Episode #733
What happens when 30+ influential business leaders from around the world gather in the picturesque landscapes of Banff, Canada?
How do the lives of men committed to self-improvement and personal growth become a cause for celebration and inspiration within a community of like-minded individuals?
This review of the transformative journey embarked upon by 35 influential business leaders at the Rimrock Hotel in Banff, Canada, encapsulates the essence of a powerful narrative centered on personal growth, camaraderie, and shared achievements.
Join Tim and Doug on this enlightening episode of “The Powerful Man Show,” as they weave together the captivating tale of genuine connections and heartfelt conversations that transcend geographical boundaries and societal norms.
Immerse yourself in the inspiring accounts of camaraderie and celebration, underscoring the significance of celebrating the lives of men dedicated to self-improvement and the betterment of their communities.
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Transcription
Doug Holt 00:00
Hey, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Powerful Man Show. I’m here again with my co-host, Tim The Powerful Man Matthews, and we just got back from a Canadian invasion. So, Tim, let’s talk about this amazing trip. We just got back yesterday. Let’s do a little recap for the men.
Tim Matthews 00:55
Yeah, let’s do it. So what it was, including us, about 35, 36 guys descended onto Banff, Canada. It was incredible. You got to imagine guys coming from all over the world, right? All the way from South Africa. Actually, I was thinking Cyprus, but all the way from South Africa, Canada, East Coast, West Coast, UK, Cyprus. And they all came together from around the world as business leaders to have brotherhood, adventure, growth, fun. As we always say, epic people, epic places, doing epic shit.
Doug Holt 01:35
Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. First and foremost, I was there a week earlier, so what I decided to do, as you know, is I flew in with my family, so my wife and my two kids. So we got to touch ground early and kind of inspect the area and just have an absolute blast. And so, guys, if you are traveling, I really recommend this. I might do it in the tail end next time versus the front end, but it was a really great way to tie in this experience with my family. I was talking to a number of guys who are planning on doing it with our next trip, which we’ll announce what that’s going to be towards the end of the podcast.
But when I got to the hotel, so we stayed at the Rimrock Hotel is a beautiful hotel. If you haven’t been there in Banff, Banff is, for those that don’t know, Google it. First of all, I’ve been there before, but it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world that I’ve experienced. Just towering mountains. It’s where the mountains touch the skies, they say flowing rivers just full of energy and vibrance in the community. And the Rimrock Hotel overlooks the whole town of Banff.
So you have these guys 30, I think it was 35, 36. I don’t remember the exact number. They show up to this hotel everywhere we go. We kind of take it over. When you have a group of business leaders from around the world and men that have gotten to know each other online or in person and form these bonds, the energy is palpable.
And so we took over that hotel and it was just absolutely majestic to see these men, most meeting for the first time. Some have been with us for three years or plus and have known some of the guys, but a lot of interactions and again, the commonalities from all the men is they’re great guys. These are business leaders who are here to better themselves, not only just for themselves but also for their wives, their families, their kids, their communities and the world. These are the crème de la crème, if you will, of men who are also here to just be great guys. So the conversations just flow naturally.
Tim Matthews 03:39
Yeah, I was a bit worried at first when we saw the schedule for day two. We had like 5 or 6 hours on the bus seeing all those amazing sights that we took in but hearing the conversations that were happening on that bus, the laughs that were shared, the insights. I’m sure there were some collaborations and business deals going on as well.
But it was just great to see. And then how many of the guys came up to me afterwards saying to me how that was one of their favorite experiences. Just been on the bus together, bonding, laughing, talking, connecting. It was incredible. And that interspersed with getting out and visiting a glacial lake, all the guys dived in there together. Swimming shorts on cold plunge in a glacial lake like 2000 meters, 6000ft up. It was incredible!
But yeah, just to see these guys come together for me, I was incredibly grateful. You and I have spoken about this for years. I remember us talking about, hey, what should we create? And we said, hey, well, let’s create something we would want to be part of, right? Let’s create something where we get to travel the world with amazing people doing amazing things where we’re creating life lasting memories and just to see that unfolding, it really hit home this time. I know we’ve done these a lot.
We’re in Cuba back in February. We’ve hosted a lot of people here at The Ranch over the past few months. Prior to that, Iceland. So there’s been a lot of it but for some reason this time it just really landed and I was incredibly grateful to be in that room with some very high caliber men as well. There was some amazing conversations that happened thinking about the boardroom as well. For the inner circle guys happened up in Fairmont, in Jasper. That was just insane. The level of insight and support that those guys were giving one another as each one of them took a seat in the hot seat was unparalleled.
Doug Holt 05:35
Yeah, I’m going to pause you there. Let’s take it down day by day.
Tim Matthews 05:39
Let’s do it.
Doug Holt 05:40
And one of the things, as you were saying that kind of really hit me and it hit me while I was there is you and I have been to so many events like this around the world with other organization or ones that we put on ourselves. And one of the things that I noticed for me at least in this event, so I got a little sick, I was a little under the weather. So I draw back and I would go to my room. One is I didn’t want to get anybody else sick. I was congested. And who wants to be around the guy that’s congested all the time, right? You’re always kind of like, hey, am I going to get a cold? But it’s part of being a dad. When you have a three year old and a six year old, they just got back into school, you’re going to catch some bugs.
But one of the things before we do the recap that I noticed that I thought was really cool is when you go to another event, right? The facilitators that are there, you just don’t see them. You see them in the sessions, the trainings, and maybe you’ll catch one of them at the bar or what have you for a little bit. But they’re gone the rest of the entire event. And there’s good reason for that, right? As a facilitator, as a coach or as a speaker, you need to recharge your batteries. And what most people say is they just have no desire to really hang out. I found myself just getting up early in the morning, heading to the gym so I could see the guys, right?
So the first day, as day one gets in. So day one, after the guys get there, we have a great celebration, an introduction. We call it the kickoff day. So the next morning after we kick it off, some guys had stayed in the bar late, some guys didn’t. We got guys that are having their third or fourth smoked old fashioned and guys that don’t drink at all having amazing conversations. And it was just so cool to be a fly on that wall. There’s never any judgment with our guys, which I friggin love.
