25/05/2026
Ten personal reflections from this year’s Men’s Wellbeing Summit
1. Nature…still…has the answers. You see it when 45 men turn their phones off for 3 days and sit in community with nature and each other and around a fire, together. It is powerful stuff.
2. Men need the wild. Seeing the shift in posture, smiles, light and energy in each man, simply through being barefoot in nature, talking, taking the mask and armour off and sitting around a fire, eating whole food, being witnessed and listened to, says it all. We complicate life in the ‘real’ world.
3. Perspective helps. We’re often so caught up in our own worldview, we forget - everyone has a struggle, there are unlimited paths to abundance and there is unlimited potential through collaboration. It is healthy to have our beliefs challenged when we sit in fear, lack and division. Walking to the top of the maunga and letting some limiting beliefs go and getting a new perspective is empowering.
4. Everyone has something to learn - there were some very accomplished men at this Summit, but everyone stepped in at the same level and with an open mind set to what others had to share. And there were some gems every man took away.
5. Transