00:00:00.000You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.
00:00:06.020When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.
00:00:10.480You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong.
00:00:15.500This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become.
00:00:19.760At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.
00:00:24.700Hey, what's up, man? Glad to be joining you again. I know I was out last week, but here we are in Maine, sitting in what's going to be our library, which is kind of cool.
00:00:35.180But right now it's just a room filled with boxes. That's all it is.
00:03:06.340Thank you. Yeah, and the podcast that you did last week without me was excellent, by the way.
00:03:11.740There was only like one thing. I'm like, I don't agree with that, but that's bound to happen between a couple of people.
00:03:17.980We don't see eye to eye on everything. But other than that, man, you killed it. So really appreciate it down the fort there.
00:03:25.820Well, and it's really funny when doing them solo, like I even disagreed with some stuff.
00:03:31.040Like after I – because we've talked about this, like how we often listen to the episodes and listen through and critique and whatnot.
00:03:39.060And there was the subject around vulnerability.
00:03:44.700And although I agreed with what I said, I was like, whoa, wait.
00:03:47.960There's a major caveat that I didn't even bring up, right?
00:03:52.020And it's around the whole concept of sometimes you shouldn't be vulnerable.
00:03:57.020Sometimes you need to have your head on your shoulders.
00:03:59.680You need to get your act together to be able to serve those that need to depend on you, right?
00:04:05.780And it was kind of ironic because I was like, oh, wait.
00:04:09.060I totally – there's this other perspective that I even have but I didn't even think about it at the moment, which is one of the benefits that we get to have together, right?
00:04:19.700Yeah, bounce those ideas off of each other.
00:04:21.560I mean I think it's good that you're evaluating that stuff anyways because just too many people don't think about what they say, right?
00:04:28.700They don't think about what they say before they say it.
00:04:30.880And then they pay no attention to it after it's left their mouth.
00:04:35.460And I think social media exacerbates that problem a little bit by, you know, you've got to have conviction and you've got to be bold and then there's no consequence to the things that you're saying, right?
00:04:47.460In fact, you're rewarded for saying –
00:04:51.560But I think it's a sign of a mature man who evaluates the words that he's using and he might find that what he said was accurate and he still believes that.
00:05:03.300He may find, like you said, that there's some caveats to what he had mentioned.
00:05:08.900We have new experiences where you might think something completely different.
00:05:12.180You know, maybe your viewpoint has completely changed and you might get accused of, you know, waffling or being wishy-washy.
00:05:19.000But look, if you're not evolving, if you're not changing your thoughts based on new perceptions and new insights and new experiences, then, you know, are you really growing?
00:05:36.100And nothing like a podcast with tons of listeners to kind of hold our feet to the fire of what it said.
00:05:44.480Yeah, millions of people telling you how right and wrong you are and everything else.
00:05:48.560My friend Andy Frisilla, a lot of guys listen to his podcast as well.
00:05:52.040He said – gosh, I can't remember exactly what it was on one of his posts but it said something to the effect of, you know, you're going to do some things every once in a while and you're going to feel like a complete dumbass.
00:06:02.160And other times you're going to do things and you're going to feel like a complete genius, neither of which are true.
00:06:16.860Guys, what we're doing, if you're tuning in for the first time, is we're fielding questions on this Ask Me Anything from specifically the Iron Council.
00:06:24.360I think there's a few questions left over from last week and then we'll get into the Facebook questions.
00:06:28.520If you are interested in the Brotherhood, the Iron Council, we are growing.
00:06:32.260I don't know if you were on the call last week, Kip, but we had – I think we had seven or eight new guys just on that one call alone and they all introduced themselves.
00:06:44.220Check that out at orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.
00:06:47.080And at a minimum, you should be part of our Facebook group.
00:06:49.440I think we've got close to 58,000 or so guys in there right now having some incredible conversations about what it means to be a man and how we can step up more fully.
00:07:00.340Now, I was going to say this too also, Kip, is before we get into the questions, I do want to have a discussion about one of the points that you had made last week because I have some additional thoughts on this.
00:08:29.920But I think what I like about what you said is sometimes we consciously – the reason – or if I try to – let me try to reiterate this way.
