Cam Hall Unleashed: How One Man's Fight Against the Dad Bod Became a Global Movement

When Cam Hall, a former high school vice principal turned fatherhood advocate, encountered a health scare that shook his world, it ignited a contagious passion for change.

This episode follows Cam's journey from the brink of crisis to launching initiatives like Fight the Dad Bod and Dads Making a Difference that are revolutionizing the fatherhood landscape.

His story is a testament to the power of transformation and the ripple effect one person's shift in mindset can have on a global scale.

The struggle to maintain meaningful relationships post-35 is a silent epidemic among men, but Cam's approach to tackling this issue head-on is both innovative and heartening.

By fostering candid discussions and real connections through events like the mastermind group in Canmore, Alberta, and the Dad's Making a Difference podcast, he's creating a space where vulnerability is strength.

Our conversation reveals how these platforms are not only reshaping the narrative of modern masculinity but are also equipping fathers with the tools to excel in every facet of their lives.

Our dialogue doesn't stop at personal anecdotes; it's packed with strategies and wisdom for those hungry for personal growth. From discussing influential literature to anticipating the "Fight the Dad Bod" app and the inaugural DMD Summit, this episode is a goldmine for anyone looking to embrace challenges as opportunities.

Whether you're a dad, know a dad, or appreciate the influential role fathers play in our society, this episode is bound to inspire and challenge you to ask the critical question: "What difference am I making?

Connect with Cam:

• LinkedIn
• IG: FightTheDadBod and DadsMakingADifference
• Facebook

Chapters

• 0:09 Inspiring Dads Making a Difference
• 3:42 Overcoming Health Crisis Through Lifestyle
• 9:09 Building Meaningful Connections for Men
• 20:12 Finding Purpose and Personal Growth
• 28:45 Navigating Mentorship and Personal Development
• 39:35 Passion for Leadership and Personal Growth

Transcript

Dai Manuel: 0:09

All right, 2% Collective, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for an epic journey of transformation, connection and hearty laughter on the 2% Solution podcast, with our latest guest, cam Hall. As the founder of Fight the Dad Bod and the visionary behind the impactful initiative Dads Making a Difference, cam's journey from a high school vice principal to a beacon of hope for dads everywhere is simply remarkable. Picture this a man who embodies resilience. Having faced a medical scare that would leave most reeling, cam turned adversity into advantage, showing us that sometimes our greatest ideas emerge from our darkest hours With humor that'll have you chuckling and wisdom that'll make you ponder. Cam delves deep into what it means to truly make a difference, not just in your life but in the lives of those around you. But it's not all serious talk. There's lighthearted banter moments where you'll find yourself nodding in agreement and insights that resonate with the core of being a modern-day dad. Imagine discussing the intricacies of health, the dynamics of fatherhood and the pursuit of personal growth, all while climbing mountains in Alberta or planning the next big thing for dads across the globe.

Dai Manuel: 1:31

So why tune in? Because this is more than just an interview. It's a clarion call to all dads feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders. It's a reminder that it's okay to be vulnerable, to seek connections and to aspire for greatness in all aspects of life. And let's be honest, who doesn't want to kick back and listen to someone who's faced life's challenges with a smirk and came out swinging?

Dai Manuel: 1:57

Cam Hall isn't just a guest. He's a catalyst for change, a storyteller of the first order and possibly the guy who will inspire you to look at your own life and ask what difference am I making? Join us on this adventure, laugh a little and learn a lot. Maybe you'll be inspired to join the ranks of dads who are making a difference everywhere, because at the end of the day, isn't that what life's all about? The day? Isn't that what life's all about?

Dai Manuel: 2:27

I'm excited to have you here today. You know I've already hit record there if you hadn't picked up on that, because some of this makes some good be real. But you know, I want to just jump in there with you today and I've got some questions really just to open up the conversation. But I really want to talk about this dad's making a difference, you know, and I think it's a great place for us to start. Like, what was the inspiration for that? Like what, what, where, where did that come from, you know? And if you could tell a bit of that story, I'd love us to start there today.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 2:54

Yeah, absolutely, thanks for asking. I I know that sometimes the best realizations we have and the best ideas we have come out of our worst times, like the hardest things we go through, and this came out of a hard time. This came out of a time where I was actually on a medical leave away from work. I shut down. I have another online business that I run since 2015. And I had to shut that down for a period of time because things in my body weren't doing what they needed to be doing. I had a lump in my neck that my doctors could not explain. They didn't know what was going on. I had an irregular heartbeat and it all kind of came to a head in fall of 2021. And I want to share a little bit of the story because a little bit about myself.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 3:47

I started a company called Fight the Dad Bot in 2015. And my mission was to help dads live fit, healthy, fulfilled lives with your family, and so I was like the fit guy. I am pretty fit, like I'm in pretty good shape, I'm healthy, we eat well, we're very active, and my whole goal was to inspire other dads to do the same. Well, the problem is like when you're just rolling and I was working full-time. I'm a high school administrator of a high school about 1300 kids, vice principal, and you know, everything was. Everything was like rolling, but when we're rolling we don't pay so much attention to ourself. And then all of a sudden, yeah, and all of a of a sudden, it was about May of 2021. I started to notice the lump in my neck. I didn't tell anybody because, well, stereotypical dude right.

Dai Manuel: 4:34

Yeah.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 4:35

It's going to go away. It's going to go away. And then a month went, a lymph gland Just curious.

Dai Manuel: 4:40

Yeah.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 4:40

Yeah Right, in the side of my neck Didn't mean yeah right in the side of my neck.

