Wolf & Iron | Virtues, Skills, Manliness!

Over the last decade or so, the term Memento Mori has become rather well known. It's a call for men to wake up, get off their arses and seize the day. It translates as "Remember you are mortal" or "Remember that one day you will die". While this perspective is certainly needed, it's only 1/2 of the equation, and, I believe that it is actually making it harder for many men to make decisions that move them forward

Confession time: I used to be in Amway. Yeah, it's a bit odd for me to even think back on that time. But, I was young and it was my first introduction to the concept of being successful. Coming from humble beginnings as I did, the idea of making it big was tremendously powerful. If nothing else, I learned how to dream for the future I wanted and saw a few examples of other people who started with little and made much.

I've heard from a number of fathers how they long for their kids to know the joys of an 80s childhood, free of technology and plenty of time outside with your friends. I've often longed for this as well...even as an adult! There is no mistaking that the world we live in has changed. Things have gotten soft and along with it, ourselves and the next generation are softer. But, there are some good things as well.

Heat sells. It gets clicks and comments and shares and is the primary tactic used by the average media. Some heat is good, no doubt. Truth can be a type of heat that we need to refine us. Light, on the other hand, can be used to showcase goodness or draw our attention to a problem, but it does so without inflaming the situation. Generating light instead of heat is a skill for sure, and it's one that every man should hone.

Stephen Mansfield spoke at our church's men's retreat in 2019 and really hit home the need for a band of brothers. Study after study shows that men are lonely like never before. But, are we even aware of how isolated we are? Do we recognize the need for loyal men in our lives that will stand shoulder to shoulder with us?

A man who is working the heed the High Call on his life longs for others to discuss and debate the great ideas of the ages with. My guest, Scott Hambrick of Online Great Books, and I talk about how Online Great Books brings about the community and accountability to continue diving deep into the great books of old.

True transparency is a rare thing these days. While we may still ask for prayers on social media, it's typically for someone else. We tend to showcase the good times and leave out the negative, and that actually makes sense in a public forum. When life is delivering us a swift kick to our salty hammock, we don't need trite responses: we need a brother.

As a kid, I had a hard time focusing on schoolwork...or pretty much any work that I didn't find interesting. Much of this was the result of simply being a boy and trying to fit an energetic kid into an overly structured environment. But, as an adult I've noticed some of the same tendencies. Sitting still for long periods of time doing work that doesn't grab my focus is hard. Yet, I've been able to accomplish quite a bit both because of and in spite of any ADD/ADHD tendencies I may have.

We've all heard the mantra of "finding ourselves". Apparently, this can be a lifelong journey but it often looks a lot like a midlife crisis that lasts for a decade or more. After many years of living life as an adult, people are quick to throw off responsibility in favor of the freedom they have been missing out on. Too often, though, the pendulum swings too far to the other side and instead of "finding themselves", they find themselves more lost than ever.

This is my 4th year of having a specific word to focus on. In hindsight, this has had more of a lasting effect on me than goal setting. Goals can often be marked by behavior change, but adhering to a word is to adhere to a definition...or a defining of one's character; it's much more introspective.

Wolf & Iron is 6 years old! Actually, this episode is a bit late, but I wanted to give you guys an update on Wolf & Iron, milestones in 2019 and what's coming up in 2020.

By December 31st of 2020, the whole "vision" thing might be played out. It's a pretty obvious thing to latch on to, but all the same, it's cool right now. We need vision. We need it as men, as individuals, but also for our families and our nation.

New Year's resolutions have long been out of favor. Personally, I like marking the new year with some goals, but I also don't like a lot of structure on those goals. One of the best ways to set goals for the new year is to do so with some reflection on the past year. That's where the Start. Stop. Keep. method comes into play. Happy New Year!

Think of someone you admire...how awesome would it be to get your brain wired to think the same way their brain does? We can all use some outside perspective on how people approach life. We then take the parts that make sense to us and adapt that to our own approach. In this episode I share a bit on how I process things, in hopes it may be helpful for some of you.

I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Hug your families and enjoy the time together.