00:08:42.620What I'm hearing you say is that sometimes reason is understanding a decision point or understanding and saying I'm consciously making this decision for these reasons.
00:08:55.240Right or yes, yes, I definitely agree with that or it could be some external factor or something else that you're not consciously making a decision for.
00:09:13.380My reason was that I had to unbox these – all the boxes in here and I had to get the internet up and running because we had an internet tech over at that time.
00:09:31.000Well, I clear my schedule for Monday and Wednesday nights because that's when I'm going to go train and I recognize that, okay, these are the times I needed to block off on my calendar in order to do this.
00:09:42.280Here's how I'm going to do that and here's the plan of action in order to propel me forward.
00:09:46.260An excuse is like, well, I just didn't want to.
00:09:50.520I'm just – I was tired and it was like this obstacle that maybe you feel like – I don't believe this is the case, but maybe people feel like they're at the mercy of, right?
00:10:00.080I'm just at the mercy of the whims and others – I couldn't really do anything.
00:10:06.860And that to me is the distinction between the two.
00:10:08.900Yeah, and I think – and I like that because I think last week when I spoke around reason and excuses, one of the key things that I was kind of making a point around was when we use reasons from the position of being a victim.
00:11:00.420But I think you brought up a good point too in that it could just be semantics, right?
00:11:04.960We might be – and I think this happens a lot of times, especially on Facebook.
00:11:09.580Just the other day, I had somebody arguing with me.
00:11:11.560At the end of the day, it's like we actually believe the same thing and yet here we are arguing over nothing because we're defining a word or a concept differently.
00:11:21.360Although the underlying root concept we're actually discussing, we're on the same page.
00:11:35.940And what we say matters and what we say has meaning.
00:11:40.480But if we get so wrapped up in the words themselves rather than the content or the context of the message that's being delivered, we're doing ourselves and other people a disservice.
00:12:12.460Do you honestly think I'm saying be unreasonable so go swimming with great white sharks?
00:12:16.420Like is that the point you think I'm making?
00:12:19.000I just think that there's this quest to like prove how smart we are and what we end up doing when we do that is just undermining our own credibility.
00:12:29.920Like we all realize there's exceptions.
00:12:31.920We all realize that everything's not so black and white or gray.
00:12:34.920You know, it's like we realize this stuff.
00:12:37.820There's no need to say it, that there's exceptions to the term be unreasonable.
00:19:23.960And come to find out it was a real firearm.
00:19:29.160You're going to like, like the likelihood of your child coming into contact with a firearm is, is significant.
00:19:35.840So rather than hide it from them or, or, or hinder them from understanding what's going on, why not expose them to it in a controlled environment so that they know how to properly use a firearm, how to unload one, how to load one, keep your finger off the trigger.
00:19:51.660Don't point at anything you don't intend to destroy, know your target and what's behind it.
00:20:02.180So if they're in or ever in a situation that you, you wouldn't necessarily approve of, or you think could potentially be dangerous, that they're going to be adequately prepared to handle themselves.
00:20:10.960If, if a little kid who's never picked up a firearm finds a gun in the room, how easy Kip would it have been for me to believe that that gun, fortunately I didn't do this, was a cap gun and pointed at little Tommy who I was playing with and shoot him right in the face.
00:20:46.440Some of my, what I love, I remember when my kids were younger, the minute they shot my handgun at, you know, and they're pretty young at the time, after that first shot, they're like, nah, I'm okay.
00:20:59.200There's a new level of respect for it.
00:21:24.500So I, I think, I mean, you're not going to be reckless with having your kids around firearms, but to say that they shouldn't be around it at all, I think is crazy.
00:21:34.180It's the same thing with drugs, for example.
00:21:35.860Like some, it's the same with everything.
00:22:35.620The other question from last week, Pram at Ball asked about, you know, introduction of patches and badging and some classes and stuff that we're doing in the IC.
00:22:44.180So he just wanted to ask in the long term, what are some big changes that you see coming?
00:22:49.700Well, I've always had the vision of, I don't know how to say it.
00:22:54.420So I'll just say it this way and you can take it for what it's worth.
