
Advertise on podcast: The Modern Man Podcast
Rating
4.9from
This podcast has
458 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Ted Phaeton, The Radcast NetworkExplicit
No
Date created
2018/07/29
Latest episode
2026/11/06
Average duration
58 min.
Release period
10 days
Description
"The Modern Man" is a series focused on discussing the challenges and obstacles men face in today's society. It is an open forum of discussion where thoughts, strategies and ideas of men living a happy and fulfilled life are explored. The Modern Man aims to create a community of men not only sharing and connecting on a deeper level, but also exploring how to thrive and live a happy and fulfilled life. This is done through intentional conversations strategically aimed at issues that men face in today's society.
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227: He Shattered His Leg in 7 Pieces. Then He Jumped Out of a Plane.
2026/11/06
For the man who's been told the statistic. Dre Nuzum woke from a coma with 32 injuries. How to build mental resilience.
Dre Nuzum was a working stuntman chasing a Marvel Live audition when a flip over a moving car went wrong on the eighth run. He woke up ten days later in a medically induced coma: 32 injuries, a leg shattered in seven pieces, nine months before he could walk on his own. A full-length podcast conversation for men who are winning at work and losing everywhere else, with frameworks you can run this week. Dre lays out the comeback that took him from two crutches to zero in a 4AM gym, why his whole life was built to overcome that moment, how he went from the wheelchair statistic to skydiving in 26 states, and the motto behind it: train heavy, live light. Ted brings the research on voluntary fear exposure and the overload principle, plus the habit system that turns a goal into a calendar. Both men are MNLY athletes and HYROX racers.
Plus: the foster-system kid told he'd never make it, the coach who said "go play tennis," and what you say when the doctor says "it's still broke."
Chapters
00:00 He shattered his leg in 7 pieces
00:58 Foster system to D1 football
02:23 You can get paid to flip
03:58 The 8th jump over the car
05:58 Coma, 32 injuries, the iPod flashback
07:24 4AM on crutches for 6 months
08:26 Woe is me or never give up
12:03 Ted's hospital comeback
15:22 Run the play. Then skydiving
20:38 Why intentional danger builds resilience
25:39 The darkest month
29:11 Habits that rebuild an identity
31:08 Train heavy, live light
33:38 HYROX: show muscles vs go muscles
41:54 What's next for Dre
44:20 The thing that changed how he sees the world
45:18 Ted's 8 takeaways
If you're rebuilding something and you want men around you doing the same, the Noble Knights is where this conversation continues: themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
Connect with Dre Nuzum:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dre.nuzum.2025
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dredheaddreproductions4002
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drenuzum
Website: https://www.aimcoachingprogram.com/
Partners of the show: MNLY · Men's health, blood work, testosterone. Dre and Ted both train with the MNLY team. Code MODERNMAN: 10% off, first blood test free. https://www.gonutre.com/ Nutre · Code MODERNMAN for 40% off your first order.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
Visit our website: themodernmanshow.com
Follow us on Twitter: TheModernMan8
Follow us on Instagram: @TheModernManShow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Modern Man
#modernmanpodcast #mentalresilience #comebackstory #stuntman #skydiving #hyrox #menshealth
226: A Salary Is a Drug They Give You to Forget Your Dreams
2026/11/01
"A salary is a drug they give you to forget your dreams." Steve Rolle — Army officer, $100 million builder, author of The Future You Choose — joins Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast to break down how capable men end up stuck in jobs they chose, and the four-part filter for building something that actually sets you free.
Steve grew up one of seven kids on one income in the DC area — he remembers his dad emptying his piggy bank for bread and cheese, and the church food drive showing up at his own door. He left for California, trained as an Army officer, house-hacked his way to seed capital, built a side hustle to $30K a month while holding a day job, turned down a $6M acquisition with a $6M earnout, and still owns the business.
In this conversation: why poor kids split into two risk tolerances, small calculated bets vs. one big bet, why your day job is your investor, the four dependencies that keep men stuck (and the question — what happened between you choosing the job and being stuck in it?), the "good enough" trap and the moment Steve almost took it, the four-part filter for any business idea (product / margin / distribution / customer acquisition), why most men who escape the 9-5 build a bigger cage, the four engines that get you out of your own business, and the question every man should sit with: at what point do your problems become your fault?
Plus Ted's story — asking for a day off for a birthday party, being told no, and realizing what that meant.
Chapters:
00:00 A salary is a drug 00:59 Welcome — Steve Rolle
01:47 The piggy bank — realizing we were poor 04:51 Two risk tolerances come out of poverty
07:54 Poker tournaments, house-hacking, and the five-year divide
10:30 Why "back against the wall" usually fails
11:52 Small calculated bets — how the masses actually win
13:10 Ted: risk is a budget line / the bird on the branch
15:20 Freedom, not money — and why 9-5 vs. business is the wrong question
16:52 "What happened between choosing the job and being stuck in it?"
17:38 The happiest employees are always interviewing
20:00 Reverse-engineer your way out of dependency
21:12 YOUR DAY JOB IS YOUR INVESTOR
24:17 The lie ambitious men tell themselves
25:30 Where did you lose the dream?
26:20 "A salary is a drug they give you to forget your dreams"
26:40 Steve took a day job at $30K/month — and almost stayed
29:20 The $6M + $6M offer he turned down
30:47 The right question for when to quit
32:50 Ted's birthday-party "no"
34:32 "You forgot you were a slave"
36:27 Don't build a bigger cage
36:48 THE FOUR-PART FILTER
38:22 The four engines
41:07 Money, technology, people — the three levers
42:37 Give away the important stuff
44:00 Build the process → hire the people → get out of the way
45:40 Never sell — compound interest
46:51 Lightning: when did the business need you too much?
47:55 Lightning: protecting the family
49:04 Lightning: what he does Saturday morning
51:11 "At what point do your problems become your fault?"
52:48 Ted's recap
🤝 Connect with Steve Rolle:
Web: steverolle.com
Book: The Future You Choose
(Amazon) Social: @rollewithsteve
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
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His Book Made Me $25,000. Then I Got Him on the Phone with Chris Voss
2026/10/23
Chris Voss's book made Ted Phaeton $25,000 on a single contract — so he got the FBI's former lead international kidnapping negotiator on The Modern Man Podcast to find out why the same tactics that work on bank robbers work on bosses, clients, and wives. Never Split the Difference author Chris Voss breaks down tactical empathy, the neuroscience of feeling understood, and why "win-win" is a lie that costs you.
