Being A Better Man

Alf Herigstad
  • 4.9 (187)
  • TECHNOLOGY

This show is about the character of men rather than the trappings of manhood. We will discuss the challenges men face from day to day, relationships, and personal accountability. We will talk about the finer points of manhood, and what it means to be a man in these modern times. It is all designed to lead up to a decision; the decision to be a better man today, than we were yesterday.

  1. 12/11/2017

    235 - The Return, with guest Les moore

    The Return!  With special guest, Les Moore. That’s right guy’s, I’m back! It has been almost three whole months since I have released a new podcast.  The last episode, number 234 went live on September 18th.  Since then my life got a little crazy and I had some unfortunate technical challenges to overcome.  During this three month Hiatus I have made a lot of observations, I have gained many insights, and I have continued on the path of being a better man than I was yesterday.  I plan to share these insights with you in upcoming episodes.  Today however, for my first episode back in a while we have a special guest who is going to share his personal story with us.  This interview has been scheduled for about three months as well.  In fact we sat down and recorded it one day several weeks ago and that was when I realized that my technology was not working…it didn’t record.  Now thankfully, that issue is resolved and  and I am finally able to share this inspiring interview with you. This guest started out as a listener of of this show and I noticed him pretty early on for two reasons.  One, because he was always liking things and leaving some comments and two, because he had kind of an unusual name that I really liked.  Being named Alf all my life, I kind of have a thing for unusual, clever names, I appreciate them.  This persons name was Les Moore.  Get it?  Less…more?  Anyway, He and I had a few interactions over the course of time and one day he sent me a letter really explaining what he has been up to.  When I heard his story I knew immediately that he should be a guest on the show because he epitomizes what we are trying to do here at Being A Better Man. Les Moore hails from Pennsylvania.  He is a 47 year old married father of two daughters.  In January of 2014 Les decided that he wasn’t totally happy with himself for reasons I’ll let him explain.  He made a decision that would alter the course of not only his own life, but also the lives of his wife and daughters and probably everyone else that knew him.  Les Moore decided to become a healthy, vital, man.  When he made this decision he weighed 234 pounds.  He was on prescriptions for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Today he weighs 185 pounds, that means he lost 62 pounds of fat, and he is totally off all prescriptions.  His blood pressure and cholesterol are normal.  Not only that, Les decided to go the extra mile and do the work it took to become an International Sports Sciences Association certified fitness professional.  That’s right, Les became a personal trainer and he is training people in his home...

    38 min

  2. 09/19/2017

    234 – Errors In Judgement, and How To Handle Them

    Errors In Judgement, and How To Handle Them… Todays program is being brought to you by Stump Town Kilts!  they are the makers of the finest kilts available.  They are a sponsor of this show because I am a loyal customer of this company and i am happy to stand behind them with my name and reputation.  I own three of these kilts and I plan on getting more.  Everything about these kilts is top notch; the innovative design, the craftsmanship, the color selection and even the price.  I wear them everywhere, doing everything.  They are rugged enough for hard work and still nice enough for an evening on the town. Because you are listening to this podcast, you are in luck!  You are entitled to a substantial discount by being a Being A Better Man listener.  All you have to do is go to their website at:  stumptownkilts.com.  After you pick out your new kilt just enter the code:  betterman at checkout, all lower case, all one word.  Do that, and you will become the ecstatic owner of a new Stump Town kilt, at a discounted price.  Check them out today at stumptownkilts.com . This week I got a letter from a listener named Kyle.  Kyle was wondering if I would talk about something specific, that being; overcoming failure in your life. The kind of failure Kyle was talking about is the same kind of failure each of us have experienced in one way or another.  I’m not talking about big things like failing to pass the bar exam or failing to become a millionaire by the time you are 30.  No, I’m talking about those little everyday failures.  The kinds of things that make you feel regret about who you are and what kind of man you are being. The example Kyle used in his letter was from his own experience.  He had been doing well with all of the goals he had set for himself and then one day he went to a casino.  He proceeded to get drunk and spend way too much money, he gambled with family money, went home to his wife drunk, and then did the same thing the following day.  In his own words, he “made a fool of himself”.  We have all done things that we regret after the fact.  Maybe you cheated on your wife, or cheated on a test at school?  Perhaps you acted inappropriately at an office party?  Maybe you let someone down who was really counting on you?  You may have treated someone badly for no reason, and now you regret it?  There...

