While Wolf & Iron has been on hold, Rustic and Main has been growing like crazy. Even during the COVID lockdown we stayed busy and the last few months have been some of our best yet.

Here is a bit of inside information that my fellow entrepreneurs will appreciate!

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.

At the end of the day, we have more opportunity to be the fathers we want to be, not just the ones society pressures us to be. We each have an opportunity to be the greatest dads of any generation ever.

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.

Accountability is quite the buzzword these days. Churches are pushing for it. Men's groups of all kinds are pushing for it. It's certainly needed, but accountability in itself does not result in the kind of change men are looking for. It should be seen as a necessary piece to growth, but not the solution.

We live in a time of quick fixes and instant everything. Our silver bullet society wants a simple solution to every problem we face, and there are those who are all too eager to take your money for such a promise. But, what happens when we need to change a number of things in order to correct a problem.

I've achieved more in life through curiosity than I ever have through certainty. Developing a mindset of curiosity, especially about new efforts, will aid you in moving forward as a man and accomplishing your goals in ways you never expected.

True belief must be accompanied by action. This is done because A) you believe reality actually resembles your belief and therefore action is a rational step, or B) to test and see if reality matches your belief so that you might adjust your beliefs to match reality. In either case, a belief which remains only in the mind has no power unless it is acted upon. 

There is a certain kind of bonding which ought to take place in a relationship; cementing on various levels of intimacy. Spending time together, holding hands, hugging, kissing and so on, ideally until the day of marriage. When we skip past the other things and don't allow those small moments of intimacy to settle in, we miss out on a number of benefits and often find our relational and intimacy cravings only satisfied by sex.

I was raised as a Southern Baptist. For those of you who also grew up in the south, there are some common experiences we both likely shared growing up in the Bible belt: hellfire and brimstone preaching, potlucks galore, youth trips where sex and alcohol were the norm (not for me though), and the occasional guest preacher or youth conference designed to really stir things up and get the congregation on fire for Jesus.

I wasn't a fan.

Sometimes it takes quite a bit of digging and throwing away of the old stones to find what you're really looking for: the thing that you knew was there but only believed so by faith, not by evidence.

Here's the deal, Ken is a genuine, stand up guy. He is a man working his tail off in an area where he is incredibly gifted, yet still prioritizing family and staying down to earth. I felt totally at ease during the interview and a lot of that is due to Ken's demeanor: You just feel like you're part of the team when you're there.

Head over to the website for some behind the scenes shots as well as a video.

Here's the deal: marketing shouldn't be hard. Sure, it's work, just like anything else, but at the end of the day, if you can't understand your marketing strategy you're likely not doing it right.

Danny is not only a friend, he's a trusted advisor of mine. He's exactly the kind of guy you want in your corner and coming alongside you as your business grows. He's the right mix of both tactical and strategic, while also being down to earth. He keeps it simple, and that's often the most brilliant strategy of all.