Dai Manuel: 4:43

Give me a crop. I was just curious. Yeah, thank you Keep going.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 4:46

What it felt like actually, what it felt like was I had a massive vitamin stuck in my throat every time I swallowed. It was weird and it was like this, like bump, you could feel it. And then fast forward a little bit to September 2021. And there was a night where I remember waking up and just like sweating, like soaked in sweat, and I thought I was going to be sick, like the old food poisoning feel.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 5:13

In the middle of the night, you know, we get up and you're like panicked. I got to run to the washroom because something's going to happen. Do I sit, do I stand, do I crouch? I don't know what I need to do here, but my body's not doing well. And so that's where I was at. And I got into the bathroom and I was like, wait, like no, like I don't, like I feel nauseous, but I'm not going to throw up and my stomach is not up, like what's happening. And I lost consciousness and I fell and I smashed my face onto the tile floor. It's about two in the morning. Well, I'm six. Five to twenty. It's 5 to 25.

Dai Manuel: 5:42

And so that didn't work.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 5:44

Yeah. So that made a loud, loud noise. My wife describes it as she thought it sounded like a baseball bat hitting the tile floor and, while I had lost consciousness, fallen to the floor, obviously unconscious, face first, head first, just totally out. I'm glad I didn't hit the counter. But my wife, who is five, four and a half, got up and are you okay? Are you okay? And she couldn't open the door. I had fallen right behind the door and so she's pushing, she's pushing, she gets in and there I am, unconscious, split my face open, blood pouring from my mouth and she's like what is happening? So calls 911. Thankful she did.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 6:26

They come to the house Middle of the night, the ambulance shows up. One of my wife's friends comes over to keep the kids in the basement because this big thing, they hook me up to all these things. They're like yeah, there's, we can't see anything. Like you didn't have a heart attack, you didn't have any, didn't have a stroke, you didn't have any of these things, but you need to go to your doctor. So they don't even take me to the hospital, like everything's, everything's normal.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 6:52

So I go to the doctor and over the next month and a half, two months, I was poked and prodded and a ton of tests done and I'm getting to where that's making a difference came from, and and so, um January 20th 2022, I thought I was going in for a routine blood check, the results of a blood test that I had done, and I sat down and we were just coming out of some protocols in I live in Alberta, canada some protocols following the COVID pandemic, where we were still in masks and medical offices and you know, working in education, in and out of school back and forth, and all that and being a dad myself, working in education, in and out of school back and forth, and all that and being a dad myself. And so I remember walking in my doctor's office and I'd had on down low middle of the day, had a mask up over my nose, and he just looks at me. My doctor's about my age, has kids the same age. He's like how are you doing? And I just looked at him. I couldn't die. I couldn't respond to him. I had nothing in like I. I just started to well up, my eyes started to well up.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 7:48

He's like you're not good, are you? I'm like no, he's like there's nothing anatomical about what's happening, nothing like what you are experiencing right now stress related, what. What is going on? What are you trying to balance? So I just like to my doctor, who's a medical doctor, not a psychologist and so I just like here's everything that's happening. He's like, okay, here's what's going to happen, I'm going to put you out, I'm putting you out on medical leave. I know I'm not going to give you the letter to give to your employer because you won't give it to them. That's who you are. I'm going to shut things down. And he said I'm a doctor and I'm going to prescribe you something, because that's what we do. My doctor looked at me. Here's my prescription for you you need to wake up at the same time every day. You need to go to bed at the same time every night, you need to get into nature every single day and walk your dog and you need to work out every day. That's your prescription. Do it for three months, no-transcript.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 9:09

Like I had questions about marriage, I had questions about being a good dad, about how to build relationships and, strangely enough, how do I make friends as a grown man, like these types of things started to bubble to the surface in these conversations, and it was through this experience, hard time and a good time for me that the idea for dads making a difference came out, and so I was like, okay, what are we going to do? I'm going to start getting some guys together locally, and now it's evolved into this year. My goal is to build a mastermind group where we bring men together and we're going to meet in Canmore, alberta. We're going to climb a mountain together. We're going to do really cool things but really just inspire men to grow in different areas of their life physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, financially, professionally like these areas that just weigh on us if we don't bring them up. And yeah, really to build connection and so, and then, yeah, of course, you're going to be a guest on the podcast we launched Dad's Making Difference podcast June 1st 2022.

Dai Manuel: 10:08

Huge, huge. And, cam, I absolutely love everything you're doing and you and I have had previous conversations where I alluded to some of the big changes and shifts I've gone through. But a big reason I made those changes was I didn't like the version of me that I was. I made those changes was I didn't like the version of me that I was. You know, I really didn't, and I was running away from the version that I knew I was being right and distracting myself from that, like a lot of us men will do. And on top of that, you don't talk about it Right. So it's like cause we know better.

Dai Manuel: 10:37

Oh yeah, that's right, and or or. For my case, I was like people won't understand. They probably aren't. You know, this is a unique problem that I'm the only one on this planet that has right, like these other 7 billion people. They just won't get and so you don't talk about.

Dai Manuel: 10:50

You know, and I remember seeing this study that Movember put out in the UK chapter of Movember and they surveyed all these men across the UK and, you know, just asking about relationships and meaning and purpose, and one of the stats came back was when it asked about what you said meaningful connection. Most men after the age of 35 can count on one hand and actually fewer fingers in one hand how many significant relationships that they feel comfortable enough with another man to even talk about finances, about life, about mental health challenges, just really the significant conversations that we're all thinking about in our head. And when I read that I was like holy smokes, I'm one of those dudes and I don't like this. And so my question to you because I know that is a huge underpinning of just your philosophy and how you support men is this idea of meaningful connections. But you also speak about this idea of becoming your best version and this transformational journey that we can all embark on as men and as fathers.

