You Can’t Fix a Man With Facts - The Wrap Up

00:00 Men, the wrap-up is back. It's the end of March. The start of Q2. Easter is round the corner. And my good friend and co-host, Glenn Osco, is back. It's time for the latest episode of the wrap-up. Rolfy. Welcome to the Johnny Jensen Show, where modern dads discover how to create the true riches, relationships, and results they deserve. Get your high-value man blueprint and join our community at highvalue manproject.com. Let's go. Welcome, men, to the Johnny Jensen Show. I am Johnny Jensen, and it's good to have you back.

00:41 If you're here as a returning visitor, watcher, listener, subscriber, whatever you are. And if it is your first time, because you've seen the wonderful news that we're about to invite you into the latest edition of the wrap-up, then bloody good to have you here. Is it the first time? I'd like to think not. I'm about 150 odd episodes in now. And during lockdown, in fact, just before lockdown, Glenn and I started to do the wrap-up together. And we'll share a bit more about that. But before I bring him in, because he's in the green room at the moment, drinking champagne, get yourself over to thehighvalumanproject.com forward slash group.

01:21 That is the base camp, the launch pad for everything we do here at the High Value Man Project, equipping men, equipping dads to level up in the areas of their health, their energy, their mindset, and their relationships so that they can create the life they deserve rather than one they feel stuck in. That is being successful at home as well as work. I would love to have you over there. We're growing the community. We're spreading the word around the world because quite frankly, too many men are struggling. And that's what we are a stand against. Without further ado, oh, by the way, share this as we go live. We are live. Share it with other men in your life. Glenn Osco, let me bring you in.

02:05 Welcome, sir. Not quite champagne, but the entire British Empire was got all cups of tea, Johnny. And I'm not about to go on to the wrap-up without one. Secretly, it's vodka or something like that, basically. I just said it was a cup that should have tea in it. That's as much as I'll admit to. Okey-dokey. I think I prefer that view. Do we prefer that view? Yeah, I think I prefer that view. We can have the nice sort of, we can have the sort of sky sports view with the different backgrounds and stuff, but I feel like you're a bit far away, a bit far away. Johnny, when we're not in the same room, I always feel too far away from you. True, true. Although, just across the other side of town, a funny little story, which I'll touch on briefly.

02:48 When Glenn and I first got introduced, it was on via Twitter and someone said, oh, you know, the guy, the ultimate bloke you want to get on as your co-host for the wrap-up is Glenn Osco. So I'm chatting away to Glenn and we're getting on like a house on fire. I go, where'd you live then? Expecting him to say, you know, like Penrith or something like that. Well, no, not Penrith. You might have a Scottish accent. Anyway, I didn't expect him to say West Morling, which is like five minutes down the road. So although we are online, we are but a couple of miles away from each other. How are you, Glenn? It's good to see you back. As always, Johnny, I feel like I'm living the dream. Life is ticking over rather magnificently in almost every way.

03:26 So yeah, I'm quietly chuffed with surviving at the moment. Nice. Have you been breakdancing this morning or somewhere fly like that with that jacket on? This is actually my Squid Games jump jacket. You've seen Squid Games, right? I haven't, no, because I understand it's quite gruesome and dramatic. But I have watched Beast Games, which is pretty much a version of... Beast Games is a poor man's idea of what a rip-off of it might be if it was done badly. Squid games, especially the first series, absolutely banging. It's the sort of show I thought, okay, it was all the hype. Let me put one episode on at half past nine. I kid you not, Johnny. At 4am, I finished the series.

04:10 I was absolutely caught. Yeah, superb telebit television. And I'm sure we'll have a few things to say about current zeitgeist when it comes to TV as well later on. Do you know what? One of my favourite ever TV series is that I binged. One of my first ever binged theories, like when TV became on demand, was the in-betweeners. Far far less dramatic. And is Squid Games gory and stuff? Not really. I mean, there's, I don't want to give too many spoilers away. There's a few people die. I'll give you that. But it's more psychological and the lengths that people will go to for success.

04:54 The desperate in various different ways, what people will put up with and do in order to get ahead. ahead in life. And it's both terrifying and educational. And that's what we're doing here. Blimey, this is terrifying and educational. Perfect. Perfect. Actually, what are we doing? And let me tell people what we're doing here. The wrap-up. Glenn and I used to do this on a Friday, every Friday, but it was kind of during lockdown, so we had nothing better to do. But we just rip on what's been going on over the last period. And we're two, you know, I'm 50. Glenn's about a little bit younger than me, aren't you?

05:34 Yeah, I am 44 English years old. Okay, so two middle-aged British dads, divorced men with a curious perspective on life. I'd like to think a little bit of a transformed, higher than base, baseline perspective on life. And so we're bringing you our views, news. And one of the motivations for doing the wrap-up was that I listened to a lot of football podcasts, enjoy the banter that goes on there and thought, why isn't there more chit chat and laughter for men to sit and enjoy on the way home on the train in the car in the gym or whatever? So that's here what we do. Well, that's the thing, because I know that I don't get out to see my mates hardly at all.

06:18 My mates live all over the country. You're the closest friend I've gotten physically in life. Everyone else lives North London or Slough or Devon or Rugby or Melbourne, for God's sake. So I don't get to just hang out. You just casually drop slough. You casually drop slough into that list of lovely places. Well, you know, it's got it's actually, no, it's not slough, it's stains, stains upon Thames. And the upon the Thames is absolutely vital to keep house prices up, right? Yeah. But yeah, they're all over the place. And there's something really nice about just being able to listen to and be part of a couple of fellas just shooting the shit and seeing what's going on and just hanging out.

