At the end of every episode of The Upgraded Man there is a physical journal. The guest reads what the last guest wrote, sits with it, and then writes something down for the man who comes next. Same book every time, passed hand to hand. No prep. No script.

This week it is Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana and host of the Get IN. podcast. He built a media company out of a three thousand dollar truck he did not own when he announced the idea, and he is the first guest to write in the journal in person.

The entry he read was left by Larry Hagner, founder of The Dad Edge: "The definition of hell is being on your deathbed and meeting the man you could have become."

He sits with it before he says a word. Then he goes somewhere honest.

Here is what comes out of it:

• Why Nate says you are never too old, and the three excuses he kills in about ten seconds
• The one thing he believes is actually holding most men back, and it is not talent
• What really turned him into a man he can look at in the mirror, and why it was not a book, a coach, or a plan
• How he uses the worst thing that ever happened to him without letting it define him
• The only standard he holds himself to on a given day, which is being closer than he was yesterday
• The advice he gave on stage that he now believes is the whole secret
• The test he runs on himself every night when his head hits the pillow
• The entry he wrote for the next guest, read out loud

If you have been telling yourself you are too late, too old, or not smart enough, this one is about four minutes and it takes that excuse away from you.

Find Nate:

getindiana.com @natespangle on every platform His show: Get IN. with Nate Spangle

The entry Nate read was left by Larry Hagner of The Dad Edge, thedadedge.com.

New episodes of The Upgraded Man drop three times a week. Full guest episodes on Monday, the best moment from a past guest on Wednesday, and the Journal on 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.

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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.

In 2020 a doctor told Tim McDonald he had cancer and that it had already spread to his liver. A few months later an oncologist told him something worse. She said she was going to put him on a chemo that gave him the highest quality of life, because he only had three years left to live.

Tim did not say anything out loud. In his head he said four words. That's your story, not mine.

Six years later he is still here.

This is the Best Moment from Tim McDonald's episode of The Upgraded Man. Eleven minutes, and it is the part of the conversation worth hearing if you only have time for one thing.

Tim McDonald is a stage 4 colorectal cancer survivor, a Research Advocate with Fight Colorectal Cancer, and the Florida Chapter Leader for Man Up To Cancer. He spent 17 years building online communities for major brands before he turned that same work toward patients.

Here is what is in this one:

• The conversation with his doctor that made the doctor ask if something was wrong with him
• The question he asked back. If I act any differently, would it change what you just told me
• Why his first thought after hearing the word cancer was not about himself
• The drive home, and the words he had to say to his wife with no time to soften them
• Why knowing almost nothing about cancer may have protected his mindset
• What success actually means in oncology, and why it is not what most people assume
• The appointment where he was given three years, and what he said to his wife in the elevator after
• The change in himself he could not see until he looked back at it
• Why the people he is closest to now are not the people he worked beside for 17 years
• The pattern he noticed as a young man. Men work their whole lives, plan to travel when they retire, and die before they go
• What he does differently now. Doing instead of planning, and how he moved his infusion schedule to travel with his wife

If you have been putting something off until later, this is the eleven minutes to give it.

Find Tim at advocacyatwork.com and on LinkedIn at Tim A. McDonald.

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe, and if this one hits, send it to someone who needs it.

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.

Florian Kemmerich spent 15 years climbing the corporate ladder in the medical device world, running companies across Germany, Mexico, and the United States. From the outside, he had won. Then a coaching session put him in a chair across from his five year old self, and that kid told him he was wasting his life. He calls what he found the absent subject of his own education. School gave him every tool to make a living and nothing that told him who he was.

Florian is the co-founder of Human Planet, the author of On Vocation, and the founder of Vocating.ai. He has mobilized close to a billion dollars of impact capital and chairs TIGER 21 in Switzerland. He is also a father of five, a former paratrooper, and a national level judoka who walked away from a run at the 1992 Olympics because it was not his why. His philosophy is four words. Impact Lives, Share Profits.

This is not a finance lecture. It is the quiet question a lot of successful men carry and will not say out loud.

