Tanner Hays: Today we're gonna
be talking about living by a code

and practical ways to do that.

Franklin Swann: As we were talking about
this before and before, I, really dove

into what it looks like to live by a code.

The, the thing that really
pops up in my mind is thinking

back to when I was in school.

And really a code of honor, or an honor
code to me, really was just the, the

rules that a school would put in place
to hopefully deter you or discourage you

from cheating or keep you in line, right?

Keep you in line.

And something that honestly, there's
a piece of me thinking back I really

just rebel and push back on because it
was just kind of these, these set of

rules that were really in place to just.

Control me rather than create
a positive framework and filter

through which to live my life.

Tanner Hays: And that's why it's
so important that, and we'll get

into this today in this podcast,
but the code that you live by has

to be authentic to who you are.

Yeah.

It,

Franklin Swann: it does.

And as we were talking, every
one of us has some code it, the

question is not, do you have one?

It's simply have you designed it?

To be in alignment with your values
and your purpose in life, or do you

default to the day-to-day code of what
the world puts on you, what society

says you should or shouldn't be, and do
you take control and ownership of that

or do you allow other people or other
circumstances to define it for you?

Tanner Hays: And that's the
question, are you living by design

or are you living by default?

Franklin Swann: So getting
into living by code.

So what do we mean by that?

The definition that we really like is that
a code is a set of principles that guides

your behavior relative to some purpose.

To say it simpler, it's a higher
standard for greater service.

It is really defining.

The guiding principles and virtues
and values that you will strive for

in your life, a higher standard of
living that allows you to show up

better and serve to a greater extent
those people and and society in

general in a way that is beneficial,

Tanner Hays: right?

So it's important to have a purpose or
something that you're striving for, and

the code is what you're living out daily.

Franklin Swann: It's your moral,
ethical behaviors for the greater good.

So a code ultimately becomes this, this
filter through your, for your actions

and your words and your thoughts.

If, if you step into the day and you
don't have a, a way of operating in, in

a true north, so to speak, that you're.

Aligning yourself with, it's really easy
for, especially for a man, a husband, a

father, for the chaos of the day, whether
that be from your work, from your family.

Even this morning, you've got
a kid's, a sick kiddo at home,

dealing with the chaos of that.

And so how do you show up when the
world is trying to knock you off center?

How do you show up in a
way that still allows you.

To, to love and serve and lead your family
and be the husband father that they need.

And this is something that when you,
when you utilize it as a tool for

living it, it reorients you every
morning into alignment with the

man that you ultimately want to be.

Tanner Hays: And so when you use a code
like this, it brings you back to center.

When you're having a sick kid
and you're waking up in the

morning with a sick kid or.

Things are crashing down around you
in your business or what have you.

You use that code to recenter
yourself and to be able to live

up to the standard, no matter the

Franklin Swann: circumstances.

It defines who you are, what
you do, and why you do it.

When I was in and I first came into really
understanding what a code was when I was

doing SEAL fit training in Mark Devine.

His author and read several of his books.

And in his one book, the Way of the
Seal, he talks about having a stand.

And really it is those things that
you're willing to stand up for and

stand in alignment with that allow
you to be the man that you wanna be.

And it's, and it's also
setting the standards.

You want to be reflected in
the way you live every day.

Really understanding that this isn't
just something, some cheesy thing or

dorky thing as I thought growing up that
the school was trying to impose on me.

But as, as we get older and have
greater responsibilities and, and play

new roles in life of being husbands,
fathers, business leaders, it's

critical that we really understand that
living by a code is something that.

Some of the greatest groups ancient and
modern have, have adhered to over history.

And, and it's just a very practical
and applicable way to, to go into

each day in a way that that has you
look up at the end of the day and

actually be proud of, of what you did.

Tanner Hays: And we talked a lot about
the, the different groups through history

that live by code and it's almost like.

To be remembered, you, you
must have a code to live by.

Franklin Swann: Yeah.

You've got everyone from the Samurai
to Spartans different Christian groups,

the, the Knights and, and had they,
how they had their code of chivalry.

The Sea Navy seals have their seal ethos.

The Sioux Indian tribe, even we
were talking has, has a, a moral

and a honor code that they lived by.

And there's these, these great groups
that have, that have really been

immortalized throughout history.

And every one of them had a, a
code of honor, a code of ethics.

Now, there's, there's no single for
most of 'em definition of what that

looked like, but it was simply more
the idea that there were these ideals

and these principles and these higher
standards that they strove to live by.

