Embracing Masculinity and Preparedness | Phill Anderton

when I needed to find my purpose, John, that's where dangerous man came from Holy shit. I was super successful at work, but I'm failing my home life. I'm failing to lead in the home. I'm the husband. I'm the father by title, right? Dad and name only. But I was putting way more into my work energy, my work leadership than I was in my home. And the mostly peaceful summer again we're air quoting the mostly peaceful summer. Got too close to home. It challenged my beliefs and my ability to protect my family. I took my protector role very serious. these are not hard times guys. We are spoiled rotten in this country, which here's the caveat means you still have time to prepare. People don't realize if the grid goes down. How are you going to flush your toilet? Not just drink water. How are you going to shower? How are you going to bathe? Uh, if you can't go to Walgreens, you know, where are you going to get medicine from?

All right. Welcome to the new age human podcast. I'm your host, Jon Astacio. And today we're joined with Phil Anderton, who is a 20 year military veteran, husband and father of three. Phil is the voice behind the podcast becoming a dangerous man, which is part of a coaching platform he has that's dedicated to empowering men through strength, clarity and courage, all while challenging them to embrace their masculinity and becoming unapologetically strong leaders in today's world. Now the subject matter that we go into in this episode is finding your purpose, especially when you're going through a major transition in life. What is a dangerous man and clarifying and elaborating on that. And finally, how that all ties into the concept of preparedness and the mentality behind that. Now with that said, if you want to help support the show, leave a five star review on Apple podcasts, or if you're listening and watching on YouTube, just hit like, and subscribe let's get to the show.

Thank you for coming on to the show. I really appreciate you. Uh, I think we're gonna have an awesome conversation. What about you?

Oh, yeah, I'm very excited for this, uh, for your audience and I, uh, to meet and for me to get to kind of jive with you on, what I would, what I would say after knowing you for a little bit similar, but different views, right? Different ways to look at, at, at problems, certainly with the same goal in mind, right? Be better humans, be better men, better women, not get caught up in a lot of the noise, not get distracted, right? I may be a little more offensive, uh, than, than, than maybe some people are used to. Thank you. but hopefully by the end of this, John, they, they see, uh, the desire that we both share, uh, to just help people be better for themselves, for their families, um, and not be so distracted by, uh, the negativity and though we may say it different brother, I think, I think we're very, uh, similar and hopefully we get to that by the end.

Yeah. And, I think this episode, um. Is going is a long time waiting. Uh, I think there's a, a part of the audience that is really going to enjoy this, uh, a lot of what we're going to be talking about is masculine energy, dangerous man, mentality. What is that preparedness? And I haven't on the show, I haven't gotten that direction and I've been wanting to. So this has been a long time coming. So, again, thanks for coming on. I want to get into a little bit about your background and some challenges, you know, Making that shift from active duty. If you can kind of

Yeah, yeah, appreciate that. So the, the, the quick version is a inner city kid from Houston. Right? So right away, any of the, the, the, any of the. Racist, white people stuff. Uh, I'd like to disband that immediately. I grew up in the, in the, in some rough parts of Houston. Um, I, I was the minority for 18 years until I joined the Navy. so I have a, you know, I have a very inner city kind of chip on my shoulder, kind of grew up a little rough, no dad. So let's just leave it at that, right? Inner city kids, single mom. She worked her ass off and I ran the streets. So, uh, up to no good. College wasn't an option. Barely graduated high school. Boom, uh, Navy calls, right? 9 11 is my senior year. So for a little context, I'm one of the many patriotic. And this kind of gets into purpose, right? This is very relevant where my purpose was kind of given to me at 18. I was a senior. I watched nine 11, like everybody else on TV. I felt an urge. I felt the desire. Um, and, and again, I had nothing going for me in Houston. So, joined the Navy man spent 20 years, had some. Amazing some rough, some combat, some, um, some humanitarian. I got to do a lot in my 20 years. but, but specifically around purpose. Right. So I think it's relevant to say the military or a career field, right? Dr. Lawyer. Well, web does, I mean, whatever people are getting into now, web development, SAS. You know, whatever path you take, I think young, I don't think you realize what purpose is. So I think for the military, it's easy because they kind of instill it in you and boot camp. You go through, uh, 8, 10, 12. I mean, some, some of these branches, you might 6 months to a year of schooling, just. Pumping you full of knowledge and, and culture and core values and history and, and all your training to lead up to a deployment. Right. And I think it'd be no different in a good company. They onboard you, you get mentors, you get it. Hopefully, ideally, you get a mentor sign. You kind of see what that success ladder is. So I think young, that's what a lot of people consider purpose. I think it's a mistake. uh, and I, and I think when you, to your point, when you start to transition, I think that's when you realize. Yes. Well, how do I find this on my own, right? Because I've been, I've been given a path, whether it was tech, whether it was retail, whether it was, uh, entrepreneurship, there's a lot of, uh, a path given to you. And I think when you, when, when, when either a rock bottom situation, uh, layoffs, family dynamics change for me, I decided to get out of the military. The military was going one direction guys like me said. No, thanks. Right. This is around covid. This is around the fact that we'll leave it at that. This is around 2020 to 2022 when the military decided to adopt some things that weren't in line with my original contract will say, and a lot of guys like me, unfortunately said, yeah, I'm going home. Right. So at that point, john people, I had to find my own purpose. And I think that's what you're referring to. And I think anybody in your audience who's gone through one of those transitions where they realize, oh, shit, everything I've been doing was for somebody else or for something else. I need to do something for me. And I think if that's what you're referring to, we can get into that. Certainly.

