Our Flywheel of Life – Jim’s Story (Part 3 of the Framework Series)
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode Summary In this episode of the Imperfect Men’s Club Podcast, Mark Aylward turns the Flywheel of Life back toward co-host Jim Gurulé. This conversation completes the third installment of a multi-part series exploring the IMC framework and how the five interconnected areas of life shape who we become. Using the Flywheel as a guide, Jim walks through his worldview, childhood influences, relationships, money mindset, well-being, and life’s work. The discussion is honest, reflective, and grounded in lived experience—touching on neurodivergence, masculinity, discipline, money beliefs,...
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Self-Awareness: How Men Become Who They Actually Are
Imperfect Mens Club
Season 5 | Episode 2 A Conversation with Mark Aylward: Frameworks, Identity, and the Work of Becoming Self-Aware Episode Overview In this second episode of a three-part Season 5 series, Mark Aylward takes the guest seat as co-host Jim Gurulé interviews him on his background, lived experience, and the frameworks that underpin the Imperfect Men’s Club philosophy. The conversation revisits the origins of the IMC framework, often referred to as the Wheel of Life or Flywheel, and explores how self-awareness, subconscious belief systems, and life domains like money, relationships, ideology,...
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Why Self-Awareness Comes First In Our Flywheel Framework
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode: The Framework, the Flywheel, and What’s Coming in 2026 (Part 1 of 3) Episode Overview In this first episode of a three-part series, Mark Aylward and Jim Gurulé lay out what’s coming for Imperfect Men’s Club in 2026 and revisit the core framework that has guided the podcast from the beginning. This episode is about structure. Not the soul-crushing kind, but the kind that helps men organize the noise of life, identity, work, and relationships into something usable. Mark and Jim unpack their “Wheel of Life” framework, also called the flywheel, and explain why it matters more...
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Motivation is emotional - Self discipline is reliable
Imperfect Mens Club
Season 5, Episode 1: Self-Discipline The bridge between who you say you want to be and what you actually do. Mark and Jim kick off Season 5 by doing what they always do best: questioning the stuff we’re supposed to accept, leaning on lived experience, and dragging timeless wisdom into the present. This episode centers on self-discipline, inspired by the teachings of Jim Rohn, and explores why motivation fails but structure, identity, and self-respect don’t. Core Themes & Takeaways 1. Why Goals and Resolutions Fail Roughly 95% of people abandon resolutions by February. The...
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The Year-End Reset 2025 Inventory - 2026 Intentions
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode 48 Show Notes Imperfect Men’s Club Podcast Recording date: December 17, 2025 Hosts: Mark and Jim Overview Mark and Jim close out the year by doing what emotionally mature men do in public: taking inventory. They reflect on what shifted in 2025 (in big, practical categories) and then cautiously speculate on what 2026 might demand, especially around AI, personal brand, and how you spend your finite supply of time, energy, and money. Big Themes from the Episode 1) 2025: The Year AI Got Personal AI stopped being “a tech thing” and became part of everyday life for normal,...
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Your Story Matters - Understanding the Self Through the Stories of Our Fathers
Imperfect Mens Club
Summary In this episode of the Imperfect Men’s Club Podcast, Mark and Jim use the anniversary of Jim’s father’s passing to explore legacy, fatherhood, and the quiet ways men leave an impact. Jim walks through a timeline of his dad’s 29,352 days on earth, overlaying major world and U.S. events with his father’s life story, and connects it all back to the Imperfect Men’s Club framework. Mark shares stories about his own 97-year-old father, the gratitude that comes from growing up poor, and the urgency of capturing our parents’ stories while we still can. Together, they reflect on...
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Nothing Lasts Forever - What Men Get Wrong About Change
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode Overview In this episode of the Imperfect Men’s Club Podcast, Mark and Jim dive into the idea of impermanence: the simple, uncomfortable truth that nothing lasts forever. From aging bodies and shifting emotions to football seasons, jobs, relationships, and AI shaking up the world, they unpack how “everything comes to an end” can be either terrifying… or freeing. They use their five-part framework (career, health, worldview, relationships, money) to explore how men can respond to constant change with awareness, humility, and a little more presence in the moment. In This...
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Holidays - Why “More People, More Problems” Is a Thing
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode 45 · Family Dynamics, Holidays & “More People, More Problems” In this episode of the Imperfect Men’s Club, Mark and Jim talk about the chaos, comedy, and emotional landmines of family gatherings during the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. They unpack why every family is “messed up in its own special way,” how that shows up around the table, and what men can actually do about it instead of just bracing for impact. They walk through a simple framework for understanding family dynamics and layer it over real stories: aging parents, kids scattered across the country,...
