All right, gents, so let's start things off today by talking about the Mamluk sword. Now,
some of you guys that know your military history know that this has been the official sword
of the Marine Corps officer since 1825. But, what you may not know is how the sword came
to be a part of our uniform. No, that story takes us back to 1805, specifically the first
Barbary War, specifically at the Tripoli city of D**k. Derma in modern-day Libya. It was
there on the afternoon of April 27th, 1805 that First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon of the United
States Marine Corps led a daring attack that was able to take the city. In any case, O'Bannon
would then go on to raise the American flag for the first time during a declared war on
foreign soil. Now, as legend tells it, the reigning Ottoman Pasha, he presented to First Lieutenant
O'Bannon This gift was meant to be a representation of the bravery shown that day. And, 20 years
later, the sword was adopted as the official sword of Marine Corps officers. Now, the reason
I'm telling you this story is I want you to understand the importance of tradition in menswear.
Because although you may not be trying to pull off a sword in your day-to-day wear, maybe
you're trying to introduce a new pair of boots and you're unsure if these are going to look
good on you. But, here's the deal, if you know the history, if you know the origin of the
desert boot, you know that this served British officers came out of Cairo and is a functional
shoe that is a classic in menswear. And the use of suede made it more comfortable, more
breathable, and better in a hot environment. So, understanding that bit of history all of
a sudden gives you the confidence to pull this off and who cares what some uninformed person
thinks about these boots, you know the truth. Neckties aren't just an item that corporate
business people wear, they have a long-storied history in unit identification. Seriously,
read about the Croatians that served under Napoleon. Gents, the military made me stylish because
it taught me the history of what I was wearing. When you know the origins of a piece of clothing,
you can wear it in the appropriate situation with confidence. The next lesson I took from
the military that made me more stylish is you got to take care of your body. So, guys, here's
the secret to why so many guys look great in their military uniforms, they're in the best
shape of their lives. Seriously, when you've got a chest that's larger than your stomach,
your arms are decent sized and you just simply stand up straight, most men look... decent.
Put them in a uniform, put them in a unit, they look damn good. Now, take that same soldier,
feed him too many delnits, and as you can see, the uniform doesn't do him any favors. Now,
every military branch has slightly different height and weight standards. But, one thing
you can't deny is when your clothing starts to become a bit tight, you've got an issue.
Especially as officers because you got to buy your own uniforms, you can't just go out and
get a new one for free. Now, how to stay in shape? Working out, getting rest, yeah, that's
about 30 to 40% of the equation. But, the biggest part of maintaining a healthy build is that
you can't just go is controlling the food that goes into your body. And, gentlemen, that's
why I'm proud to bring you today's sponsor, Factor. Factor makes meeting your nutrition
goals easier by delivering fresh never frozen dietitian approved meals right to your doorstep.
Factor has got a team of gourmet chefs that make each meal using only ingredients with
integrity to help you feel your best all day long. Now, gents, straight up, I'm a snob when
it comes to food. We cook all day long. And, I'm a snob when it comes to food. We cook all
day long. And, I'm a snob when it comes to food. We cook all day long. And, all of our meals
from scratch at home. So, when I tried Factor, I'm like, okay, send me some of these boxes,
send me some of the meals. And I was amazed at the quality. My kids love it, my wife likes
it, I like it. And these meals are amazing. And that's why, gents, I want you to check
them out because not everyone has the time to go off shopping, to go chopping, all the prep
that you need to be able to make food from scratch. And let's not even talk about all the cleanups.