Yeah. there's a, so you're talking about as far as having to make that hard decision, right? Your values. And that must've been really rough as making that decision, spending all that time, just an active duty. And then at the same time having to, don't you lose stuff when you leave early, so to speak,

Uh, well, I hit 20 on the dot john. So, so there, there were some people that, that said they didn't want to wait for retirement. So I retired from active duty. So I was very fortunate to, I made it just enough time to kind of not have to deal with what everybody else was dealing with. And I got out. I do know some people who got out at that 12 to 14 year mark, which is real tragic because they foregoed retirement. They said, You know, they, for they forego forego may not be the right word, but their purpose was no longer in line with the direction their organization was going. And I want to speak broadly because not everybody in your audience was in the military. Right? But they can relate as an organization that you trusted and you put time in and you invested in and you built with with the expectation of a return on investment and for them to just pull chalks or to go in a completely different direction or lay you off. And now you're left to say what now, what next? Now I made the decision voluntarily. So for your guys listening, for your gals listening, maybe you've been on the fence for a while. Maybe layoffs look like they're coming. Right. So essentially 18 months out. I knew I was getting out. So I had 18 months to prepare myself for this transition. Some people, the rug may be pulled out overnight. Right. And for those people, man, I feel for you because even with 18 months, I had a hard time finding where I am now getting to where I am now. I'm about a year, year and a half out and I am just now comfortable. Where I am, so I can't even imagine the folks that just, you know, overnight mass layoffs and now you're left. You don't know what to do.

you know what? I relate with you because right around that same time where you have, and we're using like code words or like, we're kind of skating around it. around that time, I was in a place where I thought the road was going to be pulled under me. There was chatter in, the job and around just the, let's say the mandatory situation. And, uh, I was thinking, oh my God, like, I have to have a plan B. And so I actually started doing content creation because of that. I wanted to start content creating. I started the idea of the podcast started around that time to help with networking, finding similar minded people and get that thing rolling. Because the next thing I want to get into is that masculine role in the family, that, that energy of like, it's on you. And in my situation, it's on me for being the breadwinner or. Just maintaining, uh, the lifestyle and the comfort and security of the household. And when you think the rug is going to be pulled from you, you have to start thinking fast, right? and so I feel for you on that and I do want to get into the whole concept of your thoughts around the masculine energy, the role of, of a guy and the family and any advice you have for someone that might. Have been or is in a similar situation,