07:03 Because almost everything these days is if you're having a meeting, you're having a meeting, you have an agenda, you have your talk and then you leave and you go to another meeting, you go to another meeting, then you go home and that's it. Where's just the things you'd normally chat about down the pub? Talking shit to each other, basically. And that's that, you know, men do that brilliantly. And I think it's, I'm in a lot of men's groups, right? As you can imagine for being the high value man project and everything we do working with men and dads. There's a lot of misery in these groups and people talking about, I'm bored, I'm lonely, I'm having a shit life. And I'm like, I do respect the place that anyone's in.

07:44 But if you're not going to do anything about it, if you're not going to go out and join a flipping running club, a band club, a rock choir, a ornithologist, any bloody chess club flipping, learn how to make a, I don't know, learn bushcraft, whatever. There's never been more clubs to go and flip and join. So does my, it doesn't do my heading. I feel like I want to encourage and support these people, but I go to the lengths of writing like a reply, like, oh, what you need to do is, I'll bet half them never bloody do it. They just want to sit in their misery, basically. There's nothing more comfortable than not doing anything because then you can blame someone else.

08:21 So many men there and people in general, of course, but I only know from my perspective, are happy sitting there and not doing something because then it's someone else's fault for them not being happy or not having that group to go to. When actually you're exactly right, it's in their control. They're the ones who should be doing something. But if it's someone else's fault rather than themselves, you know, that's a lot more comfortable, right? It's good to blame someone else rather than take responsibility for yourself. Yep. And a modern day plague, basically, basically. So use this as a call to action, gents. If you are tuning in and you happen to be one of those guys who's feeling a bit shit, then bloody get out there and do something about it.

09:00 There isn't another option. There isn't a magic. Well, there is a magic pill. It's called a pill, but it's going to wear off after a few hours and you're going to be back where you started. But nonetheless, get out there. And if you don't know what that means, then get over to the highvalue manproject.com forward slash group and I will give you some bloody pointers on how to shake your life up and start to enjoy yourself, basically. Now, Glenn, I made a little list. People might be watching this, listening to this thinking this is supremely slick and well-oiled and totally organic and spontaneous. But I do actually have a little list of things that have been going on this week.

09:40 Role models. Did you hear Gareth Southgate give his David Dimbleby speech? Not, I don't know. I dare say you weren't there, but did you hear about it? Well, first it was Richard Dimbleby rather than David. If it was David, I'd have got on the blow. Do you know what I did? David Dimbleby's after the retirement speech at Buckingham Palace once over dinner? You did it. What do you mean? Yeah, yeah, David Dimbleby, he was retiring from a charity. And I was asked, Princess Anne was the patron. And she came in one day, just to the office, because she's there all the time. She said, oh, I've had an idea. David's retiring. Let's give him a dinner at one of mummy's houses.

10:17 And so, yeah, it was. 15 of us trotted off to Buckingham Palace and I did the after dinner speech. So if it'd been David, I could have got him on the blower and had a quick chat. But no, it was Richard Dimbleby. But yeah, I didn't hear it, but I did read a couple of articles about it. Do you want to share what it was for those who didn't know? Yeah, I mean, I guess he was partly motivated by the incel, incels, you know, the adolescence TV program, which is on Netflix. Everyone's talking about. And rightly so. It's a, you know, I've watched the first one. I'm not, I'm yet to finish it. So I can't pretend like I've watched all of them. But I get it, you know, Mr. Tate and all those, you know, negative online influencers, which I do have a perspective on as well.

11:03 We could easily get this conversation muddled up and twisted around now, but just keep with on the Gareth Southgate's topic to start with. He was basically talking about role models and about how we, you know, about how our lads in particular and young people need better role models in order to shape them and to turn out as good human beings. And then Starmer's jumped on the bandwagon and said, oh, we're going to teach misogyny in school, not teach misogyny, teach anti-misogyny in school. That's the problem, right? Yeah, but I mean, it's just the way that people talk about it and jump on the bandwagon. And so I made a video this week. I was thinking about all this.

11:44 I've been banging this drum for ages, talking about how our lads are given, they go into school and there's, and this is slightly more rounded than this, but they're talked about race subjects, they're talked about, you know, how to respect women's subjects and consent and all that. There's the whole LGBTQT, everything. And this is mainly feedback coming from my lad. He's going, you're never going to guess what they talked about as now. And it's not that all those things aren't valid and important because, you know, they're helpful, but they're not being given a simple framework, a simple time on what's it like to be a lad.

12:25 What's it like to be a young bloke? You know, what's like literally talking in language and terms that they're going to relate to and be on board with. And so I've been banging that drum for ages. So in terms of, you know, Andrew Tate and everything that goes on there, there's loads of influencers online who do say really good things, who do make good videos, who do encourage lads to get out there and get fit and hang out with them. There's, you know, eat right and there's, there's. But of course, only the negative ones get all the attention. Well, I mean, I was listening to an episode of

13:06 another excellent podcast, Lads Anonymous, and they were doing stuff on misogyny recently. And I think one of them made the point that all the rhetoric coming is men are the problem, men are bad, men need to sort it out. And then you've got a small bunch of incels in this world saying, well, no, actually, you're not. You're brilliant. It's everyone else who's the problem. If you're getting ground down as a young man and you're being told by one group, you're a problem. You need to sort it out. And another group, you're not a problem. You're one of us. You're a great guy and it's them that are the problem. Of course, you're going to gravitate towards that messaging because it's comfortable. It's protective.

13:44 It's making you part of a group. And there's nothing on the other side to say you're not part of, you're not the problem. It's other people who are. And now this is how we can make sure you stay not a problem. This is how we can give you the tools and support to be a positive guy and to grow in a positive way. But if we just keep saying that young men are the problem constantly, it's going to get more and more like isolating and kind of opposing sides are going to get further and further apart. You're going to push these lads towards it. Yeah. It's like telling our kids that, you know, smoking weed or taking a pill isn't fun, right?