But you also have. The next morning, I got up and I go down to the gym, trying to make myself feel better. Going to get a workout in, got a good night’s sleep and all that. And I open the gym door, and there were 20 some men working out in this hotel gym.
Tim Matthews 07:39
That’s awesome.
Doug Holt 07:40
Collaborating with each other, laughing, pushing each other. Some are working out individually, some are working out with each other. Some are new to working out or new again, and some have been doing it forever. So it was really neat to see that camaraderie. The guys that weren’t in the gym were out for a run, right? So they were doing. Two of our coaches took it for a run in a yoga session, and the other guys broke out to the gym. So now you have people actually practicing what we preach doing with their Alpha Rise & Shine.
And I just looked around for a moment and I said hi. As I walked in the gym, and I had probably the biggest grin you can imagine. Like a kid in a candy know, you could hear some of the amazing conversations going on. And that’s another thing that separates these events. And a couple guys said that to me, Tim, was that they can have conversations that matter. It wasn’t just surface level. It’s not just about the weather. And this is with guys they’re just meeting, but it feels like they’ve known them their whole entire life. We hear that often.
Tim Matthews 08:39
Yeah, it really is. It’s just incredible that there’s nothing that doesn’t go. There’s no judgment right. Whatsoever. I know you just said it, but it gets commented on time and time again. We’ve got guys there running anywhere from high seven up to nine figure companies. Right? Yet. So, in a lot of respects, it’d be understandable if they brought some ego or some judgment. Guys that are very experienced, guys that run well known companies, but they don’t bring judgment. They don’t bring ego. Everyone wants to help one another. Everyone wants to share something.
The amount of times I heard the guys say on day one, I’ve got what I’ve came for. And it wasn’t a conversation between you and I.
Doug Holt 09:28
No.
Tim Matthews 09:29
It wasn’t the sessions and the facilitation that delivered that for them. It was a conversation with another guy at the most impromptu, random point, be it over breakfast in that gorgeous breakfast room overlooking the mountains. The setting was just incredible, and the way that these men come together and lift one another up is just incredible. It really is. And then not only that, like you said, they have fun in the bar. They get up, they do the ARS together as a group, and then they go into session, and they’re just so focused in that session as well. They just give it their all at each and every moment. And it’s no surprise to me that they get so much out of it, because the way they show up is just awesome.
Doug Holt 10:22
Yeah, it is. And so for those guys listening to this, the overall topic was energy, which sounds a little weird, right? But how much of us diffuse our energy, lose our energy? We give our energy to other people. And so the first session, Arthur Magoulianiti, I love saying his last name. One of our master coaches, he’s actually here at The Ranch right now. He delivered our first session.
And the first session, a big portion of that were areas in your life in identifying these. He did a series of exercises to embody this and take the men through it. But areas in your life that drain your energy and areas in your life that boost your energy, and how can you get more boosters, right? And get rid of the drainers and different strategies for that? And I know when I think of myself as I was listening to Arthur go through the exercises, when you’re tired or you’re a father, a business owner, as you’re going through it, you need to be on the top of your game. You need more energy.
And I’m not just talking caffeine. I’m talking things that really draw you in and make you feel alive. We got one shot this game we call life. And so we want to have more of those energy boosters rather than those drainers. And I found myself. That’s another thing I love is us as coaches. We set our egos aside and we go through the sessions. When you’re coaching, I’m going through it and vice versa, because there’s always things to gain.
And I really was interesting to look at those energy drainers, right? Different phase of life. Right? For me right now, in my phase of my business career, as a father, as a friend, as a husband, and looking at what’s draining me now at this season versus maybe a year ago or six years ago, and then where are those boosters? And how can we put them in there?
And when I looked around the room, Tim, I’m seeing 30 some men, and these are powerful Mofos, right? These are powerful men who are leading big companies and some smaller ones, but a lot of big companies, they’re also community leaders, leaders in their churches, leaders in their households, right? And some of them have gone through transitions in life. Some of them are going through transitions in their marriage or in their relationships. And I’m thinking, man, if these guys could just tweak and get 1% more energy, it’d be amazing. And I’m guessing a lot of these guys increased it by 20, 30%.
Tim Matthews 12:37
Oh, yeah, definitely. Because the thing with these guys is we work with guys that take action, which is awesome. And as soon as these guys become aware of something, they become aware of a drain, they’re going to put something into play immediately. Right? So we had guys leaving that first session having not only become aware of that drain, but then also either emailing their assistant or changing their workflow, whatever needed to happen in order to make the shift to get that drain out of their life immediately. Maybe it was a conversation with somebody that had to happen.
Well, they were setting up that conversation, and they were all there in support of one another to also make sure these drains were no longer a thing. Equally the same with the boosters, right? When these guys become aware of what the boosters are, immediately they are organizing their life to amplify those things.
And you’ve heard the saying, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with and in that room of 30 plus business leaders from all industries, all walks of life. When they get together and they want to raise their level of performance and they become aware of that booster, they’re going to hold one other accountable to making sure that they raise it there and then.
And then, not only that, that’s the first day. They’ve then got two more days been around one another in conversation about these things and whatever else comes up, and it’s just an environment that just sets them up for success. Like you said, going through the sessions you and I went through while Arthur was delivering it was very insightful, that quiz the guys did. I love the quiz. So as we sit there, just taking these insights, supporting one another, like you said, even if it got 1% better, that 1% would produce an exponential result in their life, given the level they play at.
Doug Holt 14:32
Yeah, absolutely. Joe calculated the mathematical formula, 1%. He put it into our private community, and I can’t think of what it is off the top of my head, so it’s killing me. So, Joe, I’ll go check again, buddy. So thanks for doing that, but, yeah. So then after that, we broke for lunch. We had an amazing lunch at the hotel. Man, that room for the guys that were there noticed it. So we have this corner room overlooking these majestic mountains in the whole town of Banff. [Inaudible 15:00] Words. I can’t describe it well enough.
If you can imagine sitting at a whole room that was just covered wall to wall glass, overlooking just snow packed peaks and rivers and greenery, and then the shades of the trees, popping yellows and reds. Amazing, amazing view. It was a great lunch. And after lunch, I went back to my room to rest and recover, because I was like, man, I want to be present for the rest of this. And the rest of you guys, you went for an excursion. Tell us a little about that.