Dai Manuel: 11:51

And I guess you know, for those that are listening right now, because my demographic the majority of the people that listen to this podcast are between 35 to 55, you know. So there's two different polar opposites, right? They're either starting with a young family or they're on the edge of now looking at the second half of life without their kids being around all the time, and and they want life to be better. They want to be better versions. It's not like anybody I talk to says, hey, do you think you can be better? And they're like, no, I don't think so. Oh, maybe internally they think that, but I know you really support me on that. Can you speak about that, like how people get started with this transformation and what are the ways that you've observed, not only with your clients but with your communities?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 12:27

I I would love for you to just explore that and share that, because I know that's also been a big part of your journey, and so go ahead and take it away, man yeah, I, I reflect on my own journey as just kind of a starting point, because I had to understand who I was first and what I was going to do before I was able to even venture into saying to someone else hey, I think I may understand what you're saying. Your context is different, your experience has been different, but I have some things that are relatable to that. Can I share them with you? And so, in my own experience I think 35 to 55, like I just I told you before I just turned 43.

Dai Manuel: 13:04

So over that, 35 to 55, like I just I told you before I just turned 43.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 13:12

So over that, but in this period of time, I think we start to experience this internal calling where we start maybe not to question what we're doing, but we start to see that we are capable of maybe more than we've done. And I'm not saying financially more, I'm like I'm talking like impact. I'm like have I impacted the people around me in the way that I want? Am I being the father that I want to be? Am I instilling the values and the practices in my family that I want to leave more or less a legacy with my kids as they grow? And so you start to question these things and then all of a sudden, you look around you and, like you said, we have like two or three friends. And, like you said, we have like two or three friends, but these are the friends that I've had for 20 years. We talk about the game, we talk about our workouts, we talk about things we've done with our family, but it's very surface level and we never really really open up to be, yeah, unfiltered. I call them unfiltered conversations. Guys, this isn't. I'm not talking counseling. I'm not talking like everybody gives a hug, touchy-feely stuff. I'm saying like real honest, unfiltered conversations where we can acknowledge each other's strengths, acknowledge what we're going through, but also acknowledge other people's blind spots and say, hey, have you thought about this? Because this is the theme that we're seeing every time.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 14:18

You come to the conversation and you talk about that you want change, but you're not changing anything to get there. And you talk about that you want change but you're not changing anything to get there. And so you can talk about wanting change and transformation in this period of our life, but often just takes one step, and sometimes that one step in that transformation or that one step in that change is one connection, one conversation, one person. And so my goal in this group, my goal with the podcast, my goal in everything I do each day is I'm like, okay, I could be the one conversation, or this person I'm going to interact with could be the one conversation.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 14:52

If I'm traveling to an airport, I'm the annoying guy who talks to everybody and then like who's this weird Canadian guy who just said hello to me in the security line? Like, I think the most eye-opening thing. I was in New York and I was in a hotel elevator in Times Square and I just like, heading out to some lady walks in with her bags and I'm like, hey, how are you today? She looked at me like I was going to mug her, like it was like I've learned to pick my spots carefully. But I think part of it is the power of conversation and just intention, and being present with other men is really important and we're not always intentional and present with our friends because we know them too well.

Dai Manuel: 15:32

Cam, I love it. I love it. I mean, I knew the first time that we ever connected I was like, oh, I want to be friends, but I just love that you live this mission. But you also, as neuroscientists will tell us, the most effective way that we all learn as a human species is through mentorship and role modeling. Right, and you're doing both. But also you yourself are also a practitioner that's accepting that from your community. You know, like I said, it's sort of a, it's a beautiful thing. If I think about being a mentor, you know it's like you're learning as you're mentoring. Know, again, it's just that idea of when you teach something, you know it even better. You know, and uh, but that idea and that that gift that you're providing and creating, that safe space, like I always refer to this like that what's alive and real for you right now, conversation. You know, like, in your life right now, what is that thing that's really alive and real? You know, like that thing that you're present to, whether it's negative or positive, either way, let's talk about it. You know, like, um and I.

Dai Manuel: 16:30

My question to you, because on this note, is you speak a lot to this personal growth journey for men, you know, not just fathers, but men and I I know that can sometimes sound very vague. Do you know what I mean? Like? I mean, let's look at the. You can't help it. If you type in personal development into Google, watch out, because you're going to hear every ad, every guru will be just bombarding, right, and I guess you know how can net embrace this idea of personal development? Yeah, and once they've embraced it, like what is the actual impact or result that they will notice not only in their immediate families, their local communities, but also beyond that, you know, because I think it's really like what is the impact or the why you know that we achieved for doing that action? Right, for adopting this mindset around personal growth or, as Maslow will say, self-actualization, right, so for the fancy word.

Dai Manuel: 17:27

But, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 17:30

Yeah, I love it. It's a great question. I'm glad that you asked that. I have a motto up in my office here at home and it says know your why? Aim for growth and take ownership.

Dai Manuel: 17:38

Oh, it's like, I knew it, I found it.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 17:40

and the hardest part of that is the taking ownership piece. Yeah, because we we often know our why, we often know why we're doing some. We can explain to somebody hey, why are you doing this? Well, I'm doing this because I'm driven to be a better father for my family. I'm driven to be a better provider, a better leader. I'm driven to make more of an impact on my community and bring people together. That's a good why. But then you aim for growth and that's the part where it's good to say, okay, the growth mindset.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 18:07

We hear Carol Dweck's stuff all the time, growth mindset, but I'm talking like just a commitment to grow. It's that every opportunity is for you to learn something, get better or learn something and change it, and so that's that whole process. Now the ownership piece is tough because for guys here is where the growth process, the personal growth, gets fuzzy, and I think that we look at personal growth as men, as a deficit model. I don't have this, so I need to grow in it. I don't know this, so I need to grow in it. But I want to reframe it to leadership because we want to be strong leaders. Really, that's what we it to leadership because we want to be strong leaders. Really, that's what we want to be. We want to be strong husbands, strong leaders. We want to be strong fathers, strong leaders. We want to be strong business owners and entrepreneurs and team members and community members. This all revolves around leadership, personal leadership and the ability to lead others. The most powerful thing about leadership that I've learned, both professionally as a leader for 17 years in education, but also in business and as a family guy who I put my family first.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 19:09

