EP069 - HOLY SH***T 25,000 Views!

This is the whole Man Academy podcast, episode 69, a good number. Firstly, we're going to go through a few bits and talk about some life lessons, some news about the whole Man Academy. But before we do that, do you subscribe to our weekly E Letter for Men? It's thought provoking content sent out each week to your inbox. And actually our E letter tomorrow features a quote from Jordan Peterson which should give you something to think about. So if you haven't already, I know hundreds of you around the world do, but subscribe to our E Letter, which is via our website, www.wholemanacademy.com. movement. Lovely stuff. Talking of movement, let's move on. Let me take you back to March 2020. So over a year ago when we started the podcast, we just finished our 12th event. I think it was for guys in London and man. We'd had events at where had we been? Geese and Hawks, number one, Savile Row. We'd been a Soho House, we'd been to the South Place Hotel. We'd had hundreds of guys come along to different events and the movement was growing. And then I think we all know what happened. Lockdown. And very quickly we moved the events online. And in fact, our next event is coming up next Wednesday, our next Zoom event for men, which is always good fun. You never know where people are going to tune in from last time. We had guys from Canada, guys from the States, guys from Scotland, different parts of Europe, from all different sectors. So you never know who's going to join, who you might meet on the call, who maybe could be a business partner, something that could happen between you that you find yourself really finding some benefit from actually being on the call. So we'll talk about that at the end. But let's go back to those 12 events in London. I always talk about the first event we did which was manned back in, what was it, 2000, about 25 years ago now. But I remember at that point we'd had about 25 guys, I think, who had bought tickets to the event. But honestly it felt like one of those where on the day you didn't actually know if anybody was going to turn up. And even some of your friends, you're like, you know, they've said they're going to come, but are they going to come? And yeah, pretty much. I think 24, 25 guys walked in the door and we held our first event in London and afterwards we got the great feedback from people that said, hey, you're onto something here. It's great for guys to get together to talk. And we had guys from fitness, from Formula One, from finance and banking, from media, all the different kind of sectors that you could tick off. And it was just one of those great get togethers where also we went for a few biz afterwards. Purely medicinal, but that's how we grew the whole Man Academy. From that first event, which was just a little big idea, as we call it, into then 12 actual events in London, a couple of Wholeman Academy dinners, and now we've launched a podcast. And we're up to 69 episodes of the podcast in a year, which has been great. And what has that done, I always say, about getting around the right people? It's opened up the network of the men that support the whole Man Academy and those that actually are enjoying listening to and watching the content. And here's the important bit, taking those golden nuggets and actually implementing them, because it's all very well, I think what's the saying? Knowing and not doing is the same as not knowing. So if someone gives you all these little life hacks and good ideas, if you're like, yeah, that's pretty cool. Anyway, moving on and don't actually implement them, then you might as well not know them. But even if you implement a few bits from what we take you through with fitness, health, for sleep, all these different things, you can hopefully do life a bit better. So, yes, we hit past 25,000 views of our podcast across all platforms, which is pretty cool because I remember the first podcast we did, you know, checking the viewing, and it's not all about how many people look at it, it's about how many people look at it and actually have some impact through it. But I remember back then thinking, wow, isn't that great when we got to like a thousand, then 2,000 and then 5,000, and it steadily grew up to your 25,000 plus and growing all the time. But here's the important thing we wrote the other day about the whole Man Academy isn't for all men. And what we meant there was, all men are welcome to be part of the whole Man Academy. But like anything in life, not everybody would necessarily either need or want the whole Man Academy in their life, which is great. So our big vision is to find at least 1,000 men who love the whole Man Academy. What we do here and want to do life better and serve those men as best we can, helping them be what? Fulfilled, excited with life, proud of who they are as a man, isn't that pretty priceless? So I've even Wrote a list of some of the things that we. And we said excitement, fulfillment, and that's the one for me. Living a life they're proud of. It doesn't matter what you're doing, where you are in life, how much money you got in the bank. If you're proud of your life and enjoy the surroundings and are in a good mood and can, how can I put it, you know, can create some positive impact in the world, then as far as I'm concerned, you're winning. So. So for a lot of the guys, we've basically been locked away for a year, give or take a few months in between when we were allowed out. And that's one of the things now, maybe now as we're starting to head back into offices, into gyms, all these different things, it's time to start your side adventure. And we've talked before about the one I did back when I worked in the city, which was starting to obstacle course racing and ended up trying to get insanely fit, as strong as I could be, as fast as I could be, having as much endurance as I could, and being able to run 10, 20 miles, but lift, carry, drag, swim through any terrain you want, through any temperature and actually enjoy it. Not always enjoyed it. Sometimes I thought