All right, men, welcome to the Man Talks Show.

I am Connor Beaton, and you are new to the podcast.

If you're new to this show, Man Talks is about helping you to become a better husband,

a better father, a better leader,

better man in general, whether that's in your health, your fitness,

your finances, whatever area and avenue of your life you are looking to better yourself in.

That's what this show. That's what this community is all about.

Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about initiation, specifically male initiation. And a few of the surrounding pieces of it, that there is an absence of male initiation, the importance of male initiation, why we need it, why it's relevant, and what can happen in your life if it's absent. I think that we've all, many of us have grown up as men have grown up

in an environment where we have been steeped in this sort of absence of the father, absence of a father figure.

And now, maybe this isn't you, right?

Maybe you're like, well, I grew up.

I had a father around.

He was always there.

I had a stepfather around.

And, you know, he played an active role in my life.

But you will likely have grown up with a number of men in your

life who have had very different circumstances. And you've probably seen them struggle. You know,

you've probably seen them look for validation from women. You've probably seen them flounder in their

self-esteem and their confidence and their capacity to know whether

or not they have direction in their life. You know, if you are a man that grew up without a father,

you've probably experienced yourself dealing with some of those pieces, right? Lacking clarity,

lacking direction, lacking a sense of self-worth sometimes and purpose. And this is where I think the bridge

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