00:23:47.440So my goal has always been, I've always had this vision of quantifying masculinity.
00:23:51.920And so what I see, how I see this playing out is that we'll have achievements, different achievements in each of the four quadrants that we can begin to unlock.
00:24:00.440And then each of those achievements will have certain things, certain activities that you'll need to engage in, in order to unlock these achievements.
00:24:10.820And as you engage in these activities, you'll earn experience points.
00:24:13.920And when you earn these experience points, you'll level up.
00:24:16.700So everybody in the Iron Council starts at a level zero.
00:24:20.200Don't quote me on the terms we're using, but you'll get the idea.
00:24:37.560Actually, that's why I'm doing it because your attitude right now is the same as most guys' attitude, especially those who want to progress.
00:24:52.000They want to be recognized in a lot of ways.
00:24:54.440And so having experience points, I'll give you an example.
00:24:57.980We're going to have a running achievement.
00:25:00.360So the activities that will lead up to unlocking that achievement will be a 3K, a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon, a full marathon, and an endurance event like a 50 or 100 mile race.
00:25:18.980So based on each one of those events, you're going to earn experience points that will help you level up.
00:25:23.900And then once you check all of those off, then you unlock that running achievement patch or whatever term we're going to use.
00:25:32.880So that's one of the big things we're working on right now is coming up with these patches and these achievements and the levels within each one of the domains, the quadrants that we address.
00:26:17.780So questions submitted via Iron Council for this particular episode, you already alluded to it, Ryan, ordervan.com slash Iron Council to learn more about that exclusive brotherhood.
00:26:29.520So, yeah, let's dive into these questions.
00:26:32.300So Premipal submitted a question actually this morning as well on this.
00:26:35.880So he says, I've been getting a lot of mentorship from different members within the Iron Council, but I feel like aside from implementing what they said, I don't offer a whole lot back.
00:26:46.100In what ways can I – in what ways can mentees add value to the lives of their mentors?
00:26:53.040You know, one easy way to add value is to do what you're told.
00:26:58.240I know that sounds too simplistic, but I'm just telling you, as somebody who mentors and coaches and leads other men, that I get a high when I see somebody else who's a mentee of mine implement what I talked about and then see it work in their life.
00:27:16.740Because one of my biggest pet peeves is somebody who reaches out and says, hey, Ryan, I need relationship advice.
00:27:23.040Here's what's going on or I'm trying to level up my discipline.
00:27:58.840You know, I talked about Pete earlier in the podcast.
00:28:01.160He's been instrumental in helping us get up and running and get here and get things settled up.
00:28:05.820Well, I have connections that I know Pete's interested in.
00:28:10.200So even though I may not have exactly what he needs or what I feel like he could need from a business standpoint, because he knows business so much better than I do, there's connections that I can make and I have made that serve him.
00:29:09.200Whenever we get stuff like that, like a message on Facebook or Instagram or, you know, there's been a couple of times I've gotten a card and a book, you know what I mean?
00:29:19.220And it's just like, man, it's so meaningful.
00:29:21.480And I think the reporting back, the only thing I'd add is I would love to hear the mentee like report back on how it's going and even be open to say, and what variation did they do?
00:29:36.740And what are they doing to make it work for them?
00:29:39.740And is there a different variation of what, than what I suggested as well?
00:29:44.760Just seeing them engulfed and evolving and trying and reporting back on the success as well as the adjustments that they're making, I think is really, really insightful.
00:30:12.560Not being, I'm not happy with it not being the next level.
00:30:16.560Mentally, I want to grow, but in terms of investing 500 into more gear and et cetera, it doesn't fall into the budget priority for gear and a professional intro.
00:30:25.960I don't have the time to make up for it with more effort and grinding more.
00:33:06.080At first, the thing that kind of bothered me initially was, how do I feel like a line in my household why my wife brings home more money than myself?
00:33:16.320Like, that's your perception, first off, right?
00:33:33.940There's multiple dynamics to each of those Ps.
00:33:36.240So you presiding in your home doesn't necessarily 100% mean that you have to bring in more.