Voss spent 24 years with the FBI, led international kidnapping negotiations, and now runs The Black Swan Group. In this conversation he walks through the oxytocin mechanism behind connection (feel understood → more honest → less demanding), the two mental switches to flip before a hard conversation (curiosity and gratitude), the late-night FM DJ voice and the Chase Manhattan Bank standoff where it got a gunman to say "I trust you" in ninety seconds, why compromise guarantees both sides are unhappy, the Christmas-tree story that shows what to do instead, why empathy is a man's tool and Rick Rubin is its living definition, the hijack moments that kill listening ("I understand" and "Feel, Felt, Found"), "that's right" vs. "you're right," why "no" makes people feel safe, and why a collaborative negotiation pays off for years after the deal closes.
Plus: Ted's full $25K negotiation story, the general manager who came out to shake his hand, and Chris on girl-dad shotgun etiquette.
Chapters:
00:00 The $25,000 receipt
01:11 Welcome — Chris Voss
01:14 Ted's contract story
02:20 Why hostage tactics work in the boardroom — the oxytocin mechanism
04:40 "The need to feel understood is as important as the need to be loved"
06:32 Tactical empathy when you're tired, hurt, and annoyed
08:42 Damasio — emotion first, logic second ("that's the cornerstone")
09:54 Two switches before a hard conversation: curiosity and gratitude
10:46 Sean Stevenson — "This is happening for me, not to me"
11:30 THE LATE-NIGHT FM DJ VOICE
12:58 Chase Manhattan Bank — "I trust you" in 90 seconds
16:29 "I'm coachable" — the second set of ears
19:11 WHY WIN-WIN IS A LIE
21:12 "Why don't we compromise? That way we'll both be unhappy."
22:18 The Christmas-tree story — dig into motivation
26:13 Empathy is not sympathy — the quicksand rule
27:40 Rick Rubin — the living definition of empathy
29:40 Empathy is a man's tool — the Rock of Gibraltar
30:04 Girl-dad shotgun etiquette
30:52 The Savvy Whisperer
32:48 LISTENING IS COMPREHENSION — the hijack moments
34:15 "Feel, Felt, Found" is a hijack
37:04 "THAT'S RIGHT" vs. "YOU'RE RIGHT"
40:03 "Do you want to be right or do you want to be married?"
40:47 WHY "NO" MAKES PEOPLE FEEL SAFE
42:20 Tim Ross — switching from yes-momentum to no
45:56 Ted said no three times 48:04 Collaboration, not manipulation — intention has a smell
51:16 The Art and Science of Tactical Empathy 2026 — Nov 3 + certifications
54:39 The heaviest question
55:55 Ted's recap
🤝 Connect with Chris Voss:
Book: Never Split the Difference Course: The Art and Science of Tactical Empathy 2026 — live online, starts November 3 (first-ever certification track)
Website: blackswanltd.com
Instagram:
@blackswangroupltd
@thefbinegotiator
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
Visit our website: themodernmanshow.com
Follow us on Twitter: TheModernMan8
Follow us on Instagram: @TheModernManShow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Modern Man
224: My Uncle Left Haiti With Nothing But Faith. This Is His Wisdom.
2026/10/18
My uncle left Haiti with nothing but faith. Bishop Daniel Phaeton — "Papi Daniel" to everyone who loves him — joins his nephew Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast for the most personal episode in the show's history. A man who built a life, a marriage of 58 years, and a ministry in America, and who now spends what he has building a free school for impoverished children in El Salvador.
Papi Daniel came to America from Haiti as a young man with an engineering dream and a wife expecting their first child in a Chicago winter — so he joined the Army during the Vietnam era to provide. He was baptized in Belton, Texas by a pastor who is still his pastor today. He pastored for 20 years. In 2020, a blood clot lodged between the chambers of his heart, his lungs 80% blocked, and he gave a surgeon permission to perform a procedure that could save him or kill him — awake. He walked out on the Tuesday after Easter. Everything he says in this episode comes after that.
In this conversation: growing up shaped by necessities vs. a generation shaped by opportunities, being well-to-do in principles when you're not well-to-do in money, why "who you are is what you share," building from reality instead of hope, why life is an equilibrium and not a balance scale (and how to set your margin), obligations vs. priorities for fathers, the handwritten-note challenge (Ted doesn't pass), loving your wife "for you" vs. loving her as Christ loves, learning to be a pedestal, the courage to stop hiding, "I just stopped being stupid," why he's building in El Salvador and not Haiti, and the promise he made about every breath.
Chapters:
00:00 Well-to-Do in Principles
01:36 Welcome — Papi Daniel
02:11 Necessities vs. Opportunities
04:28 Who You Are Is What You Share
07:01 Providing Through Hardship
08:39 Where Faith Began
11:29 Leaving Haiti
13:02 Dreams vs. Reality
15:38 Grandma's Piano Story
18:45 Build on Reality, Not Hope
23:38 Finding Balance in Life
27:36 Obligations vs. Priorities
30:01 The Handwritten Note
32:55 The Army and Christ
34:59 Facing the Enemy
38:21 Hiding From God
40:40 The Courage to Stop Hiding
42:44 Ted Connects the Lessons
45:00 Learning to Love Selflessly
46:35 Learn to Be a Pedestal
48:40 Applying God's Word
52:20 I Just Stopped Being Stupid
53:09 Uncle or Pastor?
57:06 Living for Today vs. Tomorrow
1:01:37 A Vision Bigger Than Me
1:04:12 A Better Future for Haiti
1:06:39 How to Help
1:08:58 Ted Honors His Uncle
1:11:11 The Next Breath
1:14:23 The Hospital and the Promise
1:19:47 Ted's Recap
🤝 Support Papi Daniel's vision: Bethesda Apostolic Center — bethesdahope.org $40/month supports one child: education, daily lunch, and uniform. Classes begin January.
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict, sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here:
Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
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🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
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223: I Went Full Woo. Then I Came All The Way Back.