Tim Matthews 15:30
Yeah, we did. So we drove out through the mountains to a canyon hike with a traditional woman and a lot of her. There was a few more guides as well. Everyone got there, and everyone was a little bit tired, a little bit sluggish after lunch. But as soon as we got there, and you’re in those mountains, like you say, and then you’ve got a guide that starts telling you about the history of how they developed and originated within the area, and it was just energizing.
Doug Holt 16:05
Well, the guides were indigenous, correct?
Tim Matthews 16:07
Exactly. Yeah, they were. I was trying to think of the word. Yeah. But it was incredible to learn from them. And these are people who still live in the settlements as well.
Doug Holt 16:20
First Nations.
Tim Matthews 16:21
First Nations. That’s it. And it was just fascinating to learn. And not only that, they were then taking us on this canyon hike, splitting us into these small groups of seven or eight guys with a guide in between, letting us know that was bear country. And there are going to be bears about. And if bears show up, then here’s what we need to do.
So for a guy from the UK, that was a bit worrying. See, Arthur, a guy from Cyprus is a bit worried, too. But it was great. It was really fun. Again, it sounds like a broken record, but some of the sights on that walk where you’d stop when you’re taking the Vista, it’s like a movie scene. Very difficult to put into words. All the guys there taking pictures, getting frustrated because no picture did it justice. It was that beautiful.
And, Colton, you’ll remember that one point where we took a picture with all the guys. One guy takes his top off, another guy. Then before you know it, got 30 guys there with the tops off on the top of this, like, mountain Crest doing these war cries that the woman was getting us to do just overlooking this Vista. It was awesome. It really was. A lot of the guys then left their top off as they continued to go on this hike through the canyon. Crazy guys! It was very cold. But you know what? They like. They love to challenge themselves, don’t they?
And that was really the theme of it. There’s just this continual ebb and flow through these super high canyons. Seeing the drawings on the wall from the Aborigines. And I took a picture actually for Amelia, because she’ll love this. But she showed us these drawings that were like triangles and talking to us about how for the Aborigines they symbol UFOs, essentially. And it was kind of like how you see in other tribes, be it the hieroglyphics or whatever, right? There’s a lot of different shapes and people and bit faded and all that stuff, and whether it whatever.
But the point is, it was just incredible to just be steeped in tradition and culture. And every guy was just fascinated as this woman just led the ceremony, while led the teaching. She then took us further through the canyon to the base, this amazing waterfall, where she did a smudge ceremony with us all, which again, everyone was just fascinated by this, hearing the stories and the culture and got to make our own. I’ve got the name for it, but it was like this little leather casing with a certain rock that we put inside it.
And she gave us this leather lace to tie around it. And then we did a ceremonial smudging with that. And it was all around thinking around your biggest fear and you’d write it on the rock. And it was very symbolic. And obviously the guys were just captivated by that. And then we headed back. But again, sound like a broken record. But the bonding that occurs even on that, this walk, this hike, was all in all about 5 hours, 4 hours wasn’t a hard hike. Anyone could do it. Different levels, but just the conversations that were happening as people moved back and forth throughout this line.
And the conversations you could hear going on, the ideas, the support that was given. Guys that might have been struggling with issues with the kids just coincidentally end up next to a guy that solved that issue with the kids. Similarly, guys that might be struggling in the business just happen to end up with a guy that’s just solved that issue in his business. And the guy giving them sharing contacts and shortcuts. And here’s what didn’t work for me. So avoid doing this. Just incredible. Again, it goes back to that idea of no ego. Every guy there wants every guy to win.
Doug Holt 20:12
Yes.
Tim Matthews 20:13
It’s just incredible.
Doug Holt 20:14
Yeah, it’s a competitive group of guys, but the competition is, how do we lift more men up? Right? That’s how the competition goes. And that’s how guys get a good reputation within the movement is serving and therefore we have the brother’s Brother award, which we’ll get into later.
Tim Matthews 20:29
Yeah. And then go back to the bus and headed back. The conversation continued. The smoky old fashions started to get ordered when we got back to the bar as the guys enjoyed a couple of them. And it was great. It’s just a really great day.
Doug Holt 20:47
Yeah, really great. Then we proceeded to dinner, which was fantastic. Of course, as always, the food was actually surprisingly really, really good.
Tim Matthews 20:57
Steak was amazing. Yeah, that was so nice.
Doug Holt 20:59
Yeah. I say surprisingly because we did a trip to Iceland with the men. The food was off the charts and other places have been hit and miss. Depending what country we go to, Cuba or wherever. It’s always good. And Banff was spectacular.
Tim Matthews 21:15
Yeah, it really was.
Doug Holt 21:17
So then we get up for day two. Day two is an early start. You alluded to this earlier, so we’ll brush by this quickly. But we wanted to make sure the men got to these glacial lakes, got to see Lake Louise and all of these things. And of course, being these crazy guys, being adventurous men as we are, you get a bunch of men together, we all turn into 14 year old boys. It’s been my theory for any group of men, I don’t care if you get a bunch of hedge fund managers or accountants together. If it’s the right group of guys, they turn into 14 year olds because that means you’re having fun.
And then we had two groups split off. Some had a few too many smoky old fashions, I think, the night before. But what we did is we get to this lake and it’s just picturesque. Like the mountains mirroring off the water was absolutely amazing and beautiful and stunning. And of course, this glacial fed lake, it is freaking cold yet. So the tourists are around there. So you got these tourists from all over the world in like huge parkas, beanies. They’re dressed because it’s freaking cold.
Next thing you know, you’ve got these men just taking their shirts off, taking their pants off or changing into board shorts or trunks or whatever they’re wearing. Some guys just last minute decide, hey, I’m just going to jump in my underwear. So now you have 30 some men stripping, essentially. Now, granted, I’m wearing board shorts, but in that context of where we are, it is shocking, right? It’s like time. Yeah. Just even wearing big time pants and a T shirt would have looked weird.
And next thing you know, we got all these men in the lake doing their cold plunge. And it was flipping cold, right? It was freezing. But the energy, the excitement, the laughter. Because you’re laughing because some guys are like, as you would once it hits below the waist.
