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 is Don't Be The Wildebeest. 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.

BEING A BETTER SON... Today’s topic, like the title implies, is about being a better son. Regardless of what age you are, regardless of what your family circumstances are, if you are a guy, then you are also somebodies son. So why am I talking about this? What does being a better son have to do with being a better man? Well…think about it; if you are a rotten, horrible son or even a mediocre son, then it would be difficult to be a better man at the same time wouldn’t it? Being a son is part of the equation, it’s part of being a man because all men are sons. Therefore being a better son, is part of being a better man. The post 094 – Being A Better Son appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Today is Friday, and we’re all getting ready to head into the weekend. Weekends are awesome, I love the weekends. For many of us the weekend is the time we break out of the mundane cycle of working, sleeping and eating and we get to do other things…like projects around the house, or we socialize with other people, we spend more time with family and friends, or…we just relax and catch up on sleep and watch TV. What we can’t do however, what we must not do, is forget how important it is that we behave like men. Its easy to let your guard down while you are having fun and socializing but that’s when it is most critical that you are thinking about your role as a man in the world. That’s when your example will be noticed the most, when it will have the greatest impact. It’s times like this when you have the greatest opportunity to be a better man than you were yesterday. The post 093 – The Enemies Of Man 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 is “Men Behaving Badly”, I'm not sure what category it falls into. 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 infor

Today’s episode is inspired by another one of our listeners; This letter comes to us all the way from Australia! I knew we had listeners in Australia but this is the first letter I have received from down under. Luke from Australia is a 28 year old professional fire fighter…but it wasn’t always so. In Luke’s letter he told me that seven years ago he was a huge partier…every weekend and every other weekday that’s all he and his friends did…was party and have fun, drinking and carrying on and all the other activities you might imagine would go along with that lifestyle. Luke said he was a university bum who was cruising through life with no direction or purpose. The post 091 – Take Charge Of Your Life appeared first on Being A Better Man.

It’s important to celebrate every good thing that happens. Not just acknowledge it…but celebrate it. Some of you are wondering why that’s so important…well, think about it. In life, where good things are sometimes few and far between, when something good happens...that is worthy of celebration for starters. Secondly, when you celebrate something you are focusing energy on that thing…you are focused on something positive and remember what I always say…the things we focus on expand! They get bigger, they grow. So whenever you have an opportunity to focus on something positive you should take it. Its also kind of a way of giving thanks to the universe, yourself, or whatever powers external or internal that were responsible for making this thing happen. Another huge reason to celebrate the good things is that it’s almost impossible to really celebrate alone. A proper celebration means that you are including the people close to you, the people you care about, you are inviting them to join you in this cel

THE RUNAWAY…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 is “The Runaway”. 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 nex

Most of us just live in the moment we are breathing in. we act and react to things based on what is happening around us, what is going on in the present. It is not a natural thing to act or react to things with a future version of ourselves in mind. But…that’s whats happening wether you realize it or not. The things that have the biggest impact on the future versions of ourselves are the actions we take in the present moment we are living in. Lets think about that for a moment. Everything you do today, every decision you make, everything you say, the places you go, the people you interact with, all these things will have some bearing on who you are 5 years from now. Some things weigh more heavily than others naturally, but everything matters. The post 088 – Evolution Of A Man appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Today I am going to talk about peer pressure. Peer pressure has probably gotten guys into more trouble than anything else in the world. Seriously, when people take drugs or alcohol for the first time it is usually because of peer pressure. When guys do stupid things that send them to jail…it’s usually because of peer pressure. When guys wind up permanently maimed or dead…it is usually because of peer pressure. So…why is that? Why will people so readily and so often act in ways contrary to their own common sense just because they are encouraged by a group of their peers to do so? It’s obviously a very powerful thing, this peer pressure. The post 087 – Peer Pressure 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 w

This is a listener inspired episode. The remarkable thing to me was that this was sent in by a man who is being a better man, and he is only 16 years old. That is so awesome, It’s great for me to know that people of his age are listening. His name is Mike, and his question was about a certain type of relationship that many of us, myself included, are familiar with. Many of you will probably identify with Mikes story, he had been in a serious but toxic relationship. The girl in this relationship was manipulative and controlling and eventually had him become separated with all of his close friends, he was even getting in fist fights because of this girl, and it was putting stress on his relationships with his family as well. The post 085 – Toxic Relationships appeared first on Being A Better Man.