yeah, that's that's a perfect segue because when I needed to find my purpose, John, that's where dangerous man came from. And I know we'll get into the definition here in a minute. But to your point, I started the podcast a year out from retirement. And, and, and, and the short of it is guys, I was a senior enlisted. I had 400 people that I was advising and prepare essentially preparing for war, right? I was responsible operationally and some senior, some of the beds and heads, we call it right. Taking care of the mental, the physical, the family, but I was also responsible operationally for a unit. You know, 200 active 200 reserve essentially to go to war. Right? And that's a big purpose, right? I went to that command with hopes of getting my own command and and furthering my career. I was, I was doing very well. You got to understand. I didn't I wasn't like a bum in the military. Like, I did, you know, I don't want to go into my resume, but every command I finished at the top, right? I was doing extremely well, but I put my purpose of service of leadership of patriotism and what that meant to me. And when I saw the, my organization going in a different direction, I took steps to say enough and what that led me to. So enough of that, right? What that led me to John was, and this is around 2020 and guys, let me tell you the reason I use code words, because I don't want you to lose me if I trigger this one thing that you're so passionately stupid about, and I've been there. I've been passionately stupid on the, on the right side, right? We'll air quote the right side. I've been passionately stupid where I've let a belief. Not allow me to grow by meeting somebody who's just a little bit on the other side. Right? And, and, and, and I will tell you the energy I spent negatively. I have 85 podcast episodes, 60 of them. I'd probably get rid of because they were there. They were very negative energy driven. They weren't growing my audiences mindset. They were just me ranting about something that pissed me off that day. Right? And so the reason we use code words, John, and the reason we air quote, it's not because we're afraid of what we believe. It's we believe we have something better to offer and we don't want to lose somebody on some triggering. Belief that once you hit on them, they just say, oh, everything else this guy's going to say is bullshit, you know? So I almost forgot where we were going with that, but we're talking masculine energy, right? So when I lost my perp, when I, when I, and the military and I said no more, I knew I was out, right? I said, what did I like about the military? What did I enjoy about where I was working? What did I like about my organization prior to them going? In a different direction. It was leadership, man. It was the troops. It was the young men and women that I had the honor and pleasure to serve to lead that. They looked up to me that when I walked in a room, I commanded their presence. I commanded their attention, right? I, I was going to miss the influence of the next generation. I had a teacher mindset. I had a coach mindset. I had a mentor mindset, right? At the same time. Here's where the masculine stuff starts though. I had to evaluate. My family dynamic. I was very here's and for your audience. I'm a men's coach. So I had to identify as a man. Holy shit. I was super successful at work, but I'm failing my home life. I'm failing to lead in the home. I'm the, I'm the husband. I'm the father by title, right? Dad and name only. I have the title dad. I have the title father, but I was putting way more into my work energy, my work leadership than I was in my home. And the mostly peaceful summer again, we're air quoting for the video audience. We're air quoting the mostly peaceful summer. Got too close to home. It challenged my beliefs and my ability to protect my family. I took my protector role very serious. And I realized, and we'll kind of get into the EDC and, and I don't want to derail that, that's maybe another conversation is why I think men should carry. but the mindset shift, right? So let's just stick to the mindset shift. That's where the masculine energy came. That's where me understanding the role of men, men civilized the frontier. Some say conquer the frontier women's civilized men. So I can pretty much sum up my beliefs on my, uh, on my wife and I's relationship. My job is the CEO. Her job is the C. O. O. We are a equal unit, but here's my masculine toxic belief. I have the role of 51 percent like a CEO would. It is my job to forecast out. It is my job to look ahead. I set the battle space. I set the perimeter. I secure the battle space. So my wife can work intelligently and efficiently within the battle space that I secure and protect and defend because a woman cannot be her feminine self. If she doesn't feel safe, if she doesn't feel secure in her relationship, if she's worried about her man running out or leaving her, if she's worried her man's, uh, you know, not paying attention and she has to be the defender of the home, right? Right. All these things make a woman not be able to be a woman. My belief, my, my speech, I'm not attributing that to you or anybody else. That is my belief and what works for me. I've been married 18 years. I have three kids. Okay. So I can speak from some authority on being a husband. So that shift happened around the same time, John, I said, okay, I can't properly defend my home because I'm paying too much attention to Fox News. I'm paying too much attention to the narrative. I'm being fed too much negative bullshit. It's got me emotionally unstable. My wife can't be herself because I'm ranting and raving and I'm kind of going with wherever they're telling me to go. So she's not 100%. Right, because her husband gets fired up. Like, I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh and Ben Shapiro for your, you know, for context, guys, I turned it all off. I turned it all off. I started to read my news. I started and we'll get into and we can digress from there. But you guys see where I'm going with that. So that the shift happened. I want to be a leader. I like to lead men. Uh, specifically men because weak men make hard times, right? So I wanted to focus on men. I created a podcast. I created a blog. I created a website. I created a LinkedIn account and I started speaking my version of this, for men to digest and connect. And I've been coaching men ever since.