Tim Matthews 23:06
Takes on a different level.
Doug Holt 23:07
Oh, yeah. Your body starts to physiologically change as you go in. But that’s absolutely an amazing experience. And that whole day we were on this guided tour and as you said, I was in the front of the bus having a very deep conversation with a few guys. That conversation went down through religion, politics, like some very deep topics. And the back of the bus there was cackling of like these men in their 30s, 40s and 50s, laughing. I don’t know what they were laughing at at the time. I think you might have been back there just having a great time, having a ball. And then other people having conversations, like you said, about business, their kids.
There were a couple of conversations I heard where a couple of men who have teenage boys who are struggling, suicidal, and other men who are going through that and as you said, have maybe passed that range were actually able to come up with some ideas and solutions. And they approached us as coaches and we have a possible event or experience that we’re going to be putting on for the fathers and the sons coming through.
So that was day two. I mean, you can’t recap an entire tour day, whether it be the glaciers, the lakes, for all of these men just having a great time. And then we got back, we got back to the hotel and we went out to a restaurant that night, if I recall. No, actually, no, sorry.
Tim Matthews 24:29
Oh, no. That was the awards night.
Doug Holt 24:31
Yeah, we did the awards and the tribute.
Tim Matthews 24:34
Yeah, we did. That was a great night as well. So every event we give out the brother’s brother. Now, this is an award that is voted for by the men. You and I don’t get involved in voting for that choking over here. Basically the award symbolizes, as voted for by the men, the man who they believe has most demonstrated what it means to be a powerful man. Over the past six months, it’s between events, right? This was from Cuba to Canada and the guy who showed up the most in the community. And that doesn’t mean the frequency with which they’ve shown up, but the guy that’s doing the work, the guy that is a beacon of light who symbolizes what it means to step to the line, right? And the man that won this award was just very well deserved.
Doug Holt 25:34
The cleaver.
Tim Matthews 25:36
The cleaver, yeah. Very well deserved. His growth. His growth over the past year has been insane. But over the past six months, exponential.
Doug Holt 25:45
It’s noticeable.
Tim Matthews 25:46
Big time. Big time.
Doug Holt 25:50
All the guys knew who won, too. It was like there was no surprises.
Tim Matthews 25:55
Sometimes happens that way, though, right? They’re always.
Doug Holt 25:58
Sometimes it’s close between a couple guys.
Tim Matthews 26:00
Yeah, it’s close, but the guys have a good idea who either that one is or those one or two or those one, two or three.
Doug Holt 26:08
No doubt.
Tim Matthews 26:09
Because these are standout guys. So again, I want to emphasize, not avoided for by you, me, the coaches. The TPM team does not get involved in this. It’s pure peer to peer recognition, which for me, makes it even more special.
Doug Holt 26:21
Absolutely.
Tim Matthews 26:22
Right? It’s incredible. So, yeah, that evening we were able to do the award ceremony and share and celebrate in this particular man’s recognition, really, from the other men. Got him on the phone. He was just blown away. He was speechless, wasn’t he? Because he wasn’t able to be. There was with his family in Barbados, but he was blown away. That same evening, we obviously had the guitarist come in for a nice sing along, which was always great. Always great. It’s always funny at first, the guys are a little bit, they’re warming up a little bit slow to get started.
Then as soon as one guy starts to sing, the second guy goes, third guy goes, before you know it, second song in, third song in every guy is just singing away, having a blast. You know what I’m thinking back, music has become a real big part of these events. The guys getting together and just bonding over whatever song it may be. If you think about Costa Rica, right? Yeah, it was huge. If you think about Tulum, go all the way back to Tulum under the Palapa with the guy there with his guitar, it’s amazing to see all these guys come together over, and then.
Doug Holt 27:42
Well, this one, the divine, brought his own guitar and when he sang that song, man, the passion, and I’m using that word very deliberately, the passion that he sang that song with was palpable.
Tim Matthews 27:54
Yeah, it was a big moment for him as well because I think he’s just began to either pick it back up again because he only posted his first gig, if you will, a couple of weeks ago in workplace, which was a big moment for him, of him to come and gift it really to us was just incredible. I loved seeing that. It was great.
Doug Holt 28:15
Oh, yeah, it was absolutely amazing. Jake’s was too — [Crosstalk] It was great. Jake’s in his element when he’s up was….
Tim Matthews 28:24
Oh, yeah, I could have gone on all night with that guitar and those songs. That was just…
Doug Holt 28:32
The best part to me was, well, not the best part, but the part that I really loved about the sing along. As you got to imagine, we hire a guitarist, we pay this guy to come in and play for the men, and he sees that the divine has got his guitar, Evan. So he’s like, oh, yeah, you want to go play a song? And so whatever the guy’s thinking, you could tell in his mind that he’s going to play one song. It’s not going to be very good. He’s going to come back, steal the show. Evan plays one, two. Then Jake gets up there and plays. And the guitarist, because I could see him from where I was sitting, he kept on trying to walk back in the room. But then when he was playing, some guys were singing along. And the energy was on a scale of one to ten, a six or seven. Right now, the energy is ten to eleven. It’s off the charts. And every time he comes back to try to reclaim the guitar, we wanted nothing to do with him, no offense to him, but these guys just had the energy and the passion. It’s pretty much like, hey, man, we appreciate it. We paid you already. You can go home.
Tim Matthews 29:31
It was great. The energy in that room was just incredible. It was fantastic.
Doug Holt 29:36
Yeah. We also had. Before that, we had a ceremony, so we had. Unfortunately, one of the men in the movement had lost his just, I’ll leave it at that. And Jake guy, Paul Jigsaw did an amazing ceremony for him. He was very close to him. It was very heartfelt, and he did a Haka. He’s from New Zealand originally, when he did a traditional Hawke for the men, that was just the energy and the emotion that was there. This is before the sing along was inspiring. Aspiring just to see the passion this man has, and really just to remember it was a celebration of life.
Just remembering that every moment is a gift and so cliché, but when you lose somebody that’s close to you, when you lose somebody that’s your age, that’s in your demographic, that has children and everything else, it really hit all the men. There were a lot of tears, as I call it, men with eyes that were sweating. There were a lot of emotion expressed during that time.
