Order of Man - FFN 050： At The Ready

00:00:00.000 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart

00:00:05.000 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.

00:00:10.480 You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong. This is your life. This is who

00:00:17.240 you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:00:22.800 you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler,

00:00:27.520 and I am the host and founder of Order of Man, the podcast that you are listening to right now.

00:00:32.540 I hope all is going well for you guys. I know it's going well here at Order of Man headquarters.

00:00:37.440 We are gearing up for our second live experience, The Uprising. It's going to be a killer weekend,

00:00:43.840 a killer event. We're sold out now, but keep it on the radar for the fall because we're going to have

00:00:48.460 some details out to you soon. Other than that, we're staying busy, staying productive, staying

00:00:53.460 effective. We've got some great plans lined out and some incredible podcast guests coming on

00:00:58.580 over the next couple of months, one of which I'm excited to announce is Brett McKay with Art of

00:01:03.160 Manliness, so make sure you stay tuned for that. In fact, just subscribe if you would. Subscribe to

00:01:09.320 this podcast so you never miss that or any of the other shows that we have coming out. You are listening

00:01:15.480 today to our Friday Field Notes, which is, if you don't already know this, just some of my thoughts,

00:01:21.360 some of my ideas, inspirations that I have throughout the week. So if you're new to the

00:01:26.040 show, understand that we also have an interview show, which is released each and every Tuesday.

00:01:31.720 Guys, we are about to hit the 2 million download mark. I want to thank you for that. I appreciate

00:01:38.260 you being here. I appreciate you tuning in and I appreciate your feedback and your guidance and your

00:01:44.200 compliments. And we are glad that we're all in this together. Now, let us talk about the topic

00:01:50.720 today, which is at the ready. This is a show about being prepared for whatever life may have to throw

00:01:57.680 at you. This is a show about taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. This is

00:02:03.380 about creating more opportunities even because you are ready for those opportunities in every way,

00:02:10.320 shape, and form. This is not, however, a conversation about hoping for things to happen. This is not

00:02:16.220 a conversation about luck. In fact, I actually don't like that term. I hate that term luck.

00:02:22.020 I hear this all the time. Ryan, you're so lucky you get to work at home. Ryan, you're so lucky that

00:02:27.100 the show has grown to as big as it has. You're so lucky that you get to do work you love. I've heard

00:02:32.600 all three of these statements on multiple occasions and more. And although I get a little bit of a laugh,

00:02:38.920 a little chuckle every time I hear somebody make that statement, I wonder how many times they could have

00:02:44.060 been quote unquote lucky had they prepared for it just a little bit more. Seneca said,

00:02:49.800 luck is the point where preparation meets opportunity. Luck is the point where preparation

00:02:55.880 meets opportunity. And that's what I want to talk with you about today, specifically preparation.

00:03:00.660 If we can be more prepared mentally, physically, emotionally, those opportunities are going to

00:03:06.660 come to us more frequently. I know it's certainly been the case for my life. So I want to break this

00:03:11.120 down. I want you to create more opportunities in your life. I want you to be more prepared. I want

00:03:16.300 you to be ready to seize whatever chances come your way. And I want you to know what those

00:03:22.180 opportunities actually look like. I want you to be able to recognize those opportunities when they

00:03:27.180 present themselves. So first let's talk about physical preparation. I know there's a lot of men

00:03:32.680 listening to this right now who are not satisfied with where they are physically. Maybe you've put on a few

00:03:37.820 pounds. Maybe you've neglected staying in shape. Maybe you aren't quite as athletic as you once

00:03:43.020 were, but physical preparation is so, so critical. But the challenge is that we don't really know what

00:03:48.560 to be prepared for. Robert Baden Powell, he's the founder of the Boy Scouts answered when asked what

00:03:54.320 you should be prepared for. He said anything. And that's the point of being physically prepared.

