Evolved Men Podcast
The Evolved Men Podcast is for men committed to growth, confidence, and deeper connections. Through real conversations on personal development, social skills, and leadership, we provide the tools to help you evolve into your boldest, most authentic self. For more information about the Evolved Men Project go to: http://www.evolvedmenproject.com
Evolved Men Podcast
How Sobriety, Discipline, And Community Rebuilt A Father’s Life with Andy Lajeunesse
The night gets loud when the house goes quiet. Andy remembers pacing his apartment after a year that shattered his marriage, injured his body, and knocked him down at work. A beer took the edge off—until it started stealing presence, purpose, and the man he wanted his kids to see. What followed wasn’t a highlight reel. It was a string of small, stubborn choices: 30-day experiments, 75 Hard, long runs before sunrise, and a decision on Christmas Eve to go all of 2022 without alcohol—and to tell people, so it counted.
We walk through how that pledge unlocked momentum. Andy found a men’s group where vulnerability wasn’t a buzzword but a requirement. He learned to live the be-do-have model: define the man first, do the actions that match, watch the results follow. Removing alcohol cleared the fog—sleep got better, workouts cleaner, decisions sharper—and the compounding effect showed up everywhere. He went from demotion to three promotions by focusing on consistent routines, clear goals, and the right circle. He became fully present with his kids, more grounded with his ex as a co-parent, and more confident walking into any room.
We dig into practical tools: non-negotiable mornings at 4 a.m., gratitude journaling, pre-planning “off days,” and using accountability like oxygen. We talk about choosing hard things on purpose—the cold plunge, the awkward call in a second language, the honest conversation—because each rep is a vote for who you are. And we name the lie that keeps men stuck: that you’re alone. You’re not. The right brotherhood makes honesty normal, progress measurable, and setbacks recoverable.
If this story sparks something, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Want tools to start today? Grab free resources at evolvemenproject.com and take your next step—small, forward, and on purpose.
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Are you ready to break free from hesitation, self-doubt, and isolation? Do you want to lead with confidence, build powerful connections, and live boldly? I'm Corey Baum, and I'm here to share the most impactful strategies and mindsets that I've learned through coaching, leadership, and real world experience. Together we'll forge unshakable confidence, master social dynamics, and create a life rooted in purpose, brotherhood, and bold action. Inside, you'll get the tools and insights to become the strongest, most connected version of yourself. Let's dive in. Okay. Hey, welcome to the show today. I've got a really good friend of mine joining. Somebody that I'm that I'm really grateful that he's here to share his powerful story. Today we're going to be talking about his journey into sobriety, what that path looked like, and how community and connection played a part along the way. He's someone that I that I really respect a lot for his choices and his journey and and and all of it. So Andy man, thanks for being here. And I'd love to just kind of start with what did life look like for you before sobriety?
SPEAKER_01:Well, great opportunity to be here. Really love to talk to you and share this because you were part of my journey, Corey, a really big part of it. I guess, you know, my relationship with alcohol was never great, you know, as a teenager growing up, you know, I fell into, you know, 16, 17, partying every weekend, you know, and not really looking for for a fun time, but a fun time with alcohol was always always mandatory to me. And as I went through my adult life, it was the same thing. It was always not uh what am I doing this week? It was what am I gonna do this weekend and what am I gonna drink? And to be completely honest, in 2019, family and and kids, my ex-wife came to me one night and said, I don't love you anymore. Brought my world down. A few months after that, I fell down and tore my rotator cuff. And then about a month after that, I lost, didn't I lose my job, but I was I was brought down a level at work. And 2019 was just a terrible year for me. And I saw the demons creep in. It got to a dark area that I was drinking to get through the day. It didn't affect me at work, so to speak, and it didn't affect me so much that I couldn't do anything without alcohol, but it was just something that soothed me. I got home from work and I had a beer. I had a couple of beers, and that put me to sleep, and that made me feel comfortable. And that was how I hid from from you know, being the shame of the relationship failing and the sadness and you know, spending every day with your kids as they're growing up, and then one day you're sitting in an apartment by yourself. It's a real, and I'm not the only one that goes through the that went through something like this. However, it