Playbooks

Five Classes that Should be Taught in School

Big Idea Worth sharing- too many men are highly educated but unprepared to handle the tasks it takes to live day to day. That’s why schools should teach more practical classes. 

When I was in college I had to take elective courses that were really just ways for the school to extract more tuition and for me to pad my GPA. It never made sense to me the tuition for my Statistics class was the same as Intro to Karate. If colleges are going to require you to take classes that aren’t tied to your major, I think they should help you deal with daily life. That’s why I came up with five classes that should be taught in school.

  1. Money Management

This class is first on the list because there is a direct correlation between how you handle money and your peace of mine. The earlier you get smart about managing money, the less stressful your life will be. 

The main objectives of this course should be: 

  • Learn the importance of savings accounts
  • Develop a spending plan AKA budget that’s based on something other than checking you bank balance once a week.
  • Learn why you need to make compound interest your friend instead of your enemy
  1. Taxes

One of my favorite episodes of “That 70’s Show” is when Jackie gets her first paycheck. She goes to the manager and says “I don’t know who FICA is but that bitch stole like 10% of my money.” As the old saying goes the only sure-things in life are death and taxes, so every man needs to know about them. Also, nothing will influence how you vote more than what you know about taxes. 

The main objectives of this course should be:

  • Know how the government spends your taxes, 
  • Learn how to fill out a tax return
  • Know the difference between tax avoidance (highly recommended) and tax evasion (a felony and something you should never do).
  1. How to behave at a business dinner or holiday party

Parties and dinners are great ways for a man to make contacts and get face time with the bosses. The problem is going to a business dinner is way different than a frat party. There are few rules you need to learn and follow so you don’t get fired the day after the Christmas party. 

The main objectives of this course: 

  • Learn the golden rule of alcohol consumption (never have more than one drink every 45 minutes), 
  • Know how to dress for different social functions
  • Understand why you should never challenge your boss to do shots.
  1. Time Management 

Money may be number 1 on this list, but the truth is time is the most valuable asset you have. Every man gets 168 hours per week and no more. You can’t buy bonus hours. But some men get so much done in a week, it’s like they got extra hours. They don’t, they know it’s all in how you manage your168 hours. 

The main objectives of this course: 

  • Develop the skills necessary to stay productive when there’s no one looking over your shoulder (like working from home), 
  • Learn how often should you step away from the internet, social media and YouTube, 
  • Know the difference between taking a break (highly recommended) and procrastination (will get your fired.)
  1. Car Maintenance 

As you’ve probably figured out by now, a car is the second largest purchase a man will make. The good news is most cars are so good now, you can easily put 100,000 miles on one and it still be as reliable as when it was new. There are just a few basic maintenance items you need to stay on top of.

The main objectives of this course: 

  • Learn The ONE thing guaranteed to make your car last longer or wear out way before it’s time, oil changes. Most cars now only require changing the oil every 10,000 miles so there’s no excuse to let this one slide, 
  • Understand that rotating your tires every 5k miles takes 30 minutes and your tires will last twice as long.
  • Learn how to keep you car clean.

 

Those 5 classes will do more to set up a man for success than these classes I’ve seen people waste their (or their parents) money on :rock climbing, kayaking, or weight lifting and you’ll still get your easy “A”.

How a Man Can Leave a Legacy to Future Generations

Welcome to the Playbook for men podcast, short answers to big questions about being a man. One way you can help us spread the word is to subscribe and leave a rating on iTunes.

In this episode I’m answering the big question of how can a man leave a legacy to future generations.

Let me tell you a Story

I loved it when traffic came to a stop because a train was coming through my little hometown of Athens Alabama. I’d sit in the front seat mesmerized as the cars of the train flashed by in front of me. Boxcars, coal cars, and flatbed cars. 

But I was looking for one particular car in the train, the caboose. Whenever it passed I’d strain to see who was riding in the caboose and think what’s his job, why does he get to ride in the caboose? 

Later on in life I discovered that most of the time the guy riding in the caboose was a brakeman. 

Now the job of a brakeman goes all the way back to when trains first started running. Back then each car a locomotive was pulling had its own brake that was controlled by a wheel on TOP of the car. The brakeman’s job was to hop from car to car applying the brakes as needed.

Later on air brakes were developed. This meant all of the brakes on a train could be operated from one location and that’s what the guy in the caboose was doing. The engineer would let him know when he needed more brakes and the brakeman would hit the switch. Other than that, he spent his time just riding and monitoring how the train was making the trip. Mile after mile. Day after day. No internet. No cell phones. 

