Order of Man - FFN 072： Lessons Learned from Hurricane Harvey

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

00:00:27.440 Mickler, and I am the host and founder of this podcast, The Order of Man. I am glad that

00:00:31.800 you are here with us today. Whether you've listened to one show or 100, this is a show

00:00:36.760 about becoming a better man. So if you're a man and you want to improve your relationships,

00:00:42.220 your health, your business, your bank account, your influence, your leadership skills, your

00:00:47.500 whatever is important to you, you are in the right place. If this is the first time, guys,

00:00:51.560 that you have heard this podcast, this show here, it's a short show. It's called The Friday

00:00:55.620 Field Notes because you're going to listen to me for the next 10 to 12 minutes on some

00:00:59.280 things I've been thinking about this week of being in the field. I'm on the same journey

00:01:03.360 as you, as a man. On Tuesdays, however, we release our interview show with guys like

00:01:08.500 Jocko Willing, Tim Kennedy, Colonel Dave Grossman, Lewis Howes, Andy Frisilla, Grant Cardone,

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00:01:24.180 nearly 37,000 men inside the group having hundreds of conversations about some of the same topics we

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00:01:41.700 Now, today, I thought it would be a good idea to address something that has impacted millions of

00:01:47.040 people over the past several weeks, and that is the nightmare in Houston created by Hurricane Harvey.

00:01:53.300 As I've thought about what those people must be experiencing and, of course, what we've seen

00:01:57.940 online and TV, I can't help but think of a couple glaring lessons that we should all look to when it

00:02:03.760 comes to how we conduct ourselves as men. I see some areas of improvement. I see some areas that,

00:02:10.720 from what I can tell, are absolutely amazing to see in the wake of such a horrific situation.

00:02:16.780 So I want to get right into these four lessons today. The first lesson that I want to talk about is

00:02:21.920 that of preparation. It has become painfully obvious that there are so many people who have

00:02:27.840 failed to plan or prepare in any measurable way for what this hurricane did. I'm not trying to make

00:02:33.540 light of the hurricane. I'm not trying to make light of what these people are going through,

00:02:38.280 but it is obvious that there is some lack of preparation here. It's difficult, of course,

00:02:42.900 to know what to be prepared for, but as the founder of the Boy Scouts, Baden Powell,

00:02:48.860 and I quote him quite a bit when he would say, be prepared for anything. I don't think it's any

00:02:54.360 surprise that Houston and the surrounding areas could be hit with a hurricane, but I think the

00:03:00.080 magnitude of this storm probably caught a lot of people off guard. And the result of that is people

00:03:06.040 being stranded for hours. We've seen videos where people have been on top of their houses for hours

00:03:11.180 and potentially even days, people without food and water. And fortunately, the death toll during

00:03:18.240 this disaster has been relatively low, but I can't help but think that number would be even lower had

00:03:24.240 more people expected the best, but planned for the worst. So again, I don't want to come across as

00:03:30.800 calloused or unempathetic to what is happening in Texas, but I do believe that this should serve as a

00:03:36.920 grave reminder to stock up on provisions and food and water, those types of things that create

00:03:42.760 emergency plans based on the disasters that we are likely to experience in our areas. It'd be a good

00:03:48.360 idea to have some cash set aside, create a bolt bag should you need it, and so much more. And by the

00:03:53.340 way, we're going to be featuring some survival type podcast in the coming weeks and months. Now,

00:03:59.480 the next lesson I wanted to cover is that nobody complains about masculinity when things are going

00:04:05.360 wrong. Have you noticed that? We hear so much more about the quote unquote toxic masculinity that's

00:04:11.120 permeating society when things are going well, but when things are going wrong, people aren't telling

00:04:16.220 men not to be men. They're asking men to step up fully into their role as men, that of a protector,

00:04:23.820 a provider, and a presider, a leader. I've been talking about these roles for two and a half years,

00:04:28.580 and I think for the most part, people have been receptive to that idea, but I've heard from others that

00:04:33.520 this is an outdated or antiquated way of thinking. It's easy to believe that when the skies are blue,

00:04:39.700 but when things go wrong, when stuff really hits the fan, we hear the cries of help from somebody,

00:04:46.640 from anybody to protect and provide and lead for those who, for whatever reason, cannot do it for

00:04:53.500 themselves. This is why it is critical that we tune out the naysayers of masculinity. Those who would

00:05:00.780 have us be anything other than men are those who will beg us for help when things go wrong because

00:05:06.080 they have failed to plan for themselves. Again, disclaimer, I'm not making light of any victim of

00:05:13.300 the hurricane. I'm just saying it's fascinating that nobody is complaining about masculinity.