just brought me down. And I remember looking at myself in the mirror, you know, nights before going to bed and not liking the man that I saw in the mirror. And what started the journey was, you know, starting to look at podcasts and listen to podcasts about health. And I started a little journey on, you know, I tried uh a couple of different things with with working out, with some challenges, you know, the 30 days, no alcohol, and things like that. But I'd do them and then I'd fail, right? And then I'd be bad, feel terrible that I failed that one time, and then it would send me right down into that spiral again. But I started listening more and more to podcasts, and I tried something crazy, which was 75 hard. And some of you might know what that is. It's a it's a 70-day program, 75-day program without alcohol, a lot of physical stuff, a lot of things that you have to check off the boxes. And throughout that journey, I came across a podcast about being a father, you know, and about a group of men together that were trying to better themselves, trying to better their relationships and better their finances and better, better their physical stuff. And I started listening to this podcast and I started realizing, geez, I'm I'm not alone in the battles that I'm going through. I'm not alone with the relationship issues that I'm having. I'm not alone with uh being a single dad, and I'm not alone in this alcohol journey. So that was the turning point. I mean, the physical stuff really helped. I really noticed the difference when I worked out and when I was doing some running, that it really helped, and I really noticed what uh life without alcohol felt like, but there was always one of those things that would just click and it would send me back down. I just the car just turned into the beer store. The car just, you know, it did it magically after a difficult day at work. And I got I joined a men's group, online men's group, and got into it and you know, realized just that there are men out there with exactly the same story, worse stories with me. I'm I'm seeing my kids, uh, you know, some of the men that I'd I'd uh that I'd have conversations with, they weren't able to see their kids or maybe once a month. And I I had some positive things going for me. And I fell upon a call group that that you were in. And in I guess it was right before Christmas, it was Christmas Eve 2022. I made a pledge to myself, and I made a pledge to everybody around me that I was gonna go 2022 with no alcohol. And I didn't know what I was getting into, but I wanted everybody to know. And through the help of obviously my family being around me and understanding, but the men around me was what made it easy. Yeah, I wouldn't call it easy by any means, but the men around me that I could just open up to. And there was a few men in that group that had gone alcohol-free for years, and they just let me open up, talk about my feelings, talk about the issues that I was having, and that was the step. You know, when I had an issue, when I had something come up, this men's group helped me with dealing with my emotions in a positive way. Yeah, figuring out, hey, this is a normal thing, you know, if you just relax, you go for a run, you go to the gym, you call somebody up, this feeling will pass. And that's how I started gaining some momentum with, you know, going alcohol-free. So it's one of the first things in my life that I ever accomplished, Corey, to tell you the the tell you the truth, is that I made a promise to myself that I was not going to drink in 2022, and I didn't, you know, and I'm amazed. It just amazed me that that I was able to do it. And that was just from that point on, it was just the momentum. So that's a little bit of my backstory. I don't know if you want to dig into any of any of that, Corey.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, man, there's so many good things there. I'm you know, I'm really kind of curious. What what do you feel like? Because to your point, that this is something that a lot of men struggle with every day, that you know, either different struggles or darker struggles, whatever it might be. But what what do you feel like it was for you to to have the courage to take that first step and be vulnerable and and to show up and to say those sort of things? Was it yeah?
SPEAKER_01:I figured out how important my my children were for me and the people around me were to me. I I figured out through the community that you have to know what your why is, you have to know what your values are, you have to know have a reason to put your feet on the floor in the morning and attack life. Yeah. And I realized that I was letting this time with my kids, you know, all three of them, I was letting that kind of slip through my fingers and not being present and not being a good, a good example. I was always a good dad, but I was never a good ex or I wasn't a good example at this point. And I mean, everybody has to find their why in life, their reason for getting up in the morning. And what's what's also something that I I realized throughout the process. Jeez, I lost my train of thought, Corey.