14:24 If you just say to them, it's dangerous, don't do that, right? Which is a valid message in itself. None of their friends or people that are older than that have done it are going to say, oh, yeah, your dad's right, actually. They're going to say, I've done it loads. It's bloody fun. Like, go for it. So we have to be able to say that is happening. So we're going to acknowledge that and talk about it. And by the way, here's an alternative view. And I think that, you know, these guys. they're just filling a void, basically, and they're making money out of it. And in a twisted way, so I try and wrestle with these things at all different angles as I'm going through them. There's a lot goes on in the world that is fundamentally wrong and no one makes battles they're identify about it.

15:06 McDonald's or any kind of takeaway that sells low-grade food and makes us obese. Like there's something fundamentally that's abusing a situation. And then here these guys are. There's a dis a disenfranchised group of men. They're feeling like no one's listening to them. They want some encouragement. They want to have their feelings justified. And by the way, here's some hints, tints and tricks on how to make money, how to get laid, how to get, okay, yeah, I love a bit of that. Thanks very much. And it's to say that it's wrong and to say that it's like controversial. And I don't want to get myself in trouble here, but some of what Andrew Tate says is actually all right.

15:49 Like, not all because I'm sure Flippin Hitler said a few things that were all right. That's why millions of people followed him to start with, right? It was only later on that he went and said a whole load of mad shit and did horrific things. So it's, it's, but that's extremism always has that. There's a, there's an element of it that's attractive and mainstream. And then once you get inside, then they say, well, if you liked what I had to say this morning, listen to all this stuff. And they go, oh, that's, you know, yeah, I mean, that's the issue. It's, it's all the other stuff that colors it because clearly the stuff that Andrew Tate says that is, if someone else said it, would be absolutely fine. He's saying it in order to create that entry thought, that entry thought that I'm an okay guy and one of you.

16:29 He's got a long-term evil outcome attached to everything he says, which is, I think he's evil. There's no two. I'm happy to put that on the record as well. But other people, if they said some of those early things, it'll be okay in that context, absolutely fine. But it's because it's a slippery slope of, like you say, I'm going to give you this and then I'm going to give you something a bit worse and a bit worse and a bit worse and just grind down how you do. And without the other voices saying, actually, no, mate, that's wrong. Here's something that equally you believe and is happy, you're happy to hear. And now let's put you in a more positive direction. That's what a good role model does is they embody the things that we want young men in society to be growing up with.

17:12 And we don't have them too much because we've changed the society, right? We're no longer brought up by our own little village. We're brought up by everyone. We've got access to every person in the bloody world in our pockets. So we don't have that one-on-one accountability for shaping young minds. And that was what I recorded a 10-minute video about this week saying, you know, the role model that our children want or the role model that your children want is you. Obviously, it was, you know, who was your role model growing up? Well, that was the funny thing I was talking about in the video. Like, as a lad of the 80s, 90s, you kind of go, okay, well, was it Michael Knight?

17:54 Was it Mitch Buchanan? Was it, you know, which member of the AT? If it was going to be one of them, who would it be? And you kind of go, well, actually, you know, was it Hulk Hogan? You know, Rocky Balboa. Like, I don't, honestly, none of them. No pop stars. Yeah, they were very much of their time, right? You look at, if you look at any one of those characters now, you'd think, mate, you can't, you can't act like that. But in their time, that was a different world. And so they were progressing it a little bit in the right direction. Jim Davidson was a successful TV. Jim Davidson was a successful TV star around those times. Like that tells you where the world has changed, right?

18:39 But no, my point is they weren't necessarily role models. They were just like male figures that were prominent in, you know, in our day-to-day life, obviously on TV. So now you fast forward into 2025, who are the prominent male figures all around us. But my point was my role models were the people closest to me. My dad, for all his maverick ways and shortcomings in certain areas, is an incredible man who I would, you know, certainly taking all his good bits, I'm like, yeah, I want to be that. I want to be that guy. I want to be the man that stays connected to everybody, that runs successful businesses, that celebrates his losses and his wins with just as much vigor, that has friends all around the world, that is able to conjure up a party and a social occasion from nothing.

19:27 And people talk about, oh, do you remember that time when? Like the number of people, I've met thousands of my dad's friends through the years. And they all talk about the incredible time they had with my dad when, you know, so I'm like, yeah, I would love people to be able to. speak about that like me. My uncle Rob in America gone. John, that puts pressure on you just as a man and a dad, because you've got two kids. And do you ever think about when you're making decisions, is this me being a good role model for my kids? Is that ever like a conscious thought in your brain? I am very conscious about being a role model for my kids.

20:08 And I come from that place in terms of the effort and focus and energy I want to put into them. I am a strong believer. I say this to men I work with. I am creating my kids as parents. Like who I am to them is who they'll be to their kids. So that's the place that I come from. So when I'm bollocking him, I'm like, I want him to remember this day when he's bollocking his kid, you know? And there's some times when I've really taken elements of some of my experiences that were harder.

20:50 I'm not giving my kid a thrashing, like some of the times I got when I was a kid. But to like, I've got in his face a couple of times and I'm like, come on then. If you're going to push it that far, if you think that this is how normal life works, you're going to sit in the back of the car and take the piss like that. Then when we get out, I'm going to like, I'm not going to do what my dad did, but I am going to confront you about it because you need to get what was going on there. So you either recognize this relationship, this domain where I'm dad and I do get to say what goes on for certainly for another couple of years. And you, your only job really is to take that on board, mull it over, and hopefully become a better person because of it.