It's interesting. Um, and I think it's very powerful what you were saying where you took that to heart and you reevaluated your situation, your position, and you clarified for yourself what it looks like for the household for it to work. 51 versus 49, and I see that as working as a, as a good guidance tool. But what are your thoughts on those relationships where maybe the, the female is more masculine than average, right?

That, that, that guys, let me say, I

I'm asking, you know,

I married a Southern California Mexican. She is not, uh, I'm not married to some, you know, no disrespect to the word submissive, but, uh, my wife is strong here, here, let me, let me asterisk the 51%. I need to pick what she wanted me to pick to be successful. Do you guys understand this? I, my 51%, I've almost never used it because I don't have to. Because here's the thing, right? I wish we, I wish we were like, I wish I was like this super video editor and I could put this. Think of the movie 300, right? For those that haven't seen it, I ask you to YouTube the movie 300. My scene of my wife and what I believe a woman should be is the movie 300 when he kicks the guy down the hole, right? It's the perfect scene for marriage. I want to do it. My, my, my goal is to do a TED talk on this scene, right? Because women should strive for this, right? The scene is iconic. Leonidas, the king of his people is confronted by the messenger of Xerxes army, right? It's a big, it's a big scene. He has a politician to his over a shoulder. He has his general over his shoulder and he has his wife over his shoulder before he makes the decision to kick this motherfucker down the hole and go to war. Where does he look? He does not look at the politician. He does not look at his best friend. The general, he looks at his wife and what does his wife do? His wife doesn't sit there daintily and be like, Oh, whatever you want, dear. No, this woman is strong. She's in the know she's been in his council. She knows everything that's about to happen when she gives the what she gives the, okay, she doesn't say, Oh yes, dear, whatever you want. He doesn't say happy wife, happy life. That's all bullshit. They are equals in their intellect and their decision making. They are equals. And thus she gives the nod and he kicks the motherfucker down the hole and goes to war. She is not trying to carry the sword. She is able to influence the man built to carry the sword.

Yeah, that was actually a really good visual ex example because he was like. You like, they, they were on the same level as far as, you know, what I'm going to do. Right. And then she's in her mind, like in that split second, he's like, I'm going to, I'm going to do something and it's going to change everything.

it's going to change

you have, do you have my back? And are you good with this? And then she gave the, let's do this. And then he just kicked that guy. which to

a strong woman. That's the woman I'm married to. So I'm not married to a submissive. Oh, whatever you want, honey. No, she gives me hell if I mess up. She gives me hell to make sure that I'm making the right decision. But if I need to, for the future of our family, make a tough decision, I heed her counsel. I have mentors, but at the end of the day, it's her counsel I heed, and I get the nod. I work to get the nod, because I built up the trust with her that when I say, hey, I need to kick this motherfucker down the hole, she says, okay.

Yeah. No, that's, that's well said. I appreciate that. That's great. Thank you. You are the dangerous man, right? What is a dangerous man? Like the guy that kicks people off of a cliff, right?

brother.