That really unified and bonded them
together and allowed them to be working

for the greater good collectively
and in their individual lives,

Tanner Hays: right?

And, and it's that code that they
lived by that became who they were

and and how they were remembered.

And the way I like to think of this
is your code makes up who you are,

which ultimately is gonna become your
legacy and how your family remembers

you even more so than what you did.

They're gonna remember
who you were as a person.

Franklin Swann: It, it helps define the
actions that you take every day that

really do become your, your legacy.

It becomes your character.

It becomes just the life that you build.

And again, we're either gonna be
doing that through a framework of

default to what the world says,
or it's more in alignment with

with what we're truly called to.

So to dive into some actual
examples of what would make up

a, a, a code of honor, you've got
different values, different virtues.

These could be things such as strength,
courage, mastery, honor, those are four.

Defined masculine, manly codes of honor
and values that that you can find.

You've also got things such as faith,
truth, wisdom, justice, all virtues

that are honorable and that if lived
by and and worked through, help us to

serve our families better, be better
husbands, better fathers, better

businessmen, better community leaders.

And and just creates a
great framework for living.

You've also got codes of honor where
you align them with your, your faith.

For us that's aligning 'em
with our Christian faith.

I.

It's aligning them with our
ultimate purpose in life.

The people who we either love
or serve or are responsible for.

It could also in incorporate your country
or the people that you that you serve.

And so it, it really is this
this distilling of those things

that allow you to show up better.

Tanner Hays: And it, and it's centered
around this principle of continuing

to strive for a higher standard and
ultimately live out greater service,

Franklin Swann: right?

Higher standards, greater service
for the people that you love.

So what does this look like practically?

One thing Tanner and I wanted
to do was really give some

practical ways that you can.

Incorporate this into your life
and be a man who lives by a code.

The, the thing about it is if you live by
a code, you are going to separate yourself

from the vast majority of the other men
in the world because the majority of

the men in the world don't have a code.

They don't live by a code that they just
haven't done the work and gone through.

The they haven't gone through the work to,
to define this and to incorporate it into

their lives, and, and it can be daunting.

It's like, where do you even start?

This can be really overwhelming.

You, you may think I need to get this
perfect, but this is really about being

a man who wants to strive for more, show
up better, serve his family better, and,

and if that's you, then this is a tool
that you can use in order to begin to.

Orient your life every
single day in that direction.

So there's four very simple steps
that we want to propose that would

allow you to bring this tool into
your life and incorporate it.

So the first step is decision.

You simply have to decide that you are
gonna be a man who lives by a code.

You have to make a commitment
to be that kind of man and.

That's the first thing because again,
most men don't, don't think about this.

Most men don't do this.

And so it's, it's choosing to
step out there and, and go against

the grain to a large extent and,
and be someone who chooses to set

themselves up for a higher standard.

Tanner Hays: A quote that I've,
I've heard before that really

goes along with this is, are you
interested or are you committed?

'cause those are two very
different states of mind.

You could be interested in running a
marathon, but are you committed to putting

in the miles in what it takes day in and
day out to ultimately run that marathon?

Are

Franklin Swann: are you training?

Do you have a plan?

Are you hitting the markers that
you need to, are you hitting the

speeds that you need to, right?

Tanner Hays: So you, and you can look
at something like a Navy Seals ethos

and their code that they live by.

You could be interested in
that, but are you committed to

Franklin Swann: living it out daily?

You read it, but then you apply it.

It's, it's that application
that is, that is so critical.

So if you don't, if you don't just
simply first decide that you're

gonna do this, you won't do it.

If you just research it, if you
just look into it, it won't be

something that becomes just a
part of how you live each day.

So after you make that decision
and that commitment, then you

have to step two, define what is
your code of honor to live by.

You can either create your own and
really craft for yourself that, that

document that embodies the values and
the virtues and the purpose of your

life and really aligns you to that,
or you can adopt somebody else's.

The, there's no, there's nothing that says
you can't go find one that already exists.

You can go Google these things and
there's tons of stuff out there.

You could find one that really
resonates with you and feels

authentic to, to who you are, and
just adopt that and start there.

So it doesn't have to be this thing where
you've gotta get it perfect, it just has

to be positive and in the right direction.

And so a code that you adopt from
somebody else is far better than a code

that you don't have at all, and that you
just default into every day mindlessly.

So you can either create and craft
one, or you can go adopt one.

But either way, it's simply deciding
that I'm gonna have a document that

defines the way I carry out my life
each day and that I strive to live by.