Look, I know it seems like the fate of the world is in the balance and these things are so important. But take a look back through history, stuff like this happens, it has happened for as long as there have been humans. Things become important and then they fade away, people are elected, time goes by and then other people are elected. There are hard times and there are better times, but through it all the most important thing in your life should be your family and close relationships…because without them, what do you have? Wouldn’t it be silly to lose a loved one over someone else’ idea? The post 084 – Relationship Priorities appeared first on Being A Better Man.

EXPLODING FRIENDSHIP… 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 ar

To start with, I was going to talk about a completely different topic today...and then, I started talking, and this podcast came out. Totally unexpected on my part. And thats what this episode happens to be about; unexpected moments, what to do with them, how to feel about them, and the fact that if you don't have enough of them you need to create more. They are very important. Imagine la world in which nothing unexpected ever happened. I took a few other twists and turns along the way to making my point, but you will just have to listen to the episode to see what I'm talking about. The post 082 – Embrace The Unexpected appeared first on Being A Better Man.

So…this episode is being released on July 29th, 2016. It’s kind of a special day for me…because 54 years ago today, I climbed into this world kicking and screaming…I peed on a bunch of doctors, and my dad called me a homely little guy. Yep…today is my birthday. I actually pre-recorded this episode a couple days ago because I am on a road trip with my wife. We are going to Idaho to visit her family and I plan on doing some fishing and gold panning while I’m there. Now I know…it’s just now hitting some of you and you are realizing I said I am 54 years old. To some of you that seems ancient! Your wondering why I even bother to get up in the morning because I’m so old…I know, because that’s probably what I would have thought when I was your age. It’s really not very old though. I can still do everything I could do when I was 20. Some things I might do a little slower…but some things I am way better at than I was then. So that’s what I’m going to talk about today, age. It’s a funny thing age. I was ne

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 over are what eventually sh

Todays episode is going to be a little different in that, instead of talking exclusively about man stuff, I’m going to be talking about women. I don’t have access to the exact demographics, but I know for a fact that more and more women are tuning in to this show. I think that’s great, it’s fantastic, there’s room for everybody here. However, it does make me curious. If So first I would like to ask a favor of the women who listen to this show. Could you please go to the Contact Alf Tab and and write me a letter…what I would like you to tell me is, why you listen to a show called being a better man…if you are a woman. I’m really curious, because when I started the show I thought there might be a few women who listen in, trying to gain some insight into the male mind, but I think it has gone beyond that. The post 079 – Thank you Ladies! appeared first on Being A Better Man.

This is another listener inspired episode from Chris in Wisconsin, Chris wrote in wondering about how men should handle talking about other people. You know what I mean…you make a negative observation about a co-worker when they aren’t there. Someone walks by on the street and you make a little joke about them to your friend. Etcetera, etcetera…you know what I’m talking about. In this episode we talk about this behavior, why it might not be Manly, and I provide a couple things that could help you overcome it, and be a better man today than you were yesterday. The post 078 – When Men Gossip 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. 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 over are what eventually sh

Today’s episode is a listener inspired episode. A Guy named Christopher from Wisconsin went to the web site and wrote to me, he asked a question about recovering relationships…or repairing them. In the case Chris wrote about he was estranged from his father, sounds like due to a marital breakup and his dads military service which made him absent much of the time. They got back together for three years when Chris was a teenager and then they separated again when he was 16…and have not spoken since. First of all, thank you Chris for writing to me about this and asking what the right course of action in this situation is. Sadly…lots of people out there are in similar situations. Christopher’s last sentence in his letter is spot on; he said “I don’t want to lose him because I was too bullheaded to reach out”. In a way Chris answered his own question with that one sentence. There are so many children and fathers that have had their relationship interrupted by divorce, by work, and by the court systems, it’