Life Can Get Better If… | FRIDAY FIELD NOTES
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Summary
I m back from a trip to Hawaii and ready to get back into the swing of things. In this episode, I talk about how I ve been able to bounce back from the loss of my first wife and how I managed to get my life back on track.
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. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Mickler.
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I'm the host and the founder of the Order of Man podcast and movement. Welcome here today
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and welcome back. I'm excited to be with you. The last couple of weeks I've been traveling with
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my oldest son. We've been hunting in Hawaii and we had some success with axis deer and
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goats on the big island of Hawaii. So we had a good trip. It's good to be back. A little tired
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just with my jet lag trying to get back into it, but I love doing this podcast and I love trying
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to give you guys information and tools and resources that will help you take your life
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to the next level. That's what we're trying to do here is help you with conversations and
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guidance and anecdotes and stories and all sorts of resources that you can use in your life to
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improve your relationships with your children or your wife, your girlfriend, significant other,
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improve your business, improve your bank account, improve your body, improve your life in general.
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So I made a post as I got back because I've had some major life changes over the past year,
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one of which I've been open about my divorce months ago this year. And it's been a hard road
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over the past 11 months or so trying to put things back together and rebuild the puzzle and get my life
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back on track. And I made this post inside our exclusive brotherhood, the Iron Council, which if you
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don't know what the Iron Council is, it's 1,200 of us all banded together working towards common goals
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and objectives, but also our individual goals and objectives, personal and professional desires and
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ambitions and things that we want to accomplish our dreams. And we're working together through systems
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and tools that we have available and we're holding each other accountable. That accountability and
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camaraderie with other men who are on the same path has been instrumental, not only in my life,
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but at this point, tens of thousands of men who have, who have joined us and who are currently
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with us. I made this post and I want to read it to you and then we'll break it down a little bit.
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I wrote this, life can get better gentlemen, but it's not going to get better if you keep engaging
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in the same behaviors that got you to the place of dissatisfaction you may be now. I've had several
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people ask me lately how I got over everything I divorced so quickly. First, I didn't get over anything
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quickly. My failed marriage is something I think about every day. That said, I don't allow it to
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consume me and continually drag me into a pit of despair. For the last 11 months, I've changed so
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much about my life. I stopped eating like garbage. I started lifting weights regularly again. I put
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down the alcohol. I journal nearly every day. I started reading books again. I reengaged in old
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hobbies. I connected with long lost friends and I started once again to live religiously through the
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battle planning system that we've created. This isn't rocket science, guys. It is a lot like math.
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Life is a formula and outside of unforeseen and unexpected events, much of our lives can be very
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predictable. The formula is simple. Eat right, move your body, self-reflect, connect with a purpose,
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serve other people, make yourself capable, be smart with your money, find joy, work hard, rest,
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and recover. If we habitually find ourselves in positions we don't like, look at the formula.
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Where is the breakdown? Pick one to focus on. Go all in on shoring that area up. When you have it
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locked in, pick another, then another, then another. Don't overcomplicate it. Do five to seven things
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right today. That's it. Five to seven things. Don't worry about the outcome. That will take care of
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itself. Like any formula, the answer is the answer. The input is what matters. Replace faulty input
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with better data and the answer inevitably improves. Guys, this is how you improve your life.
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It isn't rocket science. It isn't hard to figure out. It isn't complicated. It's actually very simple
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and that doesn't mean it's easy. That's not to dismiss what any of you may be going through.
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Uh, that's not to dismiss the mental, emotional, physical, spiritual torment that you might be
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experiencing right now. I certainly have that at times in my life. It's not to be dismissive of that.
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It's to give you hope and optimism that whatever you're facing right now, whether it's a divorce,
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separation, lawsuit, financial issues, medical complications, and troubles, that you can work
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through it and that you can have a sense of hope, the optimism for what life can be. Let's break down
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each one of these points that I made with regards to the formula. And I'll be fairly quick because we
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have hit these at length, but I, again, I just want to reiterate how important these things are.
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And what I noticed as I wrote these things down is they're simple and it isn't new information.
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So we tend to believe that because it's not new or complicated or complex, that it couldn't be the
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answer. We're looking for the complicated. Um, one person that comes to mind is Andrew Heberman.
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I love what the guy has to share. It's, it's fascinating information. Some of it is very applicable
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and some of it is just so complex and complicated and the rate of return for the effort required
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just doesn't compute to me anyways. I think we can hit on those things, those other offshoots and
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tangents and more in depth when we get these simple things, right. But I fear that so many of us are
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looking for the complicated and complex at the expense of doing any work. We believe that, oh,
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if we're consuming information or we're listening to this smart, intelligent person that
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we're moving the needle. No, you're not because if you have all that information, but you're still
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eating like garbage, what good is the information? So let's break this down. The formula simple is
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what I wrote. Number one, eat right. We all know what to do, right? Cut out the processed sugar.