Factor has meals that you can heat up in as quickly as two minutes. Boom! You can be eating
a healthy meal that, again, is never frozen. And, gents, I'm sure you can relate, but sometimes
we eat things that aren't good for us because they're easy, they're convenient. We can get
them through our car window, we can get them on the go in just a matter of minutes. And,
let's talk about options. If you're on the keto diet, if you want more protein, if you're a
vegetarian, they've got you covered. Maybe you're trying to lose weight, check out their calorie
conscious options. Oh, and don't even get me started on their cold pressed juices, they're
delicious, and their protein shakes. They've also got seasonal flavors. I know with the
protein shakes, I got this pumpkin flavored absolutely delicious loved them. Gents, to
get the best deal on the web, I'm putting a special link in the description of today's
video, but you want to head over to Factor75.com or click on the link in the description of
today's video and use code FACTOR75. RMRS50 to get 50% off your first box. The next way
the military made me stylish, it taught me the importance of standards. I don't know about
the army, the air force, the navy, or the coasties, but in the Marine Corps, we have what's known
as the Marine Corps uniform regulations. As of last year, I think those regulations are
263 pages of detailed goodness that explain exactly how to wear every single uniform. And
when I say exact,
where actually badges and rank insignia need to be pinned. Now, I know to an outsider, this
may seem like overkill. But, for a military unit or a large organization or a cult like
the Marine Corps, those regulations are really useful to ensure everybody is sending the right
message. Because whether you like to admit it or not, people make a judgment of you based
on how you present yourself, how you look. the first few seconds they measure you up even
before you've had a chance to open your mouth, you are being judged. Yeah, I know it's not
fair, but it's the way the world works. And military units understand this especially the
Marine Corps. They want to make sure that they are sending the right message. Now, how does
this apply to you as an individual? I'm not saying you got to have a 300, 200, or 100-page
document. But I am saying you do need to set your own standards. Because if you don't have
your own standards, society is going to throw theirs on you, other people are going to force
theirs upon you. that is they're not looking out for your best interests. So, when you walk
into a store, you're looking to buy clothing, are you dressing like the mannequins? Or have
you thought through the message you want to send and then wear the appropriate clothing
that sends the signal that helps build your reputation? You may be incredibly smart, you
got that fancy degree, you've got that training, you've got that experience, but nobody sees
that. What they see is the clothing you're wearing and to them the message it sends. So, I'm going
to go ahead and show you Now, this next secret on how the military made me more stylish is
one that I think a lot of military guys forgot about, but it's very powerful in the civilian
world and that is to have an inspection uniform ready. So, what I'm talking about here is in
the military, you've got inspections. You've got inspections before the inspections. You've
got inspections before the inspections before the inspections. My point here is that you
need to be prepared. Do you want to have a go-to outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks
that is ready to go that fits you? Every once in a while, you take it out, you try it on
or whenever it's called upon. This isn't something you wear day to day that you're kind of degrading,
but you want to have those go-to outfits, those go-to pieces that just so, hey, whenever the
sh** hits the fan, you are ready to go. If you're single, this is your Friday night outfit that
separates you from the crowd. It's that seductive fragrance that you only pull out when you want
to grab her attention. On a more somber note. that dark suit that you've got ready whenever
you're asked to be a pallbearer in an unexpected tragedy. The point is, gents, develop the philosophy
of being prepared. Whenever I wear a pair of shoes, I shine them after I wear them, not
when I need them because when you need them, sometimes you don't have time to get things
ready. Now, speaking of uniforms, let's talk about the importance of a uniform. One thing
I love about having a set of clothing that you can wear, it's very similar and you wear it
again and again is you don't have to think. I mean, even Mark Zuckerberg, yes, the guy
that wears t-shirts and hoodies all the time, he shared his wardrobe, it's pretty much the
same shirt. Why does he do that? Well, he's probably thought through, you know, this is
the kind of guy I want to come off as, although whenever he goes to Congress, he does wear
a suit. Point being is day to day, he wants to present this image of this relatable, you
know, kid CEO. Or at least he did. I mean, he's almost 40 now. But, the point is he just doesn't
want to think. He wants to be able to get dressed and go. Same with the late Steve Jobs. Look
at Dr. Dre, he wears the same Nike Air Force 1s again and again. You see, a uniform enables
you to think once about the message you want to send and then craft a wardrobe that you
don't have to think every time you're getting dressed. You just wear something similar or
maybe in some cases the same thing and you go forward and you focus on what actually matters.
Now, the military is an extreme version of that. To the untrained eye, everyone looks the same.
But, to somebody that's in these units, they can see insignia, they see rank, they see badges
that tell them where this person fits. But, here's the deal, it's the same thing in the
civilian world. Most people just don't see it. But, if somebody looks successful, they're
going to be treated as a success. If somebody looks like they should be somewhere because
they're wearing a uniform, they look like a maintenance person, well, security isn't going
to stop them. Ever heard the joke about just simply carry a ladder, dress as a maintenance
person, and no one's going to stop you from entering a club? It sounds funny, it sounds
like a joke, but it actually works. So, how do you want to be perceived? How do you want
people to treat you? And I'm not saying you got to wear a suit, but I'm saying if you're
going to put casual clothing outfits together, think through the message. Think through do
you want to come off as a creative? Do you want to come off as somebody that is an up-and-coming
owner of whether it be a bank, whether it be a nonprofit, whatever it is you want to do?
I mean even if you're starting a company that cuts lawns, I would still think that you'd
probably want to have uniforms. Why? so that single mom who's at home is going to answer
the door because you look the part of somebody that's there to get work done. Now, this next
lesson that made me more stylish, I was actually surprised that I learned it in the Marine Corps.
Seriously, when I went to the basic school which is a six-month basic officer training program
that all Marine Corps officers go through, I wasn't surprised that we learned about rifle
platoon tactics, convoy operations, military operations on urbanized terrain, expeditionary
operations, force protection, and table manners. Yes. You heard me correctly, table manners.
We actually had a finishing officer. There was a person there that worked with us on understanding
all of the different forks, all the different knives, the different spoons. When you're at
a fancy meal, how to properly eat. We also went over calling cards which is whenever you're
invited to a big event, oftentimes a state event, you take a business card and you leave it that
way. The person that's putting on the event can send you a follow-up. So, to talk, how
to introduce yourself, what to do with the napkin whenever you stand up to go to the bathroom.
Now, these lessons were only a couple of hours and most of us understood that we needed to
know this information if we were going to be serving at an embassy, if we were going to
be at a state dinner, if we were going to be at an event with a VIP. But what's funny, in
my situation, I've used that information vastly more than all the other stuff about how to,
you know, drive a tank, how to fire artillery, which was fun, but, yeah, I just don't get
those opportunities anymore. So, I'm going to go ahead and show you how to do that. Eating
on the other hand, yeah, I'm still doing it three times a day. Eating fancy, not as often,
but I happen to share the information with you guys. My point, gentlemen, etiquette, manners,
communication. These are things we use every single day. So, if you ever get the chance
to learn more about this, understand it's not time wasted. This is investing in yourself
especially if it's early on. And believe me, people, again, judge you, all right, do you
chew with your mouth full, do you talk with your mouth full, do you have horrible table
manners. These are things a lot of people notice and they will judge you. opportunities won't
come your way. In fact, you may not even get that job offer because you so offend the owner
of the company who's like, I can't put this person in front of clients. And that takes
me to the next lesson that made me more stylish that I took from the military, details matter.
So, to illustrate this point, I want to talk to you about the story of a helicopter going
down. I remember this incident and us reading the after action reports and that's basically
where the military goes through and they examine every little detail, the engineering, was it
the pilot. They're trying to figure out what happened. so it doesn't repeat itself. It turned
out that the helicopter had been when it was going through repairs, one bolt or one washer
was put on backwards. Throughout my short five-year career in the Marine Corps, I would see this
again and again. Small details ignored and tragedy would occur. So, before you go out with your
friends and you're trying that new outfit, maybe get their opinion. Before you leave the bathroom
to go rejoin your date, make sure you do a check, hey, everything is good, zippers up, is there
anything in my teeth? look in the mirror, wash those hands. Before you buy that expensive
watch that you didn't even know you needed until 30 minutes ago, can you sleep on it? Is it
going to be okay? It'll probably be there tomorrow. Gents, be careful about complacency. The details
matter. Really quick, let's talk grooming. So, most military guys don't have a whole lot of
hair. Yeah, you got to keep it short. But, you know what? With what they had? they would do
an amazing job styling it. I remember the younger Marines, those corporals, those lance corporals,
how they would get these really tight cuts. In fact, going out on leave, I remember seeing
some of these guys just being able to pull tail in a way that I couldn't, yeah, it amazed me.
Some of these guys had great game. And, yeah, they didn't have a whole lot of hair on their
head, but what they did have is they had a clean cut. Yeah, when it came to grooming, these
guys knew what they were doing. And this next one is probably one of the easiest ones on
this list is simply to roll your shoulders back. Stick your chest out. have good posture. One
of the reasons so many military guys look good is they're standing up straight. They're not
hunched over looking like they're on their phones. Now, if you've got that slumped over neck look,
understand there are exercises that you can do to reverse it. So, get yourself in the gym,
start working on that back. If nothing else, start doing some yoga and stretch so that your
body will just feel better. All right, gents, so what video to watch next? Well, if you enjoyed
this one, you are going to love this video right here. Check it out, solid video. Yeah, you're
going to like this one. Boom. check it out. Did you notice that I changed the backdrop
in this video? Oh, yeah. As soon as I started the video, I'm like, I've got to have my Marine
Corps backdrop back there. Oh, yeah.