Leadership is not about having all the answers and knowing everything. There's an incredible power in leadership of not knowing To say I don't know this. I'm going to seek out the answer and now I'm going to make improvements or changes based on what I've learned. And so when we mentor people you might use the word mentorship. I think it's I'm going to get the mentor or the guru who's going to give me the answers of what to do.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 19:31

And the most frustrating thing for guys and personal growth journeys is that they'll go to someone as a mentor and they'll expect answers and instead they get questions. The guys in our group get questions. They'll come with something and be like that's interesting. Tell me more about that. Tell me more about where this is coming from. Tell me more about your vision for your finances in the next 12 months. Tell me more about the vision for your health in the next 12 months. And now they find that they're just like, oh, answering all these questions, but at the end, oh, wait a sec. I have more clarity now answering my own questions than I had before. So it's not about spoon feeding answers as a mentor. It's about asking the right questions so people can develop as leaders and understand hey, they don't know.

Dai Manuel: 20:12

I love it. I mean it's like I feel like you know, so connected to you, because I myself stumbled my way to come into some of these realizations.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 20:21

It seems to be that we all have.

Dai Manuel: 20:23

Well, that's, that's it, right?

Dai Manuel: 20:26

And I guess you know, when you think about that reset period that you have, you know that three months where you really just focused on on you and your health and your wellbeing and, I imagine, your mental health, like everything you were sort of in that reassessment phase, you know, but at least you have the space to do that, and sort of in that reassessment phase, you know, but at least you have the space to do that.

Dai Manuel: 20:42

And I'm curious for men that are caught up and maybe don't have the luxury of having a three month hiatus from life, you know what? What are some of the practical things that they could start with you know, that you find is most effective, right? Because, again, I know it's it's highly subjective at times for the individual, but I think you know, once you've done it long enough and you've been around enough, guys, we can start to see the patterns and the trends. You know what makes best results. And I don't know if you can share two or three tips to sort of support those guys, to get a little bit of what you experienced in that three-month reset, you know.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 21:14

Well, here's what I've learned. Here's what I've learned from the guys that I connect with that have worked for them, and here's what I've learned through that period of time. You referenced that three months Because, in all transparency, the first half of that three months I hid in my house Because I live in a small city of about 100,000 people. I've been in education for 16 years at that point and everywhere I go, people know you're supposed to be at work and so I hid in my house because I didn't want to enter into awkward conversations. And so, even though you have like three months where it's off, it was very uncomfortable for the first bit, but through that discomfort I got more self-assured in what I was doing was right for me and for guys. I would encourage a couple tips, and this is what it'd be the men who make not the greatest change, but the men who are starting able to make small changes over time, are able to be comfortable with discomfort, like not to get discouraged, to know it's just part of the process that they have somebody that they can reach out to, someone who can let them know what their blind spots are and what they're missing. But to be comfort in that discomfort of something just doesn't seem right. I'm on the verge of something and I don't know what it is. And so the men who make the biggest changes and the biggest impact are the ones who are okay for periods of time being uncomfortable, but they don't live there. They ask questions, they seek understanding. They reach out to mentors, to communities, they just seek understanding. So they're uncomfortable for a bit, but they get out of that period of time by seeking understanding from others. They ask questions and there's a bit of vulnerability there to say I don't know, I don't have it all.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 22:50

The other thing that I've seen, which is a consistent factor amongst the guys who've made huge improvements and huge pieces of personal growth, is a structure and it's a routine and it's intention about owning their time. A lot of us guys like man, we're busy, I just don't have the time to do you do. You just haven't prioritized it, you haven't created it. That's a big thing. We do as in. Our thing is first we focus on mental and physical health, because that's really dear to my heart and that's kind of the foundation for our guys who come in and then we talk about everything else. You know, managing time, building relationships, communicating effectively. I call it managing the organization. That's like the finances piece. There's an instilling leadership qualities in others, which is really important. How do you teach others to lead their kids, your wife, people in your community, and so for these guys to come in and say I have a structure and I'm going to follow it, these are the things that I'm going to commit to and then have accountability to do, that is really important.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 23:48

And I'm not saying everybody has to get up at 4.45 am. I did that for a period of time. Didn't work for me, but it works for some people. You don't have to be the 5 am club. You don't need it, sleep till eight. But if you're going to be sleeping till eight, just make sure you're effective.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 24:01

And with the time that you have, it's when we stew and we don't have a plan and we don't have a purpose, because when we don't have a purpose, it's really hard to keep pushing forward. There are times where I'm just dragging my butt and I'm like, oh, and then my daughter has a very good knack at this and she's like well, weren't you supposed to do this today? Like, well, thanks, kiddo. Yeah, yes, I was. She's like I saw it on the whiteboard in your office because she comes in here to do her homework. But it's her really subtle way of reminding me of my purpose, of what I'm doing. So she sees dad's dragging it a little bit. Just really great. So have a purpose, have a plan, map that out, create time in your day for just you 10 minutes, 15 minutes and don't make it the 15 minutes you're sitting in the washroom on the toilet on your phone yes, thank you thank you that's not you time.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 24:52

That's not you time.

Dai Manuel: 24:53

I look at that bonus time yeah doesn't every guy though.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 24:58

Yeah, but, yeah, but. But that's not you time. Be intentional, be open with your family and say, hey, dad's going to do this today or this afternoon or tonight. I'm going to step out for about 20, 30 minutes and I'll be back. As long as you communicate that and you make a plan, it'll be good. So just quick reflection Be comfortable being in discomfort, seek understanding and ask questions.

