The Saddled Stallion

A growing number of people in this weak world have an issue being held -- and holding others -- accountable. Unfortunately, they are missing a HUGE opportunity to grow themselves and to grow others.

In this episode, I get real about the beauty of accountability in three common domains of life -- when we're shepherding others, when we're partnering with others, and when we're looking up to others (or a high standard). 

I also share what I believe is the very simple, but seemingly very difficult, enabler of PERFECT accountability. Enjoy!

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Are you chasing, building, or working on something? Do you ever feel like quitting? Dude, me too.

I've learned that the things most worthy of building usually do not explode into awesomeness in the short term. They simply take patience, persistence, and grit. For them to stand stronger and longer, they must be built methodically -- rightly -- and the process must build our endurance.

In this short episode, I share some simple (but reliable) tactics and perspectives to overcome seasons of doubt and discouragement.

Use them. Lean on them. Don't quit. Keep going.

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Our culture seems to encourage two ways of treating our issues: (1) unapologetically embrace them or (2) pridefully avoid them. 

Both treatments are undergirded by the "I'm a special snowflake" mentality. 

The question is not whether we adopt these mentalities when our issues surface -- they are natural human reactions -- but how we can consciously combat them with a more real, humble approach.

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What will your funeral be like? Will those hours feel like minutes, or days, to people?

In this episode, Chad reflects on three deaths in his life that impacted, and continue to edify, him.

How we live dictates how our funeral will impact people. By reflecting back, we can set a new course forward.

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Seven years into starting his own Digital Marketing business, Taylor Condrin (by our world’s standards) has cracked the code to a purposeful life. 

He’s a successful entrepreneur and has a beautiful family (wife and two kids), a gorgeous home, and much of what us men strive for: freedom, impact, and success.

But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, two years after high school, Taylor was broke, confused about his future, and battling anxiety.

1. What triggered his transformation?
2. How did he build his own self-running business with just a GED and a tight budget?
3. What drives him, and how does he define a purposeful life?

His answers surprise, teach, and inspire us. Listen in!

You can find out more about Taylor's business and ministry here: https://www.facebook.com/EvangelistTaylorCondrin/

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Have you been in a season of "just get through it?" I have. Here are three things I've learned from seasons like these; these insights should give you the nudge you need to keep grinding, with a genuine smile on your face. Enjoy.

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If you have ideas on how I could make this podcast better serve men, email me: chad@kanyer.co. 

What are the purposes behind the wildernesses we put ourselves through? Chad's answer was crystal clear.

Excerpt: After trying anything and everything under the scorching sun, this well proved to be the only honest, trustworthy, never-failing source: God."

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Could your greatest treasure be sitting right under your nose? Mine did, but I needed the wilderness to give me the lens to finally see it. Chad shares a story that illuminates this odd, but game-changing truth, in this episode.

Excerpt: "Everyone seems to be foregoing their purpose, out of fear, to sufficiently perform for a crowd of people who would actually be far more “entertained” and inspired by the daring, energetic, relentless pursuit of something authentic."

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This chapter is about choosing which conqueror you will become in life -- the one who ignores all else to win the battles of life, or the ones who cherishes his internal victories, even if it means losing the exterior ones.

Two years into entrepreneurship, Chad reached a crossroads and was given that very choice. Hear which conqueror he chose to be and why.

Excerpt: "Our external pursuits of worldly accomplishments influence us to prepare for battle, sharpening our swords and mapping our attack formations, but the fiercest armies we face are actually inside of us, and our feats on the material battlefield seem to only somewhat correlate with our more hidden, more prized advances and accomplishments."

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During Chad's stint in the wilderness, he tried to turn back to his former life of Fortune 500 management consulting multiple times for reprieve and familiarity. Despite him comfortably walking through them before, they shut each time, to his shock.

This chapter unpacks, in retrospect, Chad's learned "why" behind those "failures."

Excerpt: "That’s the battle – the battle between our two selves. The muddy, bloody tug-of-war between who we know we can become and who the world wants us to settle to be. The battle between stable and sensational; between predictable and purposeful; between good and great."

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This chapter is about the hidden blessings of having lacking clarity around our ultimate plans and purposes.

Excerpt: "Perhaps each summit is really purposed to prepare us for the next one, regardless of whether we reach the first."