SPEAKER_00:Well, no, also on on that point, I mean, one of the things that I I talk a lot about with the men that I work with is this concept of like a be-do-have model, right? Of really, really identifying who it is that you want to be. Right, uh to your point, to figuring out what that why is and then going out and doing those things that line up with who it is that you want to be, right? And as a result of that, you end up having the thing, you know, because a lot of times people think that, like, hey, you know, if I if I buy these things, right, then I'll end up being that sort of person that I want to be. If if I if I have these things, right, or if I do these things, if I work really hard, and we kind of go about it backwards. And so really starting that, flipping that on its head and really starting from identifying who it is that you want to be, right? Who is the man that you want to be, and then doing the actions that align with that person, right? And it sounds like for you that was sobriety and such, and getting your health in line and whatnot.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think the first step was health for me, and that is what triggered me to want to get better. And I noticed these little small increments as I went, and I was getting healthier and I was feeling better, I was sleeping better. But I mean, quitting alcohol was just was the life hack. Quitting alcohol and and how it affected me in my daily life was a health, was was a really important step for me. But that brought on a lot of other changes, you know, that brought on a clarity in my life with the decisions that I was making. I mean, to go into it a little bit further, Corey, is that since I quit alcohol, I mean, my life has done nothing but get, you know, slowly better, you know, on a on a yearly basis, on a monthly basis, it's getting uh it's getting better, right? And it's one of those things like go to the gym one time and it you don't notice the difference. But if you go to the gym for a year, you notice the difference. And and what I mean by that is that I've just simply in work, I've gone from being demoted to being promoted three times since the day I quit alcohol. I mean, and and that is for no other reason is that I am focused in my life. I know exactly what I want to do, I know exactly what I want to achieve, and I know exactly what community I want around me. And I make the steps, just like you said, every single day. You know, I get up at a certain point of the day, I have a routine of the person that I want to be, you know, you know, dressed for success or dressed for the position that you want, all those things. That's what I'm trying to do every single day, you know, and that the the self-confidence that I that I got from the men behind me, and the fact that I just started stacking these days of alcohol free over and over and over again and did it living live. You know, I was telling everybody about my journey, and that built so much self-confidence. And if if I can do this, what else can I do? And not just looking at, you know, what could stand in the way, but looking at a big goal, you know, a goal in the in the future that uh, you know, is achievable. And and and that was the first thing. The the physical part was was really good, but the actual fact that I could do this and I can stand and and be proud of this, you know, that self-confidence was so helpful to me in other aspects of my life.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think that for so many men today, they've lost that aspect of doing hard things, right? And and the benefits that kind of come with that. Even for myself, you know, there's different practices and processes that I go through every day. And one of them is getting in a cold plunge every morning. I'm up at 5 a.m., I'm in the cold plunge, and and generally for the most part, I try to get out of it by 5 15 so that I have to get out of bed, right? There's no like wallowing to the cold plunge, but walking, pushing myself through those times where I don't want to do it. Right. And whatever that might be, right? You've talked about 75 hard, right? This sobriety, but the the amount there's a certain level of confidence that comes from taking that action. And to your point, being able to stack those wins, right? It's starting off small and little by little it gains momentum, right? It's like a giant rock coming down the mountain that before you know it, you're just plowing through trees. What do you so what do you feel like are some some tools and practices that that keep you on track?
