PADI: Facing a Lifelong Fear of Diving

This week I faced a lifelong fear and went scuba diving with PADI in Bermuda while at the Family Travel Association summit.

It was more challenging than running with the bulls (yes, seriously, I’m fleet of foot and I grew up around cattle – that test was built for me).

I was basically the last one in the boat during the shallow training on the basics. I couldn’t mouth-breathe without thinking about every inhale, so I was underoxygenated and panicked a lot. The instructor was effortlessly reassuring. After several misfires, he let me know I could back out and nobody would be bothered. He even told me he’d backed out before during a dive and it was often wise to trust your gut on these things. This is wisdom, I thought.

So I stood up out of the water and I looked around and had this moment: I’m in Bermuda, traveling the world for AirTreks, why do the hard thing when I could just be on the beach with a drink in hand? And then I realized that the fear and discomfort were minor things in a major moment. We have this saying in our house, “a small thing to a giant.” Courage is often about realizing inner strength, and we’re literally made of stellar material, so I like to think within me is a starload of cosmic force just waiting to become kinetic energy.

I decided this was about my mind, not about the activity or the breathing or the equipment. Who is in control of my mind if not me?

Read the whole story here

Art of Adventure: Media Training for Entrepreneurs with a Mission

In April I got to appear on the awesome Art of Adventure Podcast for the second time.

Here's what I had to say: 

“The reason I became an entrepreneur is because I felt I had this mission that I was not being able to do because I was spending 50-60 hours a week working for someone else.” – Dale Thomas Vaughn

What you will learn on this episode:

• Social media looks much easier to use – but there is more to it than meets the eye

• The current US statistics on media consumption

• How to book yourself on the different media platforms

• How you can get through to the producer for your pitch

• The importance of your stories’ headlines

• How your content affects the shareability of your story

Austin Business Journal: Male Millennials: Allies or Obstacles in Gender Equality?

Having it ALL Podcast: Loving Your Otherness and The Myth Of Tomorrow

Matthew Bivens reached out to me recently and I had the privilege to share my thoughts about the barrier that all men face and the myth that holds us back from achieving our full potential. Enjoy!

"What the heck is “otherness”?

I know I had that question swirling in my mind when I was doing my research on my next guest, Dale Thomas Vaughn.

The word “otherness”was new to me, but what I learned in my conversation with Dale was that otherness is at the root of much of my personal judgements and fears, and neither of those will lead me to greatness. So when Dale started talking about it, I was paying attention!

Good Men Project - 10 Skills Every Man Should Learn

The Dr. Vibe Show: How to grow as a person before you grow as a business

Ottawa Citizen: Men need life mentors too

You may think men are obsessed with Star Wars because of the epic battle scenes. But in truth, we guys still dream of meeting a little green Yoda who can bring out our full potential, like making spaceships move with our minds.

Joking aside, January is national mentorship month. Much of the media focus is understandably on helping at-risk youth make better life decisions, along with an important conversation on empowering women to climb the career ladder. But we wonder, what about life mentors for men?

There are very few university courses that focus on how to be a good husband or father, how to balance work and family life, or how to approach mid-life crises without quitting our jobs to travel the world. And few of us have the benefit of being in a book club where more than literary wisdom is exchanged.

“Every single man deals with self-doubt at some point in his life,” says Dale Thomas Vaughn, president of the Global Center for Healthy Masculinities in California. In a recent conversation he told us, “this fear keeps us stagnant and isolated” unless we find someone who believes in us and motivates us to move forward.

“Even the toughest guys I know are relieved to have someone safe to go to for advice and a pep talk,” adds Vaughn.

Life Athletics Podcast

I got to spend some time with Nik Wood of the Life Athletics Podcast recently... here's the podcast where we talked about what it means to be a Life Athlete... to see life as something you can practice and develop and ultimately become better.

Let's talk masculinity.

“You can start to redefine what it means to be a man with every action you take... that is powerful.”

Knowledge For Men: Remove Your Mask and be Authentic

I was honored to spend time with Andrew Ferebee on his amazing show. We covered 6 key points during the show. Enjoy!

Favorite Success Quote
“The aim of life is self development, to realize one’s nature perfectly”~Oscar Wilde
Key Points
1. You Have to Take Your Masks Off

If you want to live your life to the fullest possible capacity, you have to take your masks off.

You can no longer live your life in-authentically to please others, you must be true to yourself and who you want to be. Do not allow social, familial or societal norms to govern who you are.

If you believe in something that is controversial or unpopular, voice your opinion. If you want to live your life in an uncommon or even frowned up way, do it! Don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of you living your truth.

2. Introspect

One of the most powerful tools in your arsenal for discovering yourself and your purpose is introspection.

In today’s busy world, we almost never have any time alone and in silence to spend with our thoughts. For Dale, he achieves this time by hiking, for you, it may be morning meditation, an ocean swim, or a long walk outside.

Do whatever you need to do to clear your mind and get the time you need to reflect on who you are, where you are going, and what you want out of life.

More at Knowledge For Men

The Empowered Podcast: Discovering Your Purpose (and How to Use it to Fuel Your Passion)

This was a big honor for me. Ellory is one of the best podcasters around. I love his show. 

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Dale’s journey
• The crisis of masculinity
• The importance of having a purpose in your business
• The Empower Mentorship Institute
• How to apply the power of purpose in your life/business:
  **Realize that you are adrift; it’s okay because you have to start from that place to get moving
  1. Name your superpower: Intersecting what you love and how to impact the most people
  2. Mastering your daily mindset/Be intentional
  3. Have a vision for your long term and short term plans
  4. Step outside of your bubble and get moving
  5. Find the people you resonate with
• Unconscious Immersion
• Buckminster Fuller
• Meetup.com
• Writer’s Digest
• Dale’s Webinar/E-book info: GreatMenThinkAlike.com