Order of Man - In the Trenches 001 ｜ Bubba Downs

00:00:00.040 Gentlemen, welcome to In the Trenches, an Order of Man podcast dedicated to interviewing

00:00:04.360 ordinary, everyday men like you and me who are currently in the battle of becoming better

00:00:08.840 men.

00:00:09.460 You'll hear the good, the bad, and the ugly from guys who are striving to become stronger

00:00:13.680 husbands, fathers, business owners, and community leaders.

00:00:17.560 It's our mission to deliver the stories that will inspire you to become the man you are

00:00:21.620 meant to be.

00:00:22.320 Your host for this podcast is a man who is not only in the trenches, but has drastically

00:00:26.920 changed his life for the better over the past two years.

00:00:29.260 Here's Mr. Bubba Downs.

00:00:32.560 Bubba, what's going on, man?

00:00:33.600 Thanks for joining me on the show today.

00:00:35.860 Thanks for having me, brother.

00:00:36.940 How's it going?

00:00:37.560 It's good.

00:00:38.080 This is going to be a little different now that we're kicking off In the Trenches.

00:00:41.140 So the guys are listening to this for the first time and you are actually going to be our

00:00:44.420 host of the new series, if you will, within the podcast, In the Trenches.

00:00:49.400 How do you feel about that, man?

00:00:51.140 Man, I am honored, brother.

00:00:52.520 I am absolutely honored.

00:00:53.780 It's, you know, this whole thing has been just a step outside of my comfort zone and

00:01:00.260 this is just the next step.

00:01:01.880 How has it been a step outside of your comfort zone?

00:01:03.900 What's changed for you?

00:01:05.880 What hasn't changed?

00:01:07.320 You know, my, as I'm stumbling over words again, I'm feeling like that guy that left

00:01:10.960 that interview, that intro video a year ago.

00:01:13.460 So things that have changed for me, man, it's, I am more apt to take risks now.

00:01:19.780 I think that's really the, the, the key.

00:01:22.800 Well, let's talk about this a little bit because I want to let the guys know.

00:01:25.720 And the goal of today is to tell these guys what In the Trenches is all about.

00:01:30.000 I've gotten a lot of feedback from the men who listen to the podcast, who love the interviews

00:01:34.320 that we do.

00:01:34.780 They love the Friday field notes that I do, but the feedback I've been getting is they

00:01:38.840 would like to hear from guys who are doing it.

00:01:41.660 You know, guys who have had, whether that's a failing marriage or some, some health problems

00:01:46.660 or financial problems, and they're on the current path or on the current journey.

00:01:52.520 So they may not have arrived, but they're going through the process.

00:01:55.540 They're in the trenches.

00:01:56.440 If you will, I'd like to hear from your perspective, how you see this podcast working in the information

00:02:02.140 that we'll be sharing.

00:02:04.040 That's I, yeah, the way that I see it working is we're going to just be, be talking to guys

00:02:08.700 that are, that are normal guys.

00:02:09.920 You know, you get to, you get the joy of talking to the Jockos and the Andes and all those guys

00:02:15.260 that are, that are there.

00:02:16.900 You know, this show is going to be more about talking to the guys that are, that are working

00:02:20.520 to get there.

00:02:21.320 This, this is about the guys that are, that are just constantly struggling to get through

00:02:25.320 it, but are constantly making those gains.

00:02:29.640 How has this changed for you over the past year?

00:02:32.180 Because I know when we initially met, which was it a year ago?

00:02:35.200 Is that right?

00:02:35.720 Uh, December 5th, 2016.

00:02:38.780 Okay.

00:02:39.100 Yeah.

00:02:39.280 So a little over a year, where were you coming from at that point?

00:02:43.800 Because you joined the iron council in December.

00:02:47.900 Did you know about order of men prior to joining the iron council or you just, how did you come

00:02:52.340 to what we're doing?

00:02:53.860 I actually, uh, probably around July, I, somebody shared a meme from your business page and that

00:03:03.160 led me to finding the podcast, which led me to the order of man, Facebook group, about three

00:03:09.040 months into the order of man, Facebook group.

00:03:10.600 I figured, you know what?