    12 min

  3. 09/09/2017

    233 – There Are Always Options

    There Are Always Options… After a very long period of silence It is I, Alf Herigstad, back at the Being A Better Man Microphone.  It feels really great to be back.  It seems like a very long time since I recorded an episode and in reality it has been exactly 3 weeks.  21 days since I have released an episode.  That is the longest absence I have ever had and I was a little worried about what the consequences would be.  I was concerned that everyone would just go away and listenership would plummet. I’m happy to report that during my absence 8,476 people still listened to the podcast.  That’s awesome.  Thank you all for hanging in there. As I told you in the last episode, the reason for my absence is that I was going to the Burning Man festival with my wife, father, and uncle.  I was going to be separated from technology for  a while because I was going to be camping out in the Nevada desert.  Now I am back though, and I have some stories to tell.  Some insights to share. The first thing I want to report is that we had an amazing time.  It was a fantastic experience with my dad and uncle who are both in their 80’s.  We saw epic art and we witnessed extreme cases of human innovation.  We met people from many countries and made a lot of new friends.  It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbow’s though.  There were some hard lessons to learn as well on this adventure.  Hard lessons are the best kind, because they teach you the most. Before I continue with the rest of this episode I want you to take a wild guess about what I was wearing the whole time I was gone.  That’s right!  I was wearing Stump Town kilts…what else?  I took my black kilt and my green kilt to burning man with me, and I trashed them.  The black one was especially destroyed.  When I got home it was no longer black.  It had become so impregnated with dust and dirt that it was gray.  I thought it would never be the same but after it came out of the wash it looked black and beautiful again. I’m telling you guys, these are the best kilts out there.  They are durable beyond measure, comfortable, and the unique design makes them extraordinarily useful as well. Stump Town Kilts happens to be a sponsor of this show and if you go to their website:  stumptownkilts.com and pick out your new kilt you can receive 10% off your entire purchase by entering the...

    14 min

  4. 08/18/2017

    232 – Hate Makes It Impossible, To Be A Better Man

    Hate Makes It Impossible, To Be A better Man… As many of you know, since starting this podcast some 232 episodes ago I have been very diligent about not getting political.  I have not discussed politics or religion or anything else that tends to divide people.  My reason for that is because I have always found it more beneficial to focus on things that make us similar to other people…rather than the things that make us different. I still believe that is true.  For example, we are all men, regardless of what color we are or what political party we are aligned with or what Gods we pray to.  At the end of the day, we are just human men, trying to be better than we were yesterday.  Nothing positive has ever been gained from dividing people into groups based on these types of things.  That is why I have steered away from this kind of thing and instead have been focused on manhood in such a way that it can apply to everyone. Well, today it may seem like I am veering from that course a bit.  Today I will be making a very pointed observation about something going on right now.  If it offends you, you are free to never listen to me again.  If it offends you, then you are obviously not aligned with the message this podcast offers.  I would add that if you are offended by today’s podcast to at least also give yourself the benefit of hearing me out. Before I get into all that I am going to take a minute to acknowledge the sponsor of today’s program, Stump Town Kilts.  One thing I want you to know about these kilts is that they aren’t just clothes.  They are not just another garment.  In my personal experience these kilts are actually gear.  What I mean is that they are built and designed to perform a job, and they do it very well. I have three of these kilts and I have beat them up.  I live an active life and I tend to destroy things in record time, especially clothes…just ask my wife.  I have put these three kilts through the stress test and still every time when I take them out of the washer they still look great.  That’s what I mean by gear—they just keep on performing and looking great for everything I need them to do. It’s all because of the way they are crafted.  Each kilt Stump Town makes is attended to by people who actually give a crap about what kind of product they are selling.  Combine that with the innovative design and other features that are exclusive to Stump Town and you wind up with the best kilt available in my opinion. Right now you can get a substantial discount on your very own Stump Town Kilt simply by entering the code; betterman at checkout.  All lower case, all one word.  To get there, just type in span style="color:...

    15 min

  5. 08/11/2017

    231 – Plan Your Next Adventure!

    Plan Your Next Adventure! I don’t know about all of you out there, but I am in full blown summer schedule with everything now.  You may have noticed that I have only been releasing episodes on Friday lately, that is evidence that I am super, super busy with the things that summer is demanding of me. Besides the farm, and our property, and relatives visiting and events of all kinds to attend one thing that has had me incredibly busy lately is that I am preparing to go on an adventure.  That’s right—an adventure. The adventure I’m going on is my wife and I are bringing my 81 year old father and his 83 year old brother to the Burning Man festival in Nevada.  I’m calling it the generational legacy tour of 2017. There are lots of different opinions out there about burning man, and there are still some people that don’t even know what it is.  Some people think it’s a den of iniquity where the devil’s minions gather.  Other people think it’s just a bunch of dirty hippies running around naked and doing drugs.  Other folks think it’s awesome and some people actually go to appreciate the colossal art built in the middle of the desert.  Some people go to hear the lectures about all kinds of amazing things. Well, I have been to burning man once in 2015.  From my experience burning man can be all of these things, or none of these things.  I found that it’s really up to the person going—you get exactly the kind of experience at burning man that you design for yourself.  Just like in life. There are around 80,000 people at this festival.  They build an actual city in the middle of a dry lakebed called Black Rock City, and then they tear it down.  Burning man has a “leave no trace” ethos.  After it’s over no trace is left, no garbage, no cigarette butts, nothing.  That in itself is really quite remarkable.  Like any city there are parts of it that I have no interest in, parts that I will avoid.  There are other parts that are amazing though. There are several reasons I like going to burning man.  One is simply the challenge of it.  You can’t buy any food there.  All of your sustenance must be brought with you for the entire week.  You are in an extreme environment with blistering heat and cool nights, I’ve seen 70 mile per hour winds there, and dust storms.  It’s very much like camping on the moon if it had oxygen.  The dirt is fine as talcum powder, nothing grows there and there aren’t even any insects. I love seeing what that extreme environment does to peoples imagination and ingenuity.  People come up with truly amazing ways to not only survive, but to thrive out...

    11 min

  6. 08/04/2017

    230 – When It’s Hard Being A Father

    When It’s Hard Being A Father…Be A better Man! Hello Men! As I predicted a few weeks ago the summer schedule has been a little tough.  I have not been doing three episodes a week like many of you are used to.  There was no Monday or Wednesday episode this week.  Summers are always busy up here in the Pacific Northwest but this summer has been particularly so.  What I can guarantee is that you will be able to count on the Friday episodes every week.  As the weather changes heading into September I suspect things will return to normal though. Because this is a Friday episode I am honor bound to tell you about the sponsor of this show, a company called Stump Town Kilts.  When a lot of people think of kilts they imagine plaid garments worn by men toting bagpipes and marching in a funeral or something.  While those are definitely traditional Tartan kilts…that is not what I’m talking about.  Stump Town Kilts makes modern kilts for the contemporary man and woman.  They are garments of comfort, designed with style and function in mind and suitable for everyday use.  I own three of these kilts and I have done literally everything wearing them from the dirty jobs to the fancy events.  They are durable and comfortable in the dirt, and they look fantastic when you are wanting to get noticed at a social event.  These kilts have several innovative features that their competitors do not possess like the adjustable sizes and snap on accessories for example.  They come in a variety of colors and even the rivets have options; you can get brass, gun metal, or chrome rivets.  If you have ever thought of owning a kilt, or if you have an old dusty kilt you never wear because it doesn’t fit quite right anymore or it’s too much trouble making it hang right.  Then a kilt from Stump Town is the only kilt you should consider.  Listeners of this program can get a substantial discount simply by going to stumptownkilts.com and entering the code:  betterman, at checkout.  all lower case, all one word.  Do that and you will receive your special discount.  Do yourself a favor and check out stumptownkilts.com today. _________________________________________ Ok guys today I want to talk about an aspect of fatherhood.  A lot of the things we talk about here can apply equally to anyone.  Many of the topics we deal with have to do with human character and people who are not a man can get something out of it as well, that’s why we have so many non-man listeners and I welcome...

