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This episode of Man in Progress – Forging Manhood explores how worth is forged, not given. It begins with a simple parable: a bottle of water costs fifty cents at the supermarket, two dollars at the gym, three at the movies, and six on a plane. The water doesn’t change, only its context does. We draw a line to personal worth: your value isn’t the sticker price someone slaps on you; it’s how your gifts meet someone’s need.

Through raw stories of addiction recovery and fatherhood lived on the edge of scarcity, and reflections on Benedictine monks and St. Francis of Assisi, we unpack what it means to recognize and refine your tools, skill, character, and fit, and to place yourself where those tools matter most. You’ll learn daily rituals that protect your self-worth, how to pour your strength where it truly counts, and how to measure worth without comparing price tags. If you’ve ever felt discounted, misused, or misplaced, this episode invites you to step into the forge, reset your shelf, and remember you are not broken; you are a man in progress.

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In this episode of Man in Progress – Forging Manhood, we turn forged values into daily carry. You will learn the morning hone that aligns your words, the quiet strop that softens tone, and the difference between a power grip and a precision grip when life heats up. Together we practice draw, use, and return, so you make one clean cut in conflict, then close without spillover. We explore how to fit the handle of your strength to real life, adding wraps where you slip, shaving away what bites, and oiling daily routines so you do not crack under pressure.

This is a raw look at intentional choices. From breaking cycles of alcohol and scarcity to choosing patience in marriage, co-parenting, and work life balance, the forge is not theory, it is practice. You will hear how slowing the first sentence changes the room, how a two-minute pause can save a night, and how night boundaries protect sleep and sanity. Whether you are a father carrying the mental load at home, a husband working on calmer communication, or a man rebuilding after old habits, this episode is about steady strength you can use today.

Just forged values turned into calm, usable power for fatherhood, marriage, sobriety, and daily discipline

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 This episode turns forged values into daily carry. We move from stone to strop to grip so your strength stays precise under pressure. Learn the morning hone that aligns your words, the quiet strop that softens tone, and the power versus precision grip that keeps you steady when rooms run hot. Practice draw, use, return so you make one clean cut in conflict, then close without spillover. Fit the handle to your real life with simple wraps, shave what bites from your schedule, and oil routines so you do not crack under heat. We apply it to modern fatherhood, marriage communication, and work life balance, including mental load at home, breathwork you can do in a hallway, the slow first sentence that changes the room, the two minute pause that lowers heat, and night boundaries that protect sleep. No hype. No fluff. Just quiet strength, cleaner tone, and habits that hold when you are tired. 

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You’re not broken. You’re not behind.
You’re just a man in progress. 🔥
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 You forged the edge. Now carry it without harm. This episode builds your sheath through rest systems that cool the nervous system, simple daily rituals that stitch morning, midday, and night, and guard rules for hot rooms so you do not cut what you love. We set clean protocols for work, home, and self, then study how Nelson Mandela and Viktor Frankl carried their edges with dignity and purpose. For men who want usable strength in marriage, fatherhood, and leadership. 

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You’re just a man in progress. 🔥
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You survived the quench. Now make the blade usable. In this episode Travis walks you through the finish work every man needs after a hard test. Polish away the scale that hides as bitterness or “brutal honesty,” build a handle you can actually grip with simple daily systems, fit a guard so your strength stops cutting the people you love, then sharpen one small edge you can repeat every day.

Expect real drills, not hype. You’ll run the three-pin handle routine (morning anchor, midday reset, evening review), set one boundary tied to your core value, and choose a five-minute action that turns intention into reflex. Frederick Douglass shows how to cut clean without cruelty, George Washington Carver models steady discipline, Desmond Doss proves that clear boundaries make you precise, and Musashi reminds us that one angle, repeated, makes an edge.

Perfect if you’re building discipline in marriage, fatherhood, leadership, or recovery. By the end, you’ll carry your value with control, not swagger, and you’ll have a plan you can start today. Next time we sheath the blade so you protect what you forged when you’re tired and tempted.

0:00  Opening reflection

4:05  Polish: remove the scale

7:44  Handle: build the grip

11:18  Guard: protect yourself and others

15:08  Sharpen and carry

18:53  Call to the Forge

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Resistance hits you every day. The quench hits without warning.
 This episode shows you how to choose one core value, build daily discipline, and hold under heat in marriage, fatherhood, and men’s mental health. We name resistance fast, close the intention action gap, and run a simple pre-quench inspection so cracks show up in the shop, not in the storm. With real examples from life at home and at work, you’ll turn truth, courage, or loyalty into consistent action that survives pressure.