And we were able to transition into this. We did some stuff to support his family, which we don’t need to get into here, but we transitioned in into the sing along, and then that whole night spilled into the lobby, spilled back into the hotel bar, which, coming back into the hotel, they happened to have a birds of prey thing. That was their thing.
I don’t know what you call it, but they brought in a golden eagle, they brought in all these owls, and some of the guys were holding the owls. And really a magical moment, all in all, and really a celebration of life, celebration of what these men have been through in their journeys because as leaders, as business leaders, and I’ve been stuck in this. Tim, as you know, sometimes you’re focusing so much on scaling a business and raising a family that sometimes you forget to celebrate your own life. You’re putting everybody else first. You’re making sure everybody else is okay to your own detriment. And it was really neat to see these guys come in full circle in that situation and remember to celebrate each other and celebrate themselves.
Tim Matthews 31:49
Yeah, it was a beautiful moment. Great evening! Yeah. One of those moments that I think especially, not especially the Hacker, but it was very special, like you said. I think that’ll be remembered for a long time to come. Yeah.
Doug Holt 32:06
Well, then we followed up to day three. The guys again. Alpha Rise & Shine. It was awesome to see I was down there again with the guys. I was feeling a lot better during that session. The first session was okay at best. And then we moved on to the second session, where really the magic. So you led the first session that morning, which absolutely was fantastic. A lot of embodiment, as you like to do with the guys coming in. We don’t need to go through all the exercises, but you really helped them ingrain, in my opinion. What would they learn from the first session? Right? So cool. You got some theory, you got some practical tips, you can go out and do it, which is awesome. And then you said, hey, let’s take it to another level. Let’s ingrain some of these things into you.
Tim Matthews 32:45
Yeah. For those of you that know, muscle testing. So that was one of the first things we did, the reason why I’m bringing that up. So, for those of you that don’t know, muscle testing, in short, it’s a way for you to determine whether something is good for you or bad for you. It’s linked to your subconscious mind.
So it was great to do that with the guys as the first exercise because they were introduced, like you said, to the idea of these drains, and they wanted to get them out of their life as quickly as possible. But it’s also easy when you identify a drain, to not necessarily realize the effect that it’s having on you. So to do that little exercise didn’t take very long, but to show them they had the weakening effect that that drone was having on them. You could hear that, the noises coming through. Whoa. Wow. They were just small, simple thing. But I think they found it very insightful given the response, which was great to show them that.
But, yeah, then the rest of the day, it was just really good to be able to get them up, get them moving, get them embodying, like you said, various things. There was a whole mixture of emotions during that session, from fun and excitement and laughter to tears of tears. I don’t know if there were tears of sadness or joy or what.
But again, I just keep going back to the men. The way that those men show up for one another, no judgment. Everybody wants one another to win. Like you said, the way I win is by helping the other guy win. That’s the scorecard for me. You just see it play out in every moment. Even in that session, when it would be so easy for a guy to be so focused on himself and just neglect and negate other people, it just doesn’t happen. And the energy in that room when the guys just rise up together is palpable. It just kept giving me goosebumps as I was in that room and just watching and hearing and feeling what they were going through. For me, it was a really magic moment.
Doug Holt 34:54
Yeah, I loved it. It was really fun. And we had five coaches participating. If you go to an event like this, right, you’d imagine you have one speaker, one presenter. We have five because we wanted to have more of a personal thing. And you did a great job of developing the exercises that we did with the guys. And so the group that I was leading, they got a lot out of it. It was a fun group. It was funny. I did one practical joke on one guy, which I, of course, think is always funny. Shout out to chief. I think he got a little surprise. It was hilarious for me – [Crosstalk]
Tim Matthews 35:34
What was coming. Right?
Doug Holt 35:35
Yeah. So it was really good. And it’s always great to see theory taking into a practical account. Right? And having all the guys having light bulb moments of like, wow, I didn’t realize this thing was draining me so much and holding me back from achieving my greatness.
Tim Matthews 35:53
Equally the boosts, right?
Doug Holt 35:54
Yeah.
Tim Matthews 35:55
Because I got to see how much of the boosts had a strengthening effect as well. But, yeah, it was great having the coaches. Like you said, I think the guys loved it, being able to split off into small groups. It was very personal, very tailored, each group. The theme, obviously, the exercise was same for each group, but how their result was achieved within the exercise was very different for every group. So it was really great to see a lot of bonding and connection between the coaches and the men as well. And then rolled into your session.
Doug Holt 36:27
Yeah. And so, obviously, I loved my session. I put a lot of thought and time into it. What I wanted these guys to experience, and I always think what we do, coaching and leading, I think it’s more like advising is like jazz. You improvise sometimes. And then what I wanted these guys to do was have something practical they could take home, as well as something that would take them deeper.
So the first part of what I wanted to give them was some practical, eye opening experiences, but also something they could take with them to ensure that they were boosting their energy, ensure that they were increasing their ability to take this energy home and give it to themselves and their families. And then we rolled into an exercise specifically designed to allow these guys to go someplace that they hadn’t gone before, go really, really, really deep going through.
And that lasted longer than I thought it was going to because these men were in a process of releasing trauma. Several of the men were releasing a very deep trauma they’d been holding on to. Things came up and bubbled to the surface. They weren’t aware were there for them. So it was absolutely fantastic just to really be there.
So these men could, as we call it, release and then reclaim. Getting that embodiment in there so these guys could release the brakes, is what I always like to think of it. If you can imagine yourself being in a hot air balloon, so if someone’s listening to this, that’s not been to one of our events, and imagine you are trying to lift up to the clouds, the clouds are your goals.
And the way I look at the session that I put on is they had these sandbags, and you don’t know you have these sandbags on your hot air balloon. You’re like, why is my hot air balloon not rising? Why is it not going up? Why is it not going up to the heavens? And what I wanted this session to be designed to do was almost like the guys having a machete and just chopping those sandbox. They didn’t see it, but now, all of a sudden, their eyes get open, they see these sandbags holding them down, and they’re able to chop and release them so they could effortlessly float towards their ideal life.