00:03:12.020 Ryan's earned $67.

00:03:13.600 If it sucks, at least he got, I've got my money's worth out of it already.

00:03:17.320 And then you can always leave if you didn't, if you didn't enjoy it.

00:03:20.080 Right.

00:03:21.180 That's, that's exactly right.

00:03:22.240 If I, that's what I'm saying.

00:03:23.500 If it sucked here, here's $67 because you provided me more than that much value already,

00:03:28.300 but you ended up sticking around.

00:03:30.340 So why did you stick around?

00:03:31.860 I mean, what was the value you were receiving?

00:03:33.540 And then more importantly, how have you transformed your life over the past year?

00:03:39.240 So in being part of the iron council, the way that I've transformed my life personally

00:03:43.580 is I have stepped out of my comfort zone.

00:03:46.120 I, I was a bit of a yes, man.

00:03:47.820 I was a bit of a follower, you know, I, I did what I was told.

00:03:52.840 So that way I could impress the people that I thought needed to be impressed.

00:03:56.080 You know, I, I really started my whole self-help journey when I was about 32.

00:04:00.060 So about eight years ago, but I thought I was making progress, but it wasn't until I

00:04:05.100 had that band of brothers to really push me that I actually saw the progress that I just

00:04:10.620 thought I was making.

00:04:11.520 How did you, is, is the band of brothers just through what we're doing here or do you have

00:04:16.580 guys locally that you're banding with as well that have been advantageous in helping you

00:04:20.500 on this journey?

00:04:22.060 Um, not until I actually moved recently and now I'm actually meeting up with local iron

00:04:27.520 council guys instead of, I mean, the majority of my friends, they didn't understand what I

00:04:32.220 was doing.

00:04:32.680 They didn't understand where I was trying to go.

00:04:34.980 You know, they just wanted that redneck dude that drank beer with them. 0.94

00:04:37.920 That's, that wasn't who I was trying to be anymore.

00:04:40.040 Yeah, I think that's a common problem.

00:04:42.140 I know for me specifically, I, I tried to really grow and develop with other men in my

00:04:48.340 area and the guys that I found, frankly, were more interested in the parties and the, and

00:04:53.400 whatever else was going on rather than growing myself.

00:04:56.380 And so I actually had to create something to, to make this work because it just wasn't there

00:05:01.880 and it wasn't around for me.

00:05:03.600 So I realized how big of a struggle this must've been for you.

00:05:06.320 And of course the guys that are listening, they know, they know having a band of brothers

00:05:10.660 is critical.

00:05:11.220 And yet for whatever reason they can't do it or don't have the time.

00:05:14.500 How do you feel having a band of brothers locally, digitally, whatever that looks like,

00:05:19.120 uh, has, has improved your life.

00:05:21.180 Where, where, and what areas have that improved your life?

00:05:24.160 Man, where to start on that?

00:05:25.800 So since I've been with the iron council specifically, you know, I've completed a Spartan beast.

00:05:30.200 I led some of the brotherhood to Houston to do a relief effort after the hurricane.

00:05:36.380 Let's see here.

00:05:37.180 I took a much better job.

00:05:38.400 I've rebuilt relationships with my kids.

00:05:40.520 Uh, the list just keeps going, man.

00:05:43.000 It's having that, having people that are looking to you and expecting you to be better than what

00:05:48.640 you think you are makes you think that you can do it yourself.

00:05:52.880 Explain that a little bit.

00:05:53.940 Walk me through what that means.

00:05:55.040 You know, before I had, you know, like my, my battle team, those guys constantly pushed

00:06:01.500 me. 0.99

00:06:01.940 They, they wouldn't settle for my bullshit excuses. 0.99

00:06:04.140 They wouldn't settle for me saying, well, I'm just not good enough to do that. 0.99

00:06:07.260 I mean, it's pretty simple.

00:06:08.540 Like it's, it's, it's, it really truly is as simple as that.

00:06:11.360 I know, for example, when I went and did the Spartan Agogi, that's a 60 hour endurance event.

00:06:16.380 And I actually, I've talked about that a little bit here in the podcast is I told at the

00:06:21.100 time, I think we were probably at 15 or so, maybe 20,000 members of the Facebook group.

