Order of Man


Who's Got Your Six? | FRIDAY FIELD NOTES


Episode Stats

Misogynist Sentences

6

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary

In this episode, Ryan talks about the idea of who has your back, and why you should turn to your friends and family when things get tough. He also talks about a recent message he received from a man who said, "I can't turn to my friends or I don't have anyone else" and why it's important that you do the same.


Transcript

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.
00:00:10.440 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 Michler,
00:00:27.420 and I am the host and the founder of this podcast and the movement that is Order of Man. I want to
00:00:32.360 welcome you to this podcast, to the movement, to the mission to reclaim and restore masculinity in
00:00:38.660 a society that seems to be increasingly dismissive of it. We're on a mission here, guys. That's to
00:00:44.580 give you the tools and the conversations, guidance, resource, direction, insight, whatever you need
00:00:49.540 to help you become a more capable father, husband, business owner, community leader, you name it.
00:00:55.240 So, like I said before, I'm glad you're here. Got a good one lined up for you today on the concept
00:01:01.720 or the idea of who has your back because this is increasingly important, I think, for men and
00:01:07.440 something that we have seemed to have forgotten. So, we're going to get into that here in a minute.
00:01:12.340 Before I do, I want to let you know a little bit about our, not only our show sponsors, I was going
00:01:17.740 to say that, but that doesn't quite do it justice. I want to talk with you about my friends,
00:01:22.100 my friends over at Origin Maine. Now, these guys do rash guards, they do geese, they do Brazilian
00:01:28.540 jiu-jitsu apparel, but they also do lifestyle apparel. And they're coming up with a denim line
00:01:34.320 and also a boot line. And then, of course, they've got their supplements. It's the Jocko supplements,
00:01:39.540 it's the Joint Warfare, the Super Krill, the Malk, the Discipline, which is the pre-workout,
00:01:44.980 and then their Discipline Go, which is a cognitive enhancer. And I think they just released that
00:01:50.440 this week, I want to say. If it's not this week, it's next week. And I've tasted it and
00:01:55.540 used it, and it's pretty powerful stuff. So, I'm excited about that as well. Make sure you check
00:02:01.120 them out, originmain.com, originmain.com, and use the code ORDER, O-R-D-E-R, at checkout for a discount
00:02:08.660 on your entire purchase. Again, originmain.com, use the code ORDER. Now, part of the reason I wanted
00:02:15.340 to bring that up is not only because I believe in what they're doing and their story, and of course,
00:02:19.740 use their products personally, but because these are guys in a way that I look at as having my six,
00:02:25.740 having my back. And that's what I wanted to talk with you about today because I seem to be getting
00:02:32.140 a lot more text and direct messages and emails from members who listen to this podcast and who are part
00:02:39.640 of this organization with questions that, frankly, they... Let me say it this way. I'm glad that they're
00:02:46.120 asking me these questions, but I shouldn't be the one that they have to turn to. And as I get these
00:02:51.720 emails and these texts and these direct messages, it seems to me like a lot of these guys have no
00:02:56.620 other place to turn. So, they're asking me questions about their relationship or their career status or
00:03:02.700 how they're doing in their finances. And maybe they're facing a difficult circumstance like a
00:03:08.180 medical condition or illness or potential bankruptcy or a divorce or separation in their marriage or
00:03:16.260 their relationship. And although I'm honored, these guys would reach out to me and humbled that they
00:03:22.520 would ask me questions and think highly enough of me that they feel like they can turn to me. I mean,
00:03:27.860 that's what I want to do is be a resource. I can't help but think it's a little disheartening
00:03:32.820 and a little sad, frankly, that these guys don't have anywhere else to turn. And that's what they
00:03:38.160 tell me. In fact, I got a message, I believe it was earlier this week. And the guy said,
00:03:41.880 I can't turn anywhere else. I can't turn to my friends or I don't have friends. It was something
00:03:45.560 along those lines. And I thought, man, that's actually pretty rough. And I think it's a detriment
00:03:50.380 to how we show up as men. As men, we've been operating for tens of thousands of years in tribes
00:03:59.300 and packs and gangs and teams and groups. And it seems to me that as we gain more technological
00:04:08.560 advancements and we isolate ourselves even more, that it's become a problem of banding together with
00:04:14.400 other men. Now you couple this with the idea and the notion that's been perpetuated, I think probably
00:04:19.300 started around industrial revolution, where we now leave our communities and we leave our farms and
00:04:26.500 our families and we go out into the workforce and we focus on specialization or one little thing that
00:04:31.240 we're good at in the assembly line. And we continue to see why this is a problem, this idea of isolation.
