Buck Brannaman

The Internal Barometer: Confronting the Ghost of Your Former Self Many of us carry a version of ourselves that we no longer recognize, or perhaps more accurately, a version we are actively trying to outrun. For Dewayne Noel, the founder of Dry Creek Wrangler School, that ghost was a man wound so tight he was vibrating with a silent, corrosive anger. This wasn't the cinematic anger of a hero; it was the everyday toxicity of a father and husband who lacked self-control. Growth doesn't always look like adding new skills to your repertoire; often, it looks like the violent shedding of the traits that are killing you. Dewayne Noel describes a pivotal moment of crisis that many high-performers ignore: the physical manifestation of emotional imbalance. While lying in bed next to his wife, he felt the unmistakable onset of a heart attack. His reaction wasn't fear, but a weary resignation. He chose to go to sleep, essentially gambling with his life because he didn't like the man he had become. This level of self-alienation is a quiet epidemic among men who prioritize external output over internal peace. The shift toward becoming a "New Dewayne" didn't happen through a complex psychological framework, but through the radical removal of stressors—cutting out the news, changing his diet, and spending hours on a porch with a cigar, simply letting the world exist without trying to control it. Mirrors of the Soul: What Horses Teach Us About Human Arrogance In our human interactions, we are masters of projection and deception. We can mask our agitation with polite words, but a horse is an biological lie detector. Dewayne Noel posits that horses are mere mirrors of their handlers. If a horse is flighty, anxious, or combative, it is almost certainly reflecting the internal state of the person holding the reins. This is a humbling realization for anyone used to "mastering" their environment. We often approach relationships with a predator’s mindset—focused on what we want to get—whereas the horse, a prey animal, is focused entirely on safety and trust. True communication requires moving into the other's world rather than demanding they conform to ours. Most people are too lazy or too arrogant to learn "horse," yet they are frustrated when the horse doesn't respond to English. This is a profound metaphor for human relationships. We speak at people, demanding they understand our intent, while ignoring the non-verbal "body language" of their needs and fears. As Dewayne Noel learned from his mentor Buck Brannaman, you cannot physically control something that has a mental or emotional issue. If you don't have the mind, you don't have the body. This principle applies to leadership, parenting, and marriage: the moment you resort to force, you have lost the communication. The Trap of Hustle Culture and the Parasympathetic Goggins There is a prevailing narrative in modern self-help that more is always better—more reps, more hours, more "grind." While this message serves the lazy, it is poison for the already hyper-disciplined. Dewayne Noel challenges the "hustle culture" that makes young men feel guilty for the simple act of sitting down to think. If your life is a constant loop of the weight room, the cubicle, and the computer, you aren't meditating; you are merely processing. We have created a generation of men who are "walking anxiety disorders harnessed for productivity." We need to recognize the difference between "Main Thing" focus and obsession. If your "Main Thing" is making money at the expense of your character, you have already lost. Dewayne Noel advocates for what we might call a "parasympathetic Goggins"—someone who is just as disciplined about their rest and their family as they are about their work. The danger of the David Goggins approach is that it is often used as a one-size-fits-all solution. But for a man who is already wound too tight, the advice to "go harder" can be the very thing that triggers the heart attack in the middle of the night. Balance isn't a sign of weakness; it is the ultimate expression of self-control. The Quiet Victory of Mundane Success We live in a culture that only celebrates the magnificent—the championship win, the million-dollar exit, the physical transformation. But the most significant growth happens in the "mundane successes" that no one sees. Dewayne Noel illustrates this through the concept of negative numbers in math. If you are at a -5 in life, getting to a -4 is a massive victory. Staying at a -5 and not slipping to a -6 is a victory. These are the private triumphs: choosing not to snap at a tired cashier, deciding to be gentle when you are frustrated, or simply choosing not to mess up a horse's day because you are in a bad mood. There is a mathematical principle Chris Williamson mentions: "never multiply by zero." You can have all the success in the world, but if you have one catastrophic failure in character—a burst of anger that destroys a relationship or a risk that leads to a permanent loss—you multiply your entire life’s work by zero. Avoiding these pitfalls is often more important than expediting successes. It’s about being clever with risk and recognizing that the biggest victories are often the ones where you simply didn't make a mess. Fatherhood as the Foundation of a Healthy Society Dewayne Noel presents a patriarchal view of societal health that is increasingly rare today: the idea that a country is only as strong as its fathers. He views the father as the primary disciplinarian, provider, and leader whose role is to be the "bad guy" for the long-term benefit of the family. This isn't about tyranny; it's about protective leadership. His story of vetting his daughters' suitors—making them wait years to prove their character—is a testament to a father's commitment to his children's future over their immediate feelings. In his view, a man's most valuable resource is his good name. If you lose your word, you lose everything. This old-school approach emphasizes that a real man is born to serve, not just to make money. Service means providing a "place of peace" for those you love. If a man comes home from a 60-hour work week to a home filled with resentment and noise, the foundation of the family begins to crumble. However, this is a two-way street; men need to be able to communicate their burdens without becoming vulnerable in a way that feels like "whining." It’s about the "hard reality truth"—stating what is needed for the relationship to survive without losing one's strength. The Grace of Liking Yourself Perhaps the most profound insight from Dewayne Noel is his simple declaration: "I like me." Most people spend their lives outsourcing their self-worth to the opinions of others, creating a vicious cycle of people-pleasing that makes them inherently less likable. When you like yourself—not out of arrogance, but out of a recognized balance of your flaws and your efforts—you no longer need the world to validate you. You become unshakeable. To get to this point, you must stop lying to yourself. If you can't trust yourself to wake up when the alarm goes off, how can you trust yourself with the big decisions in life? You are constructed by the tiny decisions you make every day when no one is watching. Liking yourself isn't rocket science; it's about identifying the traits you admire in others—honesty, hard work, gentleness—and incorporating them into your own life until you become the person you would want to buy a drink for. When you finally like the person you spend the most time with, the rest of the world’s noise begins to fade away, leaving only the peace of a life well-lived.