SPEAKER_01:Discipline is number one to me. I need a set routine, and I stick to my set routine. Uh I get up at 4 a.m., my feet feet hit the floor, I have a dog that helps me have to get out for a walk, but I run almost every morning and I I set those things in stone. And like you said, I I start the very first thing in the morning. I start with, you know, gratitude for my day. And and we we we we've discussed this topic. But if you told me in 2019 that I'd be getting up in the morning and and writing in a journal and talking to you about how grateful I am for the things that I have, I'd call you crazy, you know. But that is something that I do every single morning as I get up and I think about what I'm grateful for and often write it down and and be of, you know, and then get on the road with my routine. And I think that that is something that is a non-negotiable. If you want to improve in anything in your life, if you want to reach anything in your life, you have to have non-negotiables and you need the discipline, you know, because we all know that it's really easy, you know, January 1st, maybe not easy, but it's easy January 1st and January 2nd to stick to something. But when January 30th comes around, you know, do you have the discipline to do it? You know, and I think that you always have to look back on it. I mean, I'm not the youngest guy in the world. I get up in the morning and I'm aching every single morning, but I now have the mindset is even though I'm achy, after I get this done, I I'm gonna reap the benefits for from it, you know, whether it's a physical challenge, whether it's for me, I I live in Germany and as a as a native English speaker and having to call people in Germany and and talk to people in German, that's always a struggle for me. There's always that voice in the back of my head, oh yeah, do it tomorrow. But you know, going through this challenge and and like you mentioned, doing hard things, that simply calling customer service in Germany is a hard thing for me, right? When it comes to my, you know, when it comes to anything, it's it's a different, it's a challenge. I mean, my German has improved for the in the years that I've lived here, but it's always a hard thing. And whenever I find a hard thing, I really try to, okay, let's get it done. And sometimes it's nothing, sometimes it's no problem. I check the box off, and it's like, you know, that's a win, you know, it's a stacking another win. And no matter how small they are, you know, the wins are so important to, like you said, keep the momentum, whether it's the momentum of the day that you're in or the momentum of the the goal that you're working towards, it it takes just doing those little things right every single day. And and you know, from what I've learned.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So I imagine I'm I'm curious how you, you know, although you know, you you enjoy it, sounds like really stacking those wins and having the discipline and going out and crushing it. What does it look like for you in the days where you get out of bed a little bit more slowly or you you don't make that phone call or whatever it might be? Like, how do you how do you navigate that for yourself?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I have um 60-40 custody with my ex-wife. And the the Wednesdays that my kids go off to school and I know that they're not gonna be there on Wednesday night when I get back to my place, those are some real difficult days. And they are days that I identify right from the beginning of the day that this is gonna be a difficult day. And I notice it's a lot easier on those days for me to skip the call, to say, hey, you know, today's, you know, it's a difficult day, you know, and and those are the days that are really dangerous to me from my point of view, is that and I really have to make an effort. And the things that I accomplish on those days, those Thursday and Fridays in my case, those are like, you know, extra wins. But I have to be kind to myself. Yeah. There are gonna be days that I'm I'm not gonna get that 1% better that I preach a lot of the time. Every day, 1% better. There's gonna be days that I'm not gonna hit it. And what the whole thing is is that when I put my head on the pillow, and whether I failed that day or if I lost that day, tomorrow's a new day. And I have a start, you know, when that alarm goes off, my feet hit the floor, I have a new opportunity. Now, that's easy to say, but that's the way I have to frame it in my mind. Yeah, because we all know whatever your habit, whatever your little failure is, you know, one little failure repeated twice could really, you know, send you down uh in a spiral area. I also have a lot of people around me that I can reach out to. I can simply leave a voice message to one of the guys, one of the guys in my wolf pack, right? One of the guys that I know, and say, you know what, I really screwed up last night. I yelled at my child, or you know, I I didn't get my workout in, or whatever the case may be. Oh, I've lost uh my signal.
SPEAKER_00:Hold on, I'm coming back. It's me. Yeah, it's me. Anyway, so speaking of that, how do you I mean, it sounds like community has really played a part in your journey, right? Whether it's navigating the bad days or or whatnot. But can you tell me a little bit more about that, like where that is now and your sense of community as in regards to where it was before?