#121: “Men are taught over and over when they are boys that a wound that hurts is shameful. A wound that stops you from continuing to play is a girlish wound. He who truly is a man keeps walking, dragging his guts behind. Our story gives a teaching diametrically opposite. It says that where a man’s wound is, that is where his genius will be.” Robert Bly, from his book Iron John Viktor Frankl has inspired and healed millions from the wounds he suffered in the Holocaust. Daryl Davis is a black man...
May 13, 2020•18 min•Ep. 121
#120: Hello my brother. If you’re like me, your biggest fear is living out the definition of hell: At the end of your life, the man that you became, meets the man you could have become. The one thing standing in the way of you living out your fullest potential: fear. Today’s guest – Ben Aldridge – shares his story of how crippling anxiety and acute panic attacks threatened to derail his life. Until he decided to design the Year of Adversity – befriending and facing his fears through the tackling...
May 11, 2020•57 min•Ep. 120
#119: “The Wild Man is closer to a meditation instructor than he is a savage.” -Robert Bly, Iron John Think of it this way: Man #1 He lacks an energy in his life. He has little vitality to offer. He is stifled, yet abides by, “the rules.” He is, what you might describe as, “life preserving.” Man #2 He has that sparkle in his eye. He creates, generates and advances forward. He isn’t opposed to civilization, but he’s not completely contained by it either. He is undeniably “life giving.” The differ...
May 08, 2020•21 min•Ep. 119
#118: How much of your definition of “ what it means to be a man ” was consciously chosen by you? Most men drift through life absorbing the antiquated definitions of masculinity given to him by media, Hollywood, porn, sports, parents, friends… …anyone and everyone but himself. When a man has not defined what it means to be a man, he: He does not know what he stands for He gets pushed around by others’ definitions of masculinity He cannot be fully trusted, because he does not trust himself In tod...
May 06, 2020•18 min•Ep. 118
#117: Whether you know it or not, you wear your inner emotions on your face. And our guest today, Dan Hill, is an expert at translating your facial expressions. He’s a pioneer in the growing field of what’s called “facial coding.” He’s written 8 books on the power of emotions, including Famous Faces Decoded, where Dan breaks down the emotions on the faces of 175 celebrities, CEOs, athletes and US Presidents. Bill Gates #1 facial emotion? Contempt. Barack Obama’s #1 facial emotion? Joy. Donald Tr...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 117
#116: “It is easier to sail many thousands of miles through cold and storm and cannibals…than it is to explore the private sea , the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans of one’s being alone.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden Henry David Thoreau wrote these words during his 2 year and 2 months of solitude living an isolated cabin in Walden, Massachusetts. I reckon* our last 2 months enables us to more deeply appreciate what HDT means by this. Back when things were “normal,” one of the chief complaints I heard...
May 03, 2020•19 min•Ep. 116
#115: “Mature men need to admire other men, living and dead. We especially need to have contact with older men whom we can look up to.” Robert Moore and Douglass Gillette, King Warrior Magician Lover I received an email from one of our readers a few days ago who shared the following: “At some point after 40, I accepted that mentors and leaders may not be in the cards for me after my only {older male} mentor died earlier this year.” This saddened me. The idea of a man going through some of the mo...
May 02, 2020•20 min•Ep. 115
#114: I’ll invite you to take a pause from whatever you’re doing to join me in a 60-second exercise. This exercise may be the very difference… …between looking back at yourself a year from now… …and feeling immense pride about how you’ve shown up during these tumultuous times… …or disappointed with yourself. I’d like you to rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of these questions: I’m proud about how I’ve shown up as a leader in my work over these last 2 months. I’m proud about how I’ve s...
May 01, 2020•15 min•Ep. 114
#113: “We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles, but by a clear path to a lesser goal.” - Robert Brault, quoted by Gary Keller in The One Thing In 1997, when Steve Jobs came back to a struggling Apple (after having been ousted from the company he formed) … …he took Apple’s product suite from 350 products down to 10 in a period of two years. I’m sure those 350 products all had a reason for existence, and likely even some pretty talented people attached to them. But 350 products confused the ma...
Apr 30, 2020•8 min•Ep. 113
#112: “Grit is passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way.” Angela Duckworth I had the honor of interviewing 14 highly successful women – most of whom had built careers in male dominated businesses – for the Design Your Future Podcast Series . Here are 5 things they taught me about grit: Resiliency is invaluable when playing the long game. Spending a 20, 30, 40-year career in male dominated businesse...