Dai Manuel: 25:25

Surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable and then make a plan to be purposeful. I freaking love this Cam, like I said, so clear, but also and again I'm going to use the term simple, because I'm not going to say easy because you're absolutely ready to take commitment and you've got to follow through right Like, at the end of the day, you still got to take action and do things forward.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 25:44

You know and.

Dai Manuel: 25:45

I never thought about, yeah, doing the work. But you remind me of that Nietzsche quote. What is it With a strong enough why we can endure anyhow? Right, like that idea. With a strong enough purpose, we can basically any sort of condition, we can manage it, we can at least get through it, as long as that purpose directs, pulls us through. And I appreciate that reminder.

Dai Manuel: 26:13

And I guess you know in your own life because I'd like to let me just ask you this question, because I, from different men, when I ask this question, I get different answers, but I, I love every answer I get, but I do know it's subjective and and every man will probably answer this a little bit differently, especially if they're fathers versus someone without kids. You know, like I know, the life experiences shapes our worldview, especially our internal self-view. And for yourself, you know, jim Collins, good to great right, what a fantastic book and great concept. You know, the only thing that prevents us from being great is we get really satisfied and comfortable with being good enough. And I guess, if I was to ask you what was a great man, like what? What would you answer to that? Like I, it's founded by that question, you know, and uh, and I know whatever we answer, we get, give it to us, but I'd love to hear your response.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 27:01

What is a great man.

Dai Manuel: 27:03

Yeah, oh, man, that's such a hard question because you know what?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 27:08

Here's where I go in my head. I'm like am I qualified to answer this? Because I think there's areas in my own life where I'm like I still aspire to be a great man. You just mentioned Jim Collins.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 27:21

I have it on the show it's not, but just being like good enough. There's times I question my own path individually, separate from my family, separate from my kids. I'm just like I'm being selfish for a moment. Here is what I've done in my life and then what I'm doing right now. Is it fulfilling who I really am? Is it really tapping every resource that I have within me? Is my role in my job and education? Is that really what I'm called to do long-term? Am I making the biggest impact there? Am I really bringing the things home that I need to bring home, the energy, the presence, the intensiveness? So I think in that kind of short answer, a great man is someone who can be a little bit introspective. I'm not saying that I'm a great man, but I'm saying that if we want to be a great man, we need to look at the things and be really honest with ourselves and say am I bringing what I can bring? A great man will bring it every day. A great man, even though he has highs and lows, like we all do, he brings it every day. He shows up for the people who are around him, he looks them in the eye, he's intentional about listening, he's present in the moment. He asks great questions, he cares about others, but he doesn't care about others just so they feel connected. He honestly has this internal feeling. I need to be connected with you Because great men I think about the mentors that I have.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 28:45

This is where my head went like, well, I'm not qualified this. But if I look at the mentors that I have in my life, people that I've reached out to, yeah, that they have success. They have success financially and in business. Sure, that doesn't make them great. Makes them great with how they got there, because they treated people the way they did. Every time I my mentor's name's Aaron, so he's what? 25 years older than me. Every time I'm with him, it doesn't matter how busy the room is. I feel that he is there with me and he is there with me, he's intentional and he's listening to me, and I think great men do that.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 29:24

Great men make people feel comfortable and welcomed and valued, and so, when I want to be a great man, I think everything that I'm doing is working towards that connection with other people so that they, whether they're related to me or not, they feel welcomed, cared for and connected, because that's what I'm here for To make people feel cared for and that you know my job and I get looks at work and my conversations with random people because I use the word love a lot, like I'll be standing in front of our staff of 117 people in a school setting, in a public school setting, and I'll I'll use the word love, like when we love our students and we're doing this for them, and people like look at me, no, but that's why we're here. What does it mean? To love someone, to want more for them, to want better for them, to push them, to care for them, to nurture them, like that's what this is. So a great man loves well yeah, I think that's great.

Dai Manuel: 30:19

And I think about um gosh, what's that book again? David dida, the way the superior man, and he talks about that idea of loving fully or allowing yourself to love fully. And I think, as men, there's just certain patterning and modeling that many of us have been subjected through our lives. You know, we're both in our 40s, you know, growing up in the 80s and even the 90s, even the early 2000s. There's a lot of thickness, right, and certain biases that, especially for men in North America and, you know, I would think, just developed countries period, there's a certain culture that's perpetuated for men right.

Dai Manuel: 30:57

And I think it can be really confusing when you ask that question and again, I wasn't expecting, you know, a perfect answer, because I don't think there is one and I think there's a lot of subjectivity to everybody's answer. But the fact that you have an answer gives us direction as people, right Like when we ask ourselves questions, it actually invites the subconscious to also align itself with us trying to figure it out.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 31:17

You know it's a big challenge In my head right now, like I don't know if you noticed, but when you ask that I have a pencil in my hand and I just put on a little post-it, what is a great man? I'm going to come back to that question and I'm going to reflect on it Because I think for me, if that's who I want to be, I need to get clear on who this person is.

Dai Manuel: 31:37

And it's exactly why I ask that question of most men. I love hearing the answers because it always helps me evolve my answer to that as well, and it just allows me to see the path a little bit more clearly of where I can start to step, that maybe I'm not already stepping. And that's where the great mentorship comes, because I look at every man as a potential mentor, no matter who they are. They've got something I can learn and grow Either what not to do or what to do right.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 32:01

Well, that's exactly it.

