Men Are Forged

Taking Risks in life is a rite of passage for us as men. It can be hard to discern when or how to take risks, but it is necessary for change, growth, and challenging ourselves. In today's episode, I discuss three types of risks that I have taken and my good and poor motivations behind them:
- The Risk for change
- The Risk for growth
- The Risk for the challenge

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MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

“The show caused me to ask the question: Who am I when no one is looking? Who am I that I can be proud of?"

Honesty and confrontation can lead to lasting change and more of yourself in life and relationships.

Questions to ask yourself from the interview
1. What is the driving force behind everything I do?
2. How have I opened myself up for people to know me?
3. What insecurity do I regularly combat with the Truth?
4. How have I allowed God to use life and experiences to confront my core beliefs about myself?
5. How has my definition of church changed over the span of my life?

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Ben Higgins is best known from season 20 of ABC’s hit series, “The Bachelor,” where he opened himself up to millions of viewers, giving them the chance to truly get to know him. The opportunity ultimately led to an enhanced platform that he now uses to share what he is most passionate about with others – his faith, his hope for humanity and his love of sports. Born and raised in Winona Lake, IN, Ben currently resides in Denver, CO, where he moved after graduating from Indiana University in 2012. Since “The Bachelor,” Ben has been keeping up with a number of projects with the help of some of his closest friends. Most importantly, Ben co-founded Generous International, a for purpose company dedicated to contributing profits to social issues around the world, starting with a cup of coffee. With a vision to change the way society thinks of consumer products, all Generous merchandise is designed specifically to create and multiply good in the world. Whether creating jobs, feeding children or improving education, it begins with giving back in order to build a world that we all want to live in. Ben stays connected with his loyal Bachelor following with his iHeartMedia podcast, “Almost Famous” which he co-hosts with his friend and former Bachelor contestant, Ashley Iaconetti. In August of 2019 Ben was announced by Warner Brothers as the host of their newest project “Bachelor Live On Stage”. 

Questions to ask yourself from the interview
1. What is the driving force behind everything I do?
2. How have I opened myself up for people to know me?
3. What insecurity do I regularly combat with the Truth?

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

What makes you human? The answer is redemption. Every redemption story has its ups and downs. So today, embrace your vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and failures, they are the key to yourself, your maturity, and being more real to others. Being more human means you have more to give others in their lives and experiences. So learn to be more human in 2022. Go to menareforged.com, and subscribe

This is the first episode of season 3

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Recap of Steve Dailey Interview - Big question from the interview was "What would it be like for me to start my own business?" 

In this episode, I present THREE question that will help you answer that question, yet give you insight into more for your life and toward defining your purpose.

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MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Steve Dailey is a pioneer in the business coaching industry, guiding thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners for over 3 decades to achieve best-ever income while having the time to enjoy it. Growing his first business to a multi-million-dollar enterprise in less than 2 years, he then began coaching small business owners to dominate their niche while creating legacy-driven businesses that work as well without them as they do with them. His mastermind community of seasoned small business owners - The Entrepreneur Excellence Alliance guides members in the mission, methods, and mindset for lifetime best success in Business and Beyond in the 2nd Half of Life.

Highlights
1:55 - #HammockLiving
3:45 - Enjoyment of life not defined by age
8:00 - Riding bike from Colorado to Canada on a beer bet
12:30 - How to face the unknown
16:20 - Becoming a College Coach
23:00 - Entrepreneur advocate
30:18 - Work on your own terms
34:05 - Biggest Pitfalls for Entrepreneurs 
38:25 - Overcoming Insecurity as an entrepreneur 
44:30 - Entrepreneur Resilience 
47:25 - #Advicefor25
50:45 - “Fundamentally it is ‘Why not?’”
53:40 - MeetCoachSteve.com

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Hard times create strong people or hurt people. When you take action to help others amidst your struggle then you will have strength to give yourself and others.