Here is some of what Chris and Florian get into:

• Why society trains men to perform and provide, and never asks what they want
• The moment at 33 that blew up a career, and what it cost his wife and family
• Why making money or making a difference is a false choice, and how to do both at once
• Why burnout is usually a direction problem, not a rest problem
• The three exercises to find your why. Cut the noise, go back to your earliest memory, look forward to your deathbed
• Your imprint. What happened between ages two and six, and how to flip it
• Why your hobby is not a waste of time, and how to use it inside the job you already have
• Why chasing fame, fortune, and power will make you miserable
• Money as a means, not an outcome
• What AI actually changes, and why the answer is not inside the chatbot

If you are winning on paper and quietly asking is this it, start here.

Find Florian:

• Book and personal site: on-vocation.com
• His firm: human-planet.com
• His AI career platform, beta signup: vocating.ai
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/floriankemmerich
• Instagram: instagram.com/flokemmerich

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. Follow the show and send this one to a man trying to figure out what he is for.

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.

At the end of every episode of The Upgraded Man there is a physical journal. The guest reads what the last guest wrote, sits with it, and then writes something down for the next guest. Same book every time, passed from man to man.

Larry Hagner reads the entry Phillip Lanier left behind: "It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war." Larry takes it into what it means to be a warrior outside your castle instead of inside it, where the people you love live.

Then he writes his own, and he does not soften it. "The definition of hell is being on your deathbed and meeting the man that you could have become."

He explains why that line and not another one. His oldest was about to leave for college. His wife had asked him if he regretted anything about how he raised that kid. He could look at her and say no. He had done the work, he had made the connection, and if he died tomorrow there would be nothing left on the table between him and his son.

That is the whole test, and it is a hard one. Not whether you loved your kids. Whether you would have anything to regret if the clock ran out today.

In this episode:

• The entry Phillip Lanier left, and what Larry does with it
• Being a warrior outside your castle, not inside it
• The line Larry left for the next guest, and why he chose it
• The question his wife asked him about his oldest son
• What no regrets actually looks like when you check the work

Larry Hagner is the founder of The Dad Edge and author of The Pursuit of Legendary Fatherhood. Find him at thedadedge.com and at The Dad Edge on Instagram and YouTube.

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. Full episode with Larry is available now.

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.

This is the most valuable part of our conversation with Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, pulled out as its own episode.

Nate is known across Indiana as a hype man. Big stunts, small towns, a truck, a camera. But none of that is where the story starts. It starts in 2017, when his mom died of cancer while he was in college. He admits he was a self-absorbed 20 year old who talked mostly to hear his own voice. He gave his mom a blank notebook when she got diagnosed and asked her to write down her story. After she was gone, he opened it and it was empty. That moment is where he stopped blaming her and started blaming the questions he never asked.

Then his grandmother stepped in. On the surface she was a farmer's wife who cooked and did laundry. Once he started asking real questions, he found a woman who took a class in bookkeeping, ran his grandfather's businesses, took a cross country train trip alone, and built radio tubes for airplanes during World War Two. Same woman. Different questions.

In this episode:

• Why losing a parent turned a self-absorbed kid into a man obsessed with other people's stories
• The blank notebook, and the mistake almost every man makes with the people he loves
• How to get past the surface with someone you think you already know
• Why the people you find boring are usually a sign of the questions you are asking
• What Nate would ask his mom if he had one more conversation, and why the answer took him thirty seconds to say out loud
• The second chance he got with his grandmother, and exactly what he did differently
• How his mom hyping him up at wrestling meets became the whole business model he runs today

If you have a parent still living, a grandparent you have never really talked to, or kids who will one day try to remember who you were, this one is worth thirteen minutes.

Nate Spangle is the founder of Get Indiana and host of Get IN. with Nate Spangle. Find him at getindiana.com and at @natespangle everywhere.

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. Full episode with Nate is available now.

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.

Joel Bein spent two years clearing more than a thousand beliefs on himself before he ever worked on anyone else. In this episode he does it live, on Chris. Joel finds the belief that has been running Chris since he was a kid, walks him through it on camera, and about fifteen minutes later Chris says the words out loud and feels nothing. Joel is the founder of Human Liberation, where he works one on one with six and seven figure entrepreneurs to permanently remove the beliefs that quietly cap what they earn and what they enjoy. He calls it uncoaching, because he is not adding another framework. He is subtracting the root. If you have done the therapy, read the mindset books, and the same voice still shows up at three in the morning, this is the one.