To me, as a facilitator, and you know how that is. It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to be part of and help the guys get through. So then we had some free time after that. After that session, after that amazing session, is what we call it. Going to an awesome dinner. Everybody got dressed up, we went out, took over a steakhouse salt lick. Right?
Tim Matthews 38:58
Just want to take a step back because I had the opportunity to sit with a few men and they gave us a recording of their experience, testimonial, case study, whatever you want to call it. But a few of the guys I think we interviewed, maybe six or seven, and I would say at least half of those, if not more, shared how much their wife was excited about them coming on this trip which was just awesome to hear.
One guy said his wife asked him, hey, you’re never going to leave. Right? Because she’s seen such profound shifts in him and she’s been doing the work for a little while now. He started doing it about a year ago, and himself an amazing man and his wife. Yeah. She said to him, hey, so you’re never going to leave TPM, right? I just thought it was such a great thing to hear. Testament to him for doing the work and she’s seeing the shift in him. But equally, I just love the fact that she recognizes how much he gets out of these experiences.
So she’s excited for him because she knows that the guy that’s going to come back is even better than the guy that was here before. And the marriage is the best it’s ever been prior to him coming to the event. So she’s very excited about the possibilities. Yeah, we heard something similar to that from about three or four other guys, which was.
Doug Holt 40:28
That’s awesome.
Tim Matthews 40:29
Yeah, it was incredible.
Doug Holt 40:31
Yeah, I didn’t know that. That’s really cool.
Tim Matthews 40:32
It was incredible.
Doug Holt 40:33
I think Colton’s going to have those all edited by tomorrow, I think.
Tim Matthews 40:40
Yeah, should do.
Doug Holt 40:41
As we go through. Yeah. And so in wrapping up coming through, that’s when this podcast or the show is getting a lot longer than we anticipated. But there’s so much to describe. The next day we said our goodbyes to a lot of the men and then we have a group called the Inner Circle. So these are gentlemen who are at this event, but they have a bigger investment in time capital to have a little bit more intimate coaching experiences. We got on a private tour all the way up to Jasper up there in Alberta and stayed at the Fairmont, which is a great hotel, guys.
So if you get a chance, stay at the Fairmont. Very family friendly. I really enjoyed it as a hotel. It was great to get there. I recommend getting a cabin if you get the opportunity to do that. And it was awesome. We saw elk along the way. I remember you looking at me like, are they that big? They are big. These guys, especially up there, every animal up that area, like, even the ravens. The ravens are like the size of large dogs. Everything’s just bigger up there as far as the animal kingdom goes.
And we had an amazing experience. Part of it is we got a ride all through the mountains in a sidecar. So imagine getting a Harley and you have a sidecar and a Harley Davidson, and then you have one guy on the back. These are big Harleys, touring Harleys, and one guy in a sidecar and we’re driving around. It was just such an amazing time. I thought I laughed at. I was like, okay, this is not going to be a fun experience. It was amazing.
Tim Matthews 42:12
Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to be that good at first. It was going to be a bit cheesy, lame, but it was great. I loved it.
Doug Holt 42:23
I did too.
Tim Matthews 42:44
A little tour group, the tour guides. There was such. Just a group of guys, characters, one woman. But they were real bikers, right? One of the guys telling us how he’d taken, I think, an eleven day trip. I can’t remember the name of this particular ride, but it’s a famous motorbike trail going all the way down to Mexico, I think. And he’d just come back from that, going across the salt flats and everything. So these were some serious bikers.
It was great. It was just great fun, great energy. Riding through the Rockies, those amazing lakes, the views, the mountains. I didn’t realize it was a bucket list thing. Yeah, I didn’t realize it. I’m like, oh, wow, this really would have been on my bucket list had I known. It was incredible. It really, really was. And then, yeah, like you said, to get back to that hotel, the Fairmont, that was just a stunning place as well. The view, that huge lake right at the back there. All at the back where that the bar was, was just full glass, so we could sit on the balcony and relax, have amazing conversation. The lake there, the mountains, the food, again, was just stunning, delicious. And then, obviously, we headed into the boardroom.
Doug Holt 43:44
Yeah. So to give you guys an element, we booked one of the private boardrooms. Right? The conference rooms for this event. And this is where you get almost a one to one or a one to two ratio of coaching. Not only are you getting coaching from myself, from Tim, from Arthur, sometimes we’ll have another coach in there as well that’ll be along for the ride at these events. But now you’re also getting coaching and feedback from the other men. So it is like your own personal boardroom at the inner circle. Hence the inner circle. It’s your inner circle. Your tribe and the amount of insights that these guys are given. So what a guy does is he presents, what’s your number one constraint in your areas of your life that you really want to work on?
And they’ll present problems that are very intimate, very personal. Some are business. So we’ll dive into the business numbers, do a deep dive into sales, marketing, operations, whatever it may be, and then obviously, we’ll give our input. But you also have really, really tuned in business X Men that are there that are running 910 figure companies sometimes, and they’ll go, hey, look, what about this idea? Grant, as an example, had a really creative idea of completely restructuring a man’s business.
This man had a very successful business, but he had an issue, right, as we all do sometimes. He was getting pulled back into his business, and as we were talking, I was across from Grant. He’s got his notepad. It looks like just scribbles and diagrams. He goes, what about this? And then instead of you having to deal with 30 people, now you only have to deal with 4 people and restructured the guy’s entire business going through it, and people were like, wow, that’s actually an amazing, creative idea that could work here. And then we also had guys that had some very personal things going on. One guy had something that was weighing him down quite a bit, and we were able to solve that issue that he was planning on solving within the next year, that day.
Tim Matthews 45:41
Yes.
Doug Holt 45:42
And so when you’re playing at that level with men who are playing high, you can’t help but get RESULTS, right? I mean, you always say it’s by osmosis, even, like, if you were just in the room, which is true, but also, these guys are calling each other forward. You’re kind of going, this guy happened to be something basically, hey, in the next six months, I’m going to have this very difficult conversation, very different, difficult decision to make. And here are all the reasons, all justified. And then we’re like, why don’t you have that conversation now? Well, the excuse train comes in, and then everybody just shoots through the bullet. Just shoots bullets, right? Holes, so to speak. And all the excuses, the stories.
