Franklin Swann: Right now, the world
needs great men who will stand up and

lead with honor, serve with purpose,
and courageously fulfill their

God-Given roles and responsibilities
as husbands, fathers, leaders, and

men, it's time we see more men thrive.

Marriages filled with passion
and families that flourish.

So whether you're a man struggling
to figure it all out, or an awesome

husband and dad looking for the next
level, you've come to the right place.

We are your hosts, Franklin Swann and
Tanner Hays bringing you practical,

applicable tools and strategies you
can use every day to build yourself

into the man God is calling you to be.

This is the world needs men.

Let's go.

Tanner Hays: welcome back to
the World Needs Men podcast.

We're your host, Tanner Hays, Franklin
Swann, and today we're gonna be talking

about something we call the Core four.

And this is one aspect of an overall
personal operating system that we

believe you should have, and it
really comes down to one principle.

Are you owning your habits
or your habits owning you?

Franklin Swann: I'm really excited
about today's podcast 'cause we're

really starting to get into the
details and the specifics that we've

been talking about that men can use.

And today is about upgrading your
personal operating system and

presenting an overview of what this
looks like in our lives and starting

to just kind of give men some.

Some ideas of, one, even understanding
whether or not they have a, an

operating system in their lives.

And if not, or if they do,
how do they create one or how

do they upgrade it, right?

So that it is a productive
tool in their life.

And this is something that has been
just a massive tool for me that has

allowed me to go from really dark places.

To a place of thriving and being
really healthy and just loving my life.

And I'm excited to share that
today with with all the listeners.

Tanner Hays: And some of y'all, maybe
like I was in, you're operating on

Windows 95 and it's about to be 2024 and
what we're gonna be talking about today.

Is so applicable, and you're gonna
want to go back and listen to this a

couple times, but it's daily things that
you can do to upgrade that operating

system so that you can thrive in your
marriage your business with your kids.

And these are simple things
that you can do on a daily

Franklin Swann: basis.

If you look at the typical
businessman in the world.

He may be really fit in his body and
he may be running a great business,

but his marriage may not be all that
great or it may be falling apart and

his kids might not like him and he
may just be feeling lost spiritually.

Or maybe that man feels
really connected spiritually.

Very on point with God
has a great marriage, but.

His body's falling apart and he's not
sure how to get it done in business.

Or maybe his marriage is great
but he just doesn't know how

to lead his family spiritually.

He's struggling to pay the bills.

And so he's running marathons
and he is really fit.

But you don't typically see a
man that has all four locked in.

At the same time consistently you don't
see many men who are physically fit living

out their purpose and leading their family
spiritually, while at the same time having

a connected and passionate marriage with
a relationship with their kids that's

thriving and running a successful business
in doing that consistently all the time.

And the core four is a.

Protocol to be utilized every day.

Who's, which is in the ultimate
outcome is what I just described.

Tanner Hays: Right?

And I feel like most men feel
like they're spinning plates.

They've got their family plate,
their, they're plate for their

relationship with their wife, their
business all these different things.

And they're trying to keep
'em all spinning at one time.

And.

They may focus on one for a little
bit, and that's got, that's getting

going and then they look over
and the other one's stopping.

And so what this protocol does is allow
you to continue to produce momentum in

each of these areas because momentum,
in my opinion, is a universal principle.

We're never stagnant.

It doesn't matter if we're talking about
your health, your finances or in your

business, you're either getting healthier.

Or you're getting sicker.

You are either thriving in business
or moving in the opposite direction.

And what this does is it gives
you daily things to produce that

momentum in each of these core areas.

Franklin Swann: I think
every man likes to win.

Every man wants to win in life.

And these are four areas.

That most men could agree
are pretty important.

Your physical body and your
health, your marriage and your

relationships, your business and
your career, and then your spiritual

walk and and your sense of purpose.

So those four we're breaking down,
and this is called the core four.

Those four areas are your body, your
being, your balance, and your business.

That is the core four.

And as we get deeper into this
podcast today's gonna be the

overview, but we're really gonna
dive deeper into each one of those.

But today we just wanted to
present an overview of this,

what we call an operating system
for our lives and every day.

What this comes down to is really a
list of habits that we have implemented.

That bring order instability
and productivity to these

areas of our lives that matter.

And this is the biggest thing
that has had an impact on my life.

When I began to implement this on a daily
basis into my life, I saw my life improve.

I saw my marriage and my
relationships improve.