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I was lone wolfing it for a long time, you know, yeah, living in a different country and a you know, starting a new life in a new country. I didn't have a lot of close friends here. And then with the divorce from my from my ex, I was kind of on a lone island here. So it was it was almost an addiction when I when I got into a community of men and started picking men that that really had the same goals as me, or or we could really relate to each other, whether it had to do with health or our kids or you know, healthy lifestyle or alcohol-free lifestyles. And that was really a building block. And as I went through, I understood and uh something that I learned throughout this process as well is you are the you are the man that you surround the that you are sorry, you you are the person that you, you know, you are the oh geez, you are the sum of your four best friends, right? Or the people that you surround yourself, you know, the people that you I I searched out for for men that had the same mindset as me, the same thoughts in in life as me. And I stayed with them, you know. I I and those are the people that I turn to in difficult times and in in celebrating. You know, I all also, you know, say, hey, this is what I I well, this is what happened today. It was a big win for me today, and and I also share the the difficult parts. I really think that men don't understand well enough how important it is to talk to people about it, you know, to talk to to other men about all sorts of different issues, but that not just to talk to them about it, but to understand you're not alone. And I think that's the way I felt looking back, you know, just two or three years ago. I felt alone. I felt like I was battling all these problems and all these things all by myself. And I thought that I was the only one going through this stuff. And the more men that I met and the more men that I spoke to, the more I realized, geez, this isn't so bad, you know. And the more I shared and and the more they shared with me what they've learned from the process, and and being able to bounce ideas and wins and losses off of other men is just it's such a gift. And and I never realized how important it is. And they don't, a lot of the guys are in their 20s, you know, a lot of guys are in their 50s too, but it doesn't matter what age, you know, you can learn from each other in all aspects of your life, you know, and and I've really, I really cherish the men that I'm around, and I'm looking forward to to developing more and more friendships with men as it goes as life goes on, right? I I didn't put a real big emphasis on having men as my friends after I got married. I just kind of let everything go. And I I went into the uh the whole the whole happy wife, happy life, and and uh kind of let my relationships with men go and saw them once in a while. And uh now it's a daily basis. Now, on a daily basis, I'm reaching out to someone in my friend circle just to say hi or to see how they're doing or to check in with them. So it it it's an I couldn't imagine, you know, getting up tomorrow and not having someone to call if I mean, worst case scenario, my dog died for something. I I hate to say something like that, but you know, not to have a man to reach out to and talk to about that. And and it I'm it it's such a I feel like I'm I'm lifted up every morning by the men that I'm accountable to, if you understand what I mean. Oh, absolutely. Right? I've made a promise, yeah. I've made a promise to these guys in in many cases and different goals and things that I'm shooting for. And it's not just I'm I'm responsible to me and to my family, but I'm also responsible to these strong men around me to keep moving us forward.
SPEAKER_00:So I hope that Yeah, yeah, definitely. No, one one of the things that brings up to me is that I got goosebumps just thinking about it, is that by doing this, by doing these things and by showing up, right? It's not just about I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's it's also by you doing it, you're giving somebody else the permission to be vulnerable and to share and ask for help and such as well. Right. I I remember at a time years ago now, it's probably like 23, 22, when I went to the the summit, right? And Larry had asked me to go up there and speak about kind of my journey, divorce, right, infidelity, all of that sort of bit. And I I had so many men come up to me afterwards and say, Hey, I thank you so much, man. Because I just like you said, I thought I thought that I was the only one that struggled with these sort of things. Right. I thought that the that I was all by myself. And to see somebody get up on stage or to get on a call or whatever that is and speak so openly and freely about it, allows them the you know, the security in knowing that hey, I can do this as well, right? If I could see this guy do it, I can do it as well. Right. So it's not just about I uh the way that I see it at times, that it's almost like in service of sort of thing. So at times it's you know, yeah, I want to accomplish my goals and I want to do these things, and uh, but I also want to show up to these calls and be held accountable and hold other people accountable in service of what that can provide for them, right? By by me allowing them the opportunity to hold me accountable and such, right? It it's it's this like, okay, well, now they know that they can bring those sort of challenges to the group and be accountable as well.
SPEAKER_01:Our Thursday night call, Corey. I'll never forget it was right in the start of my you know alcohol-free journey. And I remember the the place I was on the call and hearing one of the members share some stories about alcohol. And I realized, you know, that just gave me that it took the pressure off me to hear another man talk this way about his battles with alcohol and and the journey that he's been through. It just that community of and and being able to, I mean, when we have conversations, it's not, hey, how's it going? Oh, yeah, you see that game last week. We get right into it, you know. We get right into the, I call it the meat, right? You get right into the meat, and that's okay. And it's okay to to we we call that, you know, lie in your shit, you know, lie in there and feel terrible and share that terrible feeling. And it's you need to let that out, you know. You need to let it out and to have men around you that understand it, that accept it, and not just accept it, say, hey man, that's awesome. That's awesome that you shared that. That's a that's a that's a good point, that's a bad point, but just that's awesome that you shared it and encourage it going forward. I mean, it I can't believe I don't know where I'd be without that Thursday call that you know, with with you fellas in that. That was just and just such an inspirational and life-changing call, you know, the hours that we spent together.