about giving up, but that's one of those things, is starting that side adventure. Who knows what it is? Maybe you want to become insanely strong, maybe you want to start a new business, maybe you want to leave your job and go and do something different. It could be anything. You could want to do a musical instrument. Who cares what it is? That could be your side adventure that makes life worth living again. And on that, let me tell you a quick. Actually, I'm going to have a slurp from my whole Man Academy mug. Damn, that filtered water is good. I had a story the other day which I thought I would share with you, and it's one of those about taking advice from people. And someone I know about a year ago who's got plenty of money, lots and lots and lots of money, lovely money, asked their financial advisor what they should do with it. And they suggested to this financial advisor, maybe I should invest in things like Bitcoin. And unsurprisingly, the financial advisor, who's probably fucking clueless about things like that, said no. Well, my thought there was actually that. The point is, the financial advisor didn't have a clue about Bitcoin and therefore it wasn't going to benefit them at all. Because if they had to say no, I don't know then you'd have gone to another financial advisor that had a clue about cryptocurrency, which I find hardly amusing. So really there was a conflict of interest because that person said no, don't bother, when actually they didn't know anything about it. And I think that's an important one for life is, you know, when you're asking people for advice, ask those that have a clue what they're talking about, have walked the walk and actually don't have a conflict of interests. That's one of the big things, is actually going to the right people for advice, for mentorship and, and to help you do life better. So where do you think that lady looks back over her shoulder now and is like, man, I wish I hadn't listened to that guy seeing his bitcoin's up. Like from I think it was 4,000 roughly at the time and it's now about 40,000. Ka ching. But anyway, she's learned her lesson. She's probably getting involved in it now. Anyway, let's go on to talking about events in London. We do plan to have another event in London as soon as we can. To be honest, you'd be surprised how much organization it takes, but hopefully we'll have found a venue. We'll be picking a date soon and announcing it. But in between that, we might just do an event where we get guys together in London to go for lunch, dinner, whatever it is, just so that all the guys can get together. So that's something that if you subscribe to our E letter, not only would you get thought provoking content for men every week in your inbox, but also you'll get notified first of anything to do with the tickets or any event dates, et cetera, et cetera. Talking of that, there's little whispers about doing a whole man Academy retreat later in the year in the uk. Sorry Dennis in Canada and other guys in the States, but it will be in the uk. Maybe you can get over here, but again on the E letter we'll talk about that. But how cool would that be to get a group of guys together, like minded guys who want to do life better. We'll have some different talks, be out in nature, sleeping in theory under the stars or very close to them later in the year somewhere in the UK that hopefully has got a real positive vibe about it. So if you're interested in that again, subscribe to the letter. We will let you know near the time. But actually if you think, hey, that does sound like a bit of me, just send me an email now and let me know and I'll put you on the special list that will get notified before anybody else. So also the latest Zoom event for men. As I say, it's this coming Wednesday. What is that, the 28th? I don't even know. But the 28th. And wherever you are in the world, you're welcome to join us. UK time, it will be 7 till 8pm Again, the link is sent out via the E letter. So again, if you haven't subscribe to the E letter, and that's one of the big things, that event, you connect with different guys. I'll be on there generally talking rubbish and hopefully making people laugh a bit. But it's a relaxed talk for guys who want to do life better. Apart from that, one of the big things now in the UK is that things are opening up again. And I've spoke recently to one of two people like, oh, I'm a bit anxious going out because they've basically been locked down and I'm like, listen, get out, get outside in nature, get out to see your friends as best you can. Go and enjoy life as best you can. And at the moment the sun is shining, so all these things are very important. Getting your vitamin D, getting fresh air, getting exercise, ticking all those things off that maybe you've missed out on. And also for the guys who want to come to London very soon, if we're going to do an event there again, let me know if that's something you'd be interested in. There will be, I think, a large amount of men that are looking forward to all getting together, wherever it is, whatever the subject we're going to talk about and whoever we've got talking. So there's your clue. Get out there and live. Go and enjoy yourself as best you can. And remember, the world needs strong men. So next week, in theory, we'll be having a podcast all about men's fitness. And we've got a couple of cracking guests lined up for the next couple of weeks. It's interesting to know that I get asked by some people about, oh, you should speak to this person, this person. So if you think someone would be really good for the podcast, I'm not saying they're always going to get on the podcast because we're looking for the right type of person that's living a life adventure. But if you think there's a guy, doesn't matter where he's in the world, who would be great for the podcast, then as always, feel free to email me. Anthonyoleman academy.com and we will hit them up and hopefully get them on here. Anyway, I'm off for another coffee. Have a great weekend. We will speak to you very soon.