So number

Tanner Hays: one, decide
make a commitment.

Number two, define
number three is refined.

And what we mean by this is this
is something that's gonna evolve

over time as you come in and out
of different seasons of your life.

This is gonna be something that's
organic and and malleable, but

ultimately lines up with your purpose
and is authentic to who you are.

Franklin Swann: As you live this out,
you, you're gonna hear things and you

may be reading a book or listening
to a podcast, and you, you'll hear

something that you think, ah, I wanna
add that, that really resonates with me.

That really speaks to me.

And the wording really
invokes a, a deeper emotion.

And so I'm gonna update or, or
add that to my code as it is.

And so it's really this idea of it being.

A living, breathing document that
matures and, and grows over time.

And so back to it.

You don't have to make this perfect.

It's, you just get somewhere that
you start and realize that over time

this thing should be a growth in your
life that that evolves over time.

Tanner Hays: And then the
fourth point here is recite.

You want to be reading and speaking this
daily and reflecting on it on your daily

actions, your daily choices that you're
making, always making sure that you are

in alignment with the code that you've

Franklin Swann: chosen.

Yeah, if you don't recite
it, then you will forget it.

That you really have to
remind yourself every day.

I think men struggle with forgetting.

I know I do.

I know if, if I'm not constantly
reminding myself of the things that

are important and, and just revisiting
that, it's really easy to look up after

a day, a week, a month, a year, and
you forgot what it was that you were

even setting out to do to begin with.

It's like when you review your goals
every day, you're much more likely

to accomplish those goals because you
reorient your mind, you refocus your.

Your intentions and the activities of
the day on moving towards those goals.

No different than this.

Once you define that, that code of
honor and have it in your life and

have decided to commit to living by
it, then reciting it every day, and

especially at the beginning of the
day, helps to align yourself, remind

you what it is that you committed to.

And it begins to ingrain itself self
into your subconscious mind to where

in a lot of ways you will begin to
unconsciously live these things out.

And you don't even have to think
that hard about it as time goes on.

So

Tanner Hays: number one, decide.

Number two, define number three, refine.

And number four, recite.

And something we're gonna
challenge you to do is to.

Pull up your calendar on your phone and
set aside one hour to work on a code

and, and decide on what it's gonna be.

This can take, can research some
different things, but set aside one

hour to put together something that
you can read and recite daily that

ultimately helps you get to, to the
purpose that you have on your life.

Franklin Swann: Yep.

Very simple.

It shouldn't take more than an hour, and
that's, this is a huge thing, especially

it no matters if it's the beginning of
the year for you, middle of the year, when

you're listening to this end of the year.

This is one of those little bitty
shifts that you can take, that will

set you apart, that will alter the
trajectory of your life, that will help

you to show up as a better husband,
a better father, a better leader in

your home, a better servant in your
community, a better businessman.

And, and it, it's not this giant leap.

It's these daily little clicks of
the dial, these daily small shifts.

And it starts with making that intention,
deciding beforehand who we are gonna

be, how we're gonna behave, think,
act, speak, and ultimately set a higher

standard for ourselves that allows us
to be of greater service to this world.

That is a high calling.

And that's the kind of
men that we want to be.

And if that's the kind of man you wanna
be, then this is a very powerful tool

that you can utilize every single day
to to begin to align yourself with that.

Book an hour on your calendar,
whether that be early in the

morning before the family's up.

Maybe that's over lunchtime.

Maybe that's at the end of the
day when you've got some time.

But book an hour of uninterrupted time.

To go through these four steps to really
decide that this is something that you

want for your life to define what your
code is, to understand that you're

gonna refine this over time, and then
incorporate it into your daily habits

and your daily practice where you re,
where you revisit it and re-Look at

that and recite it every single day.

And over time, you do this for
a day, a month, a week, a year.

It will begin to just ingrain itself
into your subconscious mind and be

something that really impacts you.

You can also go to
www.theworldneedsmen.com.

There is a free download that you can use.

That will help you to work through this.

And so we wanna offer that to
our listeners as a free tool

and a free resource that you'll
get at the world needs men.com.

Tanner Hays: We ask that If you found
value in this, that you subscribe to the

podcast and share it with someone that you
think would find value in this as well.

Franklin Swann: If there's a man
that you know who would benefit from

this, please share it with them.

We want to get these messages and
these tools and resources out to

as many men as we can so that.

Marriages can be thriving,
families can heal.

So kids have great dads so that wives
have great husbands and one man at a time

in this world, we can make a difference.