“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a ride!'” ― Hunter S. Thompson

My uncle Bob was a great dude.  He was always easy going, with a beer in his hand.  He referred to everyone by their initials except his son, who he called “Tiger” forever…even after he grew up.

He had become an Eagle Scout as young as was allowed, and in the sixties was an aviator in the Navy.  He worked on cars and finally got the ’69 Corvette Stingray of his dreams.

When he passed away from cancer years later, I flew home to Baltimore to attend his funeral.  Although I hadn’t been to his home in probably two decades, I was amazed to find everything the same.  Nothing was different, and nothing had been touched…including the ‘Vette in the garage.  Uncle Bob had gotten his set-up dialed in, and didn’t mess with it ever again. He had even worn the same watch every day for like forty years.

Something about that haunted me, and yet I shook it off.  But fourteen more years have passed since.

Over that course of time, I’ve met the woman of my dreams, we’ve had two amazing kids together and life really is wonderful.  But not long ago I started pondering how we’ve lived in the same house all that time.  We pretty much have the same furniture.  I’ve driven the same truck since 2009.  And the walls pretty much look the same.

The clincher?  After having traveled to over 100 countries with Emily, we haven’t really left the country in four years.

I GASPED AT THE REALIZATION.  I HAD BECOME MY UNCLE BOB!

Was “been there, done that” really good enough?  I came to the sober realization that we could die here….and probably be happy as we did. The proverbial frog had been boiled.

Or…we could go out there and LIVE.

We have let the sands pass through the hourglass, carefree about letting happy, sentimental memories rule our thoughts…even though there is SO MUCH MORE out there. 

Here’s the deal.  I firmly believe our post-modern suburban lifestyle lulls us to sleep.  Before we know it, we’re hypnotized by routine.  We’re convinced living in a cocoon of comfort is enough, when there’s still a yearning simmering just below the surface. 

It’s 100% true.  Something has GOT to give here.  Our very livelihood–and our legacy–depend on it.

So then, how do we make it happen?

“YOU WILL HAVE PAMPERED YOURSELF INTO MEDIOCRITY, INSTEAD OF GIVING YOURSELF TO ETERNITY. DON’T DO THAT.” – Bruce W. Thielemann

THERE’S A WIDE OPEN ROAD AND BLUE SKY AHEAD

Un-Settled is as descriptive a title for this journey as one could ask for.  In joining this band of brothers, you are not only guaranteed never to get “settled in your ways” (the WORST insult when getting older), but you will also be challenged to NEVER, EVER SETTLE for less than your full potential.

“I CAN’T COMPLAIN, BUT SOMETIMES I STILL DO.” – Joe Walsh

We “can’t complain” when asked how we are, but then again everyone on social media is constantly complaining!

It’s not like we’re anybody’s victim.  So what will it take to jolt us out of our inertia? 

Can we even admit to ourselves that we’re stuck?  Or does the fear of the unknown supersede the fear of dying without ever having really lived?

We can ostensibly exist without much challenge.  But where there is no vision, we perish.

THAT’S WHY I’M NOT JUST A “GURU ON A MOUNTAIN”.  I’M DOING THIS WITH YOU.

That’s getting as real, transparent up front and vulnerable with you guys as it gets!  I’ve been swindled into suburban sleepwalking as much as the next guy.  And I’m as fed up as you are.

I’m not just the moderator for Un-Settled, I’ll be on the front lines in the trenches with you.

“YOU DO WHAT YOU CAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN. AND WHEN YOU FINALLY CAN’T, YOU DO THE NEXT BEST THING.”

General Chuck Yeager is 97 years old.  On his most recent birthday, he was asked if he remembered what first inspired him to fly. His answer was immediate and definitive. “The pilots had clean fingernails and pretty girls on their arms.”  Imagine…in a post-modern world where the Concorde and the Lockheed SR-71 have come and gone, the first man ever to defy the intense fear of the unknown associated with breaking the sound barrier is still on Twitter.  Meanwhile, many men live in mortal fear of leaving the house…even as most accidents involving injury happen in the home. The Right Stuff springs eternal.

“FIND WHAT YOU LOVE, AND LET IT KILL YOU.” – Kinky Friedman

How about you?  Do you feel like time is passing so fast, as if you’re falling behind…left in the lurch?

Real men break free from passive acceptance and embrace the challenge of real passion,  purpose and honor.  CHANGE and a NEW ADVENTURE makes you feel ALIVE.

It’s like an adrenaline rush, albeit one that probably isn’t going to actually kill you.  Nevertheless, too many men have NEVER felt it…and if you have, I trust you haven’t forgotten what it feels like to care about something and/or someone so much you would be willing to die for the cause.

Yes, you can–and will–feel it again.  That is what Un-Settled is all about.

“ARE YOU GONNA PULL THOSE PISTOLS, OR WHISTLE DIXIE?”

If you’ve see the classic Clint Eastwood flick The Outlaw Josey Wales (and who hasn’t?), you already know it’s all about one man’s journey after his world gets rocked to the core.  Along the way, it’s crystal clear he’s all about feeling alive.  He drops wisdom on a younger guy: “Dyin’ aint’ no way to make a living, boy.” He finds himself disgusted at the furtive passivity of several soldiers, who apparently would rather “whistle Dixie” than be as bold as men should. Clint Eastwood himself has never been one to whistle Dixie himself.  He has been a mayor, a real estate investor and at 89 years old still directs. Gran Torino was supposed to be his last—a movie about dying well—and that was over a decade ago.

IS LIFE MORE LIKE A GHOST TOWN THAN THE WILD WEST?

Just like in that other great western movie Tombstone, this is a reckoning.

Un-Settled is not merely a mastermind or coaching program. It’s a call to action, built on the foundation of a real plan.