What you’ll learn

• How to pick a high-friction value that exposes weakness and strengthens it
• A seven-day alignment drill that builds discipline over moods
• How to strike on cue when hesitation would cool the steel
• The inspection step most men skip before a crisis, plus how to reforge after a slip

Built for men who want practical tools for communication, integrity, identity, resilience, purpose, and healing. Short segments. Real prompts. No fluff. Follow Man in Progress on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. New episodes every week.

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You’re not broken. You’re not behind.
You’re just a man in progress. 🔥
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 Choose one value. Fold it daily. Strike when it counts. The quench is coming. 

Every man wants to be the mountain, but brittleness shatters under pressure. In this episode of Man in Progress: Forging Manhood, host Travis Murray walks you through a field test for the soul: pick one core value (truth, courage, or loyalty), fold it through daily alignment, then strike, close the intention-action gap and make your value real under heat. From Shackleton’s loyalty, to chaptered repetition, to the final inspection before the quench, this is how men build reflex, not rhetoric.

You’ll learn:

• How to pick a single, high-friction value that exposes weakness, and strengthens it
• Why daily, value-congruent actions become instinct over time
• How to strike (embody the value) when hesitation would cool the steel
• The inspection step most men skip before life’s cold test, the quench

 Chapters 

0:00  The Myth of the Mountain

2:03  One Value, Not Ten

3:46  Shackleton and Loyalty Under Ice

4:48  Folding: Repetition → Reflex

7:26  The Intention-Action Gap (Strike)

10:02  Harriet Tubman: Action Under Threat

14:02  Inspection Before the Quench

20:41  Live It for Seven Days Myth of the Mountain

 Follow, rate, and share this with a man who’s ready to carry a value through the storm. 

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 Guided journaling, men’s mental health, and self-forgiveness, this is where you strike the iron and start to heal. 

Steel isn’t born strong. It’s made in the fire. In Episode 2 of Man in Progress: Forging Manhood, host Travis Murray leads a guided ritual for men, journaling prompts, memory work, and self-forgiveness, to melt the lies you’ve carried and shape something real. You’ll name the wound, feel the heat, and make your first honest strike: I am not broken. I’m being forged.

What’s inside:

• A step-by-step journaling practice for men to surface childhood wounds and negative self-talk
• The shift from brittle toughness to durable strength (compassion without excuses)
• How to use self-forgiveness to break shame loops and rebuild identity
• A clear next step: pick one memory, breathe, strike with kindness, and begin again

0:00  Welcome to the Forge

1:21  Confronting Painful Memories

7:56  The Story of Viktor Frankl

9:54  Heating the Metal of Your Story

11:11  Striking with Compassion and Forgiveness

15:13  Your Assignment: Continue the Work

Follow for more and send to Brother, friend, father, or someone that can benefit from the show. 

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You’re not broken. You’re not behind.
You’re just a man in progress. 🔥
Thank you for listening your support means everything to me.

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Disclaimer, I am not a therapist, and this is not replacement for therapy.

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 Men’s mental health, fatherhood, and modern masculinity meet the forge. You’re not broken. You’re being forged. 

In this opening of Man in Progress, Forging Manhood, Travis Murray tells a raw story of collapse and rebuilding, from silent burnout and shame to the moment he chose honesty over image. This is not a highlight reel. It is a step into heat, pressure, and purpose, where a man is shaped through truth, not performance.

You will hear about the NICU, break-up, loneliness, and the quiet addictions that numb a life. You will also hear the shift, the first strike of real strength, and the choice to live by integrity, courage, responsibility, and love. If you feel untethered or numb, this episode gives language and a path. It reframes “toughness” as brittleness, and points you toward durable character you can carry into marriage, fatherhood, and work.

What you’ll take with you:
• A clearer frame for men’s mental health and emotional honesty
• The difference between performative toughness and real strength
• Why self-forgiveness is the first strike that lets you rebuild
• How to start living by one core value you can hold under pressure

0:00  Welcome to the Forge

3:04  The Mask Cracks

6:18  NICU: When “Strength” Broke

12:04  From Vices to Values (solitude, meaning, confession)

17:05  Meaning and Meeting

23:18  The Forger’s Code (oath & call to build)

If you have ever felt like a ghost in your own life, you are not broken. You are in the forge. Follow the show, rate it, and share it with a man who needs the heat.

Support the show

You’re not broken. You’re not behind.
You’re just a man in progress. 🔥
Thank you for listening your support means everything to me.

Hit that Follow button and Send to a friend.

Disclaimer, I am not a therapist, and this is not replacement for therapy.