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Just do that alone. Just cut out the processed sugars. If that's all you did in your diet,
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and I'll give you two things, cut out processed sugars and eat less. If 99% of the people listening
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to this podcast, myself included, did that, the diet thing wouldn't be an issue. Well, Brian,
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what else, how many, what, what portion of this should I eat? You can figure all that out. That's
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important. Again, I'm not dismissing it, but if you aren't cutting out processed sugars and you're
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eating too much, none of that matters. Do that. Let's not complicate it. So I'm going to challenge
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you this week to, if the eating thing is an issue of you, of yours, then focus on that. No processed
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sugars for the rest of the week. Smaller portion sizes, simple things like instead of getting the big
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plate at home, serve yourself on a smaller plate. Y'all have them, right? You've got the big plate,
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you've got the large plate and the small plate. Use the small plate and you'll do smaller portion
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sizes. Also, don't go for seconds. I like seconds. I'll eat all the seconds. No, just one helping of
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each, a good balanced portion, meat, vegetables, maybe starch like potatoes or rice, something like
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that. And that's it. You don't need anything else. No, it's not sexy. I know that might not be fun,
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but if you want to get it right, that's what you'll do. Don't go back for seconds. Cut out
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the processed sugars. And I would also say snacks. Snacks. Eat at lunch, eat at breakfast, eat at
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dinner. That's it. Number two, move your body. Guys, you all know you should be moving your body
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on a daily basis. And I guess some guys will say, work out three to five days a week. No,
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train your body every single day. I'm not saying that you need to do legs or arms or whatever it might
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be every single day. But I'm saying that you should be active every single day. If you're
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not in the gym because it's a Saturday or Sunday and that's not your schedule, then go out for a
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two-mile walk. And don't just putt around. Go out for a brisk walk. Walk with intentionality.
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Walk with purpose. Yes, get your 10,000 steps in, but walk like you're actually doing it for a reason.
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Get the heart rate up a little bit. Get the pace going. Get the dog going if you're walking your dog
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because your dog probably needs it too. Be intentional about it. If there's things that
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you don't like that you've tried, maybe you've tried martial arts because you hear me or somebody
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else talk about it all the time. And you're like, I'm going to go try martial arts. And you hate it.
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You don't like it. You don't enjoy it. You find it miserable. Then don't do martial arts.
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I won't think less of you. It doesn't matter if I do anyways. Nobody cares. Go do the thing
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that's going to be your thing. I don't like running. People like running. That's weird to me.
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I don't want to run. I'm not going to do it. I might go run and train for an event or something
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like that to push me outside of my comfort zone. But yeah, you're not going to find me on a treadmill.
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You're not going to find me running around the neighborhood because if I force myself to do that,
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I'm going to be miserable and I don't want to be miserable. I can go lift weights. I can go train
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jujitsu. I can go hike. I can go rock. I can do a lot of other things. I don't have to run just
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because somebody says running is the best. I don't have to go do jujitsu because somebody talks
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about jujitsu all the time, but you do need to be active. Find the thing that's going to work best
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for you. Again, it's not revelatory information, but it is valuable. Number three, this one gets
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overlooked a lot. Self-reflect. You have to have time in your day to think about your life, to think
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about how you're showing up, to think about how you're performing, to evaluate your own performance.
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Am I doing good? Am I doing bad? What areas of my life am I excelling at? Where am I falling behind?
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Why do I feel the way that I feel? Why am I experiencing this emotion right now? Why is
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this thing triggering me and getting me angry? Why am I impatient? Self-reflection. Get up in your
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head. Not all the time. You don't want to be in your head all the time, but you do need to be in
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your head to some degree so that you can learn from yourself about what's going on and what makes you
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tick and what turns you on and what turns you off and what demotivates you instead of inspires and
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motivates you. Figure that stuff out. A great way to do that, I don't think I wrote it here,
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here. Nope, I didn't write it in this one, is journaling. Just taking 10 to 15 minutes in the
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morning. I do it in the morning and then I do a little bit of documentation in the evening and
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that's it. What am I excited about today? What do I want to accomplish today? What lessons do I hope
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I learn? What struggles am I currently dealing with? How am I feeling? Am I rested? Am I tired?
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Am I recovered? Am I optimistic? Am I grumpy? What am I experiencing right now? At the end of the day,
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what did I get done? What didn't I get done? Where did I excel? Where did I fall behind?