So let's let's clarify what a dangerous man

so I kind of alluded to it a little bit, man, but and I'm still evolving, right? I've been doing this 3 years. I've been at this coaching men and every client. I every client. I coach every group that I coach every, every awesome conversation that I have. I evolve a little bit more. Essentially a dangerous man knows what he believes. And a woman can be dangerous. You know what you believe, you know why you believe and you know who you can trust. Right? So essentially dangerous is a detachment from being fed, being spoon fed, being guided by the narrative guided by whatever 10 foil hat you want to call it that you believe. Right? Being dangerous is being capable to defend yourself, provide for yourself. Essentially detach emotionally from the crazy, from the toxic, from the cancerous, we were talking a little bit before about, you know, I had a week on Twitter and I just thought, you know, as a combat vet, having been in the shit and seeing what the human body looks like when it blows up, I wouldn't wish that on my enemy, but yet these people on Twitter had Twitter for a week and these people, they wish things on their enemy that people in combat don't wish, like people that know Would not wish that on their worst enemy. And these people are so vile and disgusting. They're not dangerous. They're just waiting for the next headline to get behind the next Hamas, Israel fight to get behind Ukraine, Russia to get behind LG, get behind. They're just waiting for the next. Anger management outreach program, whatever we want to call it. They're, they're not dangerous, man. If anything, they're a danger. And so if we translate that mindset to the family, John, When I was listening to Rush Limbaugh on Rest in Peace, I like the guy, he was intelligent, right? But when I was, I never did Alex Jones, but I did Ben Shapiro for a little bit. I did Jordan Peterson for a little bit. I went through the conservative right kind of think tank, Fox News. I was too emotional. I was too charged. I was chasing those rabbits like everybody else on the other side. And so when I detached, what did I do? I looked at the man in the mirror and I said, me and you guy, I said, me, it's me and you, that's where I have the control. And then I said, we are responsible to lead our family. What does that mean? Well, it means a lot more than just providing a paycheck, right? It means teaching, educating, holding accountable a lot more on the self defense. And again, we can get into that probably another day. Cause that's its own rabbit hole. Why men should carry and be prepared EDC everyday carry guns. Medical training, right? So it was just a big mindset shift. So, and there's a new quote. I've kind of evolved to john and I don't have it memorized yet, but it's essentially the 1 Thomas Jefferson used when he was writing about the 3 forms of government. And he's basically saying in the revolutionary time, we'd rather live dangerous lives than be peaceful slaves. Something to that effect. Right? So, uh, to do that means and we'll get into the preparedness piece that would so it was, it was really big on. Yeah. Detaching from what they want me to believe understand what I believe I believe in hard work. I believe in respect. I believe in women on a pedestal. I believe in being a gentleman. I believe your value. You add to other people is how you should be judged. Not the car. You drive the truck. You drive with the clothes you wear. Right? So that's what I believe. I'm not going to believe what anybody else tells me to believe. Right. So a big detachment and then investing in your family, investing in your team, your tribe, and then being prepared to not have to stand in the bread line. That's what makes you dangerous.

And lots of good points. I definitely, I definitely like that quote, at least your version of summarizing it. I want to look that up for from Thomas Jefferson. That reminds me of the phrase is better to be a warrior in a garden than a Gardener in a war. Right? I

Yeah. And the whole Patrick, the whole Patrick Henry, you know, I'd rather, uh, I'd rather fight on my feet than die on my knees or something to that effect. so there's a lot of context, but you get the idea. Certainly the idea is. To be dangerous is to be detached, to be invested in you and yours, and then to be prepared for whatever's coming, uh, certainly.

So let's get into preparedness. What does it mean to be prepared? Hmm.

prepared. Okay. This is good. So let's do it. Both fold from the self defense side. Preparedness is the difference from responding to a threat or having to react to a threat. And we won't get into the, like, I've kind of, I'm diving deep into situational awareness, but essentially everybody has a fear, fight or flight or freeze response that is reacting to a threat. The difference is being dangerous. It means I'm paying attention. It means I'm situationally aware. It means I'm seeing a threat coming. If I, if my spider sense goes off, I say, okay, what would I do in this situation? The fact that I'm doing that, it makes me more calm, more ready, less likely to just pull my gun out and start shooting people. Okay. So, so from a self defense side to be prepared is means you, you have a plan. At least in theory to respond versus react to a threat. And then the second form of preparedness is for you and your family. And it's, it's essentially a downgrid. and again, I don't, this is the example I use when coaching clients, right? Because I like to, I like to disband, like you have to have a gun right away. It's like, do you have a fire extinguisher in the house? Do you know how to use a fire extinguisher? Does your family know how to use a fire extinguisher? Does your family understand the difference between a bacon grease fire? And a paper fire or an electrical fire, right? You could go down this rabbit hole with fire extinguishers on preparedness, right? It does no good. If you know how to use it, if they don't know how to use it, because you're not always home. It does no good. If you all know how to use it, but you try to use it on a grease fire in your kitchen or or God forbid, you try to put it in the sink and dump water on it. And then you just blew your kitchen up, right? You could do the same thing with CPR certification because guns again, if guns scare people, you're not for me. Right. You're not for me, but that's not to say they're not for you. And that's why I would say use the fire extinguisher. If you go boating, do you wear a life jacket? Why do you wear a life jacket? If you know how to swim? Oh, because there's a, there's a measure in place, right? That's what a gun is. A gun is a tool. It's a measure in place, a just in case. And let me just end that piece here on the self defense side. By me carrying a gun, guys, I'm the safest person to be around. Do you know why? Because I don't want to be judged. I don't want to go to jail. I don't want to have to have my actions judged. I am going to be the safest, calmest person in a room. I'm not going to road rage because I know I carry a gun. I'm not going to get in an altercation because I carry a gun. I'm not going to step between two people getting an altercation because I carry a gun. I am the safest person in the room because I understand what a bullet will do to your body. I don't want my kids to see that at all costs if they don't have to, right? And I don't want to get involved in somebody else's legal battle because I was trying to be somebody's hero, right? A gun makes me a safer person. I don't know if you want to chime in on that with self defense before we move on to home preparedness.