2026/10/11
Kevin Orosz — high-performance coach, retreat facilitator, spoken word poet, and co-author of Sex Masculinity God — went from materialist psychology grad, to full-woo cotton-cape-in-Bali era (ayahuasca, Lakota sweat lodges, peyote), and back to the middle. On The Modern Man Podcast with Ted Phaeton, he unpacks the Polarity Framework, the "whose voice is that" identity reframe, and why the answer to modern masculinity is playing with the full deck — not half.
Kevin runs The Fellowship (men's community) and The Polarity Lab (for men, women, singles, and couples) and hosts The KO Show podcast. In this conversation he walks through the unapologetic generalist path (and when to be one), why every successful person hypnotizes themselves (Kobe, MJ, Bruce Lee, Hormozi — same practice), Joseph Campbell's rule for cutting your own path through the woods, the ping-pong journey from Western materialism to Eastern mysticism and back to the balanced middle, the Polarity Framework (masculine and feminine as two channels — choose your dominant pole and live from it), the inner-circuit vs outer-circuit tribal division of labor (women run the village, men run the perimeter), the E.O. Wilson trap (Paleolithic emotions + medieval institutions + god-like tech), and the bonfire moment that anchors the whole masculine experience.
Plus: how to tell if you've lost your edge, why the modern comfort zone is quietly emasculating men, why lone-wolfing costs more than most men realize, how to know if you should specialize or generalize, the difference between the fear-of-rejection ceiling and the actual ceiling in your career, and the practical question every married man should be asking his wife tonight.
Chapters:
00:00 Whose Voice Is That?
01:30 Welcome to The Modern Man Podcast
03:24 The Unapologetic Generalist
05:41 Break the Rules Like an Artist
08:47 Joseph Campbell: Find Your Own Path
10:37 The Life You Haven't Lived
14:54 Reclaiming Your Edge
17:06 Whose Voice Is That? — Identity
20:18 The Power of Self-Hypnosis
22:33 Who's Controlling Your Attention?
24:26 The Spiritual Journey
26:27 East Meets West
29:23 The Polarity Framework
31:38 Choose Your Dominant Pole
33:04 Losing Your Masculine Polarity
37:21 Ted's Birthday Scavenger Hunt
39:31 Inner vs. Outer Circuit
41:50 Ancient Emotions, Modern Technology
43:14 The Body Is the Foundation
44:00 Where to Find Kevin
46:08 The Bonfire: What Men Need
47:27 Ted's Recap
🤝 Connect with Kevin Orosz:
Facebook: kevinoroszlan
Instagram:
the fellowship brotherhood
kevinjorosz
LinkedIn: kevinorosz
Linktree: kev_oroszlan
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
Visit our website: themodernmanshow.com
Follow us on Twitter: TheModernMan8
Follow us on Instagram: @TheModernManShow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Modern Man
222: I Trained Elite Athletes. Then I Had 4 Boys.
2026/10/02
Pat Barber trained everyone from beginners to elite CrossFit Games athletes for 20+ years — and none of it prepared him for the real work of raising four boys. He joins Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast to unpack the family motto that became his brand, the co-regulation truth every dad needs to hear, and why fathers don't need more motivation or information — they need action.
Pat is a longtime fitness coach and the founder of The Father's Guild (a men's community on Skool launching alongside this episode). His signature family motto — Harder to Kill, Easier to Love — is the two-dimensional standard he's helping fathers build their lives around.
In this conversation: why parenthood is your next opponent (and it's not your kid, it's you), the four-nervous-system reality of raising four boys (each one progressively harder), the fatherhood regulation stack (movement + food + personal time + honesty at every level), the 9.99-vs-12.99 confession that revealed even his own "little lies" were undermining his regulation, why fathers need action instead of more information, the self-efficacy ladder from Dr. Bandura (vicarious experiences + verbal persuasion + community + small successes), Pat's contrarian reframe that "the gym is fake stress" and why training to "look good naked" is short-sighted, distress vs. eustress (recovery is what turns stress into growth), Victor Frankl's rule that any amount of suffering fills the human soul equally, and Pat's honest closing answer about his own damaged relationship with money and clout.
Chapters:
00:00 Your Next Opponent Is You
01:29 Welcome Brother — Ted's Intro
03:48 Harder to Kill, Easier to Love
06:32 Ted's Girl-Dad Range
08:09 The Parenting Realization
11:19 The Unspoken Communication Shift
13:10 Co-Regulation
14:31 Four Boys, Four Nervous Systems
18:17 The Fatherhood Regulation Stack
20:13 Why Pat Started Waking Up Early
22:59 Honesty as the Foundation
25:42 The $9.99 vs. $12.99 Confession
27:16 Fathers Need Action, Not Information
31:31 Self-Efficacy — The Ignition Switch
32:31 Vicarious Experiences & Small Wins
36:17 The Gym Is Fake Stress
37:20 The Anti-Vanity Callout
39:22 Ted on Hyrox Training
42:55 Distress vs. Eustress
45:41 Breath Work
48:11 Frankl's Rule on Suffering
50:42 The Nines and Tens of Life
51:02 Where to Find Pat
52:20 The Heaviest Question
56:56 Ted's Recap
🤝 Connect with Pat Barber:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefathersguild
Website: https://www.thefathersguild.com/
The Tool Box : https://toolbox.thefathersguild.com/
Community: The Father's Guild on Skool Everywhere:
Join The Guild
skool.com: Thefathersguild
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
Visit our website: themodernmanshow.com
Follow us on Twitter: TheModernMan8
Follow us on Instagram: @TheModernManShow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Modern Man
#modernmanpodcast #nobleknights #patbarber #fatherhood #hardertokill #mensmentalhealth #dadlife
221: Fled Cuba at 4. Sold a Multi-Million-Dollar Company.
2026/08/21
Joel Gandara fled Cuba on an overcrowded boat at age 4, grew up in poverty, and built and sold a multi-million-dollar men's apparel company — without ever having a master plan. He joins Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast to unpack the arc, the tactics, and the brotherhood he now runs for men who want more.
Joel is a Cuban refugee, a former apparel entrepreneur (he acquired 13 of 14 businesses that weren't publicly for sale — using handwritten notes as the opening move), and the founder of 31 Daily Challenges and The Brotherhood — an invitation-only community of 119 men across the country who meet the standard through his 31-day challenge process. His wife runs the equivalent for women.