Apr 29, 2020•18 min•Ep. 112
#111: I’d like to tell you about one of my biggest failures as a leader. I got my first big break to move from individual contributor to sales manager in 2013 while working for Prudential. The job was intimidating and exhilarating: At the fresh-faced age of 34, my responsibility was to lead 7 men to knock down a collective $1.4 billion sales goal. All 7 of these salespeople were men (which is an important factor to this story). One of my strategies was to transform the individualistic sales team...
Apr 28, 2020•9 min•Ep. 111
#110: Imagine this: A hoity toity consulting company is interviewing all of the women in your business ecosystem. I’m talking your colleagues, clients, bosses, direct reports, staff… They are asked only one question: “When you think of a male ally, who immediately comes to mind?” Would you be one of the men they named? A Great Man creates environments where you and those you care about can thrive. This is what male allies do in the workplace. Male allies contribute to workplace environments wher...
Apr 27, 2020•59 min•Ep. 110
#109: “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” This is a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic.” It’s one of the most important books of my life. It sits next to Outwitting the Devil and Man’s Search for Meaning on my bookshelf. Speaking of magic, here are some of her other magic wisdom bombs from the book: “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.” “The courage to go on that hunt in the ...
Apr 26, 2020•21 min•Ep. 109
#108: Excerpt from King, Warrior, Magician Lover” by Robert Moore: “Compulsive personalities are workaholics, constantly with their noses to the grindstone. They have tremendous capacity to endure pain, and they often manage to get enormous amount of work done. But what is driving their nonstop engines is deep anxiety. They have a very slim grasp on their own worthwhileness. They don’t know what they really want, what they are missing and what they would like to have.” Moore is describing the ma...
Apr 25, 2020•9 min•Ep. 108
#107: We’ve all heard the adage: “Behind every great man is a woman.” Fellas, it’s high time for: “Behind every great woman, is a man helping her light to shine.” In today’s episode, I share with you the 3 lessons I’ve learned from coaching and running retreats for high-performing women in male dominated environments. Listen intently… …the Great Man Within you will want to hear this. -DQ PS – If you want access to the “off the grid” Design Your Future 15-episode podcast series for women, go to: ...
Apr 24, 2020•19 min•Ep. 107
#106: “Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.” – W. H. Auden Your morning routine is the rudder of your ship. It determines the quality of the 16, 17 or 18 waking hours that follow. Most men have never consciously designed their morning routines. A Great Man knows that he must win the day, if he plans to win his life. Winning the day, starts with designing your morning routine. In This Episode: The 3 benefits a good morning routine produces in your life 10 questions to assess the...
Apr 23, 2020•25 min•Ep. 106
#105: The #1 reason people will resist your leadership is distrust . People will distrust your leadership if they don’t believe you have their best interests at heart. The most obvious way to demonstrate you don’t have their best interests at heart: You fail to see them, acknowledge them or understand them. During the COVID-19 era, I’m still seeing smart leaders failing to see, acknowledge and understand the people that they lead… …by continuing to make the same mistake over and over again that ...
Apr 22, 2020•10 min•Ep. 105
#104: Here are three questions to ask yourself about how your workdays are currently designed: Is your day structured to support your best energy? Is your day structured to facilitate the execution of your most important work? Do you have regular blocks of time (90-120 mins) to dedicate to your most important work? If you can use a tune up on any one – or all three – of these areas, then today’s 15 minute episode has got you covered. -DQ...
Apr 21, 2020•15 min•Ep. 104
#103: For the last two years, David Waldas has been my personal coach. We’ve spoken weekly, without fail, for over 100 consecutive weeks. He’s been an essential guide on my journey in so many areas. It’s been through my work with David that I stopped running a business. He’s helped me build a movement, with a big mission: To inspire 10 million men to walk the path of inner work over the next 10 years. He’s also helped me understand how to build a life where I can pursue massively important work ...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 103
#102: Every Sunday I give you a 60-90 second review of each of the previous week’s podcast topics. In case you missed it, here are the episodes we recorded this week: Monday: Calling for a Men’s Mental Health Revolution feat. Sam Webb Tuesday: Are You Brave Enough to Lead Your Friends Wednesday: You Are Being Initiated Thursday: Put a Pause on New Consumption Friday: How to Handle the Motivation Dip Saturday: What’s Bringing You Joy These Days? Tuesday through Friday were solo recordings, and Sa...
Apr 19, 2020•24 min•Ep. 102
#101: Yesterday, I talked about how a lot of men experienced “The Dip,” this week. Today, instead of diving into more inner work… ….Bryan and I decided to take off our personal development hats. This episode is a lighthearted discussion about the little things that are bringing us joy right now. Some of those things include: Bryan missing an important part of his face (yes, you read that right) Reminiscing about practical jokes I played in the corporate office The esteemed position Bryan once he...