Dai Manuel: 32:02

I wasn't going to go there, but so true right and I know there's mentors in my life that have taught me what not to do, and I've also been that person for a lot of people. I know that the person I was 15 years ago. Yeah, no, please go ahead, kate.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 32:22

That's where multiple are important. I have mentors in different areas of my life. There's someone I look up to professionally. He's one of the most intellectual people I know. I really get a lot from our conversations, but I probably wouldn't look at him as a family mentor like how I would want to treat my family. There's someone who I look up to because they're very successful as a business owner and an entrepreneur, but at times he can be a real a-hole, so I'm not going to look at him as a mentor of how to build positive relationships so I can be confident in understanding.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 32:49

I can get bits and pieces from different people, but I also can learn. That's not who I am. That's not in alignment with my values. That is that isn't. I can pick and choose and we all have the right to do that. We don't have to just absorb everything and accept everything as truth. I hope there's somebody listening to this who says, yeah, this cam guy's just full of it, but I hope I say one thing that they can agree with and challenges them. You don't have to accept everything I say as true. This is my truth, not yours. So seek out the truth by seeking out different mentors and different connections, and that's why a group of men is so important, because I'm in a group of men right now. We have like small cohorts and they're about 10 guys. In my cohort of 10 guys there's probably three or four guys that I don't really agree with a lot of the time, but I respect them because they bring a different perspective and different insight into when something is happening. I didn't think about that, I didn't see it that way, right.

Dai Manuel: 33:47

So it's good, surround yourself with good people I love that answer and I think it's a great reminder for all of us to take away what I mean remove any gender bias.

Dai Manuel: 33:58

You know it doesn't matter it's a human thing we're talking about really here, and and I was gonna ask you something, now I'm like it's turned off. I think it slipped my mind. I got so enthralled with your, your, your thing. No, no, it's great, I love it. Um, oh no. Here's where I wanted to ask, because I, I know you and I have this conversation. We've mentioned mentorship quite a few times and mentors, and I think people automatically think it was this. This was my belief back in my twenties that I had to have a principal mentor, had to be someone that was in my life regularly. And I know, when I started to shift and really take charge of my own personal and professional development, I realized I could garner a lot of that mentorship through other mediums. You know, it wasn't like I had to be meeting a person every week to talk to them and I'm curious, like how do you sort of embrace mentorship or encourage men to adopt mentorship into their lives? You know, because I think to some people it's a foreign concept.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 34:50

Really, it truly is and I get it.

Dai Manuel: 34:51

I I totally get that. I mean, I had a big chunk of my life without a mentor and sorry why I ended up where I did. Everyone wants to hear about that. Listen to my ted x talk, right. But that aside, I'd love to hear your response to that, cam.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 35:03

Well, personally, when I reference the mentors that I have in my life, I think about, like Aaron. He lives in Nashville, that is a long way from me. I think Kevin, I think of like the events, I think of all these guys who are not local to me, but I also do have men I connect with locally and I think that's important. I think in our communities, we need to get out of our comfort zone, go out and meet people in environments that we want to be in. So if I, one of my friends, best friends, he's like Cam, you're doing this and this, you should go to the chamber of commerce and make some people, but he's like a networking guru. This is go to the chamber of commerce and make some people, and but he's like a networking guru, this is his jam. I went to one thing. I'm like this is not my people, these are not my people, this is not where I belong, and so I won't go back. But I got out of my comfort zone, I got into that environment. I was like no, there's no, this isn't not the place for me. Um, I this is funny, you're gonna.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 35:59

My son plays soccer and it's so funny to watch dads on the sideline as all of our sons and moms okay, like it's just families. We're sitting on the sideline, we're watching the kids who have a shared interest and they're having fun together and everybody's like quiet. No one's really talking. Some people are on their phone and here comes cam, the awkward guy from the airport, who just starts talking to people on the sidelines hey, how are you? What are you doing? Like, what are you working on? What do you? And I try to connect with people that way. Now I'm not actively seeking a mentor, I'm seeking connection. I just want understanding. Plus, I want an understanding of like this guy and his family and this kid is playing with my son, like there's a lot there. But I think we're really intimidated to open up conversations with the people around us. I think that's part of our society right now.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 36:44

And so if you're looking at mentorship and it's a foreign concept to you don't think of mentorship as that. You're looking for someone whose status is greater than yours. I think that's. One of the misconceptions is that if I have a mentor, this person's status is greater, and status being financial, physical, mental, emotional, whatever it doesn't have to be. It could be an even playing field and you could be more successful in certain ways than that other person, but there are things about that person that make them more successful than you, and so don't look at it as a status thing.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 37:17

Mentorship can come from anywhere. I'm a product of teams. I grew up on teens all the way through post-secondary school and I think one of the things that I learned in that is that there is great value in connection, seeing others as equals and just opening up opportunities for people to share their strengths. So if you're foreign to mentoring, it doesn't have to be local. It could be online, it could be all over North America, all over the world. But I encourage you to get a little bit uncomfortable. Interact with those people around you. Meet some new people, get into environments that maybe you're uncomfortable with, just to see if it's a fit or not.

Dai Manuel: 37:55

Amazing, amazing. I love your answer. I think it's just very powerful, but also simple enough that it's accessible to anybody and everyone. Right, I guess it? Doesn't matter if you're in the most remote part of Northern Canada. Right like you got an internet connection, you probably find a mentor, you know.

Dai Manuel: 38:12

And uh or at least you know, listen to an inspiring podcast, watch a great YouTube video, I mean, I've listened to endless hours of TED Talks, you know, and I've gained some wisdom from that, you know, and or at least been introduced to new questions, you know. To sort of turn back to what you were talking about at the beginning, I'm looking at the time like holy crow, we just like I've just lost track of time with you and I love it because I'm just like, oh man, this has been so fun. You and I love it because I'm just like, oh man, this is so fun. Uh, I guess, cam, I'd like to ask you just a question, because I know you're very well read and and also you've done a lot of deep dives to just continuously learn and grow.

