The Makings of a Man

I dedicate this to my Grandpa Frank Michno, I love you Grandpa, you will be missed


The Makings of a Man


It’s amazing how easy it is to get distracted in life. I think all too often we fail to take the time to slow down and think about what really matters. If it all ended today, what would you be remembered for? What is the true value in life? How can we use our time wisely? And, probably the greatest question of them all, when is our time going to come to an end?

Everyday in this game called life, we are forced to make choices. With every choice that we make, there is a consequence: some good, some bad, but nonetheless there is a reaction to every choice you make. One can’t help but ask, “How can I make the most of my time?”

Just think about how many people you’ve met that have said, “I want to go down in history. I want to be remembered…” Everyone leaves a mark in life. Some will be remembered for doing great things, like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, George Washington, and Mother Teresa. But in the same light, you can also go down in history for being a complete monster. Look at Adolph Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein… the list of famous people goes on, but what will you be remembered for?

You can chase the dollar every day of your life and make millions, have everything you’ve ever dreamed of, and still be depressed. Not only depressed, but cold because of all the people you’ve stepped on along the way, pushing yourself to the top. I once heard a man say, “If they say it’s happiness but you can’t look back on it in a year and still be glad you did it, then it’s not really happiness.”

If you have to look back on a choice you made, living in sorrow and regret, that’s not joy... It sounds a little bit more like torture. I’ve met people who don’t have much, but they would still give you the shirt off their back to make sure that you are ok. They give their lives to make sure that other people have a chance, they give their money to provide hope for people who never had anything in life, and come the end of their days, they can look back and truly appreciate life. You can either live to please yourself, or live your life helping others.

So how then should we live? Everyone likes to have money, don’t get me wrong, money is awesome. But when you let money consume your mind, it will ruin you. You also have to take into account the fact that even if you want to be a nice guy, you still need to provide for yourself and your family... there is this balance that must take place. Anything taken to the extreme is not a good thing. If you’re always giving to everyone else in life, but don’t take care of yourself and your family, then you’re not that great of a person either. You don’t have any discipline or sense of responsibility. You’re just drifting. It’s easy to drift because you don’t have to do anything. You just go through the motions, and life goes on. But you won’t have a lasting impact on anything if you fail to commit. Most likely no one will even remember your name.

The reason why discipline and discernment are so important in life is because they determine the kind of life that you will live. What makes discernment so important is that it helps us to gauge how much time we will put into something, what we should invest our time in, when to slow down, and if need be how to get out. It is through discipline that we gain the ability to push ourselves to go beyond our comfort zone to achieve new heights, greater depth, and to secure our future. How do you expect to reach for the stars, when you are too afraid to stretch out your hand?

We are all called to do great things in life. In fact I am convinced that every one of us is meant to leave a legacy. But the problem we face is that we put so much value on material things and being famous, like a movie star, that we tend to completely forget the people who labor daily helping people, like a medic, a nurse, or a teacher. The dollar sign isn’t what makes a man, but it can definitely break one.

So what are the things that make up a real man? What is it inside someone that causes them to never give up, never lose heart, to face adversity, and to leave an impact? It’s not the love for money, or the lust for power. It’s not the desire to be famous, or the fear of being nothing. What makes a man is his heart. He can either be self absorbed, or filled with compassion and love. Everyday we make a choice, we determine our own destinies, and I understand that some people may seem to have it a little bit harder than others, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still have a choice.

I once knew a man who was filled with love and compassion, who had to overcome so much adversity in life, who had to endure so many hardships. But still, he worked so hard his whole life to provide for his family, while reaching out and helping as many people as he could. Now this man might not go down in history as a king, but he definitely did the most with his time, making something out of nothing, and if that’s not legendary, then I don’t know what is. Even though he won’t go down in history as a millionaire, that man did more with his life than most can dream.

Everyday we are forced to make choices. The choices that we make will always hold a consequence, some good, and some bad. The decisions you make daily will show people who you really are… What will you be remembered for?

Discipline is Everything

My name is Daniel Michno. Ever since I was a kid, I struggled with being significantly overweight. When I was in the third grade I weighed more than 200 lbs, in the 6th over 270, by the 8th grade I weighed over 300 lbs, and as a senior in high school I weighed more than 350 lbs. I was huge, but even though I was so big, my life wasn’t marked by just being big. It was marked by all the horrible experiences I had gone through.

