issues that you see in the Facebook group.
00:45:17.960
And I would say, there's a topic that needs to be addressed.
00:45:25.480
And what we've done, uh, for our young boys too, is, is find some inspirational people
00:45:30.560
to come on to the zoom call, you know, so they're not just hearing from you every time.
00:45:35.340
We had, uh, I was looking up his name, Satima Ghali.
00:45:42.480
And so we had him on, talk to the, the young boys in our neighborhood and kind of give his
00:45:48.040
And I think we're lining up someone for tomorrow as well.
00:45:50.800
So try to find someone, inspirational athletes that these guys might look up to, and that
00:45:55.480
might draw their attention more than just hearing you.
00:45:58.820
Um, on that same note, Kip, that's a really good idea.
00:46:01.700
What one thing that I also encourage you to do for 10 and 11 year old boys, they may not
00:46:05.300
be able to moderate like a full meeting, like an hour long.
00:46:08.060
I don't know how long your meetings are, but let's say.
00:46:12.840
You know, like, Hey, the first 10 to 15 minutes, Johnny, you, you got this one right here.
00:46:19.900
I want you to find your favorite quote and share with us your favorite quote, quote, and
00:46:27.620
Three things that went really well for your week, three things that didn't go so well.
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You know, you put them on a little bit of a hot seat and they got 15 minutes, 10, 15 minutes,
00:46:43.900
We did, I did a thing for the youth around public speaking and it was really fun because
00:46:51.360
And then literally right after I was like, all right, Ethan, you're up.
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And, and, and, and then I just gave him a topic.
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And then he, he tried, uh, these boys are 12, 12.
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Oh, he used, um, a couple of times and he was maybe quiet.
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He wasn't, you know, projecting well enough and come up with some strategy.
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They love and talk about what, you know, what he did well too.
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I'm sure you do that, but just make sure we bring that to attention.
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Now everyone's like, no wonder why Kip's kids are like, hate him.
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Finding vision and purpose when it's hard to identify.
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I've got a great life, a good job, and I'm constantly finding ways to improve as a man,
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But I do not carry the conviction of purpose and something greater than me.
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I would start with looking at the men that you admire, pick out five to 10 men that you
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Maybe that's your father or grandfather or brother, uh, even a neighbor, you know, or
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somebody that we've had on the podcast, whoever just five to 10 men that you really admire and
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respect and start documenting all of the reasons you admire and respect that individual.
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And then I think what you're going to find is you're going to find some commonalities
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Those commonalities are going to be the things that you value the most.
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So if you notice, for example, the 10 people that you picked out, all 10 of them are strong
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Then that's a pretty good indicator that that is something that you truly, truly value.
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If all 10 of them have the ability to communicate effectively in their public speaking,
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and they present ideas well, then your ability to present ideas and to be influential and
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motivational to other people is something that you probably really value and something
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So when you start to identify these common values and characteristics that these individuals
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have, then that will lead you to the kind of man that you want to be.
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Okay, well, I want to be somebody who can articulate his thoughts clearly, can share big ideas in
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a way that are, that is easy to understand, can rally hundreds and thousands and tens of hundreds
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of thousands of people towards a common objective and a common purpose.
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Because then you ask yourself, so you start working backwards, what kind of man do I need
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So if I want to inspire, which is personally, like I want to inspire millions and millions
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of men across the planet to lead themselves, their families, their businesses, their communities
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If that's the kind of individual, that's my vision for who I want to be, then I've got to
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reverse engineer and connect the dots between the type of man that I need to show up as.
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So if I'm a fat, lazy, overweight, out of shape, piece of shit, frankly, am I going to inspire
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millions of men to lead themselves and other people effectively?
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If, if I'm not willing to read good books and listen to ideas and study other presenters,
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who, who share ideas in powerful ways, how am I ever going to do that for myself?
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So that means that I've got to be able to study and research those who can communicate
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effectively and learn their strategies and their techniques and the way they show up.
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I've got to do this podcast, for example, because then I get to put these things into
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practice and, and see where I'm strong and where I'm weak and how I can shore my weaknesses
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up, but it all starts with the values that you have.