I saw my business improve
my sense of purpose.

And in my.

Fulfillment in my relationship
with God improved, and then in

my physical body improved too.

Like all aspects begin to move
forward productively at the same time.

Right?

And

Tanner Hays: this comes down to habits,
and everyone wants to instill good

and healthy habits, but I think the
point that most people don't realize

is they have habits, whether they're.

Actively designing them or not.

And those habits are either
destructive or productive.

And whether you wake up at the same time,
do the same things every day, you are

in some kind of habit and you're doing
similar things every day of your life.

And what we're presenting is boiling
it down to four key areas so that you

can have these productive habits that
are gonna help you create momentum and.

Ultimately get you to where you
want to be in these four areas.

Franklin Swann: For men listening to this
who want more in life and who want to win,

we are going to lay out this roadmap as
Tony Robbins likes to say, your massive

action plan, your map for winning in life.

So every day we have our body, our being,
our balance, our business as we step in

a body, what that looks like is two very.

Simple boxes that we check.

The first is fitness,
and the second is fuel,

Tanner Hays: right?

And fitness can look
different from for everyone.

That could be going on a walk.

Could be strength training, could be
CrossFit, but it comes down to moving

your body and sweating every day.

Franklin Swann: You want
to break a sweat every day.

And invest in your physical health in that
way, and just get out and move based on

where you are in your fitness journey.

I said for some people that may be
simply doing a walk around the block

is a big deal for other people.

You may be in a CrossFit gym or
training for a marathon, but having

a fitness component to your daily
routine is a vital component to

living a full and thriving life.

Tanner Hays: So the first aspect of
body is fitness, and the second is fuel.

Franklin Swann: And what we mean
by that is drink a green smoothie.

Now that may sound crazy and outta
left field, but the reality is our

modern diets are not generally great.

Most men are not eating real well.

Instead of telling you to go on a
specific diet, to cut everything

out or to do the latest fad diet.

If you can simply drink a green
smoothie every day filled with lots

of greens, some good some good green
powder, some pure water, maybe a little

bit of banana, maybe a little bit
of protein over time, your body and

especially your gut is going to operate.

In a way that allows you to think
more clearly, to have better emotional

regulation, to feel better physically.

And when you think and feel
better, you will produce better

results in all areas of your life.

Tanner Hays: Right?

So we got body breaks down
into fitness and fuel.

The second part of Core four is being

Franklin Swann: so two specific.

Boxes to check.

Within being, we have
meditation and we have memoirs.

Now, when we say meditation, most
people are going, or a lot of

people are gonna have a lot of
different ideas of what that means.

For us specifically, and I learned this
from mark Devine with Seal Fit meditation.

Looks like 10 minutes of
box breathing every morning.

Box breathing is a very simple.

Breath work protocol where you inhale
for a four count, you hold for a four

count, you exhale for a four count,
and then you hold for a four count.

So it almost makes like
four sides of a box.

Inhale, hold, exhale, hold.

And we do that for anywhere from five,
10, even 20 minutes as our meditative

practice to start off each day.

Tanner Hays: Right?

And

during that.

Box breathing, you can recite
something in your mind.

You can focus on a specific scripture.

But what we want you to do
is break this down into very

simple actions that you can do.

And box breathing is something each and
every one of us can learn how to do.

And it's a very important skill as well.

Franklin Swann: The second
part of it is memoir.

So.

This comes down to journaling.

It could either be a gratitude
journal, it could be an anger journal,

and I'll get into what that means.

But we want to create space for men to
just breathe each day, create a little bit

of calm in their life, and then be able to
get some of their thoughts out on paper.

So there's two different
strategies for this.

You can either do a gratitude
journal and very simply that's.

Writing three things out, that three
specific things that you're grateful for.

That could be your family, that could
be something about your friends.

It could be something
that you experienced.

It could be something that you have,
something you're grateful for in life.

Just writing out some gratitude
after that box breathing will

create a tremendous amount of
just space and peace in your life.

That's really important.

The other thing you can do is an
actual anger memoir in journaling.

And the reality is a lot of
men wake up in the morning.

They could have things that they're
triggered about with work with one of

their with a relationship with their
spouse, with friends, with a boss.

And if we don't get that mess
out, if we don't get the.

The angry thoughts and the stories out,
then all those do is weigh us down.

So you literally can take out a
piece of paper, and on that paper

you just start writing out all the
things that you think, feel, want

to say, and you don't hold back.