You don’t have to be an ex Navy S.E.A.L., out in the woods next to a campfire, talking like Sam Elliott and driving cattle.

But it is your solemn duty as a man to go out and LIVE, city slicker…driven by whatever fuels you to breath the air, experience the adrenaline and FEEL ALIVE.

Maybe you’re coming off of a tough breakup, are recently divorced or even widowed. You could be retired or discharged from the military.

Perhaps your career has grown stale. Maybe you’re still where you’ve always been in–even in the town you were BORN in–wondering if there’s more, and if so, how to reach for it.

Well, we as men indeed have that yearning that never goes away as long as we live. It may be best described as ambition, wanderlust or straight-up masculine energy; but to deny its presence is to die inside slowly.

“MOST MEN LEAD LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION” – Henry David Thoreau

Make no mistake about it. The slow, subtle demise brought about by suburban comfort and ennui is what is choking that feeling of being “alive”. There’s no purpose to be found in that, despite a false sense of security. Nothing to get excited about. No joy.

So many guys are EXACTLY alike…letting life happen TO them, instead of FOR them. I see it every day. It’s written all over the face of the young guy behind the counter at Office Depot, who has the same apathetic yet frustrated demeanor as the one who answers the phone at the insurance office.

There’s a latent rage against the machine just under the surface. But chances are these guys will all still wake up tomorrow doing exactly what they did yesterday…for the next however many years until they either wake up within or die.

But all the while, all it takes is to do SOMETHING. You don’t have to reinvent, just redirect and LIVE. It’s like aikido for your life. Use your own potential energy to change directions.

Believe it or not, it’s much harder to make the decision to part with your habits–including your stuff–than it is to actually make the change. But the exhilarating part is there is no regret on the other side, only a powerful sense of fulfillment.

“EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST…WAITING.”

Steve McQueen was proclaimed the undisputed “King of Cool”.  Hints of the complex reason why can be found all through his life.  McQueen’s character in Bullitt was the inspiration for “The Fonz”, yet the final scene in the movie is him looking himself in the mirror…the only man with integrity in the entire movie.  Meanwhile, he featured in starring roles in movies like LeMans and On Any Sunday, not really acting per se, but rather portraying his adrenaline-laced real-life passions apart from his “side hustle” as a Hollywood leading man.  When you inspire cats like Paul Newman to reach higher and do more, you’re making an impact. “Racing was life” in the movies, but how much Steve McQueen packed into his short 49 years on this planet is clear evidence he did anything but wait around between hot laps.

But the truth was it was time to move on from that anyway.  As is so poignantly told to Lightning McQueen in Pixar’s Cars 3, “the kids will decide when you’re done”, and they had.

Yet, a mere seven years later, both my wife and Corporate America had once again told me I was finished.  Having closed sales worth nearly a half-billion dollars, I stubbornly refused to believe that at first.  But once again, I had done everything I could.  Working for a Fortune 50 company making a Fortune 10 company richer really had started feeling empty as hell.  It was time for another purpose.

HERE’S HOW UN-SETTLED WORKS

For seven weeks, we’ll convene LIVE as men of purpose for a full 90 minutes.  Together, we will challenge each other to get unstuck, go for more, reach for a bigger purpose and never look back.

Every fluff-free minute of Un-Settled will be devoted to LIFE lived in EXCELLENCE. 

If you can’t make the live sessions, no worries.  Every session will be available as an MP3 audio in the Member’s Area, complete with a full transcript.  And yes, you’ll be able to ask all the questions you want after the fact.

Inspired by recent podcasts, you’ll hear from powerful, inspiring special guests.

Un-Settled also features seat time in the group for every member who cares to take full advantage of it.  You’ll also get a follow-up live laser session with me personally at the conclusion of the seven core sessions.  And of course, you can expect check-in sessions as a group as we get on with the business of custom-crafting our respective futures.

“YOU KNOW WHO THE HELL I AM?”

Evel Knievel  is, to this day, the only human being who has ever been allowed to wear a cape.  Nobody in American history has resembled a real-life superhero more.  He reportedly broke every bone in his body at least once.  Whenever Evel was on Wide World Of Sports on a Saturday afternoon, the world stopped to watch…in awe. Every neighborhood kid on a bicycle built ramps and jumped stuff. Years after his day in the limelight passed, he granted a rare interview with sportscaster Jim Rome. After mentioning his chances of surviving the infamous Snake River jump attempt had been about 50/50, Rome wondered aloud why he would proceed with such a feat.  The grizzled Knievel left the notoriously cocky radio host utterly speechless when he calmly responded, “You know who the hell I am?” Robert Craig Knievel lived on his own terms. He craved adrenaline. Fame was over the top, and the overwhelming affection of women was a given. He ultimately died from hard living as an old man, not from the sudden stop at the end of a long fall.  There was never a chance of “rusting out”.

“HOUSTON, WE HAD A PROBLEM.”

Unlike airlines and hotel chains, only a shop full of pragmatic scientists wouldn’t skip the number “13”.  Ask the crew of the infamous Apollo 13 and they would tell you luck had nothing to do with it.  Shit happens, and you deal with it like men.  Years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Apollo 13 pilot Fred Haise, who calmly confirmed the rumor I had heard that he had aimed the spacecraft back toward Earth by line-of-sight.  As absolutely nuts as that sounds, failure was (famously) truly not an option. What if YOU could be as focused, yet nimble with your life?  Or do you need every little thing planned, preferably by someone else? Just look at that contemporary picture of the astronauts above.  These weren’t “pretty boys”on the silver screen, they were everyday badasses who drove for more, taking the lead of John Glenn (who went on to serve in the US Congress).

“DEATH IS GOD’S WAY OF SAYING, ‘SLOW DOWN’.” – Robin Williams