Being A Better Man

In the course of our life we might attain balance occasionally, but just for a moment. Before you know it some other area of your life will get out of whack and you will have to tend to it. That is just the nature of things, and we shouldn’t fight it, or complain about it, we should actually celebrate it. Because it is in this pursuit of mythical balance that we have our experiences, it where our actual life is, its where joy and victory is found. It is in these most challenging of times that we learn how to appreciate the better times. The post 175 – The Quest For Balance appeared first on Being A Better Man.

OK, so I got a letter a couple days ago from a guy named Mike, in Georgia. It was a letter thanking me for the podcast, and he went on to explain the ways in which it has helped him in his mission of being a better man every day. He said he has listened to every single episode…which is pretty impressive. Like a lot of us, Mike has gone through some challenging times in the past few years. He had a divorce that left him a half-time single father, on top of that he had a host of medical things going on and a major surgery. It’s easy to start feeling down when it seems like the whole world is out to get you, and understandably, Mike was starting to feel pretty low. In the middle of his despair, he remembered an analogy I used in one of my very first episodes. He is using that analogy to turn his life around a little bit. The post 174 – Transformation Of A Man appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; The Rage Inside Us. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories told aro

I did not share this today because I like talking about myself. I don’t particularly enjoy exposing my flaws to the world. The reason I shared this, was to illustrate how it is done. You can apply this formula to any area of your life that you want to improve in. Start by being objective with yourself and recognizing the issue exists. Then focus on it and make it a priority. Next, come up with a way to measure your improvement against the day before so you can remain accountable to yourself. Eventually, this new behavior will become a habit, and you will have become a better man. The post 172 – Changing Unwanted Habits… appeared first on Being A Better Man.

WHAT MOVES YOU FORWARD? My name is Alf Herigstad, I am your host and fellow man in the trenches.  I will be guiding you into this labyrinth of manly musings. But first, I want to acknowledge the sponsor of today’s program;  Stump Town Kilts!  They have been sponsoring the Friday episodes since December of this… The post 171 – What Moves You Forward? appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; It Looked Good On Paper. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories to

We obviously cannot all be George Washington. I don’t expect to become the father of a nation. However, his life illustrates how a single man can influence and shape his surroundings through focused, dedicated action. Our lives, on a much smaller scale, are no different. Through our actions and choices, guided by a dedication to our individual principles and a focus on that which matters…we can shape and influence our worlds, each one of us. What one man can do, another can do. We may not alter the world or the country, but we can influence our families and our communities. We can leave the part of the world we inhabit, in better shape than we found it in. We can do this, we have the power to do this, because we are men. The post 169 – Shaping The World Around You appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Where other people see failure, you should try seeing opportunity. Because every single one of these times is where you will learn the most stuff. We learn very little outside of the realm of mistakes, or what some people would call failure. We learn very little when everything is going great. The post 168 – The Fallacy Of Failure…the other ‘F’ word appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; The Unwelcome Passenger. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories tol

You know I’m always talking about looking for opportunities to be a better man in your daily life. I realize that just saying that might seem kind of nebulous…like what does it mean exactly? Today I’m going to give you a practical example of what I mean by seizing opportunities to be a better man, from my own life. The post 166 – Seizing The Opportunity appeared first on Being A Better Man.

We all lose something dear to us from time to time, its inevitable. For whatever reason, we might lose a job that we depend on. Or we might lose a relationship thats really important to us. A beloved pet or relative might die. Your car might be destroyed by a hit and run driver while you are in the store. You might lose a limb in a workplace accident. Dealing with major loss is really just another part of life and its important that we consider how to deal with these things prior to going through it. Because we want to deal with whatever loss we may face as best we can, as a man. The post 165 – Dealing With Loss…Like A Man appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; Aim Of An Evil Boy. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories told aro

I was thinking today about how each of us have a perception in our heads of who we are, of what kind of man we are. I have spoke many times on this show about the importance of knowing ourself well so that this perception of self is as accurate as possible. I have also said on many occasions that perception is reality. The things we perceive are what is real to us. That’s important, because if we perceive that we are good, kind, strong, brave, intelligent men…then we are much more likely to live into that reality. One of the things, perhaps the biggest thing that informs our perception of self, is our memories. All of our memories, both good and bad are what come together in our brains to form the tapestry of our existence. The post 163 – He With The Most Memories…Wins appeared first on Being A Better Man.

You may have never thought of it as a learned skill…but I absolutely believe it is. I think this because there have been young men I mentored, who didn’t have a clue in the beginning, they took no pride in their efforts, they quit as soon as they were tired. But, as a result of working alongside men who did know how to work hard…they learned, and in every case it changed their life for the better. It changed their life for the better because it gave them a whole new level of pride, confidence, and purpose as a man. The post 162 – To Work Like A Man…the lost art appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; The Ugly Years. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories told around

So, it’s Monday now, and the weekend has just passed. The weekend’s are kind of a big deal. Some of you listening had the time of your life this weekend. Others of you may have had a so-so weekend. While still others of you just sat around and did nothing at all. look, if you are working five days a week, then the weekend is the time to get out and celebrate the week you just went through. Or…it’s the time to get stuff done that you didn’t have time for during the week, or it’s a time for needed rest. I’ll tell you how I spent my weekend… The post 160 – Your Time And Attention appeared first on Being A Better Man.

The reason I’m talking about this stuff, is because as men we have an obligation to think for ourselves. We should question everything we hear instead of blindly believing what we are fed…and then regurgitating it. There are very few pure sources of information out there now, everything has a bias. You owe it to yourself to do your own research, to determine for yourself the truth of things before you simply adopt them as gospel with no basis. What is at stake is your relationships. All of us have relationship with people from many different walks of life. I’m not just talking about your families, but the people you work with, go to school with, do business with, and commute with. The people who live in the same city as you do…they are all just people, like you. The post 159 – People…Like You appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Every Wednesday I regal you with a story from somewhere in my unusual and interesting life. It could be funny, sad, serious or disturbing, the important thing is that every story has a lesson. The name of today’s story is; Hard Times On The Big Road. Even though these are my stories, you can apply these lessons to your own life, or perhaps they will remind you of your own similar story and the lessons you learned from it. Either way, you should be entertained. As you listen I really want you to consider your own stories, when did you learn these lessons? Can you remember? Sometimes digging up your own past can have great benefit, especially if you are made to remember that one singular moment in time when you learned something vital. It’s almost like learning it all over again. That…is the purpose of these stories. In fact, I think there is nothing quite so human as the hearing and telling of stories. It’s how our ancestors conveyed critical information from one generation to the next. The stories

If you are a regular listener to this show then you know that I try hard to not bring politics or religion into the discussion here. There is a reason for that, the reason being that these things tend to divide people into groups and I prefer to talk about what unites us. I prefer to focus on the fact that we are all men, regardless of our political or religious positions. In this episode I will stray from this policy slightly….only as far as I need to though. Before you fly off the handle and unsubscribe, I ask you to listen. Keep in mind that at the core of this discussion I am still addressing the character of men; our behavior, our reactions, our language, and ultimately our best interests. The post 157 – Pink Hats, Men, A March, And Liberty appeared first on Being A Better Man.

As many of you know, I began this podcast because it was a journey I was already on. A journey that I wanted to bring other men on with me. I had no idea how profoundly I would be affected by doing this. What you may not realize is that every single episode I created caused me to do some of the same things that I encourage other men to do. It caused me to look inward, to evaluate and scrutinize my thoughts and positions. To make a determination about where I stood and what I believed. The post 156 – One Year Anniversary Celebration!! appeared first on Being A Better Man.