So how do you pass the time if you’re a brakeman? One brakeman named JB Camp read books. Not just any books but novels by Louis L’Amour. It was a good thing JB chose him because not only was L’Amour an outstanding writer, he wrote over 100 novels in his career.

So JB never ran out of new books. 

JB was also a man who never wasted anything. Folks like him who grew up during the Depression had so little as kids, they appreciated everything they had as adults. That’s why JB kept the books after he finished reading them. In fact, he kept all the books he read while working on the Union Pacific Railroad for 40 years. 

OK, so some old guy kept a bunch of books, big deal. Well, I told you that story to tell you this one. 

JB’s grandson Tim discovered the boxes full of his books right around the time he became a father of four boys. So Tim got an idea, he’d read the books to his sons as bedtime stories. He figured it would be a great way to entertain and connect his boys to the great-grandfather they never knew. 

L’Amour’s books are perfect books for little boys because they’re exciting stories about cowboys. They also teach the basics of true masculinity. The men in his books kept their word, protected those who couldn’t protect themselves, and weren’t afraid of hard work. 

When JB was reading those books while riding thousands of miles in a caboose, he had no way of knowing he was building a legacy that would impact future generations of his family. 

So if you’re the guy asking the big question of how can you leave a legacy, don’t constrain yourself to thinking only about money or land. A lasting legacy is a lifestyle.

The legacy I want to leave is 9 simple words; do what’s right, do my best, put others first. I’m preserving and passing on that legacy by writing, speaking and this podcast. This means that even though I won’t get to spend time with my great grandchildren, they’ll be able to hear my voice and learn what was important to me.

So examine the things you do that can be your legacy. Is there a series of books you read like JB? Do you practice your faith? Are you active in your community? 

All of those are a legacy you can pass on. Which means that even if your bank balance is $0.00 on the day you die, you will have left a legacy that will impact the world in a more significant way than an overflowing bank account. 

PS

I have a toolbox that belonged to my father-in-law that I plan on passing on to my grandson, along with stories about the man who’s name is on it. He left a legacy of kindness, gentleness, and strength that I hope my grandson will carry on.

 

Should You Take That New Job?

This is the Playbook for Men Podcast, short answers to the big questions about being a man

This episode’s short answer is to the big question of should you take that new job? 

You know the situation, you’ve got a job and you’re pretty happy with it when suddenly you get a message on LinkedIn from a recruiter. And the next thing you know you’ve got a job offer. Now you’ve got to figure out should you take it

How do you know what to do? Do you take a chance with a new job or do you stay with the known quantity, the job that you’ve had and you know how to do it and everything’s going really really well for you.

These kinds of decisions are when you wish there was a systematic way, a process that you could work through to help you evaluate this new job and whether you should take it or not. I’ve got one for you. You break the decision down into three categories; personal, professional, and pay.

Personal

  1. Are you happy in your current job? Do you like your coworkers? Do you like your boss? Are you fulfilled? Do you get to do work you think is making a difference in the world? 
  2. Are you bored at your current job? It’s just not much of a challenge because you’ve been doing it for so long that it just is really gotten to be routine 
  3. How would the new job impact your quality of life? Things like family time. What would your hours be? Would you be traveling a lot? Would you have the freedom to be able to attend your kids sporting events. 

Professional 

  1. Are there going to be opportunities for promotions where you are or are you kind of tapped out? The people in the job that you’d like to have are still a long way away from retirement so you’re boxed in. 
  2. Maybe you’re considering changing industries or careers. I’ve done that a few times myself and that can be a scary prospect. 
  3. How stable is your current company? Wiith Covid you never know about some companies. Are they going to be able to make it? 
  4. How stable is the new company? Are they a startup of an established company. 

Pay 

  1. Is the salary offer a raise? If so, how much? The general rule of thumb is it needs to be 25% increase to make it worth moving. 
  2. What about benefits? How much do you have to pay for health insurance? Is there 401(k) matching? What about vacation time?
  3. Is there a chance to get equity?
  4. Is there a bonus program? 

After you work through the list and just when you think you’ve made a decision, I want you to STOP and sleep on it. If you wake the next morning and still feel good about your decision, for it!

Don’t look back. Don’t second guess yourself. Be confident you’ve done all you could to make a good decision. If it works out, great and if doesn’t, don’t worry about it. Just take these list rinse, repeat.

You can listen to the audio version by clicking here.