Carry the Fire Foundations — Mentor Guide
16 Lessons
3 Phases of Development
1–2 Meetings per Week (recommended pace)
Each session includes:
Video
Discussion Questions
Challenge
Short reading assignment
Optional Supplementary Material to Go Deeper
Your Role
You are not a facilitator. You are the mentor.
I’ve provided the material but you drive this bus! You set the tone. You bring the standard.
Guiding Thoughts
The goal is not information. It is true formation.
You lead the conversation
You control the pace
You decide what matters most in each session
The videos provide structure. You provide meaning.
What this looks like:
Pause the video when needed
Go deeper on what matters
Connect ideas to real life
Reference past conversations
Call out and celebrate growth when you see it
Discussion Guidelines
Let silence happen
Don’t rush
Don’t rescue
Don’t moralize
Don’t feel bound to the script
Don’t feel pressure to “cover everything”
Focus on Depth > completion
You are not here to give answers. You are here to help them think.
Weekly Rhythm
Option 1 (Recommended)
2x per week (8 weeks at 45–60 min per session)
Tuesday (start the week strong)
Friday (energizing ideas heading into weekend)
Option 2
1x per week (16 weeks at 60 min per session)
These are just suggestions. Choose the rhythm and days that best fit you and your fellow(s)
What You Need
To support them as they go through the program, I recommend that fellows have:
Notebook (required) – Have fellow(s) watch each lesson with a pen in hand
Folder or binder (recommended)
Print readings each week (preferred, but optional)
The Path Ahead
The injunction to “Know thyself” was carved at the entrance to Apollo’s temple at Delphi.
At its most fundamental level, that is what the Carry the Fire Foundations program wants to help young men do—to know themselves, really, so they can then fully step into the person they were meant to be.
Phase I: A New Lens
This phase seeks to give the fellows a new lens for how they understand themselves and other humans. This is a reframe of the human condition. We want to reframe how fellows see themselves and the world and lead them to a renewed sense of mission to become who they are meant to become.
Introduce first challenges/practices:
Assigned reading
Cold showers (beginning in lesson two and going through lesson seven)
Week 3 Fitness Battery Self-Assessment (it may be a good idea to look ahead at this battery)
Phase II: Self-Mastery
This phase of the program includes lessons four through nine. It is a much more practical and applied look at self-mastery. We explore how humans work so that fellows cultivate the skills to understand themselves, and others, and to cultivate the skills to take control of their lives. This includes mindset, habits, environmental design, choice architecture, and many other essential topics. It begins with physical training and the link between the physical and the mental.
Introduce consistent physical training practice (week 4)
It may be wise to look ahead at this so that you are best able to support the fellow in setting this up.
There are a lot of documents in the Physical Training Supplementary Material to support you and your fellow(s).
Phase III: Formation
In phase 3, fellows dig deeper to discover the real why behind their pursuit of excellence. Here they will develop a deeper sense of purpose and a keener sense of the risk inherent in unintentional living. This phase includes a clarification of what it means to Carry the Fire and prompts to help them along the Way of Excellence. It culminates with a Rite of Passage that marks their completion of the foundations and confers a new status as Brothers and Arete Men.
Lessons 15 and 16 will require quite a bit of preparation. So look ahead so these don’t sneak up on you.