00:04:39.340 Then you get into pop culture and you get into James Bond and Jason Bourne. And these guys are the
00:04:45.780 lone wolf, right? They're doing everything on their own and they don't want any help. They don't want any
00:04:51.480 outside interference. And so what we do as young boys who have been conditioned and indoctrinated
00:04:57.460 in a way to look at this is we think that that's how we're supposed to do it. That we're supposed to
00:05:02.800 go at it alone. And that if we need any sort of assistance or help along the way, then we're
00:05:06.900 perceived as being less masculine or weak. Now, I don't think it's weakness to reach out to a band of
00:05:13.240 brothers, to reach out to somebody who's going to have your back, who has proven time in and time out
00:05:18.500 that they are going to support you. They're going to uplift you and edify you and help you overcome
00:05:24.000 these challenges and obstacles. And yet so many of us don't have a band of brothers. We don't have
00:05:29.660 men, other men that we can rely on that will help us get through these difficult life circumstances.
00:05:37.020 And that we help get them through difficult life circumstances and challenges as well. And that's
00:05:44.060 what I'm going to talk with you about today is I want you to ask yourself, seriously consider and
00:05:49.940 ask yourself, who has your six? Who is it that you can call in the middle of the night that if you've
00:05:56.180 got a problem, whatever that problem looks like, and we'll get specific about that, that you know
00:06:01.100 without a doubt that that individual is going to get his ass out of bed or he's going to put down
00:06:05.560 whatever it is he's doing and he's going to come and he's going to serve you and he's going to help
00:06:09.480 you overcome the challenging situation that you may have found yourself in. If the answer is,
00:06:15.500 or there is no answer, or I don't know who that would be, you've got a problem. You've got a serious,
00:06:21.100 serious problem. And the reason that you may not have addressed it is because you haven't had to
00:06:27.000 call on that individual yet. But mark my words, you will. Something bad will happen. You'll have a
00:06:32.420 medical diagnosis. You'll lose a loved one, potentially your spouse or a child. You'll go
00:06:41.180 through bankruptcy or you'll lose your job. Any number of things that could happen. You'll become
00:06:46.900 disabled and you can't work. If that day comes and when it comes, we don't know specifically what
00:06:53.040 it's going to be, but when that day comes, if you haven't prepared yourself by rallying around you
00:06:58.720 a band of brothers who are motivated and inspired and positive and encouraging and uplifting and
00:07:05.400 loyal to you, you're going to find yourself in a bad situation. I know I did. I've talked about it
00:07:10.420 at length. When I went through the separation, now there's other stories as well, and I'll maybe get
00:07:15.060 to some of these either on this podcast or a future one. But when I went through my separation with my
00:07:20.120 wife, what I had done for the previous four or five years leading up to our separation is I had
00:07:26.040 ostracized all my friends. I spent all my time and my attention and my energy on her,
00:07:32.160 which kind of makes sense. I wanted to be around her. I love her. And also gave that attention to
00:07:38.680 my one-year-old son at the time. So my band of brothers was non-existent. They were out doing
00:07:43.920 their thing and hanging out and having fun and lifting each other up and competing and rising
00:07:49.060 together. And I wasn't part of that club because, not because they wouldn't invite me, but because
00:07:54.280 I bowed out of the organization because I was busy with life and marriage and raising a kid and
00:08:02.400 business and everything else. And so when this difficult time in my life happened, my wife and
00:08:06.740 I going through our separation, I had nobody. I had nobody to turn to because I hadn't built up the
00:08:14.340 relationship capital that I needed in order to call upon men who would help me come through these
00:08:22.220 difficult situations. And granted, I was able to develop that over a course of months and ended
00:08:28.780 up building out a band of brothers and that helped me. But I can't think that that would have gone a
00:08:32.520 whole lot quicker and a whole lot smoother for me. And I would have been mentally in a completely
00:08:37.660 different place, a much better place had I had men who rallied behind me in my time of need.