21:35 You don't just get to shit all over me and think that that's going to be fine because that's not how parenting works. I'm shaping you as a human being and you're going to take the piss and I'm okay with you taking the piss because that's what young lads do. That's what kids do. That's this experience that we're going through. And just like I don't fish at all, that's the most ridiculous analogy to give, but I'll let the line run and I'll let the line run. And I'll say, dude, you are getting to the end of the rope here. You are taking the piss too much and you need to readjust. And then thankfully, because of some of those times when I've really like, okay, now you cross the line, I feel that my kids are getting it.

22:16 So as that role model, when I go out running, when I'm doing, I said to him, I'm going out running, you come with me. Oh, I'm going to play Mote Sports actually. Okay, go on then, you lazy shit. Like, so that I can still beat him in a race. I'm still stronger than him. I think if my kid wanted to fight me, I'd probably still win that fight. I mean, he's only 15, right? But that's the kind of role model. And there's so many aspects to it. I've got this thing about not lying to my kids. You know, Father Christmas and Snowman Aside, the Tooth Fairy aside, right? I'm like, did you take drugs when you're a kid? I was like, I'm going to be honest with you. Yes, I did. I'm not going to pretend and go around and be horrified.

23:01 But guess what? I'm going to talk to you about it in a way that no one spoke to me about it. So that when that opportunity comes for you to try it, I would like to think that you might take this conversation and decide no. Or here's a conversation about women. Here's a conversation about not getting your heart broken or not being a dickhead and chasing after women that don't really deserve to be chased after. Here's the conversation for later, I'll remember. Go on. Would you find it difficult to be a role model then? Because it's not all easy, right? Because none of us have got all the answers.

23:43 I just take it as a great privilege. I take it as a as an I reflect a lot. There's very little I say. Sometimes it might seem that I say things like really slapdash and off the cuff, right? But they're generally scenarios that I've considered. You know, like the smoking weed subject. I'm like, listen, you know, I didn't do it until I was 17. I didn't do it. I did that. Here's what happens if you have a wifey. Here's what happens if you feel sick. Here's what happens if you all sorts of things like that. It will come back. Come on, camera. Come back. For our listeners on this one, Johnny has now disappeared and come back again.

24:22 That was the shittiest magic trick I think I've ever seen. Now, imagine if I'd come back like a, with like a bunny outfit on, there we go. So yeah, I take it as a privilege to be a role model for my kid. And I don't think my dad necessarily would ever. have imagined if you asked him that question, you know, he would have said, Well, yeah, course I'm a role model for him. He said things to me in the past, like, my dad never told me nothing, so I'm not going to tell you nothing. And by the way, you wouldn't bloody listen anyway, which is a valid, quite British sort of position. And my granddad wasn't necessarily the most vocal person.

25:03 I think he was probably terrified of my granny, who was an incredible woman, very funny, very dry and sharp. But apparently, she like ruled the roost completely over my granddad. So, but my American dad, my uncle Rob, just incredible bloke, just clear boundaries, funny as hell, like looking for the gray areas and being opportunistic when situations took, took, took it, you know.

25:41 If you start saying good looking as well, I'm thinking you're describing me. Oh, yeah, but I think that's like, and because he was more, because he was my uncle and more like surrogate dad, basically, he used to go over there in the summers, basically, like give my dad a break. And we'd be much more fun in Chicago than it was amazing, right? But that excitement and that energy that I felt being around him, I want my kids to grow up with that experience of life. Well, I think that's another thing. It's way easier to be a positive role model to someone who's not your kids. I'm not saying you act differently, but you're there from a purely positive perspective.

26:23 You know, you're there to just give them some advice and to guide them and to do those bits and pieces. I'm not saying you don't have a responsibility for them, but if it all fucks up, most of them have got parents that will also counterbalance that. So you're one voice. Whereas when you're the parent, even though you're not, you feel like you're the only voice that's talking any sense to some of them. Yeah, when I was a youth worker, trying to be that positive male role model as well, to young lads who their dads weren't around, or they were in prison, or they were other sides of the country, or they'd never met them. They just didn't have any example of a positive male in their lives because where they grew up was just a crime-ridden three-generations jobless shithole.

27:07 And so that kind of gave me the chance to speak to young lads and just show them. And I'm not saying I'm perfect and I was clear with them, I am not, but you don't have to go down that route because there's other things you can do. But that's very much my high-value man message, right? It's that you don't have to be the perfect bloke. You don't have to have the perfect life. But to be able to go through this experience and enjoy it, to read stuff that helps you grow or watch stuff that helps you grow as a human being, to embrace relationships and see how you're showing up in them, you know, not angry or jealous or flipping, demanding, like to start just

27:46 to continue to evolve and shape yourself as you're going through life. You'd be like, okay, well, that's that's what makes it interesting. That's what makes it an experience. So I don't, listen, I'm not saying I'm the perfect parent by any means. I'm not, but I'm it, my kids coming out of a divorce and credit to their mum because clearly she has a role to play in this. But I take great pride in how well my kids are doing. And I don't have that down as any kind of accident at all. I agree. And I think we've probably spoken about this before. I've got a big thing that if my kids are shits when they're 15, that's because I fucked up when they were five.

28:32 Because it's not something you can just leave till later and I'll deal with that when they're older than they understand from the earliest age possible. And the best time would have been when they were born. The second best time is right now, whenever that is, because as early as possible, be that consistent boundary set, be friendly without being their friend. We're parents. We're not their friends. Their friends probably won't tell them when they've done something wrong. They won't have a go at them if they've hurt someone else's feelings. They're just their mates. So being a parent, you need to do that as early as possible because putting those building blocks in place when they are little and they don't remember, they don't understand everything. Well, that just builds upon stuff later on. It lays the foundations that allow you to build these beautiful structures that are our kids.