And you just go as dark as you
deep and as deep as you need to

and just get it out on paper.

And then once you're done, once you feel
like you've thoroughly gotten it all out.

You shred it.

So you literally just take it,
rip it in half, rip it in four,

rip in eight, then six, and you
just keep shredding shredding.

And there's a therapeutic process
that you go through when you do this.

That's almost just like expelling all of
that darkness and all of that negativity.

Out of yourself so that you
can get clear in your mind.

That's really what we're trying to
do with the being side is connect you

spiritually and also get all the junk
out that you may be thinking about.

Tanner Hays: And what it is, is
wiping the slate clean every day.

And I think what we don't realize is we're
holding onto so many different thoughts

so many different emotions every day.

And what this is allowing us to do is.

Wipe the sleep clean so that you
can show up for your family, so you

can show up in your business and be
with a clear mind and ready to face

whatever is gonna come at you that day.

Franklin Swann: So now I'd like you to
imagine you've gotten up before your

family early in the morning before,
before the sun comes up and the first

thing you've done is exercised your body.

You've physically sweat and you're
feeling good from a workout.

You've drank a green smoothie
and you've put some good.

Stuff into your body some good fuel.

Then you've spent some time box
breathing, getting your mind clear,

and then journaling, whether that's
journaling, gratitude or journaling,

anger, or even both and getting that done.

So you're beginning to
get on point for the day.

You're beginning to bring
in this level of power.

And when I mean power,
it's really capacity.

Pro to prepare yourself for whatever's
coming for the day and be able to win.

So you've done both those things.

And the next, you're
gonna move into balance.

And with balance, what that
refers to is your relationships

with the people closest to you.

For most men, that's gonna be your
wife, it's gonna be your children.

And what we are going to propose you
do every single day is write a note

to your wife and a note to your kids.

That note should be a love note.

Gratitude.

It should be either a love, gratitude,
honor, or appreciation note.

It does not have to be long.

It could be short, sweet, but
you write that every single day.

Tanner Hays: And maybe you're
listening to this and you're not

married or you don't have kids.

These two people could be friends.

This could, these could be family members.

But sending that, it could
be a text of appreciation.

So powerful.

Not just for the person that's receiving
it, but for you as the person sending it.

Franklin Swann: That's really who it's
for, is you, first and foremost men.

I'll tell you if you're married and if
you write your wife a love note tomorrow

morning, it is gonna be a lot harder
for you to snap at her after that.

The thing I like to use as an analogy
here is if you have a pair of glasses

and you put that pair of glasses on
day one, they're nice and clean and

you can see clearly through them.

A week goes by.

If you don't clean that lens, you begin
to get some smudges, maybe a little

bit of dirt on there, and it begins
to distort your view a little bit.

If you go a month or
even years and you never.

Clean those glasses.

Eventually you get to a point where you
cannot even see through them and your

view of reality is completely distorted.

What this tool and this process allows us
to do every day is wipe the select clean

and see, because we're using gratitude
and honor and love and appreciation

and presenting that to our family
members or to the people closest to us.

It allows us to wipe the slate clean
and see them clearly for who they

are, for all the things that we
appreciate about them, love about

them, are grateful for about them.

And it is this gift that not only
we give them, but even more so,

we give that gift to ourselves.

'cause it puts us in this energetic
place where we're able to love them

better, serve them better, and overall
just be a better man around them.

Tanner Hays: So we've got body
being in balance and number four

of the core four is business.

And this breaks down
into leverage and learn.

Cut that Jethro.

Number four, we have business and this
breaks down into learn and leverage.

And that's not just learning something.

New for the business, but actually
applying it within your business.

Franklin Swann: Many men after
school don't read any more books.

It is critical if we are going to
lead our families and especially if

we're gonna lead in the workplace and
provide better financially, that we

are continuing to improve our knowledge
and our understanding of how to.

Operate in the business world.

So if you run a business or if you
are an employee, there is something

that you can learn every single
day that would allow you to operate

within your role in a better way.

It may be sales, marketing.

You may be learning about leadership or
accounting or operations, but you want

to learn something new every single day.

Prime your brain, challenge it,
fill it with good information.

Then the leverage part is not
just learning for learning's sake.

Learning on its own is not really
valuable until action is taken.

And so you want to leverage what you
learn, apply it to your business or

profession or career, and utilize
that learning to move you forward

to perform better, to create more
value in the world for more people.

And when you do that, you are
going to win more financially.