00:08:43.340 Guys, we can't operate in life alone. We have these little terms, the lone wolf. And the one I heard
00:08:50.440 not too long ago was, it's no longer about an alpha or a beta. It's something like an omega now,
00:08:57.280 which is that he doesn't need anybody else. I don't know. It's weird. Anytime I hear alpha or beta or
00:09:02.940 omega, apparently, I kind of tune out a little bit because I don't think we can be boxed down or
00:09:08.000 pigeonholed into these simple frameworks or categories. So the point that I'm making,
00:09:15.540 if you don't get it by now, is that you need to build a band of brothers. You need to find men
00:09:20.620 in your life who care about you, who want to see you thrive, who want to see you succeed. These are
00:09:25.860 not bobbleheads that are going to bob up and down and say, yes, yes, yes, everything you're doing is
00:09:29.540 wonderful, but they might actually call you on some of your bullshit when you need to be called on
00:09:34.160 those things. That's what you need in your life. You need competition. You need brotherhood. You
00:09:39.440 need camaraderie. You need support. And it's on you to build that. A lot of times it seems to me
00:09:44.940 that guys are waiting around for something wonderful to happen to them. That, oh, if I find the right
00:09:50.180 guy to include in my circle, that everything will just work out. No, it takes time and it takes an
00:09:55.260 investment. It takes energy and resources into those individuals so that you can build the type of
00:10:01.080 brotherhood I'm talking about. And I'll tell you what, it's powerful. It's powerful. When men band
00:10:06.220 together towards a common enemy or towards a common purpose, I think that creates a very unstoppable
00:10:14.260 force for good and for overcoming hardship and tragedy that you may inevitably face and experience
00:10:21.060 in your life. So what I wanted to do with you today, as I was thinking about over this past three or
00:10:25.560 four days on what I wanted to talk with you on the Friday field notes, is I thought I'd share with you
00:10:29.760 a couple of strategies, a couple of tips that you can use in order to build this band of brothers,
00:10:36.840 in order to build a brotherhood of guys who have your six, who have your back when things go south
00:10:42.060 and things go wrong and you aren't relying upon reaching out to me, somebody, frankly, you don't
00:10:49.020 know because you have nobody else to turn to. Now, I'll do the best that I can. I can't say that I'll get
00:10:54.620 to everybody or I can't answer every question or dilemma or problem that every man has ever
00:10:58.480 experienced. I'll do what I can. I try to do a lot on this podcast and that's why I want you to have
00:11:02.960 somebody locally, somebody near you, at least somebody digitally that you can connect with
00:11:08.560 and band with who will have your back in these difficult situations. So the first thing I would
00:11:13.000 say, guys, is you've got to invest now. I talked about this not being a passive strategy. It's going
00:11:18.680 to be very active. You've got to be assertive in this. You've got to put yourself in the situation
00:11:23.820 to build a band of brothers, to have men who have your back. And it takes an investment of resources,
00:11:29.200 time, energy, money. These are the types of things that are required on your part to build this out,
00:11:34.080 but you've got to invest in that now. Because if you wait until there's a problem or a divorce or a
00:11:40.300 bankruptcy or a medical condition or a job layoff or a death in the family, if you wait, you've waited
00:11:46.100 too long. You've got to be proactive about this and you've got to invest now. And I say investing in
00:11:52.640 other men because it truly is an investment. If you look at what an investment is, it's a
00:11:59.360 voluntary giving of resources in order to yield more resources down the road. Now, those resources can be
00:12:11.340 financial resources. If we're talking about financial planning, it could be time, it could be
00:12:15.960 energy and focus. It could be attention. When you give those resources to other men who you want to
00:12:22.340 include in your circle, that will be returned to you. Now, you're not going to do it because it's
00:12:26.740 going to be returned to you, but this has to be a mutually beneficial relationship. You have to be
00:12:32.000 able to serve other men in your circle, your brothers, just as much as they serve you. And if you're in
00:12:39.560 relationships, whether it's a romantic relationship or some sort of fraternity, a brotherhood, and all
00:12:46.020 you're trying to do is get and take and take and take, you might get some things initially, but this
00:12:51.340 is not a long-term strategy. This is going to be a very short-lived relationship and it's not going to
00:12:57.180 value those other men. And it's certainly not going to value you. So we're playing a long game,
00:13:02.340 the long investment strategy here. How can I pour into other men who I admire, who I respect,
00:13:09.560 who I want to see win, who I value? How can I serve them knowing that ultimately there may come
00:13:17.120 a point in time where they can serve me and help me in a way that I need to be helped? So number one,
00:13:22.860 invest right now. It's like that old adage or proverb that says, when's the best time to plant a tree?
00:13:28.700 Well, before you need the shade. When's the second best time? Right now. Because I'm telling you,
00:13:33.960 the shade's coming and I hope you're prepared in that day. I really do. It's up to you to prepare
00:13:38.920 right now. Invest now. Number two, I alluded to it. Lead with value. Lead with value. I can't tell
00:13:45.300 you how many times people reach out to me. And these are the guys I'm talking about who don't
00:13:48.860 have anybody who has their back and has their six. And they'll reach out to me and they'll want me to
00:13:54.060 solve their problems. Which I get when you're desperate at times for solutions to life's dilemmas.
00:14:03.520 You're kind of in take mode. You're kind of in, I need to consume mode. I need somebody to help me
00:14:10.420 or to give me a couple ideas. But look, that's not leading with value. That's the antithesis of
00:14:17.040 leading with value. You're taking. So if you want to invest now in a band of brothers, in a fraternity,
00:14:22.900 men who are going to help you thrive and succeed in the best of times and the worst of times,
00:14:26.360 then you've got to lead with value. How are you going to serve these other individuals?
00:14:29.780 How are you going to ensure that they win? What resources do they need? What connections can you
00:14:35.000 make for these individuals? When you start leading with value because you care about people and you
00:14:39.780 care about individuals and you want these men to win, you inevitably will win. A rising tide lifts
00:14:45.820 all boats. There's another proverb or a quote, and I don't know who said that, but a rising tide lifts
00:14:50.360 all boats. So it might not be your time right now to get, but you can certainly give. You may be in
00:14:57.840 a position where you have the resources or the capacity to serve other individuals, other peers,
00:15:04.000 brothers. Make sure you do that. Lead with value. And then when there comes a point in time where
00:15:10.500 you're going to need to extract from the group, there's not going to be any question as to whether
00:15:14.580 or not they will serve you. Now, some might because they might be gaming it or they might be keeping
00:15:19.340 score, but those are guys you're going to weed out of your inner circle anyways. I'm talking about
00:15:23.520 loyal, committed brothers who will do anything for you. Most of us don't have it. Maybe we had it in
00:15:33.360 school a little bit. Maybe we had it in some sort of organization, a church organization or scouts
00:15:38.120 when we were younger. Maybe if you play any sports and you were on a club that way, you had some of
00:15:44.020 this. Military certainly has that element of brotherhood, but outside of that, very few men have
00:15:49.660 this. You've got to invest. Number one, you've got to lead with value. Number two, number three,
00:15:55.180 rally around a cause, a common cause, something that's meaningful and significant to you and the
00:16:00.860 other men in your life or against a common enemy. It's been shown that physically women do best when
00:16:10.320 they're face-to-face, right? They're interacting, they're having conversations, they're face-to-face and
00:16:15.400 they're discussing thoughts and ideas and beliefs and everything else they discuss. But it's been shown
00:16:20.640 alternatively for men that they operate best when they're standing shoulder-to-shoulder, hip-to-hip,
00:16:28.000 facing a common obstacle, facing a common objective, and then working collectively and in tandem to
00:16:34.960 achieve the ultimate result. So the best way to find men who are going to be in your circle, guys who are
00:16:40.900 going to have your back in the best and worst of times is to rally around a cause, a meaningful cause
00:16:45.880 or against a common enemy. So a couple of examples, hunting has been a big part of my life and a part
00:16:54.700 of my life where I've builded, builded, that's not a word, where I've built, excuse me, where I've built
00:17:00.360 some solid friendships and connections because we have a common purpose and there's meaning and
00:17:08.540 significance in us being on the hunt together. Brazilian jiu-jitsu, another thing that's
00:17:12.640 relatively new in my life. But not only are we against a common enemy and sometimes it's each
00:17:18.100 other, there's a lot of cooperation in that that improves ourselves. You know, I'll roll with a guy
00:17:24.220 for 10 minutes and he'll kick my butt for 10 minutes, I mean hard, where I'm in physical pain
00:17:29.620 and then at the end of it, we shake hands and slap each other on the butt and say, hey, good job, man.