Well, I think you’re making this one up, maybe. Or did you find out? Did you get validation here, verification there? And then when you really start to clear it back, right, because you can’t see the forest from the trees, all these analogies, they’re clichés, but now you’ve got all these high powered men who just want the best for you. They have no skin in the game except for wanting you to have the best.
And when that happens, when that happens, you have that energy, that synergy in there pushing you forward. That guy after at lunch, he stepped out, comes back in with a big smile on his face and was like, I made it all up. All of these things that were weighing him down and we’re asking him like how much freer do you feel? He’s like, oh my gosh! It just freed energy for his business, energy for so many different things simply because he had a group of peers around him, professionally trained coaches, of course, but peers who were able to allow him to just shoot forward at exponential speed. So take a six month timeline for a goal and shorten it to less than 6 hours. Imagine being able to do that in the areas of your life. Phenomenal!
Tim Matthews 47:31
Yeah, that was incredible. What was very insightful as well, a couple of things stood out to me about that. One was the number of guys that were coming up to me saying just how great that session was the entire day. Because again, I know we keep saying it, but there was no ego, right? Those guys have been in other rooms, be it with other organizations and there’s ego for whatever reason, right?
There’s people wanting to act as though they are the main guy there and they know best and so on and so forth. It’s very refreshing for these guys to be in this kind of room with this caliber of men and to be able to get the very honest feedback. And because it comes from a great place, they’re open to receiving as well. Again, there’s no ego. It’s not criticism.
Doug Holt 48:22
Yeah, let me jump in here real quick because you’re stirring a memory for me and I think it goes in line with what you’re saying. The Other thing that happens in this room is guys see right through your bullshit. These are high level guys and they’re going to call it out. And most of us are smart guys and we can subconsciously or consciously snowball everybody.
One guy in particular started telling these side tangent stories, which were good stories. We’d bring it back. Like, what does that have to do with your problem? He’s like, oh crap, I was hoping. And it happened a couple of times and he’s like, when I was in the middle of telling that story, I was thinking, oh crap, how am I….
Tim Matthews 49:03
Going to do it again?
Doug Holt 49:04
Yeah. But he’s in a room now where these guys and the coaches were like, we care for you, we want you to have the result and we’re going to call you forward and you’re not getting away. There is no hiding.
Tim Matthews 49:17
Yeah, that was a great point. The other thing that stood out to me as well, and this was two of the guys came up to me and said this. They said, isn’t it fascinating how three quarters of us have chosen personal problems to bring up and no business? But even as they were going through the personal challenge, other guys were relating that to their business. Yes, because the guys often learn even more from the other guy being in the hot seat.
Doug Holt 49:44
100%.
Tim Matthews 49:45
Watching him get asked questions. The light bulbs are going off in their head, and they’re stringing the pieces together. So it’s incredible. Even though most of the issues were personal, the guys chose out of anything. They chose the personal ones. There were still other guys were then still seeing the benefit from a business perspective, even though it was a personal issue.
Doug Holt 50:07
Yeah, no, it happens all the time. I think when you’re working on your problem, you get a lot from it, but you get more when you think of somebody else, because you think of yourself. Right?
Tim Matthews 50:18
Yeah.
Doug Holt 50:19
And your defenses are down. Your psychological defenses are down. And so all of a sudden, a guy’s talking about his business structure or leadership, and you’re naturally thinking about leadership in the family or how it applies to your business. And even you and I were talking about what we’re talking about, like, oh, well, maybe we could apply that to the movement, The Powerful Man movement, because that might be a way. And the guys are giving us input, too. This is very symbiotic as we’re all working together. Such an amazing event!
When I look at the totality of the event, bringing men to any event is challenging. Right? You’re hurting cats. You’re hurting a bunch of leaders and bringing them in. You just don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Right? Because you have logistics with a hotel, transportation, all of these things moving around. And a shout out to Stu and Phil for doing a fantastic job planning and big time and making sure that it went flawlessly, essentially, for everybody.
When you got 30 some men coming together in a unique place, it’s absolutely fantastic. And coming up in February, our plan is to have twice as many men in Argentina. So in February, we’re going to be doing an Argentina invasion, Buenos Aires and the other areas into wine. I’m just, I can’t wait to continue, you know, for you, I think. Thank you for putting on such a great job and leading the men through your sessions.
And by example, again, I think about these events, and you would imagine, well, Tim is so busy and got so many things going on. We’ll see him during session. But you were there hanging out with the guys, having fun. And the reason is they’re great guys, right? They’re just great people.
Tim Matthews 52:12
Easy to do it.
Doug Holt 52:13
Well, you want to hang out with them. It’s like hanging out with my friends when I wasn’t feeling well, I was like, man, I’m missing my friends type thing. And as we come into this next thing in February for Argentina, guys, if you’re part of The Powerful Man movement, you’re in The Brotherhood, the inner circle, or doing one on one coaching with us, you’ve got to be there. You just got to be there. If you haven’t been to one of our events, you are missing out on something huge.
These things are incredible. The amount of growth, synergy, the bonding of meeting men from all over. I mean, you could tell a million jokes about the events because you got an atheist, a Catholic, and an Amish man walk into a room. Right, but that’s what happens, right? That sounds like a bad joke, but what happens is they have an amazing conversation. They laugh. There’s more commonality than there is differences.
Tim Matthews 53:04
Yeah, I think. Before we wrap up, let’s share the theme. Real high level for Argentina. Not the days or anything, but just the.
Doug Holt 53:14
It’s a bad idea.
Tim Matthews 53:15
I think it’s a great idea.
Doug Holt 53:16
Go for it.
Tim Matthews 53:17
So the theme is all around amplifying and increasing your SMV.
Doug Holt 53:24
What is SMV, Tim?
Tim Matthews 53:26
SMV is Sexual Market Value.
Doug Holt 53:29
What does that mean?
Tim Matthews 53:31
What does that mean? So if you imagine yourself as a stock in the sexual marketplace and your SMV is a way to make sure your stock is always rising. Most guys, when they get into a Relationship, Allow this stock to fall. Their stock is usually quite High going into it because they’re looking to get into a relationship. But then they do various things, stop doing various things, should I say, and their stock price begins to fall. We’ve seen what we’ve seen with the guys in the movement. They love. Once they become aware of this, they get a lot out of focusing on this. So we’re going to be introducing in Argentina ways for the men to be able to increase their SMV in ways that we have not shown them before.
