I just wrapped up a great conversation on the Driven 2 Thrive podcast about something that's really core to my work: the power of men's groups and why this whole "lone wolf" mythology is actually killing us.
We covered a lot of ground. I shared my own journey from being a pretty isolated guy in my twenties who didn't know how to connect with people, to finding my first men's group and how that completely shifted my trajectory. We talked about the three main masculine archetypes most of us grow up with (the macho jerk, the nice guy, and the stoic), and why none of them actually work. I got into why American culture in particular has made it so damn hard for men to ask for support, how the bootstrap myth creates a shadow where everything becomes your fault if life doesn't work out, and why loneliness is literally as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
What really stood out in this conversation was unpacking how isolation doesn't just make us sad, it actually makes us less capable. When we feel safe in community, we can take bigger risks. When we're alone, our nervous systems are constantly on guard and it's harder to move forward. I see this with guys all the time. They think they need to figure everything out on their own, and it just creates this cycle of pressure and suffering.
I also nerded out about movies (My Uncle by Jacques Tati is a deep cut favorite) and talked about my obsession with sharks. But mostly we dug into why every man should be in a men's group, period. It's not a nice-to-have, it's essential.
If you're a guy who's been trying to do it all yourself, feeling the weight of that, check out what we're doing at Evolutionary Men. Join a group, come to an event, just stop trying to carry it all alone.