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Are you a slave?  I am.  

We all are, whether our master is money, sex, acceptance, success, or something else.

Seasons of hardship exposure how unworthy masters and truer paths. That is what entrepreneurship did for Chad -- he shares in this episode.

Quote from book: "And so the question is not whether we’re slaves -- captured stallions forced to submit to a system we didn’t design -- but rather, who our master is and whether we trust them."

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Our selfish nature leads us to suffocate the small things, yes, but even the most altruistic ideas we have -- ones geared to help others.  

My season in the entrepreneurial wilderness taught me (painfully) the punishment of letting this happen and how to prevent our selfishness from sucking the life out of our greatest ideas.  

Hint: We accept that they were never ours to own. 

Enjoy!

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Have you ever felt that your best ideas start small, but often grow into ugly beasts that haunt your home and steal your sleep?

Ah, yes, the creative dilemma. Can we harness and channel our creativity without it engulfing our lives, stifling our ability to turn ideas into reality?

Chapter 6 is all about keeping our ideas simple and "slayable," just as Disney movies keep their villains.

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When we hustle to build the ideas we love, there are undoubtedly times of thirst and exhaustion.

And as we approach the waters of community -- "nature's mirror" -- we see ourselves as we truly are.

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Many launch into entrepreneurship in pursuit of purpose. That is okay; that is how I found mine.

But the mistake I made was leaving my survival skills behind. I was too obsessed with the "new" to leverage my "talents of old" to succeed within it.

The fourth chapter of my book focuses here -- this episode breaks it down. Enjoy!

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Our culture encourages us to publicly express our targets as if they’re already attained in hopes of convincing others to “follow” (or even pay) us. 

Chad pulls from his personal experience in entrepreneurship to explain how this is a trap and a time-suck.

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Having trouble identifying what you really want to go after in life and business? The "wilderness of entrepreneurship" taught Chad how to identify the big mountains that we were born to climb -- ones that call for an agony we enjoy.

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This 14-part mini-series unpacks each chapter of Chad's new book, Dying in the Wilderness: Finding Purpose Through Failure.

When you enter any difficult wilderness, you're bound to get kicked in the teeth. But if you're not willing to bleed here, then why are you here?

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This 14-part mini-series unpacks each chapter of Chad's new book, Dying in the Wilderness: Finding Purpose Through Failure.

In 2015, Chad quit his cushy Microsoft consulting job, moved his family to Dallas, and started a business. The next two years proved edifying, but for reasons that he never anticipated. 

The best output of the season? His book, Dying in the Wilderness: Finding Purpose Through Failure.

This episode is the first of 14 short interviews in which he will unpack his experience over those two trying years in entrepreneurship.

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This 14-part mini-series unpacks each chapter of Chad's new book, Dying in the Wilderness: Finding Purpose Through Failure.

Some of our best accomplishments in life will not be external, measurable, or material. 

In this episode, I recap some of my goals for 2021, how I did against them, and whether my ACTIVITIES led to true ACHIEVEMENTS.

As we set goals for 2022, let's also consider areas in which we can exhibit a strength of inaction.

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There is nothing like an open door: an invitation to ride with someone to a shared destination, to rest and reflect on someone's comfortable cough, or even to enjoy a new career. In these scenarios, we're granted trust and are responsible for preserving that trust. 

But what happens with the doors we open to others? Do we still trust them? Are we holding them accountable for what is said and done here? 

In this episode, I unpack where our culture is failing in holding people accountable and some tips on closing (and re-opening) doors with love and respect. 

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Associations are powerful.

When we connect concepts and people based on shared traits, unifying them can unlock massive growth.

But when we are unaware of the associations at play in our relationships, stances on faith, and career decisions, they can hurt and hinder us more than we know.

My good friend Trevor and I unpack this concept, pulling from our own perspectives and stories in both relationships and in our entrepreneurial efforts.

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Are you worthy of the trust, love, and reverence you see in her eyes?

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To proceed the right way, you must make a key decision right now.

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Been there. Here’s what works, what doesn’t, and what may be happening.

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Why do we put good into the world? Why do we restrict ourselves from generating bad?

Whether your answer hinges on a belief in karma or a religious attitude, the premise of both is selfish.

