Brickwall’s Baddest Builders: Alan P. Mead, “The Human Anatomy Chart”

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World War I veteran. Amputee. Attorney. Pioneer of physical culture.

There’s something about a man who builds without applause.

Alan P. Mead lost his leg in World War I.

Not in a training accident. Not from a bad lifestyle choice.

In war. Serving his country.

He came home altered.

And the world moved on.

No parades that lasted. No lifetime support system. No social media sympathy.

Just life. And bills. And responsibility.

The World Didn’t Care

Here’s the uncomfortable part.

Veterans came home from World War I to a country that expected them to quietly reintegrate.

There was no modern VA safety net. No honoring service members the way we do now.

You survived?

Good.

Now get back to work.

And he did.

The Decision

He could’ve lived small. He could’ve lived carefully. He could’ve accepted the label.

He didn’t.

Instead, he chose to build.

He trained his body.

Not for competition. Not for clout.

For strength. For presence. For self-respect.

The iconic photos?

Not contest prep.

A statement. A declaration:

“You will not reduce me.”

The Engineer Mindset

This is the part I love most.

He didn’t just train.

He innovated. He developed pulley systems to better target muscles.

He studied mechanics. Leverage. Angles. Tension.

He adapted the gym to fit his structure.

He didn’t wait for perfect equipment.

He engineered around limitation.

That’s pure Builder energy.

The Three Pillars He Built

1. His Body

No gyms. No steroids (they didn’t exist yet). No supplements. Almost no information.

Built anyway.

2. His Family

He raised two daughters—Mary and Elizabeth.

He showed them what resilience looks like in a man.

Not loud.

Steady.

3. His Career

He became a successful attorney.

One leg.

Full responsibility.

No excuses.

Alan P. Mead Was a True Builder

He didn’t let the war consume him. He didn’t back down. He didn’t center his life around what he lost.

He focused on what remained.

That’s rare.

A lot of men today are physically intact—and spiritually fragile.

He was physically altered—and structurally unshakeable.

The Takeaway

Life is full of hardship.

It’s messy. It’s chaotic.

But Builders look right back at life, laugh in its face, and keep building anyway.

Life will take something from you.

Health. Time. Opportunities. People. Status.

You will not leave this thing untouched.

The question is not:

“What did I lose?”

The question is:

“What can I still build?”

Alan P. Mead built with what he had.

And that’s why he’s one of the baddest Builders to ever exist.

You’re the CEO of Your Own Life

Not your mom. Not your dad. Not your boss. Not your girl.

You.

The decisions?

Yours.

The consequences?

Yours.

The wins?

Yours.

The losses?

Also yours.

That’s the job. That’s the chair you sit in.

A lot of people outsource their authority.

Blame the world. Wait for permission. Hand over the steering wheel.

Builders don’t do that. Builders can’t do that.

You call the shots. You set the standard. You build the life.

And at the end of the day—when the weights are racked, the noise quiets, the world stops tugging on your sleeve—you’re the one who has to live with the man you chose to be.

Choose boldly. Choose deliberately.

Choose like a CEO.

Raise the Bar on the Small Stuff

Everyone talks about the big moves. The life-altering decisions. The grand gestures.

Great.

But what about the tiny things?

The way you stand. The way you breathe. What you put on your skin. How you shake a hand or hold eye contact.

Most people dismiss these as trivial.

Hardly.

Small things stack. Small things compound. Small things become momentum, identity, and reputation.

It’s the cycling team that made a hundred micro-improvements—not one massive overhaul—and ended up dominating.

Raise the bar on the little details. Dial in the trivial. Refine the stuff nobody else cares about.

Master the small things…and everything else gets sharper.

Sunday Sendoff #38: The High Cost of Redlining

Brickwall's Sunday Sendoff

I was burning the candle at both ends. Grinding myself into dust. Pulverizing myself into nothing.

My health suffered (including mental health). My ability to parent suffered. My relationship suffered.

It wasn’t until a hard reset—with some serious rest—that I was able to see how much I had been redlining.

As Builders, we naturally want to build. To grind. To hustle.

It’s hard to keep us still.

Every waking moment feels like it needs to be filled with something productive.

But at a certain point, your body and mind will give out on you.

You’re not a machine.

You need to just be—dare I say—lazy once in a while.

Lay on the couch and do nothing. Lay in bed for the whole morning. Be a slacker for half the day.

And when you come back?

You’ll be as voracious as ever to get back to it.

Rest isn’t weakness.

It’s strength. It’s strategy. It’s necessary.

Builder Principle

Take your rest…or it’ll take you.

Something to Ponder

Why not reset and schedule some time to do absolutely nothing? Set up some couch time. Or chill in bed for the whole morning. Or at the very least, take an hour and do nothing productive.