At the age of three, I fell into a bonfire that was in my backyard where I was severely burned, losing the skin on my hand, and getting third degree burns on my face and eyelids. When I was seven, I was hit by a car on the side of the road, which put me in a coma for three days fighting for my life. When I was nine, I got into another car accident where the glass went through my gums after my face had slammed into the windshield. When I was eleven, I was in a boat accident, which ripped off the right side of my nose. I had lost so much blood that when we got to the hospital, they didn’t have time to numb me. They started to stitch me up, and I felt everything. When I was twelve, I got into another car accident. We rolled off the road into a ditch, and I wasn’t wearing my seat belt, which nearly caused me to break my neck. When I got out of the car, I realized that my knee was wrapped in barb wire, and I had to take it all off. I could go on all day talking about the rough experiences I faced as a kid, but I think you get the point.

In the spring of 2007 though, I faced a new threat. The doctors told me that I was 375 lbs. I remember the doctor looking me in the eyes when he said, “You’re going to die young. You aren’t going to live to see your kids grow up, you’ll be lucky to live over 40.” I remember hearing him say those words and thought, “I’m not ready to die.” I was sick and tired of being overweight, so I started pushing.

The first time I walked into the gym, I remember all the looks I got as I waddled up to the treadmill. It took me 16 minutes to run a mile. Everyone looked at me like I was pathetic. I felt pathetic, but I wouldn’t give up. Being disciplined became more than just an idea, but a lifestyle. Over the course of a year, everyone was shocked at what I had done.

I had lost over 100 lbs! It was never a cake walk, but I never gave up. I would wake up daily and go run on the basketball court at Capital, or hop on the treadmill at the gym. But after a year, I hit a plateau, and at 265lbs, I just couldn’t lose anymore weight. I looked decent, but I just wasn't satisfied. I picked up Strong Man training, cross training, biking, and swimming, but nothing seemed to really take me to the next level. Then one day, I met Mitch Coats. I had already heard of him because I wanted to start training with Kettle-bells, and he was one of the only guys in Idaho who did any sort of training with them.

I went to his gym, and he was very cool. He taught me the snatch, the clean to press, and the two arm swings. He then followed it up by asking, “Have you ever considered training Jiu Jitsu?” I didn’t even know what it was... I told him I used to wrestle, and he had me throw on a GI.

I got on the mat with a little guy named Anthony. I laughed and asked, “How much can you bench?” He simply replied, “Don’t worry about it” then Mitch said go.

It was about 5 seconds before that little guy had his legs around my neck and began to choke me out. I was furious and didn't want to tap out because of my pride, but I was turning beat red because I couldn’t breathe. I was forced to tap... It was an extremely humbling experience, and I had to come back. Mitch told me to buy a GI, and the rest is history. I started training Jiu Jitsu at 265 lbs, and it kicked my butt. I would go home satisfied because it was very fun, but spent because it took all my energy. I started to become tougher mentally and physically than I had ever been before. But then, I hit another bump in the road.

I wanted to compete in a triathlon, so I was biking, training, and running more than ever before. Until one unfortunate day, I was biking down Fairview, and was hit by a car. The doctors said I had the Trio Tear. That is, I had torn the ACL, the MCL, and the Meniscus. They didn’t think I would ever be able to run the same, and competing in the future didn’t look like it was ever going to happen. But I didn’t lose hope, and I never gave up.

I started doing physical therapy as soon as I could, I trained hard, but I trained smart. I knew what my limits were, and I wasn't an idiot about it. Over the course of 9 months - and it was a very long 9 months - I had nearly fully recovered. I wasn't at the same strength that I was, but I was running, jumping, biking, swimming, and training kettle-bells. It was time to put the puzzle completely back together again, so I called Mitch.

I stepped back on the mat. It was a slow start, but I have surpassed where my ability was, and I now compete at 205lbs. For anyone trying to lose weight I would say Just Keep Pushing, you’re closer to your goal than you realize. Nothing is impossible, just believe.

Thomas Edison said it like this: “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Losing weight, or any great feat for that matter, has more to do with your mind than anything else. Be disciplined in how you think, nothing is impossible if you can believe.