Doug Holt 54:16
Yeah. So when I think of SMV, I’ll just touch on this. Now, it’s not just sex in the bedroom, right? So this is also intimacy. This is the energy you output to the world. Sexual market value has a lot of components to it, just like any business has a lot of components in a business. You’re going to have Legal, financial, Operations, sales, marketing, et cetera, fulfillment. The same thing happens to do with your SMV. And your SMV isn’t just for your partner. It’s also for yourself and for everything else coming in through there. Just want to make sure that’s a clear distinction.
Guys aren’t thinking we’re just going to be talking about sex. There’s a component of it. Right? But think of this as your personal stock of who you are as a man. Let’s say your stock. Now, if you go to the open market, what do you trade for? Right? Do you trade for $10 or you trade for a scale of one to ten? That’s how people rate themselves often. Maybe you’re a six right now. So how do we get you to a Seven? How do we get you to a nine, a ten? What are those steps? For you to be there?
And just to add on, since you brought this up, when your wife married you, my theory is she saw your market Value now, she saw your market potential. And just like we invest in. Right? She invested in you. She invested in who you would become. So if I were to go buy Amazon right now, I’m buying because I believe that stock is going to go up. Your wife, when she married you, she believed your stock would increase. Has it increased or has it know going through? And for most of us, it did for me. My stock fell in different areas. Right? Over time. And so how do you increase that? How do you get it back? Not only for your wife, mainly for yourself?
Tim Matthews 55:55
Big time. Yeah.
Doug Holt 55:56
But also, men start to notice when they work on their SMV, the barista starts paying more attention. We had a lot of guys that were hit on during this event that have been working on it. Just women randomly were attracted to them for whatever reason. And that reason is because their internal SMV was so high that it externally represented. So we’ll be focusing a lot more of that on Argentina.
Tim Matthews 56:17
Yeah. And look, when the guys focus on their SMV, like you said, it’s not about, they’re not focused on sex necessarily. Just when they feel great, they just feel on top of the world. And it just radiates into business. It radiates into every area of the life. It’s when they’re most confident, it’s the happiest, and they’re just unstoppable, really. But we’re going to be giving them some strategies again, things we’ve not shared with them before, to really be able to amplify their SMV.
Doug Holt 56:47
Yeah. So, guys, if you want to go to this event, you want to be a member, be able to get there, talk to Fu Stu, make sure you get to him. And make sure you get a seat because I don’t want you to miss out. I don’t gain anything if you come or go. I don’t make any more money if you come or go. I don’t go from eating top ramen to eating steaks. If you come or go or not show up, but you do, your life will change dramatically. So seek out Fu Stu, talk to him a bit, and make sure you get yourself a seat as soon as possible.
Tim Matthews 57:21
Yeah, I think about a third of them already gone about 24 hours.
Doug Holt 57:25
Yeah.
Tim Matthews 57:26
That’s great.
Doug Holt 57:27
It is. I mean, it’s going to fill up quickly and on the tail end of this event. Cuba, Iceland, everywhere else we’ve been Morocco. These events get bigger and bigger, but we have to confine them. I mean, you can’t have too many people because just logistically, can’t find hotels to fit everybody in. So make sure, guys, you get in there. If you’re not a member of The Brotherhood and you have been through our programs, talk to your advisor, talk to your coach, get in there, find out how you can get in, because this is going to be an event you do not want to miss whatsoever.
I’m excited. I’m going to be bringing my family out. I don’t know if we’re going to be there at the beginning or the end, still to be decided, but I’m going to bring them out there again. I was talking to about, gosh, five or six men who are on the same page. I was like, look, bring your family, too. Let’s get together and have an amazing dinner. We don’t have to hang out the whole time, but get together every once in a while. The wives meet or the partners meet, depending on the situation. The kids get together. It could be a really fun experience.
Tim Matthews 58:25
That’d be great. Yeah.
Doug Holt 58:29
Yeah. Gentlemen, as we always say, in the moment of insight, take massive action. And I think the insight I’m going to give you guys is if you’re not part of a tribe that’s sharpening you, if you’re not part of a group that is allowing you to become better, a brotherhood of other men that you can surround yourselves with, then that has to change. It doesn’t have to be with the powerful man movement. That’s up to you. I’m biased, but I do think these men are the best in the world.
But find a group. Find a group around you, whether it be in your church, your synagogue, whatever leadership it is, mosque, who knows? Wherever it is in your community, find a group of men who are going to raise the bar for you. If you’re the smartest man in the room, you are in the wrong room. And I can guarantee you, guarantee you that if you come to one of our events, you will not be the best in all five territories: self-health, wealth, relationships, and business. There will be somebody else in that room that you can glean off of, that you can learn from, that you can grow from, and they’re going to be an amazing person. So, gentlemen, take action. Find your tribe. We’ll see you next time on the powerful man show.
All right, guys, that’s a wrap for this episode. But as I always say in the moment of insight, take massive action. You see, there are two types of men that listen to a podcast like this, those that go on from one podcast or show to another just hoping things are going to change and realizing that they’re going to be in the same place month after month, year after year.
You see, I was this guy so I completely get it. You may just not be ready. But there’s also a second man, a second man that listens to a show just like this. And this is a guy who takes massive action so they can shorten the learning curve, compress time, and get RESULTS to be the WOLF. See, WOLF is an acronym for Wise, Open, Loving, and Fierce.
Now ask yourself, which one am I? And just be honest with yourself there. And there’s no judgment on my end. But if you’re ready to move from deactivated DEER mode, which is Defend, Excuse, Explain, and React to activated WOLF, Wise, Open, Loving and Fierce, then go over to thepowerfulman.com/grow. And go there now. In fact, I’ll make it super easy for you. I will even put the link right in the description here so you can just click it and go over there now to learn more. Guys, in the moment of insight, take massive action. Go from deactivated to activated, because like I said, life is too short for average and I’ll see you on the next episode!