00:17:34.480 That's, that's what I'm talking about here. So not quite literally, we're going against each other,
00:17:39.480 but it's also cooperation. So Brazilian jiu-jitsu has been a big part of that. And then, and the other
00:17:46.780 component I can think of is, is exercise. That's been a big part of my life for the past, I would say
00:17:53.940 five, six, seven years. And I'm always amazed, specifically one that comes off to off mind is
00:18:00.480 Soren X, Bert Soren. He's the president and CEO. He's a close personal friend of mine.
00:18:05.640 And I'm amazed at what I've seen him create within his culture, within his organization. I was
00:18:12.200 fortunate enough to go to their annual event called Summer Strong just a few months ago and to see the
00:18:18.720 camaraderie and the friendships and the brotherhood and the care that they had built around getting
00:18:24.920 strong and being physically cultured and becoming legendary is their tagline. It was pretty inspiring
00:18:31.220 to see. These are men who are rallied around a very common purpose, a very common objective.
00:18:37.860 They're helping each other out. They're calling each other out. They're competing in a way that
00:18:41.740 pushes them and drives them to succeed and excel and do better. So find something that's meaningful
00:18:47.320 to you. Find a hobby, an interest in activity, something that, that you're excited about.
00:18:52.580 And I guarantee there's other men who are excited about that. And when you find this common purpose
00:18:57.760 or the common enemy, you will be that much more bound together. But if you're just hanging out,
00:19:04.640 that's, that's, that's not significant. That's not meaningful. And it's likely that you're not going
00:19:09.220 to find the type of men of which I'm referring, or they might be, but you're going to have to
00:19:13.080 figure that out in a different capacity. So rally around a very, very specific cause.
00:19:17.680 Uh, number four, include other men in activities. Don't do things alone. It's that simple. I know
00:19:24.660 sometimes it's weird if, for example, you've identified somebody that you want to have in
00:19:29.280 your inner circle. And like, it's almost like you're asking this individual on a date. And
00:19:33.620 obviously that's awkward and weird. And that's why I think a lot of guys don't do this is because
00:19:38.020 they feel stupid. And you probably ought to, if you're asking a guy to like go to a movie or
00:19:43.560 something, it's, it's weird, right? So how do you overcome this? You, you throw gatherings,
00:19:50.620 activities, again, jujitsu, uh, lifting, going into the gym, uh, hunting. That's a great way to do it.
00:19:57.780 Even fight night. One of the things that I do quite often is I do a fight night. So we'll,
00:20:02.660 we'll, uh, watch UFC. I'll invite a bunch of guys over, not one. So it's not like a date. I'm like,
00:20:07.660 Hey, we're having a bunch of people over to the house. Why don't you come on over,
00:20:10.260 bring another friend with you and let's just hang out. We'll have some good food. We'll watch
00:20:14.660 the fights. We'll have a good time. And, and that'll be the end of it. That's not as weird.
00:20:20.400 Other things that I've done is if I'm going golfing, which I haven't golfed in years now,
00:20:25.080 seems, seems kind of like a silly thing now that I haven't done it for a while, but it is fun.
00:20:30.300 Anyways, uh, if I'm going golfing, what I'll do is let's say I've got two of us that are going
00:20:35.300 golfing is that I'll deliberately and intentionally invest and reach out to two other guys who maybe I
00:20:40.160 don't know all that well, but I'd like to get to know because I see some value in who they are and
00:20:43.880 how they're showing up is I'll reach out to those guys and I'll say, Hey, you know, I'm, I'm going
00:20:47.540 golfing. Uh, I've got a foursome lined up. Love to have you out. Uh, come, come hang out with us
00:20:52.460 on Thursday at seven. That's our tea time. And then it's not awkward. It's not weird. It pulls down
00:20:57.260 the barriers. It's not like a date. Like I talked about, it's just four guys going golfing,
00:21:01.700 having a good time, hitting the ball around. So think about group settings, group environments,
00:21:07.200 invite other individuals, other men, encourage those guys to bring their, their, their brothers
00:21:11.800 or their buddies or their fathers and get the men together. Uh, number five guys, this is really,
00:21:17.740 really, really important. Did I say that enough? Really important. Keep your word, keep your word.
00:21:27.400 When I'm looking for somebody to include in my inner circle or to let even further into my inner
00:21:31.860 circle, I need to know that this is an individual who will honor their word, who will follow through
00:21:38.160 on their commitments. And I need to be that kind of individual because every time I say something and
00:21:43.620 I don't follow through on it, I diminish my credibility. I undermine my authority and my
00:21:50.600 ultimate purpose of building out a band of brothers who has my back. You cannot say things
00:21:58.280 that you don't intend on doing. You cannot continually come up with excuses for not upholding
00:22:07.040 your word. Now, do things happen? Of course, but just like a physical bank account, if you are
00:22:14.920 withdrawing from the relationship, the relationship capital by taking or not honoring your word, it's only
00:22:25.420 a matter of time before you're overdrawn and it's going to happen sooner rather than later. You have
00:22:29.320 to deposit relationship capital into the account in order to withdraw. You do that by investing. You
00:22:35.100 do that by leading with value. You do that by inviting other people to activities, all the things
00:22:39.840 that we've talked about. And you also do that by keeping your word. When you tell your buddy, Hey,
00:22:45.900 you know what? I'll come on Saturday and I'll help you move because I've got a truck and I can help you
00:22:51.060 do that. And then Friday night you call them up and you say, Hey man, I had something come up. I can't
00:22:55.260 really make it. Well, you just withdrew. You just withdrew from the relationship capital and now he
00:23:01.680 trusts you less. So next time he needs you to help move or needs some help in some other manner,
00:23:09.280 he's not going to call you. He's not going to reach out to you. And why would he? And then when
00:23:14.500 you reach out to him because you need something, guess what? He's not going to answer the phone
00:23:18.500 because he knows every time you call or every time you reach out or every time you say something,
00:23:23.760 you're full of shit and he doesn't believe you. And why should he believe you? You don't follow
00:23:29.760 through on your word. You don't keep your promises and you're probably not somebody worth having in
00:23:34.200 his inner circle. So you want to have men in your inner circle, be worthy of being in their inner
00:23:38.760 circle. When you say things, commit to them. Commit is not a word, by the way. It's not a promise.
00:23:46.700 A commitment is not a promise. A commitment is action. Because I can promise you and I can say
00:23:52.540 everything I can to make you think that I'm going to do the thing. But commitment is actually acting
00:23:56.440 and following through on the thing that you promised to do. So when you say something, commit,
00:24:02.600 be there. Don't come up with excuses. Don't mess up your schedule. Keep a schedule, right?
00:24:08.260 Because if you have to call the guy up and say, hey man, I'm sorry, I forgot I had little Timmy's
00:24:11.260 baseball game at nine o'clock on Saturday morning. I can't come help you move. Your excuse doesn't mean
00:24:15.820 anything. It doesn't mean anything. All right. You may feel like it justifies your decision and
00:24:22.680 you know what? It probably does because I think you should put little Timmy's baseball game ahead
00:24:26.420 of priority in some of these things. But you should have thought of that. You should have
00:24:31.500 thought of that. You should have had it scheduled. You shouldn't have committed to going to help move
00:24:36.480 in this example when you had a game. So manage your schedule. Manage your time. Be a good steward
00:24:41.660 over the things you have, including your schedule and your resources and your time, attention,
00:24:45.320 and energy. So when you say something, it's worth its weight in gold because you've done it time and
00:24:50.720 time and time and time again. And when you need to withdraw from that relationship bank account,
00:24:56.560 you have the capital to do it. And there's no question. I've got two dozen friends who I could
00:25:01.840 call right now if I needed something and I needed help and every single one of them would rush to help.
00:25:08.640 Why? Because I've invested in them. Because I care about them. I make connections for them. I lead
00:25:15.500 with value. I help them where I can. Not because I'm going to get something out of it, but because
00:25:21.260 I believe in goodwill. I like these individuals. They like me. I support them. I edify them. I uplift
00:25:27.560 them. And if and when the day comes that I need them to do the same thing for me, I know that these men
00:25:33.160 will be there for me. So that's number, what is that? Number five. And the last one, and I know this
00:25:39.380 one's going to be a little controversial, but it is what it is. Number six, don't be a bitch. Don't be a
00:25:46.560 bitch. And what I mean by that is don't be a punk. Keep things between you and your confidants
00:25:54.460 confidential. That's where that word comes from. Keep it confidential. Keep it between you and him.
00:26:00.520 Don't be a whiner. Don't be a complainer. Don't withdraw more than you invest and put in. Don't be
00:26:07.160 an a-hole or a dick. Don't make this a difficult thing. Don't make it hard to be your friend.
00:26:16.960 And I'm not sure how much more specific I can get than that. It's sad that I may even need to get more
00:26:21.980 specific than that. But don't make it hard to be your friend. We all have friends like that.
00:26:28.340 There's all people running in our circles who are like that. And you know exactly who I'm talking
00:26:32.200 about. It's the guy who you like, but he's really, really difficult to be a friend for. Don't be that
00:26:38.400 guy. When you make a commitment, make a commitment. Don't withdraw more than you put in. Don't whine and
00:26:45.860 complain and be a dick and be an a-hole and undeliver on your promises. And don't be weak.
00:26:54.080 Don't be weak. I have this theory that the reason that men push each other physically, mentally,
00:27:01.240 emotionally, the reason we even bust each other's balls with jokes, the reason we do this is because
00:27:06.740 I need to know who's going to punk out when things get hard. And if you're so emotionally weak
00:27:12.320 that you can't stand me giving you a little bit of a hard time or busting your balls when you do
00:27:16.320 something stupid or getting after you a little bit when you don't uphold your commitments. If you
00:27:21.720 punk out during that time, then I know you're weak and I can't have you in my battle. Because if I'm
00:27:29.120 going up against something that is difficult and challenging and potentially life-threatening,
00:27:33.620 I don't want you by my side. I want the guy that can stand the beating. I want the guy who's
00:27:39.420 emotionally and physically and mentally resilient and tough and gritty. And how do I find that out?
00:27:45.880 By pushing. It's what men do. We push on each other. Not because we don't like each other,
00:27:51.340 but because I need to know who's going to have my back. I need to know who's going to stand shoulder
00:27:58.520 to shoulder with me and face down that dragon together. I don't want to look left and look right
00:28:05.160 and see a bunch of dudes run and tuck tail because they can't handle the difficult six
00:28:09.120 situation that we all may have found ourselves in. I'm not talking about guys who are fearless.
00:28:15.520 I'm talking about guys who are bold and courageous and assertive and are willing to do this thing
00:28:19.640 called life with me. That I can support them, that I can help them, motivate them, push them,
00:28:26.840 and that I can take a little pushing. We let our egos get in the way. It's like we don't want people
00:28:32.940 around us who are going to push hard because it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable when somebody
00:28:37.900 calls you out on your bullshit, but that's the path to growth. Comfort's great. It's great until
00:28:44.740 you want to succeed or strive for success. And at that point, you're going to need to get
00:28:50.300 uncomfortable and you're going to need to do the hard things. And you're going to need other men
00:28:55.500 around you who push you to do those hard things and are willing to do the hard things themselves.
00:28:59.360 So that's why I say number six, don't be a bitch. Guys, that's it for you today. I feel like maybe this
00:29:04.860 came across as a little bit of a lecture and maybe it is that. Maybe that's exactly what it is.
00:29:10.160 For those of you who have reached out to me, and look, I'm not telling you not to reach out to me.
00:29:13.700 All right? If you have something to share, share it. I'll do my best to get with you. But I don't
00:29:19.320 want to be your last resort. I don't want to be your only resort. That's kind of sad, actually.
00:29:24.160 It's kind of pathetic, frankly. And I get it. I've been there. I've been in situations where I
00:29:29.160 haven't poured any sort of relationship capital into other men who I can support, who can support
00:29:34.420 me. And I found myself in a bad situation, but I'm not doing that anymore. I'm investing. I'm
00:29:40.780 leading with value. I'm rallying around a cause and a purpose. I'm including other men in my
00:29:46.540 activities and things I'm doing. I keep my word. I honor my commitments. And I really try to be
00:29:52.700 somebody who is mentally, physically, unemotionally tough, gritty, and resilient. And because I'm those
00:29:59.980 things, I never have to worry like I did before about who will be here standing with me when shit
00:30:07.240 hits the fan. And it will, guys. It will. I'm not praying or hoping any of that stuff happens to you.
00:30:12.960 I just know that it will. And we got to be realistic about that. Who's going to be standing with you in
00:30:17.960 that day? And that's largely determined by the type of man you are, the type of things that you do,
00:30:25.040 how you invest in other men, and how you ultimately behave in this thing that we call life.
00:30:32.320 So, guys, that's my thing for you today, my message for you today. A couple of things as we part here
00:30:39.560 today. If you are interested in building out this kind of band of brothers that I'm talking about,
00:30:47.100 we have a digital band of brothers. It's called the Iron Council. And these are guys who are going
00:30:53.100 to push you, motivate you, inspire you, hold you accountable, hold your feet to the fire.
00:30:58.000 Most of it, 80% to 90% is done digitally. But a lot more of these guys are getting together face-to-face,
00:31:03.040 shoulder-to-shoulder, knee-to-knee, engaging in conversations and activities that are going to
00:31:06.960 push and inspire and motivate them. It's a great resource if you're looking for somebody who will have
00:31:11.200 your back. And I've got guys who have been with me in the Iron Council for almost four years now.
00:31:16.120 And I know that if I needed something, I could pick up the phone and they would be there in
00:31:21.240 support of me. And whatever that looks like, at any time, any night, any day, they'd be there for me
00:31:27.300 because I've implemented this stuff. And these guys have implemented that stuff as well.
00:31:31.260 Check it out, orderofman.com slash Iron Council. And then the last thing I'll tell you is if you
00:31:35.160 want to get face-to-face with some other men who believe like you do and who espouse the virtues and
00:31:40.620 the thoughts that we're talking about here in the Order of Man and on the Order of Man podcast,
00:31:44.620 then I think we have a few extra spots for the event. Head to orderofman.com slash main event,
00:31:53.740 orderofman.com slash main event. That's coming up August 10th and 11th. So what? 10, 8, 8, 9 days.
00:32:01.420 So it's very, very quickly approaching, but we'd love to have you there. And we have a few more spots.
00:32:05.500 We'll have another 75 guys there who are going through the same things we're talking about here
00:32:09.940 today. Anyways, guys, that's all I've got for you. Just ask yourself the question, who's got your six?
00:32:13.800 And if the answer is no one, but you can't thank anybody, you got some work to do. So get out
00:32:17.920 there, go do it, take action, become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to the
00:32:23.000 Order of Man podcast. If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you
00:32:27.700 were meant to be, we invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.