Dai Manuel: 38:50

What has been one of the most impactful books for you in your life? You know and I know that's a loaded question because I bet you, at every period in your life there's been something that's been impactful. Like, every year I'll read a book. I'm like, oh man, that that was my book this year, that was my favorite book, you know, and and sure enough, but, but there's always those ones that I go back to, like the alchemist, I always go back you know like I love that story and I make reference to it.

Dai Manuel: 39:11

I remember the first date with my wife. I brought her a copy of the alchemist. I didn't do flowers or chocolates or any of that stuff, you know, I was like 22, 23 years old. I brought her a copy of the alchemist because it was my favorite book, you know. And yeah, and so I'm curious is there a book like that that you recommend or you endorse like passionately because it's made an impact in your life?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 39:29

yeah, okay, so it depends on seasons of life, okay so yeah, I have.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 39:34

I have a book on my. Well, I'm a, I love leadership, so I'm diving back into some leadership stuff. I haven't done a lot of leadership reading since I finished my master's in leadership, but Brené Brown's Dare to Lead is a good one if you're a leader and you're looking for stuff. I'm also a dad and I'm reading a book right now called Strong Fathers, strong Daughters, because I'm raising a young lady and that's exciting. It's a little bit terrifying, but it's okay. By Dr Meg Meeker. That's a little bit terrifying, but it's okay. By dr meg meeker, that's a great book, cool, uh, man. One of the ones I really enjoyed the most, and it's.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 40:06

I read a lot of personal development books. My daughter last night, as I'm like in our bedroom, she's like dad, you need to read percy jackson, like she's like. So she's like you gotta read this. This is a great series. You need something that you just enjoy. I'm like maya, I enjoy the books that I read like well, all your books are like personal development, boring stuff. I'm like no, they're not. But one that's really good is called the Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews. Oh, that's a great book. And then the most impactful book that I've probably read in the last month is called how Will you Measure your Life, like Clayton Christensen Powerful book from a man who was a professor at Harvard and went through a really interesting health scare and, yeah, just in a reflective state, wrote how Will you Measure your Life. It's a good read. So there's a couple I got awesome. There's lots around here. Yeah, I can see your library behind you.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 40:55

I know, it's just a chunk, just a little small sliver of what you got.

Dai Manuel: 40:59

I think it's great, you know. And again, the comment on the fiction side I I made a challenge for myself by before I'm 50, I want to try to get through the 100 best works of fiction. You know, unfortunately, I went to school for english lit, so I already checked those off and I went through a yeah, a gap year where I was basically a bum in vancouver sitting on the beach drinking a bit of wine and smoking pot and, uh, in my young days right, I'm french I had a career and, uh, I read a lot, but I had that, but I love fiction.

Dai Manuel: 41:26

You know I I do enjoy a good story because I think a lot of us see ourselves in those hero journeys ned. And I'm curious you know your journey right now like where are you going, cam? What's that next thing for you? What's that big project that's got you extremely passionate? Because I've already mentioned you know, like this year make the represent, this year you're gonna be doing some big things.

Dai Manuel: 41:45

So I'm just curious, just for the audience, that what, what do you work on? It's got you a lot, uh, you know, excited oh man, yeah, okay.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 41:52

So I'm excited about a lot of things right now. So I still have fight the dad bot. As a business, it's still rolling in the background. Right now I'm diving through building out the fight, the dad bought app. It will be the first like fight, like app center program that I've ever created. Well, it's interesting. Excited and interested are two words that I would use to see how this works out. Uh, dad's making a difference. Really excited about this.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 42:16

I'm really excited about hosting our first in-person event. Uh, the DMD Summit in Canmore. Our goal is to do this in April. Hopefully this pans out. If not, it's going to happen this year. Whether in April or not, it is going to happen. This year we do our first in-person summit. So I'm really excited about that. And I'm excited about being at a point in my journey where I have to make some hard decisions, hard decisions about what I'm going to do. I love my job. I love being in education. There's something about working with you that just fills you up and also really taxes you at the same time. And I'm going to be on the brink of having to make a decision here of like am I going to continue to do this and work to be a principal of a school one day, or am I going to step away and take all my energy elsewhere and just die full and that's making a difference to fight the devil so I'm really excited, man.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 43:07

24 is going to be. I said to my wife she's like oh, are you stressed? All about you. It's gonna be a good year. 24 is gonna be a big year, babe. I don't know what's coming, but something's coming because we, we all, face adversity, and how you face adversity and how you respond to it, I think says a lot about how you'll get through it. And we faced a lot of adversity lately and you know, coming into the Christmas season, it was just like beautiful to have some time as a family kind of recoup, because lots has been going on and I was like, wow, that's absolutely happy. But don't you feel that we're just being pushed against and pushed against, and pushed against Because right now we're on the brink of something huge? We're on the brink of something huge, so this door closes Great, wasn't the door that needed to be open? That means something else is coming down the pipe, and so to be able to have that mindset and that outlook for this upcoming year and beyond, it's exciting for me.

Dai Manuel: 44:00

Well, I'm excited for you too, because I can just feel the passion right, and it's passion with intention which is even more powerful and inspires everybody around you, because they pick up that energy, that vibe right. But also the cool part is you're asking, hey, if this sounds good to everybody else, let's all go in the same direction, right? I appreciate the vision and the mission of what you've set out to accomplish and I think it's just really inspiring. It really is. I'm going to, sorry, man. Oh, dude, you're good, I'll have to edit that one out, or maybe I'll just leave it in. What the hell? Bye, then.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 44:37

It's real life, man. This is real life.

Dai Manuel: 44:42

Stuff like that happens all the time.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 44:43

I know I was really hoping your light was going to fall on you, but I didn't, and it's all good.