Recap of Anton Gunn Interview

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MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Anton Gunn is a Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama and the world’s leading authority on Socially Conscious Leadership. He has a Masters Degree in Social Work from USC and was a Resident Fellow at Harvard. He is the bestselling author of The Presidential Principles and has been featured in TIME magazine, the Wall Street Journal, BBC, NPR, and on Good Morning America. From playing SEC football and being the first African American in history elected to the SC legislature from his district early in his career, to now working as a C-level executive for an academic health system and serving on multiple boards, he has spent his life helping people build diverse high performing teams and world class leadership culture.From years of experience and insight, Anton Gunn knows what healthy, world-class workplaces cultures look like. More importantly, he knows how to achieve them. Leaders want a strategy to cultivate a culture that creates engaged employees, low turnover, increases optimal outcomes, and deepens impact. But leaders are busy and carry a lot of responsibility. Thats why Anton has developed simple, implementable strategy that will set the foundation for your organizational culture—taking it from status quo to state of the art.

Takeaway Questions from the interview:
1. Who has been a catalyst for change in my life? 
2. Do I value people’s success over my own? Why or not? 
3. What opportunities have come to me through service?
4. How have I used my darkest moments to help others?
5. As a leader, do I answer YES to the THREE Questions with my actions?

Highlights
1:30 - College football talk
5:00 - Hip Hop Influences
7:40 - His Call to Leadership in college
12:05 - Four Values to be an Impactful Leader
17:45 - Service leads to an opportunity 
23:45 - Leaders are experts on people
28:10 - At 27, losing his brother from a terrorist attack
32:30 - Catalyst to Running for public office: Times Article
37:40 - How to get out of the Victim Mindset
41:20 - Helping others in the healthcare industry
45:15 - 3 Questions every employee is asking at work
48:00 - Become An Admired Leader

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Embrace your life's story is the key to your growth and success. If you don't own what you've been through then you can't appreciate what you doing. 

Recap of Jay Stringer Interview

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.

Jay Stringer is a licensed mental health counselor, ordained minister, and author of the award-winning book Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing. Unwanted is based on a multiyear research project on over 3,800 men and women to address the key drivers of unwanted sexual behavior, be that the use of pornography, infidelity, or buying sex.Jay's passion is to equip the church with resources to change the conversation on sexual brokenness. Towards that end, Jay created the Sexual Behavior Self-Assessment and partnered with the Heart of Man film to create a 5 month online curriculum for small groups to explore how our story shapes and predicts the sexual brokenness we pursue. Learn more about The Journey at www.TheJourneyCourse.comStringer holds an MDiv and master in counseling psychology from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and received post-graduate training under Dr. Dan Allender while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Allender Center. Jay lives in New York City with his wife Heather and their two children.
Jay-Stringer.com

Questions to ask yourself from the interview
1. What part of my story have I diminished by avoiding shame?
2. How have I used honor/loyalty to avoid honesty in my life and family?
3. How do I see the role of ‘desire’ in my life and future?
4. What have I done to manage my behaviors? How has it helped? How has it failed?
5. Who do I know that can help me know my story better?

Highlights
2:15 - Running the New York City Marathon with both of his elbows broken
6:05 - “A Legend, An Idiot, or a Fool”
8:25 - “What our depression, anxiety, and porn addiction might be saying to us”
11:10 - TV and silence influencing him
16:20 - Carrying Shame because of his body image as a teenage
18:25 - Growing into becoming a counselor
22:20 - At 21, began to fight sex trafficking
28:05 - Tension of honor and honesty in family
35:30 - The opening story in his book, Unwanted
38:10 - 3 questions his book asks
43:00 - Role of The Church in sexual brokenness
46:40 - How to engage your story: engage shame and get super curious
50:45 - “Your enemy is not desire”
55:30 - The role we were asked to play and need to out grow
58:20 - Sign up for his course 

Support the show

MEN ARE FORGED develops young professional men to pursue God's calling — so they can grow, lead, and maximize influence in the world around them.

Send in a question to be answered on the pod!

For more on what we do, go to menareforged.com.