00:33:43.460Now, with that said, though, his last statement, I think, is the key is, but I feel like I'm not contributing enough.
00:33:50.260Well, then that's a different story, right?
00:33:53.600Because if you feel like you should contribute more, part of me feels like then you should.
00:33:59.640If you feel like you should be, then you probably should.
00:34:02.400So then I would be suggesting maybe him looking into different ways to contribute more financially or get off this perception that contribution only looks like financial.
00:34:21.820I don't think there's much more I would say or add, so I won't, other than just to say, yeah.
00:34:27.320Because my knee-jerk reaction was like, okay, yeah, so contribute more.
00:34:30.080Go back to school, get a new job, get a new career, pick up a side job, get a new designation or some sort of new credential that might increase your income.
00:36:39.240And I think personally how we dealt with him the best is setting expectation 100%.
00:36:47.420Before he even moved up, we talked about – well, first I asked him, why do you even want to move in with us full time?
00:36:55.820What is it that you think you're going to get by living in Utah?
00:37:01.380Do you think you're going to get – and I was trying to be really open and honest with you.
00:37:05.120Do you think you're going to get away with more stuff?
00:37:07.100Do you think like – you know, you can hoodwink me.
00:37:11.480Do you think you'll get more freedom but more is required?
00:37:14.760Like what is it specifically that you're – you know, kind of paint this picture of what this perfect scenario looks like.
00:37:22.520And it was – by the way, it was highly insightful because he was like – his number one reason is because we do things together as a family all the time.
00:37:31.380And I was like – first of all, I was like, that's awesome and I love you.
00:37:35.740And then I was just – and I told Asia, I'm like, man, that's amazing and it just tells me how important that is and we have to make sure that we're saying nightly prayers.
00:37:45.080We're making sure that we have dinner together.
00:37:47.220Like it reiterated the importance of our family time because that's why he wanted to live with us.
00:40:14.620But at some point, you just got to start acting and then just correct, course correct along the way.
00:40:20.260Well, and we've talked about this so many times, but like there's stuff that you don't even, you don't even know what you need to know until you do action.
00:40:26.820So there's no way to even, I don't know, plan around certain things because it's completely off your radar and you're not going to be aware of it until you start working.
00:40:58.080When is it time to cut someone loose who is not adding value to your life and fails to put in the work in order to show up as a man in spite of a great deal of effort and advice?
00:41:26.640It's like, well, you have to just sever that tie and inventory and cut all the people out bad out of your life.
00:41:31.560And yeah, I guess, but it might just be over time and gradually you continue to distance yourself more and more and more.
00:41:38.880And maybe there's certain contexts, like there's certain people and I won't go into who it is, but there's certain people in my life who I just don't have conversations with.
00:42:20.440Like, I don't know if it's, if it's just a level of maturity in my life or a level of comfort in my life where I just tell the truth, you know, I try to do it tactfully.
00:42:32.160Cause I'm not about, I don't want to hurt people's feelings.
00:42:34.340That's not my ultimate objective, but I'm just telling you, the more I just tell the truth, the better life I live.
00:42:39.100And if somebody is upset about that or gets their panties in a, in a bunch about it, all right, so be it.
00:42:43.880But if I, if I have that conversation with somebody, just like we said earlier, expectation managed.
00:42:49.320Now we can just get on with, uh, with a different conversation.
00:43:17.860And it doesn't make them, you know, it doesn't make them bad people.
00:43:20.380It just means they're in a different place and any, you know, you never know.
00:43:23.520Maybe those people will eventually come around and, and, and then you will have a relationship with them where they are in a position where you can't help.
00:43:29.700And yeah, or maybe you just plant a seed and, and that's, that's really all your job was is just to plant that seed.
00:43:35.660And maybe at some point you guys will revisit it together and maybe you won't and something else will come into that person's life and correct it or not.
00:43:42.640And you did your part and that's all you can do.
00:43:44.380But I think we really ought to be careful of placing other people's burdens or, or carrying other people's burdens around.
00:43:51.140You know, there's certain people that we have a responsibility to like my wife, for example, my children, for example, like I've voluntarily said, I'm going to help carry your burden.