29:16 So yeah, I just think it's something that you have to start working hard at from day one and continue that work until the day you die, really. Yeah. And for any men, I talk about this with dads I work with, who are coming to this moment of realization and their kids are already 15. Don't think you can snap your fingers and suddenly make it. it all okay you're gonna have to sit that kid down and pretty much get real with them son daughter i think i've done a bit of a job up until now i've learned some stuff recently i don't expect it to make an instant difference but this is my new promise this is it's like a proper apology letting them know what you're

29:52 apologizing for letting them know what you think the impact might have been on them letting them know that you are sorry for that and then letting them know like what your promise is to the future and then sticking to that i i got taught that about the framework for a genuine full apology before and actually saying that to our kids like do you know what here's my new commitment i don't expect you to be all on board right now but that's what i'm gonna do and then try not to make it like a oh what's it called like a new year's resolution where so many of them if you if you break it once that's it done if you if you say right i'm gonna i'm gonna not drink and then on january the the 6th you go out on a on a beautiful day and you end

30:32 up having a glass of wine that's it under no actually the whole point is okay now let's reset again let's go again um and with all these things it's not i'll do it until i up and then i'll just go back to my old ways it's work and it's effort but my god the payoff oh the payoff's brilliant and i'm not saying my kids are perfect but i really like them i think they're good good little kids and uh they're turning they're going to turn into good adults no they've got to listen clearly you know some of your kids are adults now right and being around them um is uh driving lesson your eldest no sorry my eldest boy my eldest daughter she uh i know she passed last year or something

31:15 no she actually doesn't drive sadly my boy he's he's much more kind of driven pardon the pun um he wants to make this happen so yeah he's just got off his ass and uh yeah he did his first lesson day before yesterday and unless there's been a cover-up nobody died but annoyingly i can't put him on my car insurance because i've got um i think my motor's just a bit too big so um yeah they won't they won't quote to put him on it so he's gonna have to save up and get himself a little rubbish banger to kind of go around can't buy rubbish bangers okay right let's hold on to before we wander into this okay i just want to close off the role model conversation right but for me

31:58 being a role model to our kid it's not a it's not really a choice like you can choose not to be it granted okay but every dad knows how much our kid wants to emulate us right and the example i used in my in my talk was if you say when the kids just don't need to talk and then the kid walks around for the next week saying you're like no no don't say that like they want to emulate us they want to copy us right so and and and if you don't feel like you've got enough foundation knowledge confidence to to be that role model then get amongst other men get amongst other other dads and just take it on as like an honor an

32:38 absolute honor to be like well what what didn't i get when i was growing up how could i be more of that to my kids and for for me the distinction of actually choosing to be that is actually enough and a bit like you said about the new resolutions as long as you just flip and lean into it and keep going then then then you're being that you're absolutely being that serious point over there we go um where did we get up to driving lessons what were we saying yeah what was your first car then oh yeah you can't buy bangers you cannot buy bangers anymore so

33:17 you can buy little cars like a little nissan micra or something i know but they're not yes you can but they're not like the flipping rust bucket on wheels that i had when i was learned to drive my dad got me a fiat panda one of the old kind of square kind of eastern european looking ones and it was a thousand cc like one liter engine so uh it was it had pockets of rust where you could see through the floor and the road going under underneath you

33:53 right and it was literally a go-kart it was absolutely brilliant and of course the sensible speed to have driven it would have been about 55 maybe 60 and i was only happy if it was screaming at 85 mile an hour or downhill with the window suffice to say i wrote it off about six weeks after i passed my test well yeah but that's the thing about first cars and you're right you only get like decent ish motors these days they're all fair fairly nice.

34:31 I keep thinking, where are the old crappy Ford Fiestas? My mate had one that was a bogey green, and it was so rough that we used to just go down the scrapyard and just replace bits, not because we knew what we were doing, just because you could just do it. We had six different horns inside it with different switches we'd got from different cars, and all of them made different noises. We just stuck them in there because what it was a crap crap car. So why not do that? Oh, those days are gone. Actual scrap. Imagine saying that to a kid now. Yeah, yeah, you just go to this place. There's loads of old cars piled up, and you go and pick the bits you want, and then you go and show them to the guy before you leave, and then he tells you how much it's going to cost.

35:12 Absolutely. And then you kind of go back and you just see if they fit. And you're climbing up those sort of two, three, four stacks of cars. Oh, it was, it was great. I just, none of it, neither of us died, but I've got no idea how it was brilliant. But I didn't learn to drive until I was in my 30s, in early 30s. Yeah, because like I said, I lived in London. I lived a few minutes from a tube stop, from bus stops, from cabs. There was just no need for me to do it until I nearly missed my daughter's birth. So yeah, and at that point, I thought I might as well learn. So I never went through the kind of crappy banger to start with. My first car had to be a family car. It was like a Ford, oh, what they called.

35:55 What came after an SCO? A Mondeo. Not a Mondeo, but the same sort of one. A Sierra. Oh, Ford Focus. That's the first car. Oh, you really were old. Yeah, yeah. Do you know what? The reason I'm not looking so shocked is that I think you told me this before. In fact, I know you told me this before. And that time I did look shocked. I took driving as an element of masculinity, like a like, you know, I need to drive. I need to. But then I guess my dad was involved in motorsport and sort of, so it did, yeah,

36:33 we grew up without a car, really. My stepdad sometimes had the work van, um, like a big Ford Transit or a little one where, you know, in the back of it, there were no seats. It was just that there's space, and we'd be put in the back of the back of the van. And there was these little discs, like chunky hockey pucks that you just roll around and tumble around because he works on the railways. And it was only years later I discovered those little discs were actually explosive bolts that get put on the tracks to warn like trains run over them and there's a massive noise to make sure that anyone down the line knows there's a train coming. And yeah, I just, they were just rolling around and we could have absolutely lost a limb, I reckon.