A different, truly-selfless model is what we must seek, and seek to emulate.

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Have you been ignoring an inner voice telling you to slow down recently? Paying the piper for it? Well, give me a try.

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If you recently got fired, or are dealing with a career obstacle, listen to this.

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Our culture thirsts for the silver-bullet leadership model. In reality, none exists. Your winning formula should differ from mine.

To help you craft it, look at kids. Their authenticity is the basis of every great leadership style, is it not? In this episode, I explore this idea, debunk myths of leadership, and share the costs of taking "the childhood approach" to leadership.

We can all be leaders. Today. Now. No training or qualification or reading or listening necessary. Just perspective. I hope that this episode provides some.

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Are you in a frustrating spot?

You're likely there for a reason -- discomfort breeds growth -- but there's also as chance that you're simply planted in the wrong garden.

Sometimes we need to grin and bear the gardens we're placed in. Sometimes we need to simply survive and leave them.

I hope that what I recently went through (spoiler: career related) gives you insight and encouragement to weather whatever garden you're in, whether it's promising or painful.

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What matters most to you in life? I’m sure it’s good. Could it also be a god?

In this one, I share a few goods that grow to gods in my life, how I face them down, and something epic that no good, or god, can promise us.

A man cannot walk with purpose while allowing good things to become his gods. Let’s go.

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The purpose of this message is to both honor and encourage Coach Don Bartel, the defensive coordinator of our former high school football team (but so much more).

Through dedicated, articulate passion, Bartel embodied strength in humility, impact over popularity, and (most importantly) the beauty of “ditch-digging.” I share three stories about Coach Bartel to exhibit the greatest lessons he taught me both on the football field and in the classroom.

Thank you, coach, for showing me during my formative years that our positions, titles, and incomes only limit our impact if we allow them to. I'm grateful.

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Being raised in a social media generation has led too many of us to treat our human interactions and friendships as dispensable, replaceable, and immediately-salvageable with a "like" or a "follow."

We slander each other while maintaining our "friendship" on Facebook. We tell each other to get lost, but then "follow" each other on Instagram. We clamor to maintain the externally-facing portrait while neglecting the true colors that make it beautiful without presentation.

In this episode, I share three painfully personal examples of these "corruptions of connection" and encourage you (and myself) to take stock of how we're viewing relationships.

Let's [genuinely] reconnect with one another. That's the good stuff.

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As most in the world clamor for the vaccine (I just got my first shot), I ask some questions and share [I'll admit, kinda heated] perspective on what we overlook and avoid: a much deeper sickness than COVID.

Getting real is a big part of this episode and a HUGE part of purposeful manhood (so we're right on track). Enjoy!

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Our culture erroneously classifies men who cry as soft, over-sensitive, or even homosexual. This is absurd, and my story proves it. 

In this message, I share three edifying and tear-filled moments from my life, what those tears taught me, and why I'm grateful that I let them flow.

If you're a "man's man," this is the perfect episode for you.

Walk in purposeful manhood.

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What is a "saddled stallion" anyway? Don't you know that stallions are wild, Chad? Get it together!

Yeah, yeah. 

This quick episode shares the story behind the name of my blog and podcast, and really outlines the key denominator of all my messages.

Walk in purposeful manhood.

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In football, playing in the snow exposes a players' grit and dynamism. We just saw Tom Brady and the Buccaneers (slight yawn) do this -- overcome the bitter cold to beat the Packers at Lambeau Field.

But what about when you and I face cold, snowy days in terms of money, relationships, or finding purpose? In this episode, I share how to view, and endure, these tough tests.

Let's walk in purposeful manhood.

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The biggest mistake you'll make is not failing at achieving a dream, but failing to simply choose one and pursue it. 

Here are five things that have blocked me from defining my mission and channeling my energies.

Learn from my scars here, guys! Overcome these blockers, define your mission, and get after it. Walk in purposeful manhood.

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Creativity is an oft-celebrated feature of our luster-seeking society, but it can evolve to ruthlessly crush our dreams if unharnessed.

In this first episode in a while, I share the three biggest pitfalls of the creative mind, one simple tool I use to avoid them, and what the Bible says about people like me and you making plans.

Embrace -- but properly harness and channel -- your creativity. Walk in purposeful manhood.

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