00:06:27.160 And I told 20,000 guys that I was going to go compete in this obstacle course race that was 60

00:06:34.000 hours. And there was no way that I was going to not complete that because I told so many guys that

00:06:40.780 I was going to do it. And so that accountability has been such a huge part of my life. It sounds

00:06:46.240 like it is for you as well, that accountability component. Absolutely, man. Um, you know,

00:06:51.120 like the beast, I, I think that I was trying to, to winning my way out of it and I was going to

00:06:55.020 sign up for a sprint and two of the iron council guys were like, no, we're not doing that. Let's

00:07:01.260 do the beast. So yeah, I trained for about six, seven months for that. We completed it together

00:07:06.520 and, and it was a, it was an amazing experience actually.

00:07:11.460 So tell me what you're working on now, specifically, what are some of the goals,

00:07:14.320 the objectives that you have? Obviously we do a lot of our planning in 90 day segments.

00:07:18.660 I'm assuming that you do that as well, because that's kind of what we've, we've done, but maybe

00:07:22.940 you're doing it different. I'd like to hear what goals you have.

00:07:25.760 So you, not only do I really kind of focus on the 12 week deal, but I, I, I really break it down

00:07:29.640 into the minutia of the weekly, you know, that that's really where I find a lot of my value in

00:07:34.480 the planning. But as far as what I'm working on now, I've actually got a half a million dollar

00:07:39.700 contract. I'm trying to get signed for sales at work, trying to get my kid to get his,

00:07:45.880 get his little act together in school. And, you know, I'll be real honest with you. That's been

00:07:50.200 more difficult than just about anything that I've done, but it's with the knowing that I have guys

00:07:58.300 that I can turn to and be like, Hey man, what, what do you guys think about this? That is,

00:08:02.360 that has really made it a lot easier.

00:08:03.760 Yeah. The, the beauty of what we're doing too, is these focused conversations, because I think

00:08:08.880 it's really easy to have conversations with people anywhere and everywhere about whatever

00:08:13.020 may be. And what I found on social media or just, just in general is these very surface level

00:08:19.540 conversations that at the end of the day, do not move the needle forward. And that's one of the most

00:08:24.100 valuable things, even for me as the founder of what we're doing has been so advantageous for me is

00:08:29.460 to have hyper, hyper focused conversations on things that are actually relevant and will push

00:08:35.220 and move the needle in the right direction based on what I've identified as being important.

00:08:40.120 Absolutely, man. And that's, that, that's really huge whenever you can go and, you know,

00:08:45.120 another thing about the iron council, I say it a lot, but it's not the power of your beard that

00:08:48.420 makes it something, you know, you got 350 plus guys that have a wide range of experience that you

00:08:54.360 can turn to, you know, there is someone in there that is an expert on something.

00:08:59.540 What are the, uh, so you've talked a little bit about the objectives, the things that you're

00:09:03.260 trying to work on now, what are some of the challenges that you've run across? And as a

00:09:07.140 team leader that you're seeing the challenges in other guys that they're running across as well?

00:09:12.760 Man, the biggest thing that I've had to overcome since I started this whole thing was doubting myself.

00:09:17.220 I've had a hard time believing that I was worth the success that I was achieving.

00:09:22.020 Hmm. How do you think that's changed for you?

00:09:24.800 It's still there sometimes, you know, I do have to, I got to kick it in the ass every now and then, 0.99

00:09:30.680 but it's still there. I think the thing that, that really helps push me past it though, 0.99

00:09:35.840 is whenever I tell these guys, I'm going to do something. Once I tell them I'm going to do

00:09:39.640 something, I don't have a choice. You know, you know me well enough in the iron council that if

00:09:44.000 somebody doesn't do what they tell me they're going to do, they're doing burpees. They're doing

00:09:47.980 something. Right. You're calling them out, right?