So I wanted to elaborate or go into the mindset that changes when you are prepared because you brought up a really good point. It reminds me of martial arts. A lot of times you think at the, at the, at the forefront, martial arts is self defense, but when you start getting into it, it's more of, uh, of a management of your, Of your mind of your ability to handle a situation and if anything, it allows you to build that stamina for controlling a situation and not be reactionary because you have this skill. Now, it ups your responsibility and it may be funny, but that quote from spider man with great responsibility comes.

Great power comes great responsibility.

with great power comes

Why? And you, and, and you were going, you were going there, but the most martial artist have nothing to prove. Right. It's, it's all a man's ego. When you see road rage, when you see fights in a parking lot or a parking space, when you see soccer dads fighting, that's all ego driven. When you decide, here's the thing as a,

Soccer tats.

Oh, dude, soccer

that's the first time I've heard that phrase.

John, I've almost gotten a fight on many soccer fields with parents. It's ridiculous. People's egos go nuts. Until I started carrying a gun. And here's what I'll say. I was never a high degree martial artist. I've done various martial arts. I've studied. I'm very confident with my hands, but I've never like mastered an art to the psychological degree that people. When they get black belts and things like that. Right? I've, I've, I've tasted a lot. I've tried a lot of different martial arts. Right? So I, I never considered myself a martial artist. I always consider myself a fighter. I got into MMA for some years. Right? And that's not really a, they don't really do a good mindset job in MMA the way. Like specifics styles do. Okay. So my ego was always being challenged my ego up until 2020. Before I saw the mob of people pull somebody out of a car and beat him to death. I, but prior to that, I'd always been over confident that I could handle the situation with my hands. And at times I wanted to, I wanted to test myself. I wanted to know what it felt like again. Cause I enjoyed getting hit. I enjoyed hitting people. Like I enjoy fighting and sparring. But again, I didn't do it at the level where my ego shifted as a martial artist, where I would have got that calmness where I already knew what I was capable of. With a gun I've been there done that I know what I'm capable of. I don't ever want to do that I don't ever want anyone around me to experience that so I feel like being proficient with a weapon has made me that martial artist That's like, okay. I know I will kill this guy. So I don't want to I want to detach I want to get distance I want to create distance from disorder. I want to get away because the last thing I want to do and I think that's what We were going with with the martial artist prior to the gun. I just think for me The mob of people that have shown that they will get behind the narrative and they will create violence and God forbid you're in the wrong place the wrong time. God forbid you're wearing a MAGA hat and you walk through a fricking Biden rally and you get just assaulted because people have no value for human life. They don't realize what you're doing to another human. And I think that's what I mean when I say my egos and check that gun has put me in a position to say, I know what this thing will do, and I don't wish that on anybody unless you leave me no choice. That makes me a safer person. That makes me a safer human.

