How to quiet your mind, in twelve minutes, with a rep you can run in your truck. High performance coach Steve Barton, creator of The Game of Ten, hands Chris Anderson six sentences and makes him say them on air. This is the most valuable stretch of the conversation, released as its own episode.

Steve Barton ran his father's floral business in Maine for about thirty years before he started coaching. He is seventy, and he says his job is to help a man stop punishing himself.

Chris opens with the question every man in our audience is carrying. There is a voice in my head that never stops. How do I quiet it? You cannot quiet it by trying harder. We were trained from childhood to think our way out of every problem, and that training is the reason the voice runs all day. Eighty percent of what it says is negative, and most of it is from the past.

Then he gives Chris the rep. Six phrases. About thirty seconds. Chris repeats each one on air, and by the end of it he says out loud that it worked. That is the moment this episode was built for.

In this episode:

- Why trying to stifle the voice makes it louder
- Why we were trained to think, and what that costs us
- Let go of control to be in control. The only control you have is inside you.
- Respond versus react, and what that has to do with a football sideline
- The six phrases, done live, with Chris repeating each one

Questions this episode answers

How do I quiet the voice in my head?
Steve Barton says stop fighting it. Say six short phrases out loud, starting with "I am enough," and the mind runs out of questions to ask.

Why does trying to stop overthinking make it worse?
Steve Barton says the more you try to stifle a thought, the louder it gets. Thinking your way out of thinking is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Do the six phrases actually work?
Chris Anderson did them on air and said so. He noticed the difference before the rep was over.

Find Steve Barton at stevebartoncoaching.com. Download The Father, the Son, and the Aha Moment free at thegameof10.com. He posts every week on LinkedIn as Coach Steve Barton.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Full episode with Steve is out now. Send this one to the friend who says he cannot shut his brain off.

#theupgradedman #quietyourmind #mensmentalhealth

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

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⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to be more present when your head will not shut up. Brett Ashby paints two meter portraits while rolling a half pipe in front of 500 people, and he tells Chris Anderson the rule that keeps him upright: if you have a thought, you fall off.

Brett Ashby is a contemporary artist from Melbourne, Australia. He grew up on vert ramps, spent years behind a camera, then ended up in front of it painting rock stars, pro skaters, and Barack Obama. He is a cancer survivor. After treatment he could not do a push up for six years, so he put an easel on the ramp and rebuilt his life one small change at a time.

In this episode:

- Why a vert ramp teaches the same lesson as a marriage: the second you think, you fall
- How to be more present when the magic is not in the past or the future, only right now
- Four things to try this week: get away from people, get outside, write the noise down, build a ritual
- What Brett gave up to live with a light backpack, and what it lets him do
- Surviving cancer: forget everybody, the only guy who gets you through is you
- Small changes every day: remove a friend, remove some clutter, donate things, cut the TV
- How to make someone feel seen with one sentence, and the name tag rule
- Why he is never nervous in front of 500 people: there's nobody there, it's just me

Questions this episode answers

How do I stop overthinking and be more present?
Brett Ashby says dissolve the thinking, not the fear itself. On a ramp, one thought puts you on the ground. Calm and trust are what let your body do the amazing thing.

What small changes actually change your life?
Brett Ashby says remove some friends, remove some clutter, push things out, donate things, and start with the bare basics. Little changes every day, and you can soon change your entire life.

How do I make someone feel seen?
Read the name tag and say the name. Brett Ashby says when you say hello to Emily, the light bulb goes off in her and that force comes right back into you.

Find Brett Ashby at brettashby.com and on Instagram at @brettashbyartist, where he answers direct messages. His live skate-painting shows are on YouTube at @brettyashby.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Follow the show, and send this one to the man who is in every room and never actually there.

#theupgradedman #howtobepresent #mensmindset

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every episode of The Upgraded Man ends the same way. There is a journal. The guest reads what the last guest wrote, answers it honestly, then leaves one line for whoever sits in the chair next. They do not get to know who that is.

This week it is Florian Kemmerich, impact investor, author of On Vocation, and co-founder of Human Planet. He is a father of five, a former paratrooper, and a man who has moved close to a billion dollars of capital into places most investors will not go.

The entry waiting for him was from Joel Bein:

"Men need more empathy."

Florian does not hedge. He says empathy is the link between humans because it goes further than tolerance. Tolerance puts up with someone. Empathy tries to understand a man who is different from you. Then he takes it one step past feelings and says the part men actually need to hear. Men who are more empathetic end up more successful.

Chris answers with a line he has been saying all season. Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. A man can be gentle, understanding, and still get things done and still defend what is his. Then he adds the piece almost nobody says. Men need empathy for themselves too, because they are getting hit from every direction with what a man is supposed to be.

Then Florian writes his own entry for the next guest, and it lands on the thing every man is worried about right now.

In this episode:

• Joel Bein's entry, and why empathy is more than tolerance
• Why empathy makes a man more successful, not softer
• Warrior in a garden, and empathy pointed back at yourself
• Florian's new entry on identity, vocation, and the AI economy
• Why the answer is not inside the AI, and what to use the tool for instead

Find Florian at on-vocation.com, human-planet.com, and vocating.ai. The full episode with Florian Kemmerich is out now.

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. Full episodes Monday, Best Moments Wednesday, Journal entries Friday.

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Training after 40 does not take an hour. Dr. Tommy Rhee, a sports chiropractor who has spent nearly twenty years working on pro athletes, lays out the exact fifteen minute workout a man in his 30s and 40s should run.

Tommy has worked on Olympic sprinters, NFL players, and UFC fighters. He is the founder and CEO of RheeGen and the author of The Future of Regenerative Medicine. In this stretch he stops explaining and starts prescribing. What to do in the gym at this age, how few minutes it really takes, and what the soreness two days later is telling you. Then he closes on why any of it matters. A man at eighty with all the time and all the money and no ability to use either.

Important: this is not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor before you change anything about your training or your health.

In this episode:

• Why your thirties and forties are the window where behavior still changes easily
• The reason older beginners quit, and why it is not about willpower
• What DOMS is, in plain language, and why the pain shows up two or three days later
• How to make soreness go away faster instead of sitting still and waiting it out
• The exact pairing for building muscle at this age, heavy squat at 80 to 90 percent straight into a box jump
• Why endurance work at this age can cost you the muscle you are trying to build
• Why fifteen minutes of the right work will flatten you
• The 100 air squat test, and what failing it says about the next twenty years

Questions this episode answers

How should a man in his 40s train? Dr. Tommy Rhee says pair a heavy squat at 80 to 90 percent of your max with a box jump, and run five to ten rounds.

How long does a workout need to be after 40? Dr. Tommy Rhee says fifteen minutes of the right work is enough, and might even be too much.

Why am I sore two days after a workout? Dr. Tommy Rhee says that is DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness. It is the inflammation from small tears as the muscle rebuilds, not an injury.

Find Dr. Tommy Rhee at rheegen.com and physicalchiro.com, and on Instagram at @dr.rheetommy. He is a Doctor of Chiropractic, not a physician.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Send this to the friend who keeps saying he does not have time to train. Follow the show.

#theupgradedman #trainingafter40 #menshealth

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to prepare your family if you die, before anything happens. Ray Hilbert, founder of Exhale Vault, had the insurance, the plan, and the logins all in his head. Then a life insurance letter came back stamped rejected.

Ray Hilbert co-founded Truth At Work in 1998, led it for over twenty years, and now coaches Christian business owners with Kingdom Factor. At 56 he was in perfect health. A routine blood test for a life insurance renewal showed an elevated PSA. A few months later the urologist said cancer, and maybe 4 to 6 months. Three weeks after that, his wife Beth asked him in the car, "Where are we going to be buried?" She did not know who did their taxes. He made her a promise, and Exhale Vault is what came out of it.

This one is for the man who handles everything and calls it protecting his family.

In this episode:

• Why keeping the whole plan in your head is selfish, and even reckless
• The life insurance blood test that found prostate cancer with no symptoms
• The question his wife asked that changed everything
• "I don't even know who does our taxes"
• Why men don't hand it off: pride, roles, and "I've got time"
• The workbook: funeral plan, letters to the kids, and a video on changing a fuse
• "I feel like I can breathe again"
• The last thought before surgery, and the greatest peace of his life
• The challenge: what good needs to come of this?

Questions this episode answers

If I died tomorrow, would my wife know where everything is? Ray Hilbert says for most men, no. He had every plan, and his wife knew none of it.

Can you have prostate cancer with no symptoms? Yes. Ray Hilbert felt fine. A life insurance blood test showed an elevated PSA, and his doctor said it probably saved his life.

What should a man leave behind for his family? Ray Hilbert says everything, in one place. Logins, accounts, the funeral plan, letters to the kids, and how to run the house.

Find Ray Hilbert and Exhale Vault at exhalevault.com, and connect with Ray on LinkedIn.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Follow the show, and send this to the man who handles everything and has never shown his wife where it is.

#theupgradedman #legacyplanning #menshealth

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Men need more empathy, and Joel Bein says the discomfort you feel when you hear that is the proof. This is Joel's Upgraded Man Journal entry, the handoff every guest makes at the end of the show.

Joel Bein is the founder of Human Liberation and host of The Joel Bein Show. He works with entrepreneurs to clear the subconscious beliefs behind self-doubt and overworking. Every guest reads what the last guest left in the journal, answers it, then leaves one line for whoever sits down next.

The entry waiting for Joel came from relationship coach Paul Roseberry. What is a no that, if you started saying it, would make your life better?

Joel's answer is simple and hard to live. Say no to the pretty good things so you have room for the true heck yes. He tells the story of a date he went on knowing going in it was only pretty good.

Then he leaves his own line for the next guest. Men need more empathy. He asks every man listening to notice what comes up when he hears it.

This one is for the man whose calendar is full of good things and who is still running on empty.

In this episode:

• Paul Roseberry's journal question, and the no that would change your life
• Why saying no to pretty good things makes room for what you really want
• Every yes is a no to everything else
• The date Joel knew was only pretty good before he ever went
• Joel's entry for the next guest. Men need more empathy.
• Why the pushback men feel to that sentence is the reason it is true

Questions this episode answers

Do men need more empathy? Joel Bein says yes, and if a man feels resistance when he hears it, that resistance is the exact reason why.

What should I say no to? Joel Bein says say no to the pretty good things and save your yes for the true heck yes.

Why is saying yes so costly? Joel Bein says when you say yes to something, you just said no to everything else.

Find Joel Bein at joelbein.com. See his belief clearing work at thehumanliberation.co, and grab his free Belief Clearing Guide at thehumanliberation.co/guide.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Send this to a man who would never admit he needs it. Follow the show.

#theupgradedman #menneedmoreempathy #mensmentalhealth

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What AI can't replace is your identity and your vocation, and Florian Kemmerich says that is now your biggest economic asset. This is Florian's Upgraded Man Journal entry, the handoff every guest makes at the end of the show.

Florian Kemmerich is an impact investor, the author of On Vocation, and the co-founder of Human Planet. He is a father of five and a former paratrooper who has moved close to a billion dollars of capital into places most investors will not go.

Every guest reads what the last guest left in the journal, answers it, then leaves one line for whoever sits down next. The entry waiting for Florian came from Joel Bein. Men need more empathy.

Florian does not hedge. He says empathy is the link between people because it goes further than tolerance. Tolerance puts up with someone. Empathy tries to understand a man who is different from you. Then he says the part men need to hear. Men who are more empathetic end up more successful.

Chris answers with a line he has been saying all season. Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. Then he adds the piece almost nobody says. Men need empathy for themselves too.

Then Florian leaves his own entry for the next guest, and it lands on the thing every man is worried about right now.

In this episode:

• Joel Bein's entry, and why empathy goes further than tolerance
• Why empathy makes a man more successful, not softer
• Warrior in a garden, and empathy pointed back at yourself
• Florian's new entry on identity, vocation, and the AI economy
• Going from a knowledge economy to a creator economy
• Why the answer is not inside the AI, and what to use the tool for instead

Questions this episode answers

What can AI never replace? Florian Kemmerich says your identity and your vocation. As knowledge gets cheap and everywhere, who you are becomes the asset.

Does empathy make men weaker? Florian Kemmerich says the opposite. Men who are more empathetic end up more successful.

How should I use AI if I don't know what I want? Florian Kemmerich says do not look for the answer in the AI. Figure out what you want first, then use AI as the tool to build it.

Find Florian at on-vocation.com for the book, human-planet.com for his firm, and vocating.ai for his AI career platform.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Send this to a man worried AI is coming for his job. Follow the show.

#theupgradedman #artificialintelligence #findyourpurpose

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to stop settling for mediocrity when your life looks fine from the outside. Dr. Matthew Kutz, author of Becoming EPIC, tells Chris Anderson why the man who is not failing is in the most dangerous spot there is, then tells the story that proves it.

Dr. Matthew Kutz is a clinical professor at Florida International University, a keynote speaker, and the author of the award-winning Contextual Intelligence. Three years ago a bike crash sent him to the doctor for chest pains. The doctor found advanced prostate cancer. He had no symptoms. He wrote Becoming EPIC during 40 days of radiation, a thousand words a day.

In this episode:

• Mediocrity masquerades as contentment. If you keep telling yourself you are content, you are not.
• Why "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" gives away a mediocre life
• Iteration: your marriage and your fatherhood can be tinkered with
• Maybe you're measuring the wrong thing when the scale won't move
• Prostate cancer with no symptoms, and the checkup he skipped because he felt fine
• What losing all your testosterone does to a man
• BATTLE: be brave, armor up, triumph over fear, trust your team, lean into your faith, engage in life

Questions this episode answers

How do I know if I have settled for mediocrity? Dr. Matthew Kutz says if you keep convincing yourself you are content, or you live by "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," you have settled.

Can you have prostate cancer with no symptoms? Yes. Dr. Matthew Kutz was training for a triathlon with cancer in his bones and felt fine. Get the checkup.

How do you keep going when life knocks you down? Dr. Matthew Kutz and his wife said one word every morning: BATTLE. And do not try to do it alone.

Find Dr. Matthew Kutz at matthewkutz.com for Becoming EPIC and Contextual Intelligence. Text EPIC to 55444 for a free daily EPIC journal. His foundation is Battle for the Bulge at battleforthebulge.com.

The Upgraded Man is hosted by Chris Anderson. Follow the show, and send this to the man who skipped his checkup because he felt fine.

#theupgradedman #stopsettling #menshealth

This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.

===========================

⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms

⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest

⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com

Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.

Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Send Chris Anderson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/upgradedmanpodcast

The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.