In this conversation: the Garbage Pail Kids origin story (fourth-grade entrepreneur, out of necessity), why he never had a master plan and figured everything out along the way, the $160K cash-withdrawal moment that shifted his identity, why 100% of his risks got green-lit by his wife (and the exit-plan discipline that earned that trust), the organize-organize-organize principle that made his apparel company sale-ready without a scramble, the handwritten-note tactic that led to 13 acquisitions, the Brotherhood model (invitation-only, intentionally slow-growth, 2–5 new invites per class), why the lone wolf is losing more than he thinks, how to vet mentors ("how are they living, not what they show"), the anti-vanity discipline ($49 Timex, no mortgage, used truck bought cash — the more things you own, the more things break), and the line every married man should stitch on his wall: pick the damn place.
Chapters:
00:00 If It Was All You Knew
02:33 Growing Up in Poverty
04:50 The Garbage Pail Kids Hustle
07:21 Building a Multi-Million-Dollar Business
10:36 The $160K Identity Shift
12:57 The Midas-Touch Trap
13:22 Risk & Marriage
16:22 Organize Your Business
19:24 From Business to Brotherhood
22:40 Accountability & Brotherhood
27:31 The Lone Wolf
30:18 Choosing the Right Mentors
33:04 Success Without the Vanity
36:05 The 31-Day Challenge
39:05 The Handwritten Note
41:05 Face Your Fears
41:27 Be the Man
43:28 She's Not a Mind Reader
44:21 The Bigger Vision
46:53 Failure as a Gift
48:35 Ted's Recap
Community: The Brotherhood (invitation-only, after the 31-day challenge)
🤝 Connect with Joel Gandara:
Web:
joelgandara.com
31dailychallenges.com
YouTube: @JoelGandara
LinkedIn: joel_gandara
Facebook: joel_gandara.
Instagram: joelgandara
🤝 Connect with Jessica Gandara.:
Tiktok: @jessica.gandara3
X: @jessicagandara
YouTube: @jessicagandara24
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
https://themodernmanpodcast.com/thenobleknights
🫱🏿🫲🏾CONNECT WITH THE MODERN MAN🫱🏿🫲🏾
Visit our website: themodernmanshow.com
Follow us on Twitter: TheModernMan8
Follow us on Instagram: @TheModernManShow
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Modern Man
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessgandara/
220: From Terrible Teacher to Teacher of the Year (Twice)
2026/08/14
Daryl Williams Jr. was called a "detriment to student safety" his first year teaching. Two years later he was Teacher of the Year. He did it twice. On The Modern Man Podcast, Daryl sits down with Ted Phaeton to break down the transformation, the ceiling moment that made him walk away from his dream job, and the 3 Drivers of New Teacher Retention that any leader (in any industry) can steal.
Daryl is an educator, speaker, author of 99% Human, 1% Amazing, and the founder of a teacher-retention consulting company he launched in 2021 after sitting in a principal's chair being told he couldn't earn more than $64K as a first-year assistant principal despite years of impact. His mission: guide a million students toward lives of choice, not circumstance.
In this conversation: the terrible-teacher-to-2x-Teacher-of-the-Year transition (and what actually changed on the inside), the 99% Human / 1% Amazing framework (the DNA thesis that reframes your superpower), non-cognitive skills as the real predictor of long-term success (backed by University of Chicago research), the difference between settling and being content, the runaway question every operator needs to ask themselves — are you running to something or running from something — the 3 Drivers of New Teacher Retention (relevant far beyond education), the parent-teacher engagement research that fathers especially need to hear, and Daryl's signature line — everything is figure-outable.
Chapters:
00:00 Detriment to student safety
01:28 Welcome brother — Ted's intro
02:02 Terrible teacher (everybody said so)
03:38 The transition — MVP over Rookie of the Year
05:22 What authentic leadership actually is
07:44 99% Human, 1% Amazing (the DNA thesis)
10:14 Ikigai and the trap of working only on your weaknesses
12:26 Who wrote the script? (Ted's reframe)
14:17 Chart your own path — Thoreau's rule
17:20 Non-cognitive skills as the real predictor of success
20:06 Growth mindset — Carol Dweck research + Chicago data
21:48 Settling vs. being content
23:30 Ted's own apartment-in-Greenville revelation (28 years old)
25:34 Daryl's ceiling moment — the $64K conversation
28:11 How to actually stop teacher turnover
30:37 The salary question (and what it reveals)
32:27 Change happens inside before outside
32:48 THE 3 DRIVERS OF NEW TEACHER RETENTION
33:57 Who needs to hear this most — teachers vs. leaders
36:02 Leaving loud (Mick Unplugged's frame)
37:17 Running to vs. running from
39:48 Parents — the question nobody's asked
42:49 The father-engagement research every dad should hear
44:28 Master the subjects that matter (grit, resilience, tenacity)
46:13 Ted on pledging a fraternity and "figure it out"
47:31 Where to find Daryl
48:58 The heaviest question — called for greater
50:34 Ted's recap
🤝 Connect with Daryl Williams Jr.:
Web: darylwilliamsjr.com
YouTube: h@DarylWilliamsJrOfficial
Libsyn: @darylwilliamsjr
Facebook: @darylwilliamsII
Instagram: @darylwilliams__
Everywhere: @DarylWilliamsJr (1R, 1L)
Book: 99% Human, 1% Amazing Booking: 2026 & 2027 school partnerships — year-long teacher retention program
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
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I Wasted 15 Years of My Sex Life. Here's What Fixed It.
2026/08/07
I wasted 15 years of my sex life. Alex Grendi, former professional soccer player turned certified men's sex coach, joins Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast to talk about the silent battle 20 to 30 percent of men face — performance anxiety, premature ejaculation, ED — and the 4-step method he uses to fix it.
Alex spent 15 years battling this himself while competing at the elite athletic level, hiding it behind marijuana and locker-room bravado. This is the conversation that unpacks how sexual confidence directly shapes how a man shows up in business, leadership, and marriage — and the exact steps to reclaim it. Alex walks through the Superior Lovers 4-step method: nervous-system regulation (why porn/masturbation-free weeks reveal your real stress load), non-genital pleasure and sound expression (the shame most men carry), edging as exposure therapy for arousal, and separating orgasm from ejaculation. Plus: why Kegels are an emergency brake and not a solution, why sobriety was Alex's real turning point, and Ted's rule — you can't heal what you don't reveal.
