Category: Basic Training

With National Friendship Day coming this Sunday, August 3rd, there is no better way to help my case for Better Male Friendships than by helping you determine if your friends are helping you become a better man. This post includes two tools to assess your current receptivity to making friends and to identify those for the type of friendship that I believe every man needs. Subsequent posts will detail how to create a better bond with another man you admire, how to deepen and “sharpen” each other, and how to turn a good friendship into the deeper, more authentic friendship that I call a GodBuddy. Regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs, these tools can help you because everyone needs better friendships. Boys and young males in particular are failing today. They need mature men who model how to navigate the challenges of adulthood by properly using their masculinity for

After several posts about the traits of male friendship, I will now describe some very practical ways that men can develop and maintain better friends. Today, many experts believe we’re in an epidemic of lost friendships. The cure is not more friends. The cure is better friendships. So, while there is no path to a perfect friendship, I can suggest a few ways to develop the deeper, more authentic type of friendships that I believe every man needs, which I call the GodBuddy. Regardless of your religious or spiritual belief, the world needs more men who live up to a higher standard for manhood. I believe that better friendships will help boys and young males become better men who use their inherently masculine traits for the greater good rather than exhibiting “toxic” traits such as emotional repression, aggression, and dominance that are harmful and repressive. My Case for Better Friendships

As I continue to make my case for Better Male Friendships, I will finish this portion by describing a pair of important traits: teachability and the willingness to improve. These qualities are key to what I call a GodBuddy friendship—a deeper, more authentic kind of friendship that I believe every man truly needs. Men Need Other Men to Become Better Men No matter your spiritual background or religious beliefs, most would agree: boys and young men learn best when they have strong, principled male role models. As they begin their journey toward adulthood, they are shaped by those closest to them—especially parents, friends, extended family, and the people in their community. Engaged fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and mentors—like coaches, teachers, pastors, and youth leaders—play a vital role in that development. Male influence from those who’ve already walked the road to manhood is especially critical to understanding manhood and masculine behavior. Of