In this episode, Ryan talks about the victim mindset and how we become our own worst enemies. He also talks about why we should not be playing the victim card anymore and why we are not about being victims anymore.
00:00:00.000You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.
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00:00:24.720Hey, gentlemen. What is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and founder of this podcast, and frankly, of this movement, The Order of Man.
00:00:33.120I want to welcome you. If you're visiting and tuning in for the first time, if you've been around for three, three and a half years, I want to welcome you as well.
00:00:40.280This is a movement about helping you become a better father, a better husband, a better community leader, a better business owner.
00:00:46.880However you're showing up in life as a man, this is a resource designed to help you.
00:00:50.700And the way that we do that specifically within the podcast is have some amazing, amazing conversations with some of the most successful men on the planet.
00:00:59.040These are guys like Jocko Willink, Lewis Howes, Andy Frisilla, Grant Cardone, Tim Kennedy, Jordan Harbinger.
00:01:06.100I mean, you name it. The list goes on and on and on with regards to the quality of guests that we have come on the show.
00:01:12.760So I ask them great questions. I hope they're great questions anyways.
00:01:16.040Please solicit their feedback and their insight and then deliver it to you each and every week.
00:01:20.900Now, this is a little different. This is your Friday field notes. You get to listen to me ramble, get to listen to me vent even a little bit.
00:01:27.640We've done some things different. I think that you guys have probably noticed this.
00:01:31.740I have just been free flowing, if you will, on these.
00:01:34.980I used to script out the Friday field notes, but as of late over the past, I don't know, three or four episodes now, I don't script these things out.
00:01:42.700I'm just speaking from the heart, speaking from the soul, speaking about some things that have been on my mind.
00:01:47.040And I've got a great one lined up for you today on the pathetic trend that I see, which is called the victim mentality.
00:01:54.560And this is titled No Victims Here because we are not about being victims.
00:01:58.780I'm going to explain what I mean here in a minute.
00:02:00.240But before I do, just a quick announcement with regards to our show sponsor, Origin Maine.
00:02:06.180Guys, I know you've heard me talk about them. Some of you have checked them out. Some of you haven't.
00:02:10.920If you haven't gone over and checked out their story, you need to go do that.
00:02:15.320They are bringing back manufacturing to America.
00:02:18.840Everything that they do is 100% made in America.
00:02:21.660They've got training equipment for jujitsu, rash guards, geese.
00:04:38.360So, gentlemen, we've got to find a way to drop this victim mindset.
00:04:43.320And I want you to understand there's a difference between reaching out for help and assistance and guidance and direction and then playing the victim.
00:04:51.280So, today I'm going to talk about why I think men do this.
00:04:54.920We're going to talk about the pitfalls of playing the victim card because if you don't think there's anything wrong with it, you're just going to keep playing that card.
00:05:02.440So, we're going to talk about the pitfalls and then I'm going to share with you six strategies to avoid being a victim for the rest of your life.
00:05:10.200Now, before I get into all of that, I do need to describe what it is I'm talking about here.
00:05:14.380When I'm talking about the victim and playing the victim card, I'm talking about somebody who is absolutely helpless regarding the outcome of a particular event.
00:05:27.760We've been in situations that we can't control.
00:05:29.840We've been in situations and circumstances where things are outside of our control and there wasn't anything that we can do about it.
00:05:35.800But I'd be willing to bet, and I think you'd agree with this, that the overwhelming majority of the circumstances in which we find ourselves are the circumstances in which we placed ourselves.
00:05:45.500Meaning that those circumstances are the products of the actions and the behaviors and the beliefs that we've adhered to and that we've been practicing.
00:05:55.600So, when I'm talking about this, I'm actually addressing the mindset.
00:05:59.280I'm addressing the mindset that a lot of men seem to take on, which is that there's nothing they could do about the situation and nothing is their fault and nothing is their responsibility and they're blaming it on everybody else.
00:06:16.640So, with that said, let me share with you why I think this is.
00:06:19.320I think it's really, really important that we understand why a lot of us feel the way we do because if we don't understand and at least have a baseline for our belief system,
00:06:27.720even if it's a negative belief system, it's going to be very difficult for us to grow.
00:06:31.780So, number one, I think playing the victim mindset and the victim card, it's easy.
00:06:37.040It's really easy to say that it's somebody else's fault.
00:06:39.900We don't have to exert any level of energy or effort or responsibility or accountability or apologize or rectify any situation when it isn't our fault.
00:06:53.120They throw their hands up in the air and they say, it wasn't my fault, this person, this economy, this situation, but it had nothing to do with me.
00:07:01.700So, first and foremost, I think the reason people play the victim card is because they're lazy.
00:07:53.940The next component of this, and I think this is probably very true of a lot of people, is that it's attention-seeking.
00:08:02.760It's attention-seeking when somebody says,
00:08:05.520I was the victim, I was at the mercy of this event or this individual, and this person was out to get me, and this situation happened.
00:08:14.720And I think a lot of these people love the attention.
00:08:18.100They love the negative attention that they receive when they play the victim.
00:08:22.480It's unfortunate because it's very similar to the boy who cried wolf.
00:08:26.760And very quickly, people begin to recognize who the victims are and who the victims aren't, and they naturally gravitate and move away from the victim.
00:08:49.300And the last reason I identified as to why people love to play the victim card is that they want the benefit of whatever they're talking about, whatever the circumstance is, without having to pay the price.
00:09:03.360They want the relationship without having to invest the time and energy and resources into that relationship.
00:09:08.780They want the promotion without earning the promotion.
00:09:11.080They want the raise without earning the raise.
00:09:13.180They want the six-pack abs without having to wake up an hour early every morning and go to the gym for the next three, four, five years.
00:09:21.940And because they can't really have something for nothing, well, then it must have been something else.
00:09:27.200And if it's something else, maybe, just maybe, somebody will feel bad enough for me that they'll give me what it is I desire without going out and earning it.
00:09:37.840And there's some real problems with this, guys.
00:09:39.620I mean, there's some real pitfalls that need to be discussed when people play this card, when people refuse to accept responsibility.
00:09:50.380Number one, and I think this is the most important reason why you've got to, with all that you can, avoid being a victim of your surroundings and situations.
00:09:59.200You, when you play that card, subject yourself to this outside circumstance.
00:10:05.420See, if it was your wife's fault that your relationship fell apart, you have now subjected yourself to her.
00:10:16.440The ball is in her court in order for you not to be the victim anymore.
00:10:20.520If you're complaining about your boss and how big of a jerk he is, and that's the reason you didn't get the promotion,
00:10:26.500then it's in your boss's power to do something about it.
00:10:29.840There's nothing you can do until and if and when he decides to change.
00:10:34.860If it's the economy that you're blaming all of your lack of financial abundance on,
00:10:41.400well, you have to sit back and wait for the economy to rebound or improve.
00:10:46.300And you are subjecting yourself and putting yourself at the mercy of outside factors, other people, and things that you frankly cannot control.
00:10:54.620And the ultimate result of doing that is that you live a life less than you're capable of.