Chapters:
00:00 15 Years Wasted
01:44 Welcome, Brother — Ted's Intro
02:22 "Sex Felt Like Something I Had to Get Through"
03:39 How Every Man Ends Up in the Loop
05:59 Elite Athlete on the Outside, Suffering on the Inside
08:16 The Whiskey Dick Problem (And What Research Actually Says)
09:28 The Turning Point — Sobriety & Self-Discovery
10:36 Sexual Health IS Health
13:52 What Semen Retention Actually Is (It's NOT NoFap)
16:30 How to Move Your Sexual Energy
19:00 Ted on Breaking His Own Porn Habit
21:17 The Layers Underneath "Boredom"
22:46 What "Superior Lover" Actually Means
24:25 Why the "Quick Tip" Won't Fix It
26:56 STEP 1 — Stress Regulation & Nervous System Awareness
28:57 Ted's Ice Bath Aha Moment (120 BPM → 68 BPM)
30:03 The Ice Bath Erection Challenge 😂
31:01 STEP 2 — Non-Genital Touch & Sound Expression
33:52 The *When Harry Met Sally* Reversal
37:19 STEP 3 — Edging & the Stop-Start Method
41:28 The Kegel Myth-Buster (Emergency Brake, Not a Solution)
43:33 STEP 4 — Separating Orgasm from Ejaculation
45:35 The Taboo That Keeps Men Stuck
47:28 30–50% of Men Have Experienced This
48:50 "You Can't Heal What You Don't Reveal"
49:18 The Ejaculation Replacement Technique
50:39 Where to Find Alex
51:56 What Changed How Alex Sees the World (Sobriety)
53:21 Ted's Final Takeaways & Closing Thoughts
🤝 Connect with Alex Grendi:
Website: alexgrendi.com
YouTube Channels:
Alex Grendi
Alex Grendi Coaching
Instagram: @alex.grendi
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: If you need emotional support, reach out to the national mental health hotline: Call, Text, or Chat 988
👉🏿 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
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218: Ex-Special Forces on the 10 Minutes That Fix Every Day
2026/07/31
Ex-Special Forces commando Tim Thomas on why elite soldiers break — and the 10 minutes a day that fix every exhausted man. From down under, Tim joins Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast to unpack the Performance Pyramid, the Two Golden 5-Minute Windows, and the warfare tactic he learned in Afghanistan that maps directly to how modern men are burning themselves out.
Tim served with Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan, competed as a pro MMA fighter, survived PTSD, and has spent the last decade in the veteran recovery space. He's the founder of Breathwork in Bed (an app, a method, and a movement), author of Fight, Flight, Feel, and has raised over $1M for veteran mental health research. His message is simple — most men are trying to fix their life while exhausted. Fix the sleep first, everything else follows.
In this conversation: the Performance Pyramid (outcomes → actions → rest/recovery/healing art forms — and why most men build only the top two), the bow-and-arrow reframe for rest days ("bow days"), self-worth as our real center of gravity, how pain transforms into loneliness and isolation and what breaks it, the "energetic millionaire" metaphor, Tim's own path through the crushing weight of defeat, and the tactical spine — the 5 minutes before sleep + 5 minutes upon waking that determine the shape of your entire day. Plus: why breath outranks thinking, why the presence of oxygen is the absence of disease, and Tim's invitation to Ted (and to you) — the Breathwork in Bed 28-day challenge.
Chapters:
00:00 Elite soldiers break — not from lack of strength, from lack of recovery
01:42 Welcome brother — Ted's intro
02:12 The performance question no training manual prepares you for 02:55 The 20s vs. the rest of your life
03:15 The Performance Pyramid (outcomes → actions → rest)
05:22 Warfare tactic — attack the enemy's sleep, better than a bullet 05:53 Our center of gravity is self-worth
08:16 Ted on peace in the home
10:36 The bow-and-arrow reframe — bow days over rest days
14:02 Solitude vs. isolation
16:38 The danger age for men — 38 to 42
17:20 Tim's veteran suicide-prevention work — 40 lives in one year
21:23 The Noble Knights + the isolation break
23:14 The question that changes everything — how many other people? 26:04 The firefighter story — the problem wasn't my own
27:33 The Energetic Millionaire metaphor
30:37 The research on sleep + testosterone + performance
32:51 Speaking to the stubborn version of yourself
35:31 The pyramid vs. pyramid — the competitor's edge
38:24 THE TWO GOLDEN 5-MINUTE WINDOWS
40:41 Breath outranks thinking
42:30 What the breath work actually looks like
45:22 Sleep is the soil from which everything grows
46:27 The Breathwork in Bed 28-day challenge
49:13 The crushing weight of defeat — Tim's vision
51:25 Ted's recap
Connect with Tim Thomas: Breathwork in Bed app: Search "Breathwork in Bed" in your app store — 28-day free trial Book: Fight, Flight, Feel Web: breathworkinbed.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breathworkinbed
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
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217: My Testosterone Was 198. Now It's 800. All Natural. No TRT.
2026/07/25
Ted's testosterone was almost 200 — 198 to be exact — and he looked healthy on the outside. Muscle, working out, doing the podcast. On the inside his hormone floor was gone. Then he did the work Mark Holman coaches men through, and now he's at 800. No TRT. All natural.
Mark Holman is a mental/physical health and testosterone optimization coach. Creator of the Unchained program (formerly Revival) and the 5-Day High-T Leadership Challenge. He was on the Modern Man Podcast before — this is Round 2. He's since moved his own total T to 1,100, doubled his free testosterone, broke his own income barrier, and met the woman he's now marrying.
In this conversation, Mark and Ted go deep on why "normal" testosterone is a lie (74% of Americans are overweight — that's the population setting the normal range), Mark's named diagnostic concept — the Health Handbrakes — that a standard blood panel won't reveal, why TRT is like winning the lottery (no process, no struggle, and you're on it for life), the free-T-vs-SHBG conversation most doctors skip, the sniper-vs-shotgun reframe for supplements (and the Tongkat Ali standardization rule most brands hide), and the leadership-testosterone connection — why lower T makes you more risk-averse and quietly shrinks your ambition.