It's interesting how you said that you did practice different types of physical, like just martial arts.

done Jeet Kune Do. I've done boxing. I've wrestled. I've done jujitsu. But then I got into MMA and MMA is not really a style that you belt towards. You just spar and you train and you. So I never had the mindset shift. That a true martial artist gets, if that makes sense.

right. And it's interesting because you have Practice those set of skills more than the average person from what I, from my point of view, and yet still you feel more confident in what you're working with, uh, with. A weapon with, with a, with a pistol, right? And it's interesting also, because I can see people deciding go left. Um, use your hands as defense or go right with a physical weapon or both. And I feel like it's really good to have both because maybe you can. Not need to feel like you need to escalate to the deadly weapon because you have your hands first. So, I, what are your thoughts on having both a mixture of both because or just go straight to getting a pistol and

John with anything it's, it's training with anything. It's what are you willing to train? I teach a gunfighter course, gunfighter fundamentals, gunfighter basics. I shouldn't say I teach. I'm learning to teach. I have somebody that I've that that mentors me that teaches me. He leads a gun course. I took his gun course, 16 hour course, and then I'm working with him as kind of like a mentor. Uh, to, uh, you know, trainee, so I should caveat, I'm learning to train other people in gunfighter basics. So same thing with martial arts, John, are you willing to put in the time to train? Right? Bruce Lee said, I love Bruce Lee fear, not the man who throws 10, 000 punches, right? Fear the man who threw one punch 10, 000 times. So whatever you're willing to get good at, here's what I'll say with the gun. If you do the gun, right? You'll never want to use it. You'll never want to use it, which heightens your situational awareness, which heightens you're looking out for trouble to get away from trouble. It will, if you do it right now, if you don't conquer your ego and you buy a gun, you're a threat to everybody around you. I'll say it. I mean, I believe me, I don't want gun laws. I don't want gun restrictions. I'm not, I'm not a fan of any infringement on our second amendment, but I'm being honest. I am only safe with I am the most dangerous person with my weapon because I understand everything that I've just spoken to you and my ego is in check a man who just owns a gun, but hasn't done the ego work. Hasn't done the deep work to learn himself. That doesn't value human life. Good or bad. Disagree or agree. Human is a human and I value human life. That is the difference. So we got a caveat, right? If you're going to do the gun thing, you need to value human life above all else. And I'm telling you that by default, it'll make you a safer person. Just owning a gun, keep it in your truck, and you're going to shoot the first motherfucker that pops off at you. Go to jail. Don't pass go. Fuck you. You're a terrible person. Like, you know, it most self defense situations could have been prevented with with situational awareness, de escalation or distance from disorder.

I see a lot of the preparedness, a lot of having a gun, a lot of that training as a mind game. And also this whole conversation is, is. Heavily weighted on the mind game, and I know that you do training on this, right? And before we get into, I want to get into what you're doing and how people can reach you and anything you want to highlight. Is there anything you want to summarize from what we spoke about that you feel that we skipped ahead on before we go on

No, I, I would just like, uh, we're using some good quotes here. Some good ideas here. I just, a lot, a lot of people, I'm sure your audience, uh, and mine both can relate to like the hard times make strong men, strong men make good times. Good times make weak men. Weak men make hard times. People always ask, and anytime I can chime in, I always say, These are not, these are not hard times, guys. I've deployed around the world. I've been to places where I've pissed and shit in holes that, you know, river, you know, I've been to places that tourists don't go. Like I've been to places where a bag of rice and whatever comes out of the trees or the ground is what people eat. Like I've been to places where, you know, people still get stoned to death. You know, I, I, these are not hard times guys. If you can Venmo, if you can Uber eats, if you can hit a drive through, if your grocery store still got food, if your gas station still has gas, these are not hard times. We are spoiled rotten in this country, which here's the caveat means you still have time to prepare. You still have time to create a food storage, create a food plan, you know, work with some neighbors on how you would defend your area. If God forbid the situation arised. Right? the ability to provide water. People don't realize if the grid goes down. How are you going to flush your toilet? Not just drink water. How are you going to flush your toilet? How are you going to shower? How are you going to bathe? Uh, if you can't go to Walgreens, you know, where are you going to get medicine from? Do you have any idea how medicinal herbs or, or garden could value you food or medicinally? Like these are things again, that's a whole nother, uh, so preparedness, preparedness, I have a nine step preparedness plan, essentially phase one, two, and three is, is aware, prepared, defend. Right. And so that's build your awareness, prepare to defend. And then the next one is, what are you going to do for utilities, right? What are you going to do? What are you going to do for food and water storage? What are you gonna do for your utilities? And what are you going to do for your medicinal? All right. So those three categories are the first areas I really hit when I start talking to men about preparedness, it's food and water, it's. Utilities because people don't realize hot and cold is provided, right? Water is provided, sewer is provided, and then medicine. What are you going to do medicinally? If your kid catches a fever and you don't got gas to get to the hospital or you can't, you know, people think that's never going to happen. Guys in other countries, these are luxuries. We have, these are luxuries we have. So,

