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

In today's episode of Friday Field Notes, Ryan Michler challenges one of modern self-help culture's most sacred ideas: vulnerability. While honesty, humility, and emotional awareness are essential to growth, Ryan makes the case that vulnerability - when practiced without discernment, responsibility, or purpose - often becomes performative, destabilizing, and counterproductive, especially for men in leadership roles.

This episode is not an argument against emotion. It's an argument for self-mastery, containment, and earned honesty.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Why Vulnerability Became a Sacred Cow
02:45 - Emotional Awareness vs Emotional Exposure
04:55 - Vulnerability Without Discernment = Emotional Exhibitionism
07:40 - Oversharing Shifts the Emotional Burden
09:50 - Why Emotional Dumping Kills Trust & Attraction
12:55 - Leadership Requires Stability, Not Collapse
14:40 - Transparency vs Discernment
16:30 - Honesty Is Not a Lack of Self-Mastery
17:40 - Regulation vs Repression
19:20 - Lessons from Stoic Men & Great Leaders
21:10 - Earned Vulnerability Explained
23:00 - Secure Containers, Not "Safe Spaces"
25:05 - Responsibility Over Emotional Relief
27:00 - What Men Actually Need More Of
28:20 - Vulnerability Is Not the Goal—Integrity Is
30:20 - Final Thoughts & Call to Action

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