In this episode:

• What a limiting belief actually is, and why Joel calls it a closet full of old shirts you never throw out
• Why meditation and mindset hacks mow the lawn instead of pulling the dandelion out at the root
• The live demo. Chris names the pressure he carries, Joel finds the belief underneath it, and you hear the moment it lets go
• Why "I'm not good enough" may be the most common belief on the planet, and the animated movie scene that shows exactly how it gets made
• The Santa Claus test, and why a belief that is truly cleared does not come back the next time life gets hard
• The first domino. Beliefs, thoughts, emotions, actions, outcomes, and why most men only ever work the last two
• How a belief you do not know you have turns into a revenue ceiling and a three in the morning money spiral
• Why doing the emotional work makes a man harder to shake, not softer, and what that does for a marriage
• The comparison trap. Chris on why a podcast that is doing well still feels average
• Joel's entry in the Upgraded Man Journal, and the sentence he left for the next guest

Find Joel Bein at thehumanliberation.co. His podcast is The Joel Bein Show, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Short-form on YouTube at @human_liberation, and he is most active on LinkedIn.

The Upgraded Man is for men who refuse to stay complacent. Full episodes every Monday. If this one helped, follow the show and send it to a man who needs it.

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.

The Upgraded Man Journal is the part of every episode where the guest reads what the last guest left behind, answers it honestly, and then writes something for the man who comes next. No prep. No script. Just the question and whatever comes up.

This week it is Phillip Lanier, founder of Your Money Essentials and Core Business Essentials. Before he built and sold a company, he and his wife were homeless. He teaches money now to people who feel behind, and he does it without shame.

The question left for him came from Doctor Joseph Charles Hagan: if the goal you were chasing was not impossible, what would that goal be, and what would you do?

Here is what comes out of it:

• The goal Phillip says feels impossible, which is building a financial class from nothing and then getting people to actually want to work on their money.
• Why he says the hard part is not the building. It is that nobody wakes up excited to look at their finances.
• The move he makes on the spot. Write the goal down, put it on display on the window right in front of his desk, and stare at it every single day.
• Chris on the reason most men never chase the thing they say they want. Not money. Not time. What other people might think.
• The line Phillip leaves for the next guest, and the story of hearing it on a podcast, pulling his car over, and having to collect himself before he could drive again.
• Why that line landed so hard on a guy who spent years on construction sites and started feeling like he did not fit anymore.

If you have a goal sitting in your head that you have never written down anywhere, this one is about fifteen minutes of your day away from being fixed. Write it down. Put it where you cannot avoid it.

Find Phillip:

Financial class: yourmoneyessentials.com Business coaching: corebusinessessentials.com

New episodes of The Upgraded Man drop three times a week. Full guest episodes on Monday, the best moment from a past guest on Wednesday, and the Journal on 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.

Larry Hagner is the founder of The Dad Edge and host of The Dad Edge Podcast. He has spent more than a decade helping men become better husbands and fathers. In this Wednesday episode, he lays out the order most men get backward at home.

Larry uses an oak tree to explain it. The branches are your marriage, your kids, your work, your friends. The trunk is you. Most men skip the trunk. They selflessly serve everybody else, never lead themselves, and then wonder why the people counting on them still feel hungry and thirsty.

This is a short, practical episode. No filler, and every idea comes with a story out of Larry's own house.

Here is what Chris and Larry get into:

• The oak tree. Why the trunk is you, and what happens to the branches when you ignore it.
• The daily anchor every man needs. For Larry it is fitness and faith, every single day, no exceptions.
• Why leading yourself first is not selfish. It is the most selfless thing you do, because your output is what your family actually gets.
• It is not about what we teach. It is about what they catch.
• The order that works. Yourself, then your marriage, then your kids.
• The back burner trap. How a marriage quietly slides to the back burner once kids arrive, and how to move yours back up front.
• Seen, heard, and safe. The three things his wife needs. Respect, appreciation, and affection. The three he needs.
• The night his 14 year old asked if they were getting divorced, and why Larry told him to pull up a chair and watch them resolve it.
• Lead your kids through questions, not lectures, so they learn to think instead of waiting to be told.
• Respond instead of react, and how to build psychological safety, an environment free from shame, blame, pain, and guilt.
• Why that safety decides whether your 18 year old calls you at 3 a.m. or rolls the dice and drives home.
• Stop fixing. Validate, normalize, and replace the word why with the words tell me more.

Find Larry:

Website: thedadedge.com
Free conversation starters: thedadedge.com/25questions and thedadedge.com/kidquestions
His book: thedadedge.com/legendarybook
Instagram and YouTube: The Dad Edge

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.