Category: Basic Training

The Male Friendship Creed

January 12, 2026 No Comments

I kicked off this year in my last post about why we need common language for the pursuit of better male friendships. In this next post, I start with a “Creed” or core statement that describes the aspects of friendships that build men up and encourage them, rather than break us down and beat us up. It describes high-quality friends who call us up to a higher standard of manhood and hold us accountable. Better male friends who provide support when it’s needed most, and celebrate our successes. Men who help each other become better men. While my GodBuddies concept has a faith-based foundation, I believe every man needs deeper, more authentic friendships, even if religion or spirituality isn’t your thing. My hope is that having a Male Friendship Creed casts a vision that inspires you to develop better friendships. In subsequent posts, I’ll provide something of a manifesto; a

A New Year, a New Language for Male Friendship

January 5, 2026 No Comments

To kick off my eighth full year of writing this blog, I want to sharpen the focus of this quest to build better friendships by developing some common language you can use. I’ll start by developing a creed or core statement about my beliefs about how we help each other become better men. I’ll follow that with a broader declaration or manifesto to inspire the much-needed challenge to the norms about male friendships. Future posts will include the action items to build an inner circle of friends and a guided journey to strengthen those bonds. I will also create an easy-to-remember shared brotherhood covenant to help your commitment to build men who help each other become better men. Always Begin with the ‘Why’ American author and inspirational speaker, Simon Sinek, believes that great leaders and organizations inspire action by communicating clearly. They state their purpose (the ‘Why’) before their methods

Reflections on Year 7: Men Should Not Do Life Alone

December 29, 2025 No Comments

As December draws to a close, it’s time for my annual summary of this year’s posts. What started as making the case for 2025 as ‘The Year for Better Male Friendships’ evolved into a broader examination of why men are struggling. Drawing on excerpts from my book, Get Out of Your Man Cave: The Crisis of Male Friendship, I described how men live, relate, heal, and grow. The common thread through every post—whether focused on friendship, health, faith, or modern pressures—led to a single conviction: Men are not meant to do life alone. That belief leads me to ask for your help in connecting with others who share my vision of deeper, more authentic male friendships. This summary explains why men need to surround themselves with higher-quality men, who help each other become better men. They become better husbands, fathers, workers, and neighbors, so we can reverse the troubling trends that