37:14 Oh man, similar story. We broke into a disused mental home in Stafford when we were students and we were in a slightly altered state, shall we say. And so we go around this hospital and there was loads of stuff left in there. So we found a, it was like a mental hospital as well. So we found this like old reel-to-reel tape player and loads of reels. And we're like, yeah, get these. And then we found these like sticky circles and we were kind of sticking them on our face doing like Mexican sort of impressions and thinking we were like, you know, oh, Greenga, you know what I know?

37:57 So we get back to the house and we've got some of this toot that we've just been titting about with us. And one of the girls is the nurse. And so she goes, she goes, oh, do you know what those are? And we're like, of course we don't know what they are. She goes, they're the sticky bits. They attach cloth to me bags to blokes. We were like, oh, I'll take that away from my mouth. No, Taylor, I do love the idea. There are people who do. That's what they do. It's funny, they break into like abandoned places. I saw one who broke into an old Formula One factory. And it just, it's fascinating.

38:39 Like you say, there's full of random stuff that kind of get left. I expected it to be all gone, all stripped out and sold or moved on somewhere else. But there's loads of just random stuff in this beautiful, massive derelict building. I absolutely love derelict buildings. I think they're just fascinating. You had this world where hundreds or thousands of people found up the most important place for so long and then nothing. They're gone. There's no one goes there anymore. I watch some bizarre crap on TV, like little half-hour programs where I've been working late and I just need to down, you know, detune before going to bed. And there's a place, there's one of the ones like on Discovery or random channel. It's called like abandoned towns.

39:22 Right. Whole town. Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes. Lau. It's like old, like a cowboy town that was that all the railways used to go through. And then they invented electric trains or whatever. And they're like, right, we don't need to go that way anymore. And there's just a whole town, a band, mad stuff. Places in, places in, you know. Eastern Europe. There's a desert in Russia that Russia drained the water from. And there's just like, hey, people now dig your water. So just the whole gorched earth.

40:01 And there's a town on what was on the edge of a lake. Just, you know, there it goes. Probably not that interesting to the average human being. But I tell you what is a great TV program, right? Little segue, neatly done, slick as ever. Have you watched the new Jimmy Carr program about Laughter's show or laughter? Last one laughing. Yeah. Yes, I have. Last one to laugh. I've seen a couple of bits on TikTok and I wasn't actually interested because I thought, oh, it's just another set up show and it's just going to be a bit rubbish. But actually, everything that I've seen online, it looks bloody brilliant. I've got to say.

40:41 Oh, it's gold. Now, if you're not that into comedy, like in just if you don't enjoy the art of comedy, if you don't, if two people titting about for no other reason than they can, if that's not the sort of thing that makes you laugh, then you're not going to enjoy it, basically. You've got to be someone who's wants to find the fun in life. And then it's set up like a reality TV show, basically. And they've got some kind of 10 proper comedians. And guess what? They're evenly balanced between men and women now, which is absolutely fine.

41:23 I didn't know everybody. The older comedians or the more famous ones you recognize, you know, Bob Mortimer's in there. Bob Mortimer's in there. I think Alison Hannison, Harris, is it Harrison? She's on it as well. She's brilliant and lovely. Daisy Mae Cooper is on it. Rob someone with the teeth. Oh, Rob Beckett, Rob Beckett. So they're into that. So they get that fear of comedian, right? Yeah, yeah. So they get put into a room and then the Jimmy Carr comes in and says, oh, yeah, well, welcome. When you hear this sound, the game is on and you are not allowed to laugh or smile.

42:05 Oh my gosh. So then they're just, it's a combination of people having ordinary chit chat, but they're just funny anyway. And they can't help but say something silly and the other person's trying not to laugh. Then you've got people who do something with the intention of making someone else laugh, like set them up, but they're in their mind, they know it's hilarious. So they're now trying not to laugh themselves, you know, like in Arthur when Dudley Moore goes, Sometimes I just think funny things, right? Like it's just gold, absolute comedy gold. There's nothing funnier than a comedian trying to make another comedian laugh because they can see the art.

42:47 The other comedian, you can see their, they can plot out the whole thing. I know the punchline's coming. It's so much harder. So you have to be so much more creative to create the alternative that they didn't see that is going to be funny. Yeah. And that is, that's the magic of stand-up comedy and people that are comedians like as for the art of being a comedian. Have you ever watched an open mic night and done some comedy yourself? I haven't and I'm up for it. I actually have thought about it. And other than the reality of finding the time to do it, I know people that have. I know people have done like the ones in London. And sometimes there's, you know, London companies, agencies, whatever they do in their well-being stuff.

43:31 They're like, right, you've got to do something twice a year. And my cousin's actually done the stand-up one as well. So I know I should. And it's coming. It's going to be there. Who knows? Maybe I'm hilarious. In fact, I know I'm hilarious. You think funny things. That's what you do. Yeah, I did it. First time was by mistake, not by mistake, but I didn't realize I was doing it. Back when I was, so it was about a year or so ago, year and a half ago. Went on this, I got signed up for a singles comedy night. Now I thought, great, you turn up. The audience is all made of single people and there's going to be some great comedians who are going to talk about being single.