Plus: Ted's own before/after receipts (198 → 800 natural), the University of Chicago sleep study that showed a 5-hour night drops testosterone 10-15% in one week, the 2007 JCEM data showing modern men's T is generationally lower than their fathers' generation at the same age, and Mark's closer on the nice-guy generational curse he inherited from his father and broke.
If you're a high-performing man between 25 and 55 with a "normal" blood panel and a feeling something's off — this one's for you.
Key insights from this episode:
Testosterone as an on-demand hormone (not a fixed number)
Why "normal T ranges" are a lie (74% of Americans set that baseline)
The Health Handbrakes: the root causes of low T that a standard panel misses
The Unchained standard: 700 total testosterone is the floor, not the ceiling
Free T + SHBG: why total T alone lies to you
TRT is like winning the lottery: no process, no struggle, and you're on it for life
Sniper vs. Shotgun supplementation (and the Tongkat Ali 2% eurycomanone rule)
The testosterone-leadership connection: why low T makes you risk-averse
Ted's before/after receipts: 198 to 800 natural in 18 months
Mark's N=1 story: 1,100 total T, doubled free T, wife met, business broke through
Chapters:
00:00 The confession — my T was 198
02:04 What's Changed About Testosterone?
04:25 Can You Naturally Increase Testosterone?
05:47 Why "Normal" Blood Work Isn't Enough
08:36 The Testosterone Range Doctors Miss
10:00 Ted's Testosterone: 198 → 800 Naturally
11:57 What to Do If Your Doctor Says You're "Normal"
14:20 Can You Come Off TRT?
15:42 TRT vs. Fixing the Root Cause
17:58 Stress, Sleep & Free Testosterone
20:15 When Is TRT Actually Necessary?
23:04 Why Men's Testosterone Keeps Declining
25:42 The Truth About Testosterone Supplements
29:43 Zinc, Vitamin D & Deficiencies Explained
30:36 Why Most T Boosters Don't Work
33:22 The Hidden Cost of Low Testosterone
36:42 Testosterone, Leadership & Confidence
39:22 Does Sunlight on Your Balls Work?
40:23 Mark's Results: 1,100 Testosterone
45:14 Health, Wealth & Love
45:47 Free Blood Work Analysis
46:47 The Lesson That Changed Mark's Life
49:09 Ted's Biggest Takeaways
Connect with Mark Holman:
Instagram: @markholmanhealth/
Free Master Class: testosteronemasterclass
Linktree: Markholmanhealth
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
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He Was Terminated Twice and Filed for Divorce. Sober Since May 5, 2018
2026/07/17
He was terminated twice. He filed for divorce. He gained 60 pounds and drank on the highs AND the lows. Then May 5, 2018, he walked out of an AA meeting and hasn't touched alcohol since.
Nick Jonsson is a licensed specialized counselor, best-selling author of Executive Loneliness (the book coined a term that now has its own dedicated Wikipedia page), leads one of Asia's largest networks of senior executives, is a TEDx speaker on sleep, and an Ironman triathlete who splits time between Sweden and Asia. He's also the father of a 17-year-old son and a working husband.
In this conversation, Nick and Ted go deep on the drift that destroys high-performing men — the anxious-overachiever wound that made them successful in the first place, the 68% of executives who have nobody to confide in (per Harvard Business Review), the corporate stigma that keeps men silent even when they know better, the KLM Tenerife disaster that shows what fear of speaking up actually costs, and Nick's 5-Step framework from Executive Loneliness for the man ready to come back.
Plus the through-line Nick applies to triathlon, executive coaching, marriage, sleep, and time — the "principles that work in this work in all areas of life" reframe that turned a mediocre triathlete into an Ironman PR-setter and a man 60 pounds lighter with 30 years of marriage ahead of him.
If you're a high-performing man between 25 and 55 with more contacts than you have people to actually call — this one's for you.
Key insights from this episode:
The anxious-overachiever wound that made you successful (and why healing it doesn't kill your edge)
Why 68% of senior executives have nobody to confide in — and why 84% won't even tell HR
Multiple purposes, not one — the "keep steady in the middle" reframe from 12-step recovery
The KLM Tenerife disaster — what fear of speaking up actually costs
Nick's 5-Step framework from Executive Loneliness
Take Stock. Who Can You Talk To. Get Healthy. (Plus what comes next.)
Sober since May 5, 2018 — the exposure sequence that changed everything
Sleep half an hour more, break your Ironman PR (Nick's TEDx origin)
Removing the TV from the bedroom — and other things Nick surrendered
Own your shit — Nick's final answer, the biggest transformation of his life
Chapters:
00:00 The confession — terminated twice, 60 pounds, drinking on emotions
01:00 Welcome brother — Ted's intro
01:26 What keeps high-performing men isolated?
02:06 The anxious-overachiever wound
03:04 The wound that made you successful (and the fear of healing it)
05:44 Multiple purposes vs. one why
07:20 Keep steady in the middle
08:35 The Harvard 68% stat
09:58 Nick's own survey (30% / 75% / 84%)
11:00 If you break a leg you see a doctor. If you break your emotions, you hide.
11:43 Therapy as maintenance, not crisis
13:21 Stigma, the corporate ladder, and resilience
15:22 Real-world consequences of vulnerability
18:10 The KLM Tenerife disaster
20:19 Chernobyl, night shift, and mistakes made from silence
22:13 Step 1 — Take Stock
23:31 Step 2 — Who Can You Talk To
25:19 The May 5, 2018 exposure sequence (wife, doctor, friend)
27:00 The tribe found — the urge lifted
27:49 The primal fear of rejection 29:14 The three people you'd call at 2 a.m.
30:30 Build safe spaces in the good times
31:32 Being discerning with who you offload to
32:56 The through-line — from recovery to triathlon
34:23 Applying the same principles to everything
35:00 Signing up for a triathlon tribe (coach, cycling club, swim academy, running club)
36:14 The sleep experiment — 30 days of half an hour more
37:00 The TEDx that came from sleeping more
37:34 Ted on the sleep struggle
39:48 Discipline, accountability, and "just keep going"
41:19 The Ironman as a mini-life
41:50 Ted on Hyrox
44:06 How Nick manages time (paid to remove the bedroom TV)
44:45 Say a lot of no. Hit many birds with one stone.