See You In the Arena

This week is just about over. Next week is just about here. Let’s keep building.

Brick by brick.

-Brickwall

I Mixed Move Ya Body, Culo, and After Hours…and It’s 14 Minutes of Pure Audio Bliss

I Mixed Move Ya Body, Culo, and After Hours…and It’s 14 Minutes of Pure Audio Bliss

I noticed something.

Move Ya Body by Nina Sky. Culo by Pitbull and Lil Jon. After Hours by Kehlani.

Different artists. Different titles. Same DNA.

So I stitched them together (along with the Move Ya Body instrumental to kick things off) into one tight 14-minute run.

No skips. No dead spots.

Just rhythm that carries you.

It’s awesomely hypnotic.

Perfect for:

  • A hard cardio finisher
  • Locking in for deep work
  • A late-night drive when the highway’s empty
  • Cleaning the house like you’re in a music video 🤣

It’s not complicated.

It’s just momentum.

And momentum is underrated.

Pro tip: Loop it for more awesomeness.

14 minutes becomes 28. 28 becomes 56.

Sometimes bliss doesn’t need variety.

It just needs rhythm on repeat.

Here it is:

Here’s how to loop the playlist:

On Mobile (iPhone/Android)

  1. Open the playlist.
  2. Tap Play.
  3. Tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom.
  4. Look for the 🔁 Repeat icon (bottom right area).

You’ve got three modes:

  • Gray = No repeat
  • Green (one arrow circle) = Repeat entire playlist
  • Green with “1” = Repeat current song only

For the mix:
👉 Tap until it shows green without the “1.”
That loops the whole playlist.

On Desktop

  1. Open the playlist.
  2. Click Play.
  3. In the bottom control bar, click the Repeat icon.

Same rule:

  • One click = repeat playlist
  • Two clicks = repeat one song

Enjoy the beat.

The Introverted Man’s Guide to Dating an Extroverted Woman

The Introverted Man’s Guide to Dating an Extroverted Woman

Let me tell you something, brother.

If you’re an introverted man dating an extroverted woman, you’re experiencing a completely different operating system.

You think you’re dating a person.

In reality, you’re dating a social hurricane.

One minute you’re enjoying a quiet dinner. The next minute she’s befriended the waitress, the bartender, the couple at the next table, and the guy waiting for a DoorDash order.

Meanwhile you’re sitting there thinking:

Who are these people and how did they get into our evening?

Welcome to the show.

Now don’t get me wrong—there’s a reason introverted men are drawn to extroverted women.

They bring:

• Energy
• Spontaneity
• Warmth
• Social confidence

They pull you out of your shell. They remind you that the world is bigger than your routines.

But if you’re not careful, that same energy can start to feel like constant chaos.

Introversion and Extroversion

Introverts spend energy in social situations.

Being around people drains our battery.

We recharge with quiet time, solitude, and smaller circles. We tend to do better alone or in smaller, more intimate groups with people we know and trust. Our social circles are smaller, but our friendships tend to run deep.

Extroverts operate differently.

They gain energy from people. Being around others charges their battery instead of draining it.

They’ll spend time alone, sure—but eventually they need to get out and be social again.

Extroverts collect friends and acquaintances like it’s nothing. It’s not unusual for an extrovert to stay connected with people from elementary school, middle school, high school, past jobs, the gym, and everywhere else.

To them, it’s normal.

To us introverts, it can feel a little…baffling.

Now it may seem that an introvert-extrovert relationship would never work.

But that’s not true. It can be great.

But you need to go into it with eyes wide open, and a game plan.

Open your eyes wide…here’s the game plan.

1. Know that Just Because She’s Talking to Someone, It Doesn’t Mean She’s Flirting

Extroverts talk to everyone.

And you may be surprised at how often she talks to other guys.

Guys at work. Guys at the gym. The guy fixing the streetlight.

To an introvert, one-on-one conversation feels meaningful. Almost intimate. We tend to reserve conversation for people who matter in our lives.

But to an extrovert?

It’s just Tuesday evening.

Don’t mistake friendliness for romance. She just likes collecting friends. She just enjoys socializing. She just loves people.

2. Set Boundaries Early

Don’t mistake friendliness for romance. But there do need to be boundaries.

Without them, it’s chaos—and you’ll drive yourself crazy wondering if every guy is a threat.

You’re not trying to control her. She’s a grown woman and can do what she wants. But that doesn’t mean you have to be comfortable with everything.

Express what you’re comfortable with. For example, if you’re not comfortable with her meeting up one-on-one with an old guy friend, you need to say that. If she doesn’t respect it, then you need to have a hard conversation. It just may not work out.

This is simply part of the territory when you date an extrovert.

