Hey, welcome to Fit Soul Chapter 7.

Be a Man.

I'm Ben Greenfield and every week I'll be releasing to you a chapter from my brand new book,

Fit Soul on this podcast feed, although you can get the entire book for free now as a digital

download or you can also get a physical copy at fitsolebook.com.

That's fitsolebook.com.

Let's do this.

Chapter 7.

Much of my life as a boy.

Deep down inside, driving my massacistic forays into 20 years of obstacle course and

adventure racing, triathlon, sporting competitions, and brutal workouts was a deep-seated

desire to prove to the world that I was a man.

At home, driven by a fear of rejection and resentment by my wife and children and

a preference for people pleasing, I was loose-handed and disciplined or laying down the

law in any sort of remotely authoritarian fashion.

God forbid I would ever be remembered as some kind of tyrant or dictator of the home,

so it must be far safer to simply be a likeable pushover father, right?

As a result, my role in the home was a bit of a Homer Simpson-esque buffoon, a jolly

and joking yet, ultimately feeble Peter of the family guy cartoon, or filled-umphe of

the modern family sitcom.

For years, I considered it a noble act to elevate my wife's status in the home to matriarchal

queen mother and caretaker of the household.

...