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I know this is, it's not hard. I just know a lot of people aren't going to do it because it takes
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time. It takes time to sit down for 15 minutes in the morning and if we get up and we have barely
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enough time to shave and maybe take a shower and brush our teeth before we head out the door,
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you're not going to do this. You don't have the time to do it. So, we got to be a little bit more
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intentional about maybe waking up an hour and a half earlier than we normally do. And I say it
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an hour and a half because that gives you time to go to the gym and then it gives you another little
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bit of time to do some journaling and self-reflection. And then again, at the end of the
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day, if you close your day out at 6 p.m. or 5 p.m., close it out at 4.30. If you're off the clock at
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5, be done at 4.30 and you can use that last 20 to 30 minutes to get a notepad out or whatever
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planning tool or system you use and start writing, hey, here's what I accomplished. Here's what I
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didn't. Here's what I want to improve upon. And I promise if you do that, you're going to be more
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aware of who you are and how you show up and why you're feeling the way you're feeling and you're
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going to produce better results. One quote that I really like, it's in our battle planner. I'll just
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pull it up so you can see it here. If you're watching on YouTube, I don't know if that'll be
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backwards for you or not, but it says, that which is measured improves. That which is measured
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in proofs by Carl Pearson. So if you measure it, or at least you reflect on it, inevitably going to
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get better. Next, connecting with a purpose. Why are you here? This might be a spiritual undertone to
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this or maybe not. Depends on if you're spiritual or not, but there's got to be a reason for you
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being here. You're not a mindless soul as zombie, regardless if you think that we were created in
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God's image or that we all knew what we are. There's got to be a reason you're here. You don't
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have a reason for being here, for existing, for occupying space. Why are you? Some of you probably
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at this stage in your life are asking yourself that question, like, why am I here? And considering
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taking your own life. Don't do that. Please don't do that. Do these other things first and see if life
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gets better. But don't. How does the saying go? Don't create a permanent solution to a temporary
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problem. And I'm not trying to undermine what you're going through. I don't know what you're
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going through. I know there's a lot of people in despair right now saying that's not the answer.
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The answer are these other things. The answer is figuring out why you're here. You know, some of the
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most inspiring, motivating men that I know, and many of which I've had on the podcast, are guys that
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they've been in that pit of despair, that darkness, and they've used their horrible and tragic and even
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horrific circumstances and situations to learn to grow from and then serve other people. And they're
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so deeply connected to the purpose of serving other people that it inspires them to show up in a way that
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maybe they wouldn't have shown up otherwise. I know that's hard to say in the moment when really
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dealing with some difficult and challenging times, but I'll tell you what, as a man who's gone through
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some challenging and difficult times, those are the times that give me the information
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and also the position, perspective to serve other people. Connect to a purpose.
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Next, serve other people. That's purpose-oriented, but serve other people. Serve your children. Serve
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your wife. Serve your community members. Serve your neighbors. Serve your colleagues and your coworkers,
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employees, clients. Serve other people. If you don't know what your purpose is, just start serving in
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every capacity you can. Help other people. Add value to their lives. Donate and volunteer for
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nonprofit organizations. Help somebody at work. Help the guy that's in the cubicle next to you
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with the thing that he's struggling with. Not with any hope of anything in return, but just because it
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feels good to serve people and it's the right thing to do. I found that I can't wallow in my own
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self-pity if I'm more concerned with serving other people, but if I'm concerned with serving myself,
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that isn't going to help. Be smart with your money. Talked a lot about that. Find joy. Work hard.
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Rest and recover. Guys, I'm not going to get into all these today. I've talked about these things at
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length, but I just want you to know that the formula is simple. I'm going to break out each one of these,
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I think, in future Friday field notes a little bit better. Be smart with your money. Finding joy.
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Working hard. Resting and recovering. We're going to break each one of these down. But guys,
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what I want you to know is that you can have hope that the outcome of your life will take care of
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itself in a better way if you take care of the inputs and the information that you put in.
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Faulty data. Faulty return. Quality. High caliber data. Meaning high caliber activities. The better your
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life is going to be. And outside of a few unexpected and unforeseen life events, life is pretty
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predictable. So, like I said in this post, take a look at what's working in your life and double
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down on that. Take a look at what's not working in your life and scrutinize and analyze the details,
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the input, the behaviors that are creating that for you and fix them. Replace them with better
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behaviors. You do that enough. You do that over consistent and sustained periods of time and you
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will inevitably win. Okay. Kind of a short one for you today, guys. I want a bit of a time crunch as I
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get back and get back into the thing. But I wanted to get this information to you and I want you to
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be able to implement it. If you want to know how to implement this stuff even better, sure,
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you can go at it alone. You can even talk with people in your area about these things or jump
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on our Facebook group at facebook.com slash group slash order of man and talk with those guys.
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But if you want to take the elevated experience where we're all working together, we're having
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conversations like this, we're talking about these things, right? Identifying specific things that each of us
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should do. And then we're holding each other accountable to do it. Like, hey, you said you
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were going to go do this thing. You're not doing it. What's up? That's a true brotherhood. Not
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somebody who's going to make you feel good about your underperformance, but somebody who's going to
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call you up to perform better than you currently are. We are open right now in the Iron Council.
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We're open until the end of this month, June. So if you want to join us and band with us and connect
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and learn more about what we're talking about here and go deep into how to do all of these things
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specifically for your situation, go to order of man.com slash iron council, order of man.com
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slash iron council. Guys, I know your life can get better. I don't know where you are right now,
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but I know a lot of you are struggling. You have messages from you. It doesn't have to be a struggle.
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Life is inevitably going to happen. There's going to be moments and glimpses where we're going to
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struggle that can make us better, but it should not be a perpetual struggle. Life can get better.
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You can get better. You can improve your circumstances, but you have to change your
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behaviors. Part of that is what we shared here. The other part of that I would suggest to you
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as you get as the Iron Council, joining us, banding with other men, push and drive and motivate and
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help you to do the things that you say you want to do. All right, guys, we will be back next week.
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Until then, go out there, take action, become the man you are meant to be.
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Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life
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and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.