00:09:50.880 Right. So how, how can I expect that level of accountability from somebody else yet not give

00:09:56.720 it myself? Hmm. Yeah. I think that's so true of leadership as well. You know, I, I see these

00:10:02.500 guys, whether it's a bad boss or whatever it may be asking other people to do things. And yet,

00:10:07.120 if you look at their life, they're not really willing to do it themselves. And it's no wonder that

00:10:11.040 people don't follow people like that and they will not follow people like that. And if they do,

00:10:14.960 it's only for a very short period of time, it's not lasting leadership. It's more like

00:10:19.160 management as opposed to leading men effectively.

00:10:22.700 Absolutely. Absolutely. And I have learned so much about leadership just from being a part of this.

00:10:27.540 So let's, let's pivot here a little bit, because obviously this is the first of

00:10:31.780 in the trenches and what we're going to be doing here. And it's actually really,

00:10:35.380 it's really interesting to, to listen to you and to have this conversation and to know how far you've

00:10:39.780 come. And then also to know how far you will go. I remember the very first time I did a

00:10:44.940 podcast for order of man. And I've gone back and I've listened to some of this stuff and I'm like,

00:10:48.400 Oh my goodness. Like look, listen to what I actually sound like compared to what I'm doing

00:10:52.640 now. So I'm actually really excited to see your journey and your progress as well. But I would

00:10:58.080 like to ask how you see this format working out. What questions are you going to be asking the guys?

00:11:04.760 What details can we expect to hear? And then of course, what is, what is the purpose? What is the

00:11:09.440 outcome that we're trying to accomplish here with, with in the trenches?

00:11:13.060 Well, what, you know, I've got a couple of questions that I'm going to be asking,

00:11:16.240 you know, basically just kind of getting them to give us their side of the story of where they've

00:11:21.400 been, where they're going and what they're planning on doing. And anything, anything that you can gain

00:11:27.180 from listening to these guys, talk about what they've been through and what they're doing and

00:11:31.980 what their, what their win was, man, that's, that's something that, that you just can't buy. You just need to

00:11:38.760 hear it. Hear it. And I think experience it as well. So one area that I think would be really

00:11:44.140 fascinating is to even have our guests challenge the guys that are listening to do something in

00:11:50.040 their life, right? Whether that's go run a Spartan race, like you're talking about, or one of the

00:11:54.600 challenges that we had just in the iron council last week was to ask somebody close to you, whether

00:11:58.920 that was a spouse or your children or friend, whoever it may be closest to you, where they feel like

00:12:05.020 you need some improvement with regards to masculinity. And I know a lot of guys had a

00:12:10.800 real struggle in doing that, but it was actually really interesting to hear their experiences as

00:12:15.780 they pushed outside of their comfort zone and took on some of those challenges.

00:12:20.360 And if you'll notice a lot of those guys that took that challenge, whatever they got that,

00:12:23.860 you know, quote unquote, negative feedback. The first thing that they did was came up with a,

00:12:29.420 with an action plan to correct it.

00:12:31.100 Yeah. And that's, what's so powerful is, is when we started order of man, I mean, my goal was to

00:12:37.460 bridge the gap between what men know they should be doing and what they're actually doing. And you

00:12:42.960 hear that adage that knowledge is power. It's not really the whole story. Knowledge is power when it's

00:12:48.040 applied. And so I think this will be a great opportunity for you to extract some information

00:12:54.020 and application from the men who are again, in the trenches, doing the work, how they're actually

00:12:59.060 doing it, the steps they're actually taking, the pitfalls they're, they're stepping into and what

00:13:03.700 they can do to avoid that moving forward. I think it's such a good opportunity to learn from these,

00:13:08.000 these guys who are, who are doing the work, frankly.

00:13:11.040 Absolutely, man. I'll guarantee you that if I'd have been listening to something like this

00:13:14.340 back before I joined, it wouldn't have taken me too much to pull the trigger.

00:13:17.860 Yeah. And that's the thing. I think a lot of the times we see these, these,

00:13:21.300 these courses or these programs or these books or whatever it may be. And we think,

00:13:27.260 oh, it's not for me. And the timing's not right. I don't want to do this. And maybe it's discomfort.