SPEAKER_00:So I think I think more and more lately that men are really searching for community and connection, right? It's just uh it's it's ever more pressing now than I feel like it ever has been, right? With technology and all of these things that are kind of have been pulling us apart that we needed now more than ever. What what would you say as a result? Like, how has this affected your other relationships, your relationships with your kids and and obviously like your community and things that you're getting out and doing? But how has this changed for you? The relation, the the conversations, the relationships, all of it.
SPEAKER_01:I am 100% uh present with my kids now. When my kids are with me, I'm with them at all times. We have a lot more open conversations about really deep topics. That has changed drastically. Not that I didn't talk to them before, but as they've gotten older and conversations about my past and my struggles with with alcohol and my struggles in in the past, I've been completely open with them. And they are now seeing a man that is trying to grab onto life, yeah, instead of you know, kind of letting life happen to him. And that's really strengthened my relationship to my with my kids, to the people around me that know me well. And I, yeah, like again, the same topic. If you know you told one of them 10 years ago that I would not be drinking alcohol, they would have laughed in your face. You know, I was always the one with the alcohol. I was always the one, the last one up at night, getting the last beer out of the fridge. And that has changed the conversations that I have with people. When I sit down with someone for dinner in a clear mind, and and you know, I can have clear conversations with people. It has really affected my confidence level. When I walk into a room now, I feel a lot more confident. Not because I don't drink alcohol. That has very little to do with it, but because of the man that I'm I'm starting to become or the journey that I'm on, I have a lot more confidence. So speak people speak to me a little bit different from what I remember. Yeah. As being someone that doesn't speak German, living in Germany, right? Sometimes it's a little bit difficult to understand me, but people speak to me with respect because my shoulders are back, you know, my chest is out a little bit more. And that affects the way when you walk into a room, how the how people react to you, right? It's it's all been uh a very slow, but when I look back on it, you know, you know, we're coming up to a thousand days alcohol free. When I look back on the journey, I mean it it the way I get up in the morning and the way I interact with people throughout my day is completely different. I'm not hiding. From anything anymore. Most of the time I'm going directly to maybe not the problem, but I'm I'm lured right to trying to solve something or trying to engage with someone. So, I mean, my colleagues at work, I have good relationships with all of them. And I I think that we're I'm developing and we're going in the right way with my ex-wife as well. That was a very difficult situation, and going from partners to going to parents of these kids. And that is something that's become really important to me as well, is the fact that we are always going to be parents to these kids, and I'm always going to have a relationship with her. And with alcohol in the picture, without any guidance from other men that have gone through this, geez, this could be a disaster, right? It could be a situation that we don't talk to each other. But again, just like many things, that's slowly improving. You know, it's slowly getting to the fact that we can are to the point that we can have a conversation comfortably as parents and no longer as, you know, two exes, I guess, or or two people that that broke up. So it it's helped in in so many ways, in in mostly in emotions, you know, when someone says something that I don't like or challenges me or makes me sad. I understand how the emotions affect me and and you know, in communicating with others, whether it comes to my kids and it comes to everybody else in my life, I really seem to deal with it a lot better. I very rarely lose my temper. It it's yeah, it's been slow, but it has been a steady improvement.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So what do you feel like? I mean, it sounds like everything's amazing, right? Between the the community and the the sobriety. What do you feel like your future holds from you now versus where it was before?
