Pain is part of life. Breakups, divorce, job loss, grief, frustration - every man faces suffering at some point. The difference between men who grow stronger and men who grow bitter isn't whether they suffer, but how they carry it.

In this episode of Friday Field Notes, Ryan Michler explains what it really means to "suffer like a man." Not suppressing emotions. Not performing toughness. But learning how to metabolize pain into strength, discipline, clarity, and usefulness.

Ryan shares five powerful principles that will help you stop wasting your suffering and start using it as fuel for growth, leadership, and resilience - in your work, your family, and your life.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
00:00 - Suffer Like a Man (Intro)
00:50 - Suffering Isn't the Problem
01:45 - Why Men Numb Pain
03:11 - When Suffering Makes You Bitter
04:56 - Stop Resisting Pain
06:10 - Name the Pain
06:58 - Contain It, Don't Leak It
07:23 - Explode or Implode
08:45 - Move Pain Through the Body
10:58 - Don't Waste Your Suffering
11:35 - Extract the Meaning
13:12 - Let Suffering Make You Useful
15:18 - Suffering Builds Strong Men
16:42 - Suffering Is Part of the System
18:05 - Final Charge to Men

Battle Planners: Pick yours up today!

Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto.

For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood.

Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready

In this Ask Me Anything episode, Ryan Michler and Kipp Sorensen tackle some of the most pressing questions facing modern men. From the pros and cons of testosterone replacement therapy to rites of passage for men who were never initiated, the conversation dives deep into masculinity, leadership, and responsibility.

They explore how men can give advice with confidence, navigate today's confusing cultural signals around manhood, and prepare their sons for a challenging financial future. This episode is a powerful reminder that being a man
is not a title - it's a daily commitment to action.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
00:00 - Opening & Current Events
04:55 - Testosterone & TRT
12:35 - Rites of Passage Into Manhood
22:45 - Giving Advice With Authority
33:20 - Masculinity, Adolescence & Maturity
42:30 - Preparing Sons for the Future
50:30 - Wrap-Up & Iron Council

Battle Planners: Pick yours up today!

Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto.

For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood.

Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready

Today's conversation is a homecoming—back to the body, back to character, and back to what it means to be a man. My guest, Mark Walsh, challenges the modern habit of living entirely in our heads—cut off from sensation, boundaries, and responsibility. We talk embodiment not as fitness or aesthetics, but using physical training to develop character, emotional regulation, and presence. From Stoicism and shadow work to doing hard things on purpose, this episode is about reclaiming awareness, expanding range, and building the discipline required to choose better behavior.

We also confront the cult of modernity: hyper-individualism, happiness culture, pleasure-seeking that produces pain, and the loss of religion, community, and moral formation. Mark makes the case that happiness is secondary to meaning and commitment and that true freedom is forged through discipline, not the absence of limits.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

00:00 - Opening & Introduction
02:31 - What Embodiment Really Means
05:44 - Objectification & Modern Culture
08:13 - The Four Disconnections
11:49 - How to Come Home to the Body
15:08 - Training Beyond Comfort Zones
18:15 - Freedom, Range, and Choice
22:27 - Culture, Tribe, and Identity
27:13 - Modernity as a Death Cult
31:00 - Structure, Religion, and Meaning
34:24 - Happiness vs Purpose
36:57 - Rock Bottom of Modern Society
41:44 - Family, Institutions, and Masculinity
46:10 - Get Offline and Live Fully
49:30 - Emotions, Stoicism, and Control
52:00 - War Zone Story & Masculine Instinct
55:14 - Practices for Becoming Human
56:46 - Where to Find Mark Walsh

Battle Planners: Pick yours up today!

Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto.

For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood.

Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready