Being A Better Man

Among all the creatures on the earth, humans are the ones who invented words. All animals communicate in some fashion…but we do it with words. What is a word but a specific sound made that has a specific meaning that can be remembered and repeated to convey that meaning? Words are quite simple, but they are also ingenious, and incredibly powerful, and I think we take them for granted a lot. I obviously rely on words as the host of this podcast. I have to string together a certain combination of words, and when I do…I magically inject your brain with the concept I am thinking of. It’s kind of fascinating when you think about it; suddenly my thoughts are inside your head. The post 115 – The Magic Of Words appeared first on Being A Better Man.

I have a big problem with guys actively looking for sympathy. Sympathy is not an emotion expressed by yourself, rather, it is an emotion extracted from other people. In order to gain someone else’ sympathy we have to engage their emotional spectrum and drag them into whatever drama we are experiencing…and that, in my opinion is the opposite of sharing your strength, there isn’t anything masculine about it. As men I think we should embrace our emotional sides, and be expressive, but we need to do so responsibly. Just because we are having an emotion doesn’t mean we are not still a man, subject to the responsibilities of our manhood. The post 114 – Emotional Responsibility 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 Best Friends, it's kind of a sad one...but it has a good ending, and a great lesson. 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 in

This episode might be uncomfortable for some of you. People avoid thinking about death or talking about death and then, when it comes, you are ill-prepared for it. If this topic makes you uncomfortable then I especially urge you try thinking about death another way…because it will visit your life eventually, and part of being a man is being prepared for such things. If this topic makes you uncomfortable it could be a red flag that needs your attention. The post 112 – Dealing With Death appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Today I would like to talk about mediocrity. Mediocrity has kind of become an institution in human society. It is a mentality that permeates all walks of life; our schools, our work places, our relationships, everything. Anywhere that people are, the spirit of mediocrity is alive and well. Mediocrity is that thing that informs our subconscious that we don’t need to try harder, that we have done enough. It informs us that it’s OK if we aren’t the best at something…as long as we aren’t the worst. Mediocrity has children being happy to have a C average in school, or sit in the back of the class goofing around instead of being interested and asking questions...it's not OK. The post 111 – Don’t Settle For Mediocrity appeared first on Being A Better Man.

This episode features a guest, Angus Nelson. He is a dynamic, authentic, insightful individual who was kind enough to share some wisdom with us. The interview went about an hour, so I broke it up into two parts. This is Part 2, if you have not heard PART ! yet, I suggest you STOP RIGHT NOW and go listen to Part 1, episode 109. I became aware of Angus through a mutual organization, and what really stuck out to me among all his other experience and talents, were his honesty and authenticity. he has had some major transformations himself and he has lived to tell about it. The post 110 – Guest: Angus Nelson, PART 2 appeared first on Being A Better Man.

This episode features a guest, Angus Nelson. He is a dynamic, authentic, insightful individual who was kind enough to share some wisdom with us. The interview went about an hour, so I broke it up into two parts. This is Part 1, and Part 2 will play on Wednesday. I became aware of Angus through a mutual organization, and what really stuck out to me among all his other experience and talents, were his honesty and authenticity. he has had some major transformations himself and he has lived to tell about it. The post 109 – Guest: Angus Nelson, PART 1 appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Todays episode is another listener inspired episode, it comes to us from a guy named Rich. Rich asked...“I had a thought the other day about how, while the listeners of your podcast are obviously interested and motivated in becoming better men, how would you go about reaching the guys that aren't similarly motivated? Can they be motivated if they don't already have that drive? And if not, how do we instill that drive into them, if that is even possible?" That is a great question, and I believe I have the answer. The post 108 – Examples Of Manhood 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 Broken Trust, its sort of a follow up to the one I did last Wednesday, episode 104. In that story I talked about when I first got my drivers license...today's story is about when I ultimately lost those driving privileges. 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 The post 107 – Broken Trust appeared first on Being A Better Man.