45:30 Cycling with his 17-year-old son
47:09 Where to find Nick and Executive Loneliness
48:36 Own your shit — the biggest transformation
49:53 Outro and Ted's recap
🤝 Connect with Nick Jonsson:
Website: www.nickjonsson.com
Facebook: @jonhannah.berryhill3
Instagram: @jonssonnick
LinkedIn: @nick-jonsson
YouTube: @NickJonsson
Book: Executive Loneliness — Amazon (Kindle, paperback, Audible):
https://www.amazon.com/Executive-Loneliness-Overcoming-Isolation-Depression-ebook/dp/B091B1Y3WZ
Wikipedia page: Executive Loneliness (dedicated page on the term Nick coined): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Loneliness
TEDx: "Nick Jonsson sleep on TEDx"
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
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#modernmanpodcast #nobleknights #executiveloneliness #nickjonsson #anxiousoverachiever #mensmentalhealth #sobriety #masculineleadership #ironmantriathlete #ownyourshit #highperformer #fatherhood
He Filed for Divorce After His Affairs. Then He Heard God at 2 a.m.
2026/07/10
I was having affairs on my wife. We filed for divorce. I woke up one night and God was showing me what I was about to wreck.
Jonathan Berryhill left home at 15 with no foundation under him. He found structure in the Army infantry, adrenaline in law enforcement narcotics and undercover work, and then success across real estate, healthcare, and government contracting — multiple seven- and eight-figure businesses. He's been married 30 years to his high school sweetheart. He has seven children and three grandchildren. He's the author of Warrior to Wealth and leads three real estate brokerages with 50+ agents — having gone from first licensed at 43 to seven figures in commissions in five years.
But the story that defines him isn't any of those. It's the marriage he almost wrecked, the man he had to become, and the 5 Pillars he built every day after on — Identity, Discipline, Execution, Ownership, Legacy.
In this conversation, Jonathan and Ted go deep on the drift that destroys male veterans and operators, the question that exposes it (what are the top three things you want to be best at, and where's your time at?), the contrarian operator reframe Jonathan uses with his team (pick your hard — broke is hard, successful is hard, pick), the 5-Pillar playbook from the book, and the loss of his best friend at 45 that re-anchored everything.
If you're a man between 25 and 55 carrying a marriage, a business, a family — and you can feel the drift but can't name it — this one's for you.
Key insights from this episode:
Why losing your military identity is a leading cause of post-service drift
The diagnostic question every drifting man needs to answer
Pick your hard: broke is hard, successful is hard, you don't get to skip both
The 5 Pillars: Identity, Discipline, Execution, Ownership, Legacy
"You cannot be a victim and a victor at the same time. Pick one."
Why visualization beat motivation for Jonathan's college football and real estate runs
The CrossFit-of-real-estate move: starting over at 43 (and what it built)
Why faith is uncomfortable (and that's the point)
The night his best friend died — and what changed in him
Chapters:
00:00 The 2 a.m. confession
00:40 – Introduction: Meet Jonathan Barry Hill
03:28 – Growing Up Without a Foundation
07:18 – The Army: Discipline, Structure & Purpose
11:40 – Law Enforcement and the Silent Drift
15:42 – Losing His Marriage & Finding God
20:35 – What Causes Men to Drift?
24:55 – The One Question Every Man Should Ask Himself
29:12 – Walking On to College Football at 25
35:18 – Becoming the Warrior Within
40:45 – From Premed to Entrepreneurship
46:20 – Building Multiple Successful Businesses
51:38 – Why Comfort Is the Enemy of Growth
57:04 – Starting Over at 43 in Real Estate
1:02:28 – Visualization & Identity-Based Success
1:07:44 – The Five Pillars of Warrior to Wealth
1:14:12 – Victim or Victor: Pick One
1:20:06 – Legacy: Building More Than Wealth
1:25:18 – Why the Last Man Standing Often Wins
1:30:05 – Seasons of Battle & Personal Loss
1:36:48 – Faith, Prayer & Living With Purpose
1:43:10 – The Wisdom of Proverbs
1:47:35 – Advice for Men Who Feel Stuck
1:53:22 – Everyone Is Fighting Something
1:56:10 – Final Lessons & Key Takeaways
Berryhill's Links:
Website: jonberryhill.com
Facebook:@jonhannah.berryhill3
Instagram: @jon.berryhill
LinkedIn: jonathan-berryhill
[email protected]
Agent Blueprint Playbook: JonBerryhill: Agent Blueprint Playbook
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life. Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
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214: You Won't Lose Your Job to AI. You'll Lose It to Someone Who Understands It."
2026/07/04
You're not going to lose your job to AI. You'll lose it to somebody who understands it.
Chris Sowa has been inside the boardrooms where the AI conversation is theater. Senior tech executive at Accenture, IBM, and Oracle. Co-founder of Redacture, an AI security startup. He's also a Wim Hof Method instructor who walks into the Atlantic Ocean before most men are awake. He's a father of two sons. He buried a daughter almost five years ago.
In this conversation, Chris and Ted walk through the gap between how AI gets talked about publicly and what actually happens inside enterprise — why most executives are clueless, why 75% of AI tools are wide open to prompt injection, why most enterprise AI pilots are million-dollar resume builders that never scale, and why this is a golden window for the small-to-mid business owner that won't last.
Then it goes deeper — into the operating philosophy Chris carries from his ice swims and his loss: if you can't lead yourself under pressure, you won't lead anything else.
If you're a man between 25 and 55 carrying a business, a family, and a quiet sense that you're about to get left behind — this one's for you.
Key insights from this episode:
The gap between AI talk and AI reality inside enterprise
Why 75% of AI tools are open to prompt injection (what Meta admitted)
The $1M AI pilot to "save" two offshore employees earning $10K (and why it never scaled)
Why 70% of medium-sized companies are still clueless about AI
"You won't lose your job to AI. You'll lose it to someone who understands AI."
