January 2024
Life is busy and time is precious. This monthly bulletin saves you time and effort by providing you with a range of resources relating to all things men and mindset.
Don’t just read the quotes.
Instead, take a moment to consider them and hold them up against your life.
This month’s quote theme is: Midlife Crisis.
Midlife crises are often made fun of and mocked: think sportscars, golf, motorbikes, and barbed talk of older men running off with younger women. Societally, it’s become a ‘bit of a joke’, but midlife crises can be catastrophic beneath the thin veneer of veiled humour.
The age men experience a midlife crisis stage can vary, but typically it occurs between 35 and 50. A time when the pressures of life, personal responsibilities and professional pressures, are very real. Like there’s no such thing as an overnight success, there’s equally no such thing as an overnight failure. A midlife crisis has three stages: A Trigger, think lack of purpose, or connection, the Crisis period, a shift in values, a deep sense of uncertainty and finally, a Resolution, a shift toward new possibilities, viewing life through a new lens. Midlife crises needn’t be crisis-full, if acknowledged, accepted and actioned, they can be a catalyst for living a fuller, more meaningful life.
Take a moment to consider the quotes below:
Sit down, take a minute, read, reflect or journal on the prompts presented.
This month’s prompt theme is Surviving Life.
Life wisdom from the world of sport, specifically, boxing. I respect anyone who dares to lace up their gloves and enter the ring. My intent isn’t to ‘point out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.’ Instead, it’s to make a provoking observation between Ringcraft and how some men approach living their lives.
A few weeks back, there was a significant fight between the current King of boxing and a young lion; yes, I’m talking about Canelo v Charlo. It went the distance, but even before the final bell sounded, the winner, was obvious. Immediately post-fight, Canelo was heard on camera talking with his cornermen, his team. He said something that grasped my fullest attention and triggered a moment of meaningful insight. He said: ‘he dedicated himself to surviving.’
How many men, even a few who read this bulletin, or follow my content, have consciously, or otherwise, dedicated their lives to surviving? Know that if you’re in a purposeless career, a loveless marriage or have a general apathy toward life, the first step back from living a life of regret is recognising where you are; I hope these prompts help bring you into awareness:
1. If I’m honest, the areas of my life that don’t bring me joy are…
2. The cost of my complacency is showing up in the following areas of my life…
3. If I were to wake up tomorrow, and my life is immeasurably different, the main thing that would have changed would be…
This month’s recommendation is Modern Wisdom. Featuring Dr Gad Saad, an Evolutionary Psychologist discusses how, in today’s fast-paced world, happiness and contentment often seem elusive. By taking an evolutionary lens on happiness, we can gain deeper and frankly shocking insight into why we are the way we are and decode the contributing elements to living a good life.
Expect to learn where happiness comes from, why evolution cursed humans with the ability to feel existential discontent, what people get wrong about defining and understanding happiness, what role genetics plays, how to pick the right partner, why more sex equal doesn’t equal more happiness, how you can become more anti-fragile.
In 2016, my darkest hour, this book gave me hope. Reading it again, now, reminds me of its significance. This month’s recommendation is: Untethered Soul.
In The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer explores the question of who we are and concludes that our identity is to be found in our consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to live in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realisation. In part one, he examines the notion of self and the inner dialogue we all live with.
Part two examines the experience of energy as it flows through us. Ways to overcome tendencies to close down is the leading subject of part three. Enlightenment, the embracing consciousness, is the subject of part four. And finally, in part five, Singer returns to daily life and the pursuit of unconditional happiness.
This month’s TED Talk is: How to make stress your friend.
Can changing how we think about stress help us live longer – spoiler alert – yes it can. Stress is a side effect of societal success. It’s an everyday occurrence, it makes our hearts race, our breathing quicken, and it puts us into a state of fight or flight – perhaps freeze. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe it to be. In this fascinating and paradigm-shifting TED, health psychologist, Kelly McGonigal, urges us to see life stress as a positive, and through data analysis, explains how our perception of stress impacts our wellbeing. It’s thoroughly worth the investment of 15 minutes.
Each month, we meet, walk, talk, connect, support and overcome the challenges of the weather and route – together. We’re a community of excellent quality, like-minded, but diverse, men. There’s no cost of commitment to join us; you need little more than average fitness and a set of boots to join us.
Follow the link to register: Join Men and Mountains
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