SPEAKER_01:That's a that's a good question, Corey. That's a really good question. As what I didn't do before is set goals for myself. I didn't, I just tried to get through the day. I was trying to get through the day, maybe not always just to have a beer at the end of the day, but I was just trying to get by. And I think a lot of guys that I know are just trying to get by. They're just trying to get through the workday, punch the clock, you know, get home, get the kids, you know, just going through that daily routine and trying to get by. And since the change with alcohol and in the health, I'm trying to enjoy every day. So that's my goal is to enjoy the present moment, like talking to you right now. I mean, what a what a great opportunity this is for me to have a chat with you. But try, and then from this point, what am I going to do next on a daily basis? But I also have goals that I want to achieve. You know, I have my two dos for the day, I have my two-dos for the week, and then looking into the future, you know, running goals. I have, you know, financial goals. And I think setting those goals, I mean, you hear it all the time, but writing them down and having them in front of you when I open up that book every morning, those reminders are there for me, you know, and this is what I'm going for. So I think not to share really the goals with you, but I think it's really important that that that I have these goals set out for me on a daily, weekly, you know, yearly basis. Where am I looking in five years is so important. And, you know, that that mindset of how is today going to be your best day, you know, to use the cliche, how are you gonna get a little bit better today? Is so important. And I think uh very often we wish days away, you know, we just want this day to be over. We just want to get into our bed, you know, and then the next day comes and it's like, oh God, here comes the next day. And if you don't have something to wake up for and to bring this back around, if you don't have a why, if you don't have a reason for those feet to hit the floor and go, you know, what is there in life then, right? If you don't have a reason to get up, you know, why why get up? Why not hit the snooze again? Right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Definitely. Well, as we start to wrap up here, Andy, what what do you hope that other men hear from your journey?
SPEAKER_01:You're not alone. You're not the only one going through these problems. Dark Dark nights I shared. You know, dark nights I shared by myself in this apartment. Luckily, I had a dog, but just kind of pacing around and and not knowing what to do. And you just gotta take a step forward. You just gotta take a step forward and reach out, you know, in whatever direction that is, you know. I think it's a great thought is that it doesn't matter how big the step is, as long as it's forward, that's what you gotta do. And there are others around you that have been in play the place that you're in right now. I guarantee you. And you know, it's so important to reach out to men around you and have these conversations and discuss that and and build a community, you know, around yourselves. So um I'm getting emotional thinking about this. I'm getting I'm I'm really it's been it's been a big, such a big change in my life and and to be able to talk about these things and and I've I had a couple of flashbacks in this conversation thinking about the mindset that I had, you know, uh of what my day-to-day routine was, you know, and and what I was looking forward to in the day, it's been such a big change. I think to men out there, it's not gonna happen overnight. You're gonna go through some really difficult times. But again, if you just take that one step forward, make that one phone call, reach out to that one guy, uh, find a community, and you know, it I'm speechless in what what it means to me. It's it's such a great thing that's that's changed my life drastically.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, Andy man, hey, I just want to say again, I appreciate you coming on. Got some feedback in it. Either way, I I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story with us. It's an honor to have been alongside you during those those times and to have seen that. When I was looking at, you know, the people that I, as you mentioned, the people that I wanted next to me, the people I wanted alongside me, and to have on the show, uh your name was one of the first that I thought of, right? Just knowing the the difference that you made, right? I remember looking back, you know, and we talked about this earlier of I remember you in your apartment. I I feel like I remember you sitting on the floor with your laptop, right? And I just remember it so vividly of kind of where you're at then and to see you thriving now, it's it's just amazing. And it's just a testament to um getting up every morning and putting your feet on the floor and finding community.
SPEAKER_01:Well, yeah, I'm so happy to have experienced those things and to gone through that really terrible time. We talk about avoiding hard things, and and for me to just do that hard thing and to hear you and and the other men go through the hard things together, that just made it stronger. It made it did make it easier. It was not easy, but it made it easier to have some men around me at that point and to see the work that you're doing, Corey, really, and and really making an effort, building men's community. It's such an important thing that uh, like you said, men need, you know, and I think men are looking to get involved in these things. And for you to to be doing the podcast and be doing the men's group, it you know, uh, you know, big respect to you and and just keep going, keep pushing forward. You know, as I say, one percent a little bit better every single day, my man. So I appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. All right, Andy. Well, hey, that's we'll we'll wrap it up and we'll talk soon. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Evolve Men Podcast. If today's episode challenged you, inspired you, or gave you something to think about, don't stop here. Keep building, keep evolving. Head over to www.evolvemenproject.com, where you'll find free resources on confidence, leadership, relationships, communication, and personal power. Everything you need to start applying what you've learned here and take your growth to the next level. The tools are there, the next move is yours. Until the next time, men, stay strong, lead powerfully, and live boldly.
