Today I want to respond to the question does the army turn boys into men?
Now if you want a longer take on it you can listen to my latest podcast episode 1 hour 17 minutes where I yeah I talk more about it basically but I thought to make this video because I want to connect it to a few different videos I've made as of late.
Now I will talk about my own experience and I will freely admit that before going into the army in 2009 I was an immature boy.
At the end of my mandatory 11 months I was still an immature boy but a bit less of an immature boy and the seeds of maturity had been sown within my soul.
So basically I've talked about habits, routines, momentum.
Habits, of course, is the is everything habits.
So in the army it's not necessarily that you gain a sudden revelation that transforms you immediately.
It's rather that you get certain habits, certain ways of viewing things that will serve you well later on.
So, for example, in my case I got a lot less egoistic before I went in and during the first part of the service I was quite egoistic.
Then I understood that I am not the center of the universe and this is something it's a very good, very nice insight to have.
It's something that will help you in your development quite a bit.
And the more humble you are and I know that some people they don't like when I talk about how humble I am, but you know, in this type of situation where I have a bit more down-to-earth talk in some videos against kitchen, I'm a bit more playful then yeah, I'm not humble in that sense, but what I mean with humility is that you value what you can bring to others.
You appreciate that you are not the center of the universe.
You appreciate that it's good for you to bring value to others and this is something that has served me very well on this channel, for example, that you you know you try to bring value to others, you don't always put yourself in the center of attention.
And in the army, of course, you're just another uniform, you're just another rifle, you're just one part of a platoon which is just a part of something bigger as well.
So it's quite nice, it's a quite nice revelation to have, and something that, over time, it will make you approach life and relations with others in a different manner.
Very useful, very useful for me then, when it comes to habits.
Again, this is not something that you will gain automatically when you the first day of your army service.
It's something that you will build Over a long time, and that you can bring with you later on as well.
So, the greatest gift I got from the army, I would say, is again something I mentioned in a recent video: momentum.
A certain momentum that you train every day, you have hard physical exercise every day.
And if you've done that for 11 months and you don't train anything after, you will feel a bit hollow, so you need to continue on that momentum with something else, which in my case was gym training.
And of course, you can imagine how thankful I am for you know, starting in the gym.
So, basically, I got out from the army in December, started my great iron journey in January, saw a bit of downtime over Christmas, then added again, using that momentum, using that, using those habits that I had acquired in the army to just continue along my path.
So, basically, it is a good time investment for you if you bring with you the teachings.
Being in the army, it's a complete waste of time if you're not going to apply the habits later on.
If you say to yourself that I never want to hear about discipline, I'm never going to make my bed again, I will never do anything any tough physical exercise again.
Yeah, then like with any education, it's been a waste of time.
So, it's all about you know developing certain habits, a certain mindset in your soul that you can continue to develop later on.
So, I wouldn't necessarily say that the army turns boys into men, but it plants the seeds of maturity in a boy so he can continue to grow later on.
So, if you want to plant the seed of a mighty oak or something like that, yeah, it starts as a seed at some point and then it grows up.
So, same thing here: that you can view it in the sense that if you make the most out of it, the army can be seen as a place where you know the seeds of maturity are grown.
Now, of course, if you don't have the possibility of military service, then try to find these habits in some other way in the gym, for example.
So, again, the greatest gift I got from the army was the momentum and the habit that then led me to start training in the Temple Wire.
So, if you don't have the opportunity to join the army for whatever reason, you know, as I said in the podcast, I speak highly of the Swedish army.
I can't say the same thing for the army you have the opportunity to join.
But, anyway, if you don't have the opportunity to join any army, start in the gym at least and try to have that as the start of your ascent.
So, for me, I could say that my journey, both physical and metaphysical, it began in the army because of the seeds of discipline and habits, momentum, and everything like that.
That I then translated successfully into gym training.
So, if you can't do military service, try to find those seeds somewhere else in the gym, for example.
So, anyway, long story short, does the army turn boys into men?
Short answer, perhaps not from one year to the next, but it can sow the seeds of maturity that will enable a boy to mature later on.
So, it's definitely a good investment if you have the time and opportunity to do so.
I am certainly very thankful I got the opportunity to do so.
It was technically speaking mandatory, but it was more the case that I got to do it than had to do it.
So, anyway, if you want a longer take, do listen to the podcast episode.