00:04:01.180 I see a lot of guys running around with six pack abs and the bulging biceps. But if you ask them to run a

00:04:07.260 mile, they couldn't even get started. The point of physical fitness is not to look the part. It's to

00:04:13.520 be the part. And so being at the ready with regards to your fitness means that you can lift a car hood

00:04:21.740 off your wife. If you get into a car accident, it means that you can run a mile and find help. If you

00:04:27.100 needed it, it means that you can hike a mountain to get out of harm's way. It means that you can lift

00:04:31.340 heavy things, including your body. If you can't get in shape, there is no way that you're going to be

00:04:37.820 able to have the energy and the capacity to take advantage of opportunities that are going to present

00:04:43.880 themselves. Next, let's talk about the money situation. This is a sensitive subject for a lot

00:04:49.060 of people, but being at the ready financially means that you are out of debt. Debt is the play. You are out

00:04:55.280 of debt. It means you have a budget. It means you know exactly where your money is going, where it's

00:05:00.620 coming from. It means that you've built an emergency fund. It means that you have your protection in

00:05:05.080 place like insurances and that you've even got a financial team should you need it like a financial

00:05:10.060 advisor or a CPA or an attorney. Look, life has a way of throwing us some curve balls. You could lose

00:05:18.320 your job. You could experience a layoff. You could go through a divorce. You could have a family emergency

00:05:24.220 or an illness. You could have a tenant that doesn't pay you their rent one or two particular months,

00:05:29.860 but being at the ready is going to allow you to buffer against those unfortunate times that are

00:05:36.080 bound to come up. But there are positive opportunities as well. If you are prepared

00:05:41.800 financially, it could be a job promotion. It could be a job transfer, an opening in a private school

00:05:47.460 that you have really wanted your kids to attend. It could be a new job with better opportunities.

00:05:52.940 There are a ton of reasons why being at the ready is critical to your success financially.

00:05:58.140 And one thing I talk a lot about is what I refer to as a walkaway fund or an integrity fund.

00:06:04.200 Having money sitting in a bank account allows you the ability to walk away from anything,

00:06:09.400 anything that would jeopardize the boundaries that you have established for yourself. Physical

00:06:14.480 boundaries, emotional boundaries, even moral boundaries. And having that money in the bank

00:06:19.420 is going to allow you to keep in integrity with your core values and the virtues should you be asked to

00:06:26.480 compromise those values. Now, the third component I want to talk with you about today is being at the

00:06:32.180 ready intellectually. This is about acquiring the knowledge and the wisdom and the skillset you need

00:06:39.580 to improve your life. Should there be an opportunity for advancement with your work or career? Should

00:06:45.240 there be an investment, for example, that you wanted to participate in? Should there be an opportunity to

00:06:50.040 serve on a board that you care about? Having a plan in place that allows you to continue your education

00:06:57.120 gives you the ability to capture opportunities that most people don't know about or don't have the

00:07:05.480 capacity to understand. I know a lot of men who believe that they don't have to put in the work

00:07:11.480 a manager at the office might do because they don't have that title yet. But what if your company is

00:07:17.980 waiting for somebody to actually step up before they'd offer that position to somebody? If you

00:07:23.760 aren't constantly expanding your mind and your capacity and your growth, you're never going to

00:07:29.440 have that chance. You're never going to have the opportunity that you or your family might actually

00:07:35.200 be hoping for and praying for and looking for. I know there's a lot more to this and obviously we're

00:07:41.900 just scratching the surface, but I want you to think about being at the ready. I want you to know

00:07:47.340 that the opportunities around us are limitless and most of them, most of those opportunities go

00:07:54.020 unnoticed because we simply don't have the physical or the financial and or the intellectual

00:08:00.040 capital to seize them. So if you really want to build up your capacity in these areas and be at the

00:08:05.500 ready, I want to take just a quick minute and encourage you and invite you to join our exclusive

00:08:10.980 mastermind, The Iron Council. This is a group of men who are anxiously engaged in the work of

00:08:16.560 bettering themselves and the people they have a responsibility for. They're getting the tools,

00:08:21.060 the guidance, the direction, the brotherhood and the accountability to take their lives to the next

00:08:26.660 level with regards to themselves, their money, their finance, their business, their health

00:08:31.100 and their relationships. So regardless of where you're trying to improve in your life,

00:08:35.980 we've got the tools to help you reach those objectives for yourself. And again, remain at the

00:08:41.580 ready for opportunities that have previously passed you by. So if you want to learn more and join us

00:08:46.920 at the table, you can do that at order of man.com slash iron council. Again, that's order of man.com

00:08:52.420 slash iron council. Gentlemen, I look forward to talk with you next week, but until then take action

00:08:57.260 and become the man you were meant to be. Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast.

00:09:02.860 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

00:09:06.680 We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - April 07, 2017

FFN 050： At The Ready

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