The golden window: months, not years
How Chris's daughter's death rewired his sense of urgency
The Wim Hof method as leadership training
Chapters:
00:00 You won't lose your job to AI
01:00 Welcome brother — Ted's intro
01:55 The ice swim and Wim Hof method
03:49 The gap between AI talk and enterprise reality
04:30 "Officially we don't" — what executives say vs. what employees do
05:55 The democratization of strategy intel
07:07 Two reactions to AI: dread vs. hog-wild
09:30 The 75% prompt injection stat
12:25 The $20 million data layer most companies don't need
13:24 Settings, deletion, and what to do about open Comet
16:13 One programmer doing the work of ten
18:20 Should employees use the same LLM? Frameworks vs. tools
20:50 Why Chris tells ChatGPT to be skeptical
23:12 Why less than 30% of enterprise AI initiatives scale
24:46 The $1M pilot to save $20K in offshore wages
27:04 The plumber analogy — fixing a clogged pipe before adding pressure
28:32 What leaders three levels away from the work don't see
30:50 "You won't lose your job to AI. You'll lose it to someone who understands AI."
32:01 The internet boom comparison
33:50 Why this is a golden window (and won't last)
35:55 Why the data center economics will change
39:29 The conversation Chris has with his sons about AI
42:46 Redacture and the AI safety play
46:27 Where to find Chris and Redacture
48:15 The day Chris's daughter died
49:40 Outro and Ted's recap
Sowa's Links:
Website: https://www.redacture.com
Instagram: @so_wa_cold
Email: [email protected]
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
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45,000 Coaching Calls Later: The 3 Brothers Every Man Needs
2026/06/26
One day six men are going to carry your casket. Do you have those six men identified now?
Joe Moffett has logged over 45,000 peak-performance coaching calls. He holds a master's in performance psychology, spent nearly a decade with Tony Robbins, served five years in the Marine Corps, and is now Chief Development Officer at Millionaire Man Cave. In December of 2024 he buried his father, and he was the only man out of the six pallbearers who truly knew him.
In this conversation, Joe and Ted go deep on why strong men isolate when the weight hits, the difference between isolation and solitude, the 3 brothers every man needs (truth teller, confidant, ride or die), the 6 pillars Joe and his community use to build a man's life, why discipline beats conviction every time, and the single most dangerous three-word sentence in a man's vocabulary.
If you're between 25 and 55 and you've been carrying something quietly — this one's for you.
Key insights from this episode:
Why men isolate when the weight hits (and what the enemy wants from it)
Solitude vs. Isolation — one is intentional, one is bathing in the problem
The 3 brothers every man needs: truth teller, confidant, ride or die
The 6 pillars: faith, fitness, family, friendship, finances, fight
The casket question — who are your six?
Why discipline outlasts conviction every time
"I got this" — the three most dangerous words in a man's vocabulary
Where are you planted, and where are you becoming a master?
Chapters:
00:00 The Casket Question (teaser)
01:37 What 45,000 coaching calls reveal about strong men
01:56 Why men isolate when life gets heavy
03:15 Solitude vs. Isolation
05:55 "I got this" — the three most dangerous words
07:50 The pen-weight metaphor
09:11 The 3 brothers every man needs
11:20 Why brotherhood is contagious
13:00 The research — friendship and male resilience
13:49 The 6 Pillars: Faith, Fitness, Family, Friendship, Finances, Fight
15:30 Joe buries his father
17:00 Why finances is the pillar most men struggle with
20:20 Wealth and knowledge worth more than gold
22:10 Where are you planted? The mastery question
23:36 Discipline vs. Conviction
25:50 The fight pillar (and life punches like Mike Tyson)
27:14 Who's on the other side of you winning?
29:24 What most coaches get wrong
32:35 Joe's path — Marine Corps, Tony Robbins, Millionaire Man Cave
35:00 The transformation stories (forgiveness, reconciliation, miscarriage)
38:43 The 5 Disciplines of Friendship
39:51 What women want from men in brotherhoods
43:32 Where to find Joe and the brotherhood
44:34 Joe's childhood — coming home from boot camp not knowing where he lived
46:51 Outro and Ted's recap
Moffett's Links:
Website: www.masterlifebydesign.com
Facebook: @joe.moffett.96
YouTube: @thejoemoffett
Instagram: @thejoemoffett
Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thejoemoffett
Email: [email protected]
👉 About The Modern Man: The Modern Man is here to provide the structural discipline required for men to scale their impact while enforcing a strict sovereign life.
Tools of Time Course: Master your daily structure: Tools of Time
Free eBook Here: Mastering Self-Development: Strategies of the New Masculine: https://rebrand.ly/m2ebook
⚔️JOIN THE NOBLE KNIGHTS MASTERMIND⚔️
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Sean McClellan 2026/03/29
Transformational, Real, and Deeply Needed!
I had the opportunity to meet Ted in person at Speakpreneur, and what you experience on his podcast is exactly who he is in real life—genuine, present...
Dr. Jacque 2026/02/10
Refreshing
There is a need for more content like this, it’s motivating to other men to listen to others in the space who are dedicated to improving themselves in...
Purpose Mapping® 2025/07/01
Much Needed
This is a great show for men who want to hear from other solid men about how to reclaim their generative masculinity and show up powerfully in the wor...
jackplandry 2025/06/12
Made for Modern Beasts
This is easily one of the best podcasts I've ever listen to for men who want to max out their potential daily. Ted overdelivers in every episode l've ...
Jay-mall 2024/08/27
This show is saving lives
I’m not even sure where to start. When I think of Ted as a host, he holds space in a manner that causes guest top open up, while inviting his audience...
Michael OB 2023/11/14
Purpose Driven Show
Us guys are at an inflection point and I’m grateful that Ted is helping men step into this moment and be thoughtful on how we wish to move forward.
JPreviews2025 2023/08/11
First listen
Ted congrats on the Canvas Rebel feature. Good stuff! That was the first thing I saw when I opened LinkedIn then I thought “Dang I forgot to give him ...
chevellesrfast 2023/06/09
Relatable
I’m so glad I discovered this podcast. As a husband and relatively new father in my early thirties I relate so much to the topics discussed in the pod...
ThePodcastFactory.com 2023/03/28
The absolute BEST
Yes is a great interviewer who gets the absolute best from every guest. He knows the right questions to ask to get actionable tips his listeners can a...
Stop And Stare Media 2022/11/26
Great show!
I love shows like this that help fellow men grow and develop!
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