44:12 This is great. And so everyone's going to laugh. And then during the intervals, you're all meeting and talking and chatting. And then I got there. and it turns out it was an open mic thing. And so the only people that were going to be on stage were people from the audience. And because I knew the host, he grabbed me and dragged me up on stage and just said, right, talk about being single. So I, yeah, riffed on a load of stuff. And then he invited me back another time. That time I prepared a little bit. I knew that he was going to pull me up. So I actually had a nice little set done. And it's so much fun. When you get an audience laughing, especially ones that weren't laughing before, I can absolutely see why comedians get addicted to it. Okay, yes.

44:53 That's good, Glenn. You got thrown in a deep end and you nailed it. That is kudos to you, my friend. That is. You got to try these things, right? I'm not saying it's a job, but you know, what's the worst that happens? You walk off and you never see those people again. So don't worry about it. Yeah. You laugh at the experience of no one laughing. Yeah, that's the magic of it. There's so many, so many quality. I could talk about comedy for hours. But as a value add to people that are listening or watching, go and watch comedians in cars getting coffee.

45:30 That is Jerry Seinfeld having coffee with other comedians talking about the art of comedy and just titting about as they drink a cup of coffee and laughing at each other. That is funny. Impractical Jokers, the four yanks, the friends that just prank like they set each other up and do silly things. That is funny. That is so funny. Similar to that, I've seen Trigger Happy TV is doing kind of, it's doing a bit, I want to say a comeback, but I know they're doing something soon because it's like 25 years or so since they left our screens. And I don't know if anyone doesn't know about Trigger Happy TV, but I think it might be one of the funniest shows in history.

46:13 I think it was so far ahead of its time because these Dom Johnny with the big phone. Yeah, hello. I'm on the mobile. That sort of shit. But every single one of their things, some of them worked, some of them didn't, but they would just, they would just be TikTok videos these days or Instagram reel videos. Every single one of them was just brilliant in and of itself. And they used to just put together shit tons of them. And some of them were great and some of them you never saw again. I don't know if TV's like that. There was Big Train, Little Britain, Smack the M and The Fast Show. Fast Show, that's what I was trying to get.

46:50 Yeah. And then Vic and Bob as well. Just, you don't really comedy. I can't remember the last great sketch show. You know, since the days of goodness gracious me, there were loads of them that were great. And then they all stopped. What's happened to sketch shows? Why don't you get them anymore? Any comedy, really? Hello, Malo, British Empire, Only Fools and Horses. I know we're sounding like a couple of old gets here talking about old TV programmes, but I think the world's so woke now that comedians are too scared to, or probably people that commission TV are too scared to do anything with VR. You had Mock the Week for a long time, but then the funny one that I watch these days is Taskmaster, which might be one of the

47:36 shows on all television. And it's just, just genius. They've got a new series coming out soon. And I'm so excited for it. Did the Taskmaster Live experience where you can go along and kind of do the tasks and be part of the show as well? Okay. I'm going to share with you over a beer at your house my idea for the high value man live sessions, right? So this could catch fire because I've already got the embers of an idea that I'm working on. By the way, before we change the subject for the final time, Steel Game is one of my comedy guilty pleasures.

48:14 It's made by BBC Scotland. It's basically a sitcom about a bunch of old blokes in Scotland. Oh my God, it is funny. You just have to search it up and it's on iPlayer or on your Fire Stick Dodgy. It's called Steel Game. Very, very funny programme. And the only one, my final, my kind of contribution to funny things I've seen, but it was also slightly heartbreaking, but brilliant. I only just caught up with it. It's called Mum. And it's on BBC, iPlayer again. And it was only three series. And it was a few years ago, 20, I think it finished in about 2019.

48:51 And it's just about this middle-aged woman. I think she's 59 or something like that. Her husband dies. And it's just her like navigating that next year or two. And my God, it's brilliant. It's utterly, utterly sublime and tear-jerking and heartwarming and outrageous. And so, yeah, that's if you get to watch something relatively short as well. Like I say, only three series, Mum is the one. the one. Mum is the one, and it sounds good as well. Could be a t-shirt. Um, 10 minutes to go till we till we wrap up the wrap-up. Um, Easter's coming up, the end of school term. Um, what's uh, what's what's what's what's this time of year like for you?

49:31 I'm so glad that winter is over. Uh, I, I, it's kind of gone quite quick as well, which is always a bit worrying when they say that time gets to it seems to go faster and faster the older you get. But, um, are you happy? Have you have you had a good winter? You excited for spring arriving? Yeah, I mean, I my version of that is uh, life's like a toilet roll at the start. It feels like it will go on forever, but it runs away real quick at the end. Um, and yeah, certainly my winter feels it doesn't it sound stupid, it doesn't feel like it's been as long or as cold. Like normally, I get in the winter, I'm sitting at my desk, and even though I own I heat up my office, that's the only during the rest of the day, the rest of the house is cold.

50:11 And no matter how hot I try and make it, my hands get cold and I kind of shiver. Um, this year didn't have that, it's just been relatively mild. And I'm kind of glad to see the back of it, though. I love that moment when you get the leap, the buds, and the blossoms, and the bits and the pieces. Not because it means I don't have to pay to heat my house anymore, um, but it's just nice, right? I'm a child of the summer, I'd quite happily live in a world where it was um summer almost all the time, and then maybe three weeks of deep winter, but then the rest of it's summer. I know, yeah, everyone's smiling, shorts, t-shirts, legs, start to see women's legs everywhere. Um, barbecues,

50:55 being able to go out and not have to worry about jackets and that sort of stuff. Just, yeah, I'm really looking forward to the summer, and I've got loads of things to come up as well. I've got holidays, I've got um, loads of gigs. Like this weekend, I'm gonna go see The Darkness supported by Ash, um, two of my favorite bands from about 20, 25 years ago. I'd wanted to see either of them, but two in the one night, awesome, can't wait. Well, they were doing really well at the darkness, weren't they? And then he got flipping hooked on heroin or something, and and uh, and yeah, that tends to take um, take the edge off your rock and roll lifestyle, right? Well, he was probably still enjoying it, but for the rest of the band, quite tricky, yeah. Now, that sounds like absolute hell to me.