3. Protect Your Smaller Social Battery

If you try to keep up with her socially all the time, you’ll eventually end up exhausted and resentful.

There is nothing wrong with saying you’ve had enough socializing for the day. There is nothing wrong with saying no.

Let her go out and do her thing while you recharge.

If the relationship is healthy, she’ll understand. And if boundaries are established, you’re good.

4. Make Peace With the Fact that She Will Know Everyone Everywhere

We’ve already established that she’ll talk to everyone.

Work. Gym. Bars. Restaurants. Coffee shops. Social media.

You will hear phrases like:

“Oh my god I know that guy!”

Or:

“My friend (insert guy’s name) just Snapchatted me this.”

Just accept that your girlfriend has a larger social network than a small city.

It may be strange to you. But to her, it’s completely normal.

Again—boundaries matter.

5. Bring the Grounding Energy

The reason this pairing often works is balance.

She brings excitement.

You bring stability.

She pulls you outward.

You pull her back to earth.

Both sides matter.

Bring her into your world.

Quiet evenings. One-on-one time. Smaller gatherings.

A healthy balance between the two worlds can make this kind of relationship incredibly satisfying.

6. Don’t Try to Turn Her Into an Introvert

You’ll lose that battle.

And you’ll also lose the very thing that attracted you to her in the first place.

The goal isn’t to change her. It’s to understand her. And work with her.

But here’s the other side of that coin:

Don’t let her try to turn you into an extrovert, either.

That won’t work.

You’ll burn out, grow resentful, and the relationship will eventually crash and burn.

The goal is mutual understanding—not personality conversion.

In Conclusion

Know who she is. Know how she operates. Establish boundaries. Work with each other.

Dating an extroverted woman can feel chaotic at times. But chaos isn’t always a bad thing.

Sometimes it’s just life happening a little louder than you’re used to.

And if you’re lucky, brother…

You might even learn to enjoy the noise.

Be Calm, Until It’s Time to GO

Some think intensity is always the answer.

They stay wired. Stay in fight or flight.

Always reacting. Always rushing.

That’s not power.

That’s ridiculous (and unhealthy).

Move differently.

Train calm. Think calm. Lead calm.

Calm isn’t softness.

Calm is stored force.

It’s the stillness that sharpens your aim. The restraint that keeps your energy intact.

And then, when the moment actually calls for it…

You don’t hesitate. You don’t flinch. You don’t delay.

You GO.

You Become What You Identify As

There was a time when I said things like:

“I just can’t do it.”

“I’ll just never get it.”

“I’m just not good at X”

Can’t. Never. Not.

Weak language. Soft identity.

And soft identity produces soft results.

The shift didn’t happen when I found a better workout. It didn’t happen when I downloaded a productivity app. It didn’t happen when motivation hit.

It happened when the identity changed.

Identity is the base.

A man who identifies as:

  • “Someone trying to get fit” negotiates workouts.
  • “Someone who’s bad with money” spends emotionally.
  • “Someone who struggles with discipline” looks for excuses.

But a man who identifies as:

  • An athlete.
  • A builder.
  • A disciplined operator.

Doesn’t debate the basics.

He moves in alignment.

The brain hates contradiction. When behavior and identity clash, tension builds.

So what happens?

You either change your behavior…

Or you downgrade your identity.

Most people downgrade.

Here’s the thing; identity isn’t loud.

It shows up in every day decisions:

  • Do you stand tall or slump?
  • Do you eat protein first or whatever’s convenient?
  • Do you speak directly or avoid conflict?
  • Do you hit the run when it’s cold only when conditions are ideal?

These seem small in isolation.

But they stack. And stacks become structure.

Structure becomes physique. Reputation. Presence. Relationships. Legacy.

You don’t become who you want overnight.

You become who you practice—repeatedly.

Also know that identity works both ways.

“I’m just anxious.”

“I’m not a business guy.”

“I’ve always been skinny.”

“I’m bad with women.”

Careful.

The brain will defend that identity—even when it hurts you.

People protect who they think they are.

Even if that identity is weak. Even if it doesn’t serve you.

Let’s take physique as an example.

You don’t “try to build muscle.”

You become a Musclebuilder.

That means:

You train whether you feel like it or not. You eat like someone who respects his body. You recover like performance matters. You carry yourself like strength is normal.

You don’t argue with it.

It’s who you are.

That identity does the lifting long before you do.

So what do you identify as right now?

Be honest.

Are you rehearsing the identity of:

  • Distracted.
  • Reactive.
  • Comfortable.

Or:

  • Focused.
  • Dangerous.
  • Disciplined.

Because whether you realize it or not…

You are practicing becoming someone.

Every day.

Choose carefully.