    18 min

  7. 07/28/2017

    229 – Living A Half-Assed Life

    Living A Half-Assed Life… You have arrived at the podcast devoted exclusively to the topic of the character of men.  We don’t talk about sports, or politics, or dating or fashion.  Here we talk about the nuts and bolts of what it means to be a man in today’s world, we talk about living with character and purpose.  We do this, so that you can apply it to your own life and become a better man today than you were yesterday.  I am the host and creator of this show, my name is Alf Herigstad. We are very fortunate to have a sponsor of these Friday episodes.  A company I have partnered up with that helps me keep this show in production.  That sponsor is Stump Town kilts.  They are an American company located in Portland Oregon and they have the distinction of making the finest, most versatile, durable and attractive kilts on the market.  I know—because I own three of them and have been a customer of theirs long before I even had a podcast. I approached them to become a sponsor for that reason, because I wanted to represent a company and a product that I believe in 100%.  Stump Town kilts have several features that other kilts just don’t have.  Like the huge hidden pocket, the adjustable sizes, the snap on accessories, and because of the way they are made you don’t have to iron them.  They also come in a variety of colors.  I have a black, gray, and a green one, the next one I get will be brown but they also have a camouflage one. I wear mine for every occasion from shearing sheep and chopping wood to fancy diners and officiating weddings.  They are the perfect garment for any occasion.  Right now, as a listener of this show you can get your very own Stump Town Kilt for a substantial discount.  Go to stumptownkilts.com and do all your shopping.  When you are checking out remember to enter the special code to get your discount, that code is:  betterman.  All lower case, all one word.  Do that and you will receive your discount and also let them know you heard about it right here. Today I’m going to talk a minute about someone I actually know.  I won’t use his name and I’m sure he doesn’t listen to this show but I want to talk about him because he is a perfect example of something I call; living a half-assed life. So this guy is in his mid thirties and I have know him for a few years, several in fact.  We met by way of an organization we were both involved with that dealt with a shared interest.  Pretty quickly I noticed that he only did things half way.  He did just enough to...

    10 min

  8. 07/24/2017

    228 – What Is Required To Be A Leader?

    What Is Required To Be A Leader? Welcome to the beginning of another glorious week in your life as a man.  I think every man should be having a glorious life.  If you are not currently having a glorious life, the bad news is that it’s probably your fault.  The good news, is that every day is a brand new day, and you can be the creator of your own destiny.  As men we have the power to create, imagine, dream and innovate.  We can sculpt the world around us into what we desire through the strength of our own will.  That’s the kind of stuff we talk about here.  I am your host, and my name is Alf Herigstad. I have a friend that I met through the medium of podcasting named Wally Carmichael.  He lives in Hawaii and he is the host of his own podcast called “Men Of Abundance”.  Wally and I are very aligned on issues that pertain to men, and I encourage you all to check out his show, there will be a link to it in the show notes as well. The reason I’m bringing Wally and his show up is because I read something on his Facebook wall and I knew instantly that I was going to steal it and talk about it.  I let him know, but I want to be sure and give credit where credit is due. In this post Wally was talking about the essence of leadership.  It was beautifully and accurately worded and I’m going to share it with you then talk about it for a little bit. Wally wrote:  “Men, if you have to tell someone you’re a leader, chances are, you’re not. Those who chose to follow you make you a leader. You’re position does not determine if you’re a leader. Your age or seniority does not determine if you’re a leader. Your skills determine if you’re a leader. Not even being a dad and a husband make you a leader. When others choose to follow you, then you’re leader. That is not a free ticket to start managing other people’s life.  You must remain humble in your position as a leader and continue being the man others have chosen to follow and or walk along side you.” So that’s what he wrote.  I love this.  To me this is like poetry that doesn’t rhyme.  I think one reason this speaks so loudly to me is because during my life I have known so many men who got this completely wrong.span...

    10 min
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4.9
out of 5
187 Ratings

About

This show is about the character of men rather than the trappings of manhood. We will discuss the challenges men face from day to day, relationships, and personal accountability. We will talk about the finer points of manhood, and what it means to be a man in these modern times. It is all designed to lead up to a decision; the decision to be a better man today, than we were yesterday.

Information

  • Creator
    Alf Herigstad
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2017
  • Episodes
    234
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Alf Herigstad
  • Show Website
    Being A Better Man

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