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So you hear a lot of guys will say things like, Oh, well, you know, if you don't care
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about your family, I mean, everybody cares about their family to some degree, but I know
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people who just, well, Andy Frisilla right now, like he doesn't have children.
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He's got his wife and I know he leads himself and her.
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I don't know if that's in his, in his stars or if that's something he wants to do or not.
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But I know that he wants to be influential in the business space and he wants to motivate
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people to live their lives the way they want to live.
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Like I want to raise my kids and be involved and intimately connected with what they're doing.
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And then when you work backwards into what kind of man do you need to become in order
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to accomplish that vision that you have for yourself?
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And how, how important do you think, or does it relate in regards to what you're good
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Cause I've heard that too, is like, you, you can ask those around you that, you know,
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your loved ones or people that around you, and they will also give some insight of what
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you're good at, like what they, what, what you do that inspires them.
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And that can maybe even spark those ideas of like natural talents and that is somewhat
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What you do, like what you, let's say that I'll say this way, what you do for work, for
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Like, so, so Simon Sinek actually addresses this in his book, start with why, if you take
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a baseball player, for example, like the best baseball player in the world, he's good at
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Like Jordan, LeBron James, I mean, whoever picks somebody they're good at basketball,
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Kobe Bryant, not because they're good at basketball, but because they're good at other things that
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And by the way, those things that they're good at could have made them great at a million
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Like Kobe Bryant's focus and determination and just competitiveness and the edge that
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he had would have made him a great actor or entrepreneur or fill in the blank.
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It just happened to be that he was doing basketball, right?
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And because he loved basketball, he likes basketball, you know, that's part of the deal
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But I think you got to be careful of falling into the trap of thinking, oh, I'm supposed
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Maybe, or maybe you just have these set of skills that allow you to be good at that
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thing, which is why you have, why you found purpose and significance and meaning in
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So yeah, everybody has strengths, but those strengths, they're not going to necessarily
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Like there isn't one thing, oh, that's the thing that you were born to do.
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You just happen to use your set of skills, applied them effectively and you became that.
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I feel like maybe I'm rambling on that one a little bit, but I just don't want people
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to get caught up in the identity of like, what do I do for work?
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You can do anything and you can be successful at it.
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And a lot of those talents and skills transcend, obviously what we do for work.
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Like I wasn't destined to become the founder of order of man.
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And that happens to make me pretty decent at this.
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And it could have been like, that's why I was a good financial planner too.
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So Kip, can you address how to get a go about getting your wife's significant other on
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board with your hobbies or on board with you taking time to take care of yourself?
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Both of us working full time and having seven month year old makes it very difficult to
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Any, any time that I do, she, and any time that I do, that's bad grammar.
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She feels that I would rather be doing these things and spending time with them.
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So he's just assuming that I'm more selfish with my time than maybe you are.
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Or that you know how to communicate that better to your wife than I do.
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You know, I, I, I think, I think it goes back with a lot of things.
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Right now we're in the process, whether good or bad.
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We did a remodel of a property we have and we're in the, in the process of selling it.
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And I'm working and unfortunately, and I'll, I'll just be really frank here.
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I have failed to be a team member in that remodel process.
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If you ask my wife right now, she's completely like, you left me this up all to myself.
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If we went through the list and say, was I supportive from my perspective?
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Well, I did these things and I worked on the house and like, and, and my definition of
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Did I come home and go, Hey, how did it go today?
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So, so I would probably suggest Matt, that a lot of it has to do with conversation more
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Um, and getting her on board and let's be frank.
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And we talk about this all the time where, you know, by default, you change up the game.
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I think we're going to all get some natural pushback sometimes because it's uncomfortable
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and what's going on and, and, and they're not going to maybe see the benefit in things.
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But if I'm going to jujitsu on a regular basis, but I'm showing up correctly when I come
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Then she's not going to mind those things, but she is certainly going to mind it.
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If I'm not becoming a better man because of it, or I'm not pulling my weight because
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And then Ryan, you talk about this all the time is like, give her the space and create
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the environment by which she has the right to do the same thing and help her get over
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the idea of quote unquote, feeling guilty for leaving the kids with you or, or whatever.