Tanner Hays: The leverage part is so
important for me because I love to learn.

I love to, to read, to watch YouTube
videos and I'm always trying to

figure out different things I
can implement into my business.

But oftentimes I get stuck in just
learning the new thing and focusing

on, okay, how am I gonna apply this new
piece of information into my business

has been such a huge game changer for me.

Franklin Swann: So, so if you can win
in your body every day because you're

sweating and you're putting some good
stuff into it, if you can win in your

spiritual life because you're actually
giving yourself some time to spend with

God in meditation and journaling out some
of the mess going on in your mind, if

you can make a daily deposit into your
family through a love note and that's a

great little side note to think of, men.

We have to invest into our
families every single day.

No different than putting
money into a bank account.

If your bank account is empty and
you're constantly overdrawn and you're

constantly getting penalties, if
we're not investing in our families,

that's exactly what it looks like.

It looks like trying to make a withdrawal
when there's no money in the account.

So the way we offset that.

We make those deposits, we make those
emotional deposits into them every

single day in the form of a note.

That could be a literal, handwritten note.

It could be a text, a
voice note, an email there.

There's all kinds of strategies
and things that we're gonna

share on how to actually do that.

But you make that daily deposit into
your family, into the people that you

love the most, and then you're learning
something in business and leveraging

that, learning to create more value in
the world and improve your financial.

Situation that is a tried, true, proven
method for bringing order and stability

and success into each area of your
life that matters every single day.

Tanner Hays: Something I want you
to visualize is, person A does the

core four, person B wakes up late.

Is late for work or it's time to
take the kids to school, grabs

maybe a Pop-Tart, maybe a cup of
coffee and rushes out the door.

May have said bye to his wife
drops the kids off, gets into his

office, and goes about his day.

Which one is gonna be more
successful over the long term?

Franklin Swann: Men.

If you implement this tool into your
life, you will become a force of nature.

You will begin to generate a level
of capacity that grows and allows you

to take on whatever challenge it is.

That comes, I think, back to COVID.

During CI, my business got shut down.

I was sitting there with doors
locked teams at home thinking,

what in the world is gonna happen?

Leaning into this
process every single day.

I doubled down on my fitness and fuel.

I doubled down on my
meditation and my journaling.

I doubled down on
depositing into my family.

I doubled down on learning and
leveraging in my business, and instead

of getting crushed and steamrolled,
we were built into, I first was

built into a new level of a human.

And a man, and then the business followed.

My family followed, and it
just carried me through.

And so this is not theory.

This is what we have applied and seen
work not only in our own lives, but in

how we've learned this with other men.

That when you implement these simple tools
daily, you will show up as a different

man and be, and put yourself into a
position of creating results in your life.

That would blow your mind.

Tanner Hays: Stay ready so
you don't have to get ready.

And that's what this comes down to every
day, is preparing your mind, your body for

whatever is gonna come at you that day.

Franklin Swann: Yeah,
life will not get easier.

Men.

The only question is your capacity
growing in order to allow you

to take on bigger challenges?

The challenges are gonna keep coming.

The the resistance will show up.

Tried and true every single day.

There is no doubt about that.

But the question is not whether
the resistance is gonna come

and the question is not.

If you're gonna get to this place
where things are easy and you're

just not gonna have any challenges
anymore, that will never happen.

But what can happen is that you can
begin to build yourself into a man whose

capacity as such that you look those
challenges and in the face and you're

able to be the calm inside the storm.

You're able to be the
refuge your family seeks.

You're able to be the stability your
business needs because you build that

into your life first, every single day.

And so you step into the day as this fully
capable, fully present man who's able to

lead because he's done the work already to
put himself into a position of leadership.

Tanner Hays: So we hope that this
podcast impacts your life as much

as these aspects have impacted us.

And if you go to the world needs men.com,
we have a free downloadable resource for

you that you can use as a daily tracker
to check these boxes off every day.

Franklin Swann: Yep.

In coming podcasts, we're gonna dive
deeper into each one of these areas.

Again, today was more of an overview
and we're really gonna get into the

why and the how and the what's and
try to answer questions that you may

have so that you can really understand
what it is we're talking about.

But these are tools that you can
use and if you use them, they work.

When you do the work, it works.

If you don't do the work, it won't.

It's no different than a.

A toolbox full of tools.

They're only potential value.

They're not valuable until
they're taken out and put to work.

Tanner Hays: So we wanna
leave you with one question.

Do you own your habits or
do your habits own you?

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.