00:13:32.620 Maybe it's just not knowing if it's worth the investment, but I think this will really shed

00:13:37.160 some light into what we're doing. And even if it doesn't, even if you feel like, you know what,

00:13:41.180 I'm not ready to pull the trigger. At least you're going to get some very actionable steps from

00:13:45.780 the guys that are walking shoulder to shoulder with you. And I've seen studies that suggest that

00:13:51.000 men operate better when we're shoulder to shoulder, as opposed to face-to-face women,

00:13:56.300 generally speaking, operate better face-to-face, which is why they can go out on their, their,

00:14:00.980 their dates and hang out with their girlfriends and talk about conversations versus men who I think

00:14:06.080 need to stand shoulder to shoulder against something right against a common enemy or a common

00:14:11.460 battle that they're choosing to fight. And that's what I found most advantageous being,

00:14:16.260 being here and being part of this with you guys. Well, man, these are action-packed. These are tight.

00:14:20.740 We're keeping them short by design, but I want to ask, as we close things out today,

00:14:24.960 what, uh, do you want to share? Is there any other information that we need to be aware of,

00:14:30.000 uh, that the guys can expect and look forward to each and every week with regards to in the

00:14:34.380 trenches? Just be ready to hear the story of, of guys that are actually doing it. You know,

00:14:40.220 these aren't guys that are going to give you tips on how to be a millionaire or, you know,

00:14:44.500 that have written a bestselling novel. Well, except for this one, cause you know,

00:14:48.400 Ryan's doing the interview outside of this, right? The rest of these guys are just normal guys that

00:14:55.660 are doing the work. Right on, man. I love it. And that's your, that's your saying too,

00:15:00.880 within the iron council. I think somebody actually said it the other day where you were supposed to

00:15:04.360 say it, do work, get results. And I noticed that you were a little bit upset about that.

00:15:08.500 No, that was actually Chris Gatchko. He came back on where you welcomed us to the iron council,

00:15:14.440 me stand. Oh, is that what that was? Okay. I didn't put that together. That's interesting.

00:15:17.880 Cool. So that was about a year ago then. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool, man. It's really,

00:15:22.940 it's really amazing to see your progress and that's a testament to you. I do have to ask you,

00:15:27.280 I didn't prepare you for this, but I do have to ask you because there's not been an interview that

00:15:31.200 I've done where I haven't asked my guests, what does it mean to be a man? To be a man?

00:15:37.300 Well, it means doing what's right when nobody's watching. It means doing the work when you don't want

00:15:43.620 to. It means being that example to those that count on you to where they know what they need

00:15:51.240 to be whenever they grow up. I love it, man. That's powerful. Very, very powerful and something

00:15:55.740 I'm striving to live towards as well. Well, Bubba, I appreciate you, man. I'm looking forward to kicking

00:16:00.260 this thing off. We're going to start with 12 episodes. We're going to see how it goes. I imagine

00:16:04.680 the feedback will be fantastic. I couldn't be more excited about having you as a host.

00:16:09.020 And so this is the only guys in the trenches that you're going to hear from me. I will not be on

00:16:14.800 them. Bubba's going to be hosting these things with other members of the iron council and other

00:16:18.800 guys who are actually doing the work that all of us are striving to do. So Bubba, I'm excited for

00:16:23.060 you, man. I appreciate you. Whether you know it or not, you inspire me every day. I've seen,

00:16:28.320 literally seen the transformation physically, mentally, emotionally that you have made over the

00:16:34.780 past year. And I got to say, I'm blown away and I'm looking forward to being more involved in this

00:16:38.400 process with you, man. Humble, brother. I can't thank you enough, man.

00:16:43.880 If you've been inspired by this conversation, we encourage you to learn more about the steps,

00:16:48.180 tools, strategy, and resources these men are using inside of our exclusive brotherhood,

00:16:52.340 the iron council. The iron council is a band of brothers dedicated to leveling up their lives

00:16:56.580 and committed to helping you do the same. You can learn more at order of man.com slash in the

00:17:01.580 trenches until next week, take action and become the man you are meant to be.

00:17:08.400 Thank you.

00:17:10.400 Thank you.

00:17:11.400 Thank you.

00:17:12.400 Thank you.

Order of Man - March 07, 2018

In the Trenches 001 ｜ Bubba Downs

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