Apr 18, 2020•42 min•Ep. 101
#100: This past Saturday, I hit “The Dip.” After a solid 4 week run…my energy and motivation hit bottom. As it turns out, I’m not the only one. A few of the leaders in The Great Man Mastermind also felt the following: “On a scale of 1 to 10, my motivation is at 1.5” “I gave myself permission to chill and made that the main goal for the day. Some days that worked, others it didn’t.” “How do I balance the obligation to be productive while also allowing myself necessary downtime?” In the past, I us...
Apr 17, 2020•14 min•Ep. 100
#99: Its week 5 of quarantine, and the #1 answer I’m still getting when I ask people “what’s the ONE word that best describes how you’re feeling right now?” is: ANXIOUS Anxiety comes from fear and uncertainty about the future. There are way more questions than answers these days, which is causing perpetual anxiety. But I see a troubling trend emerging: In an effort to alleviate that anxiety, I see people over-consuming news in a desperate attempt to find the piece of information that’ll finally ...
Apr 16, 2020•13 min•Ep. 99
#98: “Initiation is the process of dying and being reborn.” – Robert Moore, The Archetype of Initiation What if you were to look at the Coronavirus era as an “initiation” process? There are 3 phases of initiation: The Challenge: Crisis; departure from the ordinary world The Transcendence: Transition into the unknown The Reconstitution: Adaptation to the new environment Almost every hero’s journey that we love – The Matrix, Star Wars, Forrest Gump – follows this process. That’s because true trans...
Apr 15, 2020•16 min•Ep. 98
#97: If you’re like most men, your friendships rarely dive below the surface of: Business Sports Women Bowel Movements While all of these things are awesome and have their time and place… …this limited window has destructive effects on you and your friends over a longer timeline. Too many men grow old… …surrounded by people… …but feel totally alone on the inside. I can guarantee, that at least one of your buddies feels this way…right now. So I have a question for you: Are you brave enough to lea...
Apr 14, 2020•20 min•Ep. 97
#96: Dwayne Lally was a man’s man. He was a boxer, he was dominant, he was an alpha dog. He had an abundance of friends, parties to go to, he even had a family and a girlfriend who loved him. At the age of 24, Dwayne took his own life. Sam Webb, his friend, was rocked to the core by Dwayne’s suicide. Sam vowed to make mental health – and talking openly about mental health issues – a priority, so that people like Dwayne could get the help they need…long before taking such tragic action. Today’s e...
Apr 13, 2020•53 min•Ep. 96
#95: In NYC we have officially completed our 4th week of quarantine. It’s time to check in and assess how you’ve been showing up as a leader. Here are 3 questions I want you to ask yourself: Write 3 Words that Describe: How have I been showing up as a leader in my business these last 4 weeks? Write 3 Words that Describe: How have I been showing as a leader in my relationships these last 4 weeks? Write 3 Words that Describe: How have I been leading myself these last 4 weeks? This exercise in and ...
Apr 12, 2020•23 min•Ep. 95
#94: Over the past month, I’ve noticed a distinct difference between two categories of men. Group A: Men without a foundation of Inner Work. Group B: Men with a foundation of Inner Work. Here are the 3 biggest differences: Men with an inner work foundation adapt faster to unfamiliar circumstances. Men with an inner work foundation swiftly architect empowering new protocols to meet the changing landscape. Men with an inner work foundation feel the significance of the time we are in, and are using...
Apr 11, 2020•20 min•Ep. 94
#93: I owe you a debt of gratitude. This past week, The Great Man Within Podcast cracked the Top 50 podcasts in self-development in the United States on Apple Podcasts. We’ve also hit #41 in Canada and #44 in Australia. You have helped spread the word. You have helped create a movement. You are helping more men discover and live the Great Man Within. To that, I thank you. A Great Man Plays the Long Game I’ve been in the business of producing content for over 5 years now. During that time, not a ...
Apr 10, 2020•17 min•Ep. 93
#92: It’s been quite a while since we’ve done an episode on the topic of sex. So let’s jump back into the arena with a discussion on the sources of sexual confidence. Sexual Confidence means: Being ok with your sexuality Being able to ask for what you want in bed Being in control of your sexual impulses Understanding your partner’s pleasure and how they experience sex In this episode: One book on sexuality you need to read The concept of “sexual performance” and how that actually ruins performan...
Apr 09, 2020•30 min•Ep. 92
