Last weekend we lead a Two Day event at Schweitzer Mountain here in Sandpoint, ID. I don’t know who was more amazed the staff of four men or the 10 men who participated.

As with all of our events, this event was a small men’s group. The staff supported the group facilitating the event as much as the staff facilitating individual men. Quickly men stepped up and in ways they would have not believed possible a day earlier.

Men quickly and easily took themselves deep, freeing themselves of old beliefs and emotions as only men can. It felt like we were on an athletic field competing against an old arch rival… yet this time we were winning.

Again it was affirmed for me that when you put a group of committed men together with agreed protocols and experience facilitation magic happens. Men don’t need therapy, to read a countless self-help book or take meds. They usually just need to be with other men focus on being real.

If your life is not what you want it to be – find a good men’s group. Or if you want to jump start your new life or a new men’s group – come to one of our events. You will be surprised how simple and effective one or two days can be for you.

Visit my blog, www.owenmarcus.com to discover the many facets of what it is to be a man. Today we are no longer tied by the restraints of our history or our culture. We get to do what women did 50 years ago. We get to break free. We get to be our own men.

Free to Win’s focus is on freeing men then aiding them in winning as men. We offer One Day, Two Day and weeklong experiences to men. We also provide deep coaching to men and the men leading men’s group. All these services are fee based.

The posts and much of the other offering at owenmarcus.com are free. Use these free products. It might be all you need. If you want more, check out what Free to Win offers. If we aren’t coming to your city – come to Sandpoint, ID or sponsor us to come to your town.

It’s only after being in a men’s group do men fully realize what a micro-community of men can offer them.

Well if you are in your 30’s there’s a good chance it’s not, “Thirty-something men and women are more dissatisfied with their sex life than any other age group.”

This article from the U.K. explains why it can be tough for you. As you would expect, it’s financial concerns and the stress of caring for children that were given as the main reasons.

There’s good news, at least for women – “at age 18 women rated their sexual confidence at only four out of ten, while those aged 60 to 69 rated theirs at six out of ten.”

Photo by MAZZALIARMADI.IT

What was missing from your childhood? If you were like me and the other men I know it was having your father just hang with you on your level. In this video for Remarkable Fathers I speak to the simple behavior of getting down to the level of our kids.

When we do that not only do our kids get the precious gift of us, we get them. We get to experience the beauty of a child. Watch the video and let us know what you feel.

Is it that men are taking longer to grow up or is it they are just choosing to live a different life?

This New York Times article describes four men in New York who are about to turn 40. They started living together at NYU and haven’t stopped. They all work for themselves in creative fields, so living together became a practical thing. It allowed them to split the rent and spend their money on their pursuits.

As the article points out, a camaraderie evolved. One man stated; it’s all the best things of a family without the downsides.

Are they delaying their development? Are they just doing what is necessary in these tough economic times? Have they found something that most men would want, deep friendship and support?

What is your take?

Photo by nickgraywfu

When is the last time you were with other men you respected? We aren’t talking about hanging out at the bar or watching the Super Bowl together. We’re speaking about when you were real. When you were honest. When you were fully expressed.

For many man that level of closeness ended with school or the service. You remember when you could say anything and your friends would accept you. They might tell you full of shit, but you were still their friend.

You had a tribe that told you the hard truth, even at the risk of pissing you off. You had a group of friends that watched your back. They were there for you.

You long for those days when seeing one of these friends put a smile on your face. You have flashback to the crazy things you did together. Maybe you occasionally call one to reminisce, believing that will be the best it will ever be.

It all can change

When you put a group of strangers (or possibly a few friends) together for a day or more with the support to get real – shit happens. Quickly and easily the masks fall off and the old you emerges to meet the other men’s real selves.

Your hesitation evolves to be ‘full in’ participation. You go from sitting on the sideline waiting to see who will have the balls to take the risk to get real… to saying fuck it, I’m going for it. I’m bringing my A game.

Before you know it, two hours passed buy as if it was just a preview of the next blockbuster, you are fully in. You now are itching to raise the bar of reveals, honesty, vulnerability and authenticity.

You flash back to your initial concerns and judgments only to laugh at yourself. Yes, you never sat with a group of men you didn’t know to be real. But those fears of the day being some therapy, new age, weird men’s thing are gone. Those old feelings of what it was like to be seen for who you are come back.

Men only need men

Sitting listening to the other men speak you realize that all you are really doing is hanging out. Without the distractions and needs of others, you get to be with men.  As you enjoy the masculine in its pure form you discover you’re relaxing. Coming home to a band of brothers you can let go of all the ways you protect, perform and project.

Sitting in a group of equally committed men you begin to appreciate all the aspects of your life. Your partner, family and work take on a new prospective. Maybe it’s because you are getting renewed or maybe it all the fun you are having. Whatever it is you find yourself wanting more… more from being with men and more from your life.

Join us

What we provide is a save and guided experience of being with other men in a micro-community for 48 hours. Through thousands of hours of sitting with men over decades we learned how to bring back to a group of men what it is to be a group of men.

Within each of us is the primordial need to be in a tribe. Here’s your chance to nourish that hunger to have men watching your back, holding you accountable to who want to be and possibly more than anything laugh those belly laughs that come from men who know and trust each other.

Discover more about the next Free to Win event. …come on, take the risk.

Photo by Yuri Samoilov