The title of this episode is instinct VS intellect. That title implies that the two things are at odds with one another and, many times…I believe they are, at least in how they are applied in today’s world. What prompted me to talk about this, is many times I have seen men directly or indirectly blame their behavior on their instincts, as though they are powerless to behave otherwise…as though they are compelled, like a cat burying it's poop. In other words, I have seen men turn their instincts into excuses. You all know how I feel about excuses; they are weak. They are frail utterances that come out of the mouths of people who are not strong enough to own their own actions. Excuses are pathetic. The post 106 – Instinct vs Intellect appeared first on Being A Better Man.

If you are living in your past, or bogged down in a future that hasn’t even happened, then you can’t see the progress. That’s why its so important to live in the moment, because then, you can see it! Living in the moment you will have the capacity to acknowledge the things you do well, you will be able to celebrate your victories and be aware of your progress. That's what focusing on your journey is all about. The post 105 – Focus On The Journey appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Story Time with Alf is here! 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. Today's story id Ticket To Freedom. 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

This idea came to me from a listener, a young woman in Colorado. Yes…women listen to Being A Better Man too. I’m really glad she sent me this idea, because it’s important to consider the female perspective. Women comprise about half of the world population and their input and contribution is vital to the continuation of our species and our civilization. Also…women provide us with a very important, very real perspective of manhood. A perspective that we would probably never realize on our own because…we are men. Our experience in the world is very different. This listener shared a perspective with me that I probably would not have come up with on my own, but after reading it, I could see the truth in it and I think it needs to be addressed. This listener is a professional woman in her 20’s, a college graduate, and she contends that most women see two primary ways in which men try to assert their masculinity in the world. The post 103 – A Female Perspective Of Manhood appeared first on Being A Better M

What I am suggesting is that you start realizing that your life is your fault. That you start right now developing a plan, write it down. Start thinking outside the box, doing research and figuring out what kind of value you can bring to the world…because whatever that value is, is your answer. When you figure out what kind of unique value you can provide to other people, then those people will give you money for it. Thats how it works. The post 102 – Own Your Weekend appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Story Time with Alf is here! 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. 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 campfires the wor

Welcome one and all to the 100th episode of being a better man. Its a very special episode for me…next Wednesday it will be 101 and then we’ll be moving towards 200, it will be back to work as usual…but for now, for today, I am relishing this accomplishment. I’ve been wondering what I was going to talk about for the 100th episode, and when ever I thought about it one particular dominant feeling would wash over me every time. That was the feeling of gratitude. I am very, very grateful. I have said it before, but this program truly would not exist without you out there listening. You are listening from every state in America. From there, in order of quantity you are listening from Canada, Australia, Norway and the Untied Kingdom. After that you are listening from all over Europe, Asia, the middle East and Africa…from everywhere in the entire world…except Antartica and Greenland. Obviously it’s pretty cool to me, knowing that I am getting the message out to all the corners of the earth…but I’m also tell

Before I get into today’s episode, I’m going to warn you…it’s a little different, I’ll be talking about an idea that could have great value for you…or maybe not. It might even sound like a great big commercial, I’m not sure yet, but I hope you bear with me, because what I’m talking about could have tremendous value for some of you and it could play a big part in your journey of being a better man. The post 099 – Become A Leader appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Story Time with Alf is here! 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. 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 campfires the world o

Today I want to talk about integrity. It is a huge topic, and I doubt I’ll cover all the facets of it today, but it will be a start. So integrity…what is it exactly? I always like to look up the definitions of words and then I tweak them a little to make them more accurate, but I found one particular definition of the word integrity that I really love. It is; “The state of being whole, and undivided.” So, as a human, what does it mean to be whole? To me it means that all of my parts are together and consistent with each other. All the components that make up who I am are functioning at optimum efficiency, and they don’t contradict each other. The post 097 – Live With Integrity appeared first on Being A Better Man.

I always say we can’t fix things we don’t know are broken, I tell you to look in the mirror and take an honest look at yourself, find something thats wrong and then fix that thing. thats how you become a better man than you were yesterday, and I’m sharing this story with you because it’s an actual recent example of me doing just that. That is how it works. The post 096 – The Burning Man Blues appeared first on Being A Better Man.