00:05:18.700 It's imperative that we be prepared for that day. It will come. We don't know when,

00:05:25.060 we don't know how, but it will come. And this leads me right into my next point. And that is

00:05:29.760 that masculinity is alive and well. It is alive and well. Turn on the news or do a simple Google

00:05:37.120 search and you're likely to see hundreds and thousands of volunteers who have stepped away

00:05:42.020 from their jobs and their homes and their families, their callings to serve the people of Houston.

00:05:48.420 If there was ever a question of where the quote unquote real men are, I think we can plainly see

00:05:55.060 questions being answered in the form of volunteers, men bringing in their boats, guys working together

00:06:01.180 to save lives, donating time, blood, money, food, water, those resources, everything. Frankly,

00:06:07.620 it's inspiring to watch an army of men who are adequately trained and stocked with the right

00:06:13.900 provisions to be able to accomplish as much as they have on their own dime and on their own time.

00:06:19.840 It's interesting to see the media try to scramble for any negative story they can. But when you look

00:06:25.500 around, all you see is good in the wake of this horrific and this horrible natural disaster.

00:06:32.360 I'm not, again, I keep saying this, I'm not trying to make light of this horrible experience, but look

00:06:36.820 at what we're learning. Look at the example that is being set. Look at the people helping each other,

00:06:43.340 regardless of the color of their skin, what side of the political aisle that they happen to sit on,

00:06:48.580 or what their socioeconomic status happens to be. And guys, this leads me to my last point that I want

00:06:54.180 to make and certainly not the last lesson I think we're going to glean from this experience. It may

00:06:58.680 not seem like it now, especially for those who are immediately impacted by Hurricane Harvey, but

00:07:04.320 struggle is good. Struggle teaches us lessons. Struggle makes us physically strong and mentally tough

00:07:12.560 and emotionally resilient. Struggle brings people together to fight against a common enemy.

00:07:16.620 It binds us. It unites us. It puts things in perspective. I mean, I rewind back to 9-11 and

00:07:23.740 you think about the tragedy that was 9-11, but also look at the fact that people came together

00:07:30.220 and they rallied together and they helped each other and they supported each other. It was amazing

00:07:34.340 and inspiring to see. And we're seeing a little bit of that here with Houston. It really just puts

00:07:39.500 things in perspective. The things that we argue about, the trivial matters become less important.

00:07:44.520 And the real issues and the real matters of taking care of each other and serving our families and

00:07:48.740 serving our communities as men is put into perspective. We spend our entire lives trying

00:07:53.840 to avoid struggle. And although I'm not necessarily suggesting that you go looking for it, we should

00:07:59.900 strive to see it for what it is. An opportunity to learn. Houston's going to get through this.

00:08:06.380 You will get through your struggles. If you consider the alternative, it's not really a choice

00:08:10.960 at all, is it? And when your back is against the wall, I think you'll be surprised at what you can

00:08:15.420 actually accomplish. Again, let me run through these lessons. Be prepared. The second one is

00:08:20.560 that people aren't complaining about masculinity because things are going wrong right now. Number

00:08:24.760 three, masculinity is alive and well. I love to see this. And last but not least, struggle is

00:08:29.860 important. Guys, on that note, I want you to know that Order of Man is trying to do its part.

00:08:35.040 What we've done is we've created a Houston Strong shirt available for purchase. And all the proceeds

00:08:40.940 from these shirts are going to go directly to the support and relief for those affected by Hurricane

00:08:46.620 Harvey. So if you'd like to pick up your Houston Strong shirt, you can head to orderofman.com

00:08:51.560 slash Houston Strong to show your support and to do your part. Guys, this is a tragic event, but it's

00:08:59.340 also an opportunity to show the world how we believe men should behave. Donate what you can,

00:09:05.800 buy the Houston Strong shirt, volunteer, give what you can, live up to that mantra that we live by here

00:09:11.580 at Order of Man, which is to protect, provide, and preside. This is the perfect opportunity to show the

00:09:16.560 world what that actually means. Again, Houston's going to get through this. They'll do it because

00:09:21.520 we're going to rally around them. They'll do it because they're rallying around each other,

00:09:26.160 their neighbors, and their communities. It's amazing. I'm inspired by all the people of Houston

00:09:30.580 and how resilient and tough they are. I'm inspired by the thousands of men who have put their lives

00:09:36.360 on hold to help, and I'm inspired by you. So now it's our turn. Let's do our part, guys.

00:09:41.580 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast. If you're ready to take charge of your life and be

00:09:46.600 more of the man you were meant to be, we invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

00:09:56.160 Thank you.

Order of Man - September 08, 2017

FFN 072： Lessons Learned from Hurricane Harvey

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