51:39 Um, I couldn't think of worse, like if you went even more heavy metal, that would be worse. But well, there's a load more I've got, including uh, Skunk and Nancy being supported by the Smashing Pumpkins. Um, you might be happy to know that I'm going to see Ryan, not Brian, Ryan Adams. Uh, that one wasn't my choice, but yeah, block party I've got coming up, loads of live music. Uh, the flaming lips, I'm gonna see them as well. So, yeah, trying to pack it. There's nothing better than sitting down, especially if it's like a summer's day and it's an outdoor gig. Yeah, yeah, my uh, part of the high-value man project, the E of the fire code is energy.

52:19 So, the amount of fun, adventure, and peace you've got in your life. Plans to look forward to, memories to look back on. As a mental health hack, that's one of the most important things that a man can do for himself and for the people around him. If you're managing a relationship, if you've got nothing going on, nothing planned, nothing to look forward to, nothing to surprise the woman in your life. Like, guess what I've booked? Guess what? We're going to go and do it's like it's it sounds like the most basic thing to say, oh, this is a hack, this is this will improve your life, this will make your relationship stronger, but it's absolutely essential. It's absolutely what it's not just if you're with someone else.

53:00 Um, for much of the last seven or eight years, I've basically been single. Um, what I often did was book myself gigs that I wanted to go to and always book two tickets. Um, that way, either you meet someone, if you want to come along to this gig with me, great, that's great, and that's a nice date idea, or you can always find a mate who's willing to go. Um, worst case scenario, you don't you sell the ticket, you give it away, you just go by yourself. But doing stuff, having stuff that you know you want to do, got to make it happen. Got to make it happen because no one's going to make it happen for you. Exactly, it puts your future

53:40 in front of you, which is an obvious thing to say, right? But it actually makes it a tangible thing you're working towards. If you've got nothing planned, nothing to look forward to, then there's literally nothing in front of you. Going back to that point earlier about blokes bleating on in Facebook groups about they got no life and no prospects and no, nothing. No, I don't know what I'm going to do in myself. Like, it's such a basic question. Okay, what have you got planned? What are you talking about? I've got nothing planned. I just said I'm miserable. Well, then make a list. And you're going to be then surrounded. You'll be surrounding yourself with people who like doing those same things as well. So you might meet a person, whether it's a new friend or a romantic partner or whatever.

54:22 The more you're putting yourselves in those positions about things that you enjoy, not just stuff to do, but things that actually you enjoy, the more you surround yourself with people who are in that same sort of mindset. And you just never know what's going to happen as a result of that. Absolutely. It's an upward trajectory, a forward motion. It's literally how you make life work. And it's part of such an important message that I, you know, as we as we get towards the end of this wrap-up, I hope, I hope everyone's had a good time talking about role models, talking about laughter and ending this on making plans, having things to look forward to.

55:00 The secrets of success aren't really that secret, but how to have a shit life is flipping obvious as well. And I want everybody, I want men around the world to rise up, to level up, to look at what it takes to have a laugh, to see old friends, to be that top bloke who their kid looks up to and goes, actually, my dad's dude. My dad, he actually makes time for us. We have a laugh together. Like he watches TV with me. He understands what I'm up to. He's interested in my friends or football or what I listen to. I hate the music my kids listen to, but I still know what it is and I still know who they are.

55:42 Like that, that's that's the level of intentionality of being in your kids' life. And bugger me, have some fun. Literally, I know that the whole wrap-up is intended to be fun, but be a fun person. Literally, there, you know, the idea that going back to that fight, touching finally back on that point about you can be ugly or you could be skin or you could be boring, right? The chance of the being all three is on you, right? Because if you're ugly, then go and get fit and make some money. And if you're rich as fuck, but you're boring, well, that's probably going to work out as well. It's not really the life I advocate, but it is in our hands, men.

56:25 Come on, get out there and do stuff. Any wrap-up from you, Glenn? Any final words of wisdom or nonsense that you want to leave us with? No doubt there is. Yeah, we're doing the traitors in the office now. We started it. I'm a big fan of the traitors as another bit of traitors. And so I've convinced everyone to play the traitors in the office. And we've got banishments and murders and that sort of stuff. But I didn't, I wanted to be a traitor because I think that's the funnest thing. And also, you don't have to worry about being murdered if you're doing the murdering. I'm a faithful annoyingly. Do you know how hard it is to get people to believe you that you're faithful?

57:05 Like, it's really hard. You can't prove it, you can't prove a negative. So, if anyone's got any ideas for how to get people to believe the truth, I am all ears. How to believe the truth. That is probably the you know, what's the secret of life or how long's a piece of string? Like, this, how to get people to believe the truth. If it's mad, it's just frustrating because you can't change opinions with facts. So, um, I need to find a find a way of changing opinions to make sure they don't banish me at the first opportunity. Ask Donald Trump, he knows all about it. I'll send him a message on Signal. Good lad, good lad, Glenn. Good to see you. We will be back for the next episode of the wrap-up.

57:49 Uh, if you have enjoyed this, then make sure you subscribe, share it with other men in your world, and um, yeah, get yourself over to the highvalue manproject.com forward slash group. We'll get you into the base camp and uh set you off on the way of being the high-value man. I'll see you soon, Glenn. Take it easy. Ciao.