The Disingenuous Epidemic - Cowards, Clowns, and Characters
Release Date: 05/22/2025
Self Identity - It's Hard To Look In The Mirror
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of self identity The guys joke about their lack of Biblical knowledge around God’s statement to Moses “I am who I am” Jim refers to a podcast he heard that mentioned the we’re never ready and you just have to face your fears Mark reflects on his career and how he speaks with everyone he helps about their self identity. It’s the most important part of his work. You have to be able to tell your own story. He thinks most people cannot tell their own story. Jim agrees Mark reads the definition of self identity Mark reflects on the 1000’s of people he’s...
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Reinventing Yourself At Any Age - How To Be Clever About It
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of reinventing yourself in the context of a personal brand. Both guys have been working on their brands. Jim is finishing up a formal effort with his brand Mark puts his career up as a reinvention experience Jim shares his view of how stories and brands have evolved over time and explains why he has made his recent investment of time and money working out his brand and messaging. Contextually he explains this journey as one with three parts. The past, present and future. He talks about the work and the advisor he hired. He brings our 5 key areas of life framework Mark...
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Worldview: Politics, Perspectives & People Who Still Talk to Each Other
Imperfect Mens Club
“You cannot kill a thought. It needs to die of old age or natural causes” Mark introduces the topic of worldview and the different belief systems we all have…and where we get them Jim adds the influence of the political distress specifically in LA and brings in the flywheel Mark clarifies the politics of it all and both guys laugh at how everything is about politics Jim says most of us don’t like to have our belief systems challenged, but agree it’s important to do so Mark reads Jim’s 5w’s assessment…What, why, where, when and who Jim brings up self awareness and Mark agrees...
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Trump Derangement Syndrome And The 10 Commandments
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic by reading the definition and symptoms As much as the guys believe it to be real, it’s also funny Jim asks Mark what “Psychic pathology” means and he takes a shot Jim shares his opinion about friends and family that seem to struggle with this Jim talks about his mom. She exhibits physical manifestations Mark thinks this physical reaction indicates a pretty severe condition Jim calls it impulsive Mark calls Trump insensitive and crass. He’s a fighter and not a politician Mark talks about one friend who is very smart, but can’t remain objective when Trump’s...
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90% Of Life Is Just Showing Up
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic and frames it in the context of his recent experience with having a plumber show up at his home to do some work He shares how gratitude plays a part in the discussion. He expresses a concern that the topic is so rich that staying on topic might be tough Jim reflects on the story Mark has already told him Jim expands on the “Showing up” concept Jim shares his perspective having been a tradesman and having gone into many homes and being treated poorly, more often than not. He applauds Marks treatment of the plumber Jim expands on the notion of appreciation and gives...
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The Disingenuous Epidemic - Cowards, Clowns, and Characters
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of disingenuous people. Both guys have had recent experiences with people who were being disingenuous. Mark asks whether he thinks people are born this way or do become this way based on environment or circumstance. Jim says he’s been using that word more often lately Mark reads the legal definition of the word Jim shares his definition. He clarifies the nuance of this activity being intentional Mark says there are different levels of it, but that some people are just stupid Jim shares his recent encounter with a disingenuous neighbor Deception from the get go. Jim...
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How A Simple Framework Can Help Us Communicate With Candor And Clarity
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark brings up the topic of communication in the context of self talk and self reflection Then he shares a framework Jim brought that he uses for communication. The triple A method Assumptions/Agreement/Action Mark is a fan Jim brings up a favorite quote of his - “The most important conversation you’ll ever have is the conversation you have with yourself”…and that’s a crazy person Mark shares his self talk routine Jim - simply…you have to turn the channel He shares how his mind works. He finds or creates tools to help him. That’s where this AAA framework came from. He uses it to...
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Personal Stories Of Neurodivergence - The Ability To Think Different
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the guys and topic. He cites how aligned both guys are. As they enter the call they’re thinking of the same topics and thoughts Neurodivergence (See definition at the bottom of the show notes) Mark shares a call about his grandson and his current struggles which may well involve him being on the spectrum Jim shared his perspective about labels and crutches and his own story about being neurodivergent himself growing up Jim’s perspective is to reframe this label as an opportunity to think of things differently Neither guy likes meds, but do agree that in some cases they can...