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Rewiring Self-Belief: What Neuroscience Says About Limiting Beliefs
Imperfect Mens Club
Overview In this episode, Mark and Jim dive into the neuroscience of limiting beliefs and how these old, deeply embedded mental patterns quietly steer a man’s confidence, ambition, and ability to grow. Through stories, personal revelations, and decades of lived experience, they break down why these beliefs form, why they stick, and how men can finally start replacing them with something far more empowering. This one sits right at the center of the Imperfect Men’s Club flywheel: the intersection of mental health, worldview, relationships, profession, and money. Key Themes 1. The Five...
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Self Discipline - A Stoic View of Imperfection
Imperfect Mens Club
Episode 43: Self Discipline. A Stoic View of Imperfection Summary In this episode, Mark and Jim explore self-discipline through the lens of Stoic philosophy. They unpack five timeless rules that still hold up in a world full of distractions, dopamine hits, and excuses. The conversation spans modern habits, mental toughness, guilt, accountability, voluntary discomfort, and the deeper connection between self-awareness, self-trust, and real personal growth. The core message: self-discipline isn’t perfection. It’s the small, unglamorous, repeatable reps you keep showing up for. What We...
info_outlineEpisode 48 Show Notes
Imperfect Men’s Club Podcast
Recording date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: Mark and Jim
Overview
Mark and Jim close out the year by doing what emotionally mature men do in public: taking inventory. They reflect on what shifted in 2025 (in big, practical categories) and then cautiously speculate on what 2026 might demand, especially around AI, personal brand, and how you spend your finite supply of time, energy, and money.
Big Themes from the Episode
1) 2025: The Year AI Got Personal
- AI stopped being “a tech thing” and became part of everyday life for normal, semi-tech-competent humans.
- Mark frames AI as a relationship: if you give it context, it gets better, like “an infant becoming a teenager” and eventually a useful young adult.
- Jim reframes AI as Amplified / Augmented Intelligence, not “artificial,” because it expands what capable people can do and removes work humans probably shouldn’t be doing anyway.
- The human edge remains: the five senses, real relationships, and embodied experience.
Key takeaway: You can use it, or it can use you. Same deal as most tools. And most people.
2) Personal Brand Is Not Optional Anymore
- Mark talks about the shift from being “a company guy” to being a person with a message, experience, failures, and a lane.
- Building a personal brand becomes a way to give back, scale trust, and stay relevant in a world that rewards visibility and authenticity.
- Jim reinforces the basics: know/like/trust still runs the world, and credibility has to lead the way.
Key takeaway: Authenticity is the only strategy that doesn’t expire.
3) Inventory: Time, Energy, Money (And Who Gets Access)
- Jim pushes a hard-end-of-year practice: audit your calendar, your spending, your energy, and ask: what did it produce?
- Mark prefers systems over goals: set up simple processes you’ll actually do, and results show up as a byproduct.
- They discuss the uncomfortable but necessary practice of leaving things behind: habits, commitments, even people.
Notable mini-frameworks/tools mentioned:
- Gratitude letters (thank you letters with real specificity)
- Farewell letters (closing loops and moving on cleanly)
- The “Do Not Call List” (a savage little boundary ritual for 2026)
Key takeaway: If something drags you down, it’s stealing your future. Politely escort it out.
4) Words of the Year
- Jim: Impermanence (nothing lasts forever, so stop wasting time and start valuing the present).
- Mark: Gratitude (his daily journal word, and a mental reset that crowds out negativity).
- Jim also brings up limerence: when your mind gets stuck looping on a person/thing and you have to interrupt the pattern.
Key takeaway: Your mind repeats what you don’t resolve.
5) Quotes of the Year
A rapid-fire stack of principles they keep returning to:
- “If you’re not being taken advantage of once in a while, you’re not being kind enough.”
- “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
- “More people, more problems.”
- “We grow bitter or we grow better. It’s a choice.”
- “Say less, do more.”
- “90% of life is showing up.”
- “It’s not what happens to you. It’s how you respond when it happens.”
- “Don’t let it define you, let it refine you.”
- “Be referable, be reliable, be resourceful.”
Key takeaway: The older you get, the more you realize you don’t need new quotes. You need to actually do the ones you already know.
2026 Speculation
- AI is here to stay, and the real variables will be regulation and energy constraints (big forces, bigger than any one person).
- Mark’s 2026 focus: what he’s leaving behind vs. what he’s taking with him, doubling down on systems, personal brand, and daily AI use without becoming naive about it.
- Jim lands the plane on the “self” theme: self-awareness, self-reflection, self-forgiveness… the whole “self-” universe that sits at the center of the IMC framework.
Listener Challenge
Pick ONE inventory move before January hits:
- Write a gratitude letter.
- End one draining commitment.
- Start one simple system you can repeat daily.
- Create your own “Do Not Call” boundary (yes, it can be metaphorical… or not).
Closing
Mark and Jim wrap with holiday wishes and the note that this may be the second-to-last (or last) episode of the year. Reflection, clean endings, better beginnings. The usual inconvenient work of becoming a better man.