Dai Manuel: 44:46

And Cam, we'll start again to the end here and, of course, everything that Cam's been sharing today everybody. I'll have very extensive show notes with all the links to his platforms. Also, I'd love to include the links to the upcoming event, if there's one available. Make sure that it's easily accessible for those that are interested in getting more information about Ucam and your programs. But what you know, I know social media. Today, everyone's got a favorite platform that they love to show up on it's. You know I'm on every channel, but there's a couple that I'm most excited about, like I love Instagram and I love LinkedIn. Those are my two favorites, and I'm curious for yourself if people want to get a little sense of you and start to follow, as well as maybe reach out to you, what social media platform would you recommend them to start with when it?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 45:27

comes to you. Yeah, probably instagram is where I'm most active and that account is at fight. The dad bod is the one I'm most active on. There's at dad's making a difference, which has it's all based on the podcast, so lots of great value there. From the podcast, you'll learn more about stuff and hear from a lot of great people. I'm interested about LinkedIn because I've just been diving into that, so I am also on LinkedIn. But really, if you, I just love connecting with people and so the best way to connect with me if I'm not on social media, because I just I'm tired of the doom scroll and everything coming through it's just go to callwithcamcom and book a 50-minute slot. Love to chat with you.

Dai Manuel: 46:04

Awesome. Well, this will all be in the show notes, of course, and, cam, honestly I feel so connected to you, but also because I see a lot of similarity in both how we essentially live our lives, and I knew that right from the first time I met you and started and started creeping online.

Dai Manuel: 46:22

I was like, oh man, I can't wait to meet this guy, you know, and, and uh, I, I know I'm gonna have you back on the show in the future, and um, if of course you should come back, and uh, and also, though, I always like to give the guests the last word, and so you know, for the audience today, is there any words that you'd like to leave with them as we sort of close out today's conversation?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 46:41

Yeah, well, I think it'd be fitting to come back to it's on my lawn here. Know your why, aim for growth and take ownership, no matter where you are in that journey. Maybe you're getting clear on your why and what you want to accomplish and the real why of why you're doing things Like what's the driving force. If you're getting clear on that, focus on that, if you know that aim for growth Like one step at a time we're talking before we press record that 1% mindset, like just one step every day, is going to get you so much further than if you try to do it all at once and be open to being in discomfort, ask questions, seek understanding and if you've done that and you've got those two things, man, take ownership over your journey. Stop making excuses. Start doing the work, like we said, and putting in that time and that intention to do what you're called to do.

Dai Manuel: 47:28

Oh, I love it. Ken, this has been so good. And just a little footnote you know the 2% solution. If you do 2% every day, you get 2x results. So I just put that down. You don't get over 1% on there, right?

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 47:44

Well, that's good. I love that you do because, like in my, I just say 1% to my guys in my group all the time. But I love 2% solution.

Dai Manuel: 47:51

Yeah, and I was just joking there but I thought I'd throw that in and uh, but I I know that Cam's going to provide some insightful questions. We'll create a nice one pager which five all Cam's contact info on it and I think, something that really helps the guys with getting clear on what that why is, and because I think that's a great place to begin. You know, it's that personal vision, mission statement for your life, I mean, and it evolves, it changes. I mean I can honestly say in my 20s it's very different than my 30s and even now in my 40s, it's evolved as I've evolved, and so don't ever feel that you're locked in with a why, right? And so, cam, if you're open to that, I'd love for you to share some of those exercises I'll share with our community and get more people in touch.

Cameron aka Cam Hall: 48:36

Yeah, Cool, absolutely, dan. Thanks for being here today, brother. Thanks, I appreciate you. This was a blast man. I thought I was just riffing on it. It was great, so appreciate you. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish you all the best.

Dai Manuel: 48:57

And there you have it. We've just wrapped up another invigorating episode of the 2% Solution Podcast with our amazing guest, cam Hall. If you've been riding with us from the start, you've journeyed through the highs and lows, the challenges and the triumphs and, most importantly, the heart and soul of what it means to fight the dad bod, embrace discomfort and make significant strides in life, both personally and professionally. Cam didn't just share stories. He shared a roadmap, a beacon for anyone looking to elevate their life, especially the dads out there looking to make a difference, not only in their own lives but in the lives of those they love.

Dai Manuel: 49:37

It's clear that facing adversity with courage, being intentional about growth and taking ownership of your journey are not just ideas for Kim. So what's the biggest takeaway? It's simple yet profound Know your why, aim for growth and take ownership. Whether you're battling through a tough season, seeking that next level in your personal development or looking to connect and grow with like-minded individuals, the invitation for change is there and it's beckoning you towards something greater. But, as we all know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And to today, we're not just encouraging you to take that step, we're inviting you to leap Dive into the discomfort, embrace the challenges and remember that the 2% solution isn't just a podcast, but this is going to be a movement, and it's one that you're now a part of, whether you like it or not.

Dai Manuel: 50:33

So what's your next move? Will you sit back and let life happen to you, or will you take the reins and steer toward your destiny? The choice is yours, but greatness awaits those willing to pursue it. Don't forget to connect with Cam on Instagram, at thedadbod, as well as at Dads Making a Difference, and check out the upcoming DMD Summit in Canmore. This could be the catalyst you've been searching for, the community you've been missing and the start of a new chapter in your life. And hey, while we're pondering your next steps, why not drop us a line over here or leave a review? We'd love to hear how today's episode changed you. Till next time, keep pushing that 2% further daily, because, who knows, that extra 2% might be the game changer needed to change the perspective from I can't to I can, and man I get to. Stay inspired, keep growing and remember you're not alone. We're all in this together, striving to be our best selves, one day, one step at a time. Cheers to your next chapter and see you on the next episode of the 2% Solution Podcast.