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Beware The "Vortex". Aging Gracefully In Relationships
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of male and female relationships. Jim had brought up the recent Bill Belichick interview with his new 24 year old girlfriend Jim covers our framework and the wheel of life. Relationships is one of the five and women is a subset of that Jim likes looking at life in increments of 10 years. Now we’re both in our 60’s and things have changed Jim brings up the Belichick interview in the context of self awareness and how he was not self aware at all Both guys lost respect for him Mark goes back to his relationship with his girlfriend and brings up how recently he...
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Confidence Isn’t a Trait, It’s a Practice
Imperfect Mens Club
Mark introduces the topic of confidence. Self-confidence The topic originated with Jim’s interest in elitism - entitlement - self-accountability - confidence In order to be self accountable, one must be confident Jim ties in the current news events and his recent book as he frames his view of confidence. Particularly sports and business He distinguishes between confidence and the competence required to be confident Jim brings up academia. See civically Harvard…and entitlements/elitism He shares the academic idea that perfection is attainable. We both support the reality of...
info_outlineMark introduces the topic of disingenuous people. Both guys have had recent experiences with people who were being disingenuous. Mark asks whether he thinks people are born this way or do become this way based on environment or circumstance.
Jim says he’s been using that word more often lately
Mark reads the legal definition of the word
Jim shares his definition. He clarifies the nuance of this activity being intentional
Mark says there are different levels of it, but that some people are just stupid
Jim shares his recent encounter with a disingenuous neighbor
Deception from the get go. Jim says this guy isn’t dumb…he’s just a dick
Mark shares something he used to tell his kids to help them get to the truth. “Look at what people do and then what they say. When those are the same, you’ll find truth”
Mark brings up his ex wife as an example
Then the guys bring up justice
Jim…”it’s not what you say, it’s what you do”.
His neighbor said, “I thought we were friends? Mark reacts aggressively to that behavior
Jim says this guy was many things…deceptive, delusional and dishonest. He took the high road even as this guy dug his hole deeper, but he did tell him “you might want to get back on your meds”
Mark loves that line
Jim decided to let the guy keep revealing himself, but he continued to hold him accountable
Mark thinks people who pretend to be dumb might be worse and he alludes to our current political landscape
Mark brings up the trend of not asking follow-up questions. Then the guys go to Trump as an example and talk about his behavior. Also the contrast between Biden and Trump. Mark recognizes that many people feel Trump is a liar. Mark calls him an embellisher. A master embellisher who does so with a very specific intention to move people
Mark says disingenuous people behave in 3 distinct ways. Raise their voice, change the topic or walkaway. People who are genuine will welcome follow-up questions
Jim shares more words that he looked up based on this experience
Cowards, clowns and characters
Both guys feel that there are a lot of cowards in the world. Jim asks him to read the definition of coward
Mark shares his frustration with people who are afraid to speak up about problems at work
Jim is a big fan of his AI tool - Gemini. They joke about “her”
Mark says Biden is also a clown. He reads the definition and they laugh about how clownish Biden is
Mark talks about doing nothing. Either not taking a stance or watching bad things happen and not interveneing
Jim talks about the Biden group and the lack of integrity
Jim asks Mark…how can you tell what the truth is
Mark brings up Bernie Sanders and gives him credit for speaking from the heart. He doesn’t use notes
Jim shares his thoughts about Kamala Harris and Mark replies with more Trump authenticity and how good he is at holding people accountable Both guys speak highly of Trumps cabinet members
Jim says “news does not get reported it gets created”. Jim shares a story about a high school football coach who got run out because of a bullshit race issue. When the reporters came, she couldn’t get anyone to bite on race…so they didn’t run the story. They spent all the time and money wasted because they couldn’t create the story they wanted
Mark shares how he watches both sides of the news every so often just to see how the left is distorting. He says this in the context of his girlfriend’s kids. They watch channels that distort facts
Characters - Mark reads the definition
Jim thinks the media is now full of characters. Putting on the show
Jim asks about justice. Will we get any. He has stopped waiting
Mark feels that he needs to leave this alone. It’s affecting his mental health
Jim believes in Karma