Yeah, and I think the, the preparedness part of it really helps build that mentality of appreciation, right? Because you know what will happen if all these conveniences just fall to shit. And now you're like, I appreciate this more and I know what to do in case shit hits the fan. So,

Enjoy it while you got it, but have a plan B. Have

Yeah, exactly. Plan B, C, D, right? And you're the guy. So if anybody is looking for being prepared, helping with being a dangerous man, finding your purpose and things of that nature, you provide some training on that, which is awesome. And. All the information, uh, as far as how to get in touch with Phil will be in the notes of the show, wherever you listen or watch. and as we sum up the show, I think, uh, I want to say, thank you for coming on my friend. It's been an awesome journey going through just highlights of your journey and your input on going from someone that was this extreme emotionally driven far, right? To now you're more focused

far right, according to them. But yes, I, I, I didn't think I was because I wasn't beating any streets or protesting. I wasn't doing any of that, but that's fair. I mean, based on what the other side would think. Sure. I was, I was far right. I just want to caveat. I don't claim any allegiance to any, I never claimed allegiance, but it's fair. I, I will admit. Yeah, I was emotionally driven. I was. I was waiting for the next headline to rile me up, and, Oh my god, can you believe this? And da da da, and all this shit I couldn't control, so. That's fair. You just say far right, I'm like, ah! But yes,

No. Yeah. Thanks for clarifying that. I mean, at the end of the day, we have to be aware of what people are labeling us as. And then, like you said, you decide where you want to be. And the, we're both on the same side, which is humanity. That's the side I'm on. That's the side you're on

I'm on the side, human life is valuable, and the shit people say to each other is disgusting. That's the side I'm on.

Yeah, yeah. We're going to

if you're on either side of right or left, and you're calling for other humans to die, I'm not on your side. Like, you could fuck off. Like, yeah, can I, can I make a book recommendation real quick, John,

yes. Go for

are still listening, my favorite book, guys, it's very little known, but it's called the protector ethic by James Morgan. Ellie. He's a marshal. He's a 40, 30, 40 year martial artist. He wrote a book. I could never write dangerous man as good as this man wrote. I'm actually going to interview him for my podcast. Um, I just haven't got around to it yet. He's been very gracious. It's called the protector ethic. It will open your eyes to the value of human life. You know, some of the highlights in there he talks about are the, the, the, the way to eliminate a threat is to save the victim, not to hurt the perpetrator, right? Because he's a human too. His situation matters too. It is not to destroy this man. It is to do enough to stop what he was doing and then let everybody get up and let the authority sort it out. But it does not to destroy a human life. Just to destroy human life. Right? So the protector ethic, James Morgan, Ellie, philosophically, super deep. It's one of my favorite books that I've read the most. Um, and it really helped shift my mindset where that guy has a rough story. I'm not excusing it. He's still probably a shitty human. But if, but, but if I can stop him without killing him, if I can disengage without needing to destroy, he is somebody's child, right? That is the value of human life. And a lot of people are missing that. Um, I would argue more on the left, but okay. On both extremes, people are missing the value of human life, man.

Yeah. And that's something I believe everybody can agree with the value of human life. It'll center you. It'll, it'll just bring you back to earth.

But the narrative will tell you otherwise the narrative will tell you otherwise.

Be careful of the narrative.

because we

careful. Of the commercials of the propaganda, right? Know that it's an algorithm. Know that you may have fallen into a and what we call an echo chamber of social media. So, I, I'm totally on the same page with you on that with manicuring and manicuring who I follow on social media, being aware of what their message is and what my message is. So.

Yes, sir.

Yeah. Great book recommendation, man. I'm waiting for your book.

Ah, that's close.

It's going to be cool. Thanks for coming on the show, man.

Thank you so much, man.