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Cause that, that does seem to be a natural default for a lot of our spouses, which is
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Cause she has those motherly instincts and she wants to be involved with you and the kids
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like that's the kind of wife I want, you know, but then that's what you have to contend
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Look, I think it can be summed up very simply like this.
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How is you taking care of yourself in her best interest?
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Cause if all you do is explain how it benefits you, then why would she be on board with that?
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If all you, if you went to a, let's say you're my perspective client, Kim.
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And, and we're going to talk about financial planning and I come to you and I say, Hey,
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look, Kip, if you invest with me, man, I'm going to make $10,000 more this year.
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And, uh, and then I'm going to be able to go on vacations.
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Uh, and I'm going to buy that car that I wanted.
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Like I'm going to buy that because you're going to be a client of mine.
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Like, I don't know what, like how it's going to work out for you, but like for me, it's going
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Oh man, hon, I'm going to go to jujitsu because like, ah, I just feel so much better.
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And like, and I enjoy it and it's challenging and I'm getting stronger.
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Which by the way, if you sign the dotted line that says I will honor and love you and cherish
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you, then a, what, what about me is a legitimate concern on her part.
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So you need to communicate it and articulate it in a way that's like, Hey, here's how this
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And you're not making it up like this genuinely here's, and then also you need to back it up
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Like my wife, she encourages me to go to jujitsu because she knows that when I come back, I'm
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Uh, I, I, I'm more connected that I I'm more energetic that I can lead the family and my
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children and with her well, because I take care of myself.
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And she also doesn't mind having some time to read a book once the kids are in bed without
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having to, you know, entertain me or spend time.
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Like she's taking her time and doing her thing.
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It's in her best interest for me to go to jujitsu a couple of nights a week.
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And because it's in her best interest, I don't, I hate using this, this term, but you'll
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And she appreciates it and she actually encourages it.
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And I think one thing I've, I've used in the past, whenever guys like are struggle with,
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well, how do I, you know, I'm really struggling with getting her on board or I really want to
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do X, but I don't think my spouse will agree with it or it's going to cause a debate.
01:01:07.720
One thing that I've recommended in the past is go to her and say, I really want to do
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What would I need to be doing for you to feel okay with that?
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What would I need to do for you to be on board?
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I think you've got to be careful on that one though.
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Because there's a lot of guys listening who are nice guys.
01:01:33.080
No, I'm not, you're, you're, you're, you're respectful, right?
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There's a difference in my mind of this, this quote unquote, nice guy and respectful, right?
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You honor her, you respect her, you cherish her, but you're not like the proverbial nice
01:01:50.940
So what they think is like, you're going to go negotiate, right?
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Like, hon, if I do the dishes, can I go out with my buddies tonight?
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Like we hear that and we're like, that's, that sounds ridiculous.
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And I know you're not, I know you're not saying that, but some guys will hear it that
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And they'll think like, oh, so I just got to go negotiate with her.
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Like I gotta, I gotta, I gotta ask or grovel or beg to go out and hang out with my buddies.
01:02:22.480
We're saying that you need to show up as the kind of man that she needs you to be so that
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there isn't an issue when you, you're not asking for permission, but there isn't an issue when
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you say you're going to go do something that's going to serve you in the family.
01:02:40.460
And I, again, I know that you don't, you're not saying it like that.
01:02:43.680
I just know through the emails that we get, there's men who are hearing it like that.
01:02:47.940
And then they'll apply it and they're like, well, now I just, I'm acting like a little
01:02:55.020
Oh, well, you told me to know you deciphered it that way.
01:03:00.400
So just, we need to be aware of the distinction.
01:03:08.140
Let's take a one more and then we'll wrap up quick.
01:03:11.420
Dimitri Golvin, any thoughts regarding clearing bad debts before making the decision to get engaged
01:03:17.640
I have about a year left before debts are completely paid off, but I wonder if more
01:03:21.840
unexpected expenses will just come up that will get in the way.
01:03:27.440
Even if debts take a tiny bit longer to pay off in the process.
01:03:31.140
I mean, if it's not substantial, I would say, yeah, I don't think marriage is going to
01:03:41.220
Um, cause our income went up when I got married, like she had income, I hadn't, like our income
01:03:46.220
Our expenses went up moderately relative to the doubling of income.
01:03:54.300
Um, now if it's over the top, here's actually what I'd be more worried about.
01:03:58.640
Cause it sounds like you're a responsible guy, right?
01:04:04.080
Like, so here's what I'd be more worried about.
01:04:13.540
I'd be more concerned with that than what you bring to the table because you sound like
01:04:23.380
And, and I'm sure your wife is, or your potential wife is too, but you better find that out right
01:04:28.760
Cause if she's coming to the table with 30, 40, 50 grand of debt, that's your debt now.
01:04:34.020
And bad spending habits, which we will just, which is worse.
01:04:36.940
Way worse than the debt is she doesn't know how to handle the money.
01:04:41.080
So if you've got some moderate debt, you know, like I had a car loan when we got married,
01:04:50.460
Maybe, maybe I owed my mom a thousand dollars or something for deposit on a rent or something.
01:04:55.360
I don't think that's a reason to keep you from, from being married.
01:04:59.620
I would be very, very concerned with, not concerned, just very, very aware of her money habits,
01:05:08.360
her thoughts around money, the debt that she's bringing in.
01:05:11.980
And I think you ought to be fair and tell her the debt that you have too.
01:05:15.800
She needs to be able to make a reasonable decision as well.
01:05:17.820
So, but I'd be more concerned with that than having a little bit of debt that you're actively
01:05:23.360
And what a great time for you guys to sit down and say, Hey, you know, we're getting
01:05:29.660
And when we get married and, you know, like what a great, I think that's awesome.
01:05:38.080
I mean, when my wife and I got married, if I remember correctly, she had a small car
01:05:41.460
loan, um, that her dad was paying for, well, guess who started paying it off?
01:05:49.500
In fact, we just, we bought a new car, I think when we got married or not long after.
01:05:56.440
So you better be aware of what's in the package.
01:05:59.580
And it's funny too, when, when Asia and I got married, it was so funny because she was
01:06:03.400
like, I remember she asked once, she's like, how much do you make?
01:06:06.360
And I'm like, that's interesting that you've never asked this question.
01:06:09.300
And we've been dating for a while and pretty serious.
01:06:11.940
Like we've already been talking marriage and I told her and she was just like, whoa, you
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make way more money than I thought you did, you know, blah, blah, blah.
01:06:18.480
And then when we got married, I remember she was frustrated because she's like, where's
01:06:22.520
I'm like, child support, but we never talked about it.
01:06:27.160
So she's like super frustrated, you know, cause she probably got some expectation like, oh
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man, we're going to be doing great financially.
01:06:33.520
She didn't have no idea how much I paid in child support.
01:06:38.340
And I'm saying this as, as, as nice as I can, but it's an important lesson.
01:06:45.720
She should have had that conversation with you.
01:06:47.520
So allow that to be a, allow that to serve as a warning for you not to let those conversations
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go unsaid between you and your potential partner.
01:07:06.200
That's a reasonable question for somebody who's considering partnering up with you for
01:07:13.800
So, yeah, it's, it's folly to think that won't matter because it definitely will.
01:07:21.880
Well, those are, those are some good questions.
01:07:34.160
Join us online guys on Facebook, facebook.com slash group slash order of man.
01:07:38.660
Learn more about the iron council at order of man.com slash iron council.
01:07:42.780
Ryan, you already alluded to this to learn more about getting battle ready or the battle
01:07:50.400
Go to order of man.com and subscribe to the newsletter to keep updated.
01:07:56.560
Mickler on Instagram and Twitter at Ryan Mickler.
01:08:07.620
I was considering giving you the topic for Friday.
01:08:18.500
Subscribe to the podcast and then it's just a given.
01:08:21.300
And then I'll just show up and you want to think anything of it.
01:08:32.560
Until then, go out there, take action, become the man you are meant to be.
01:08:36.940
Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.
01:08:39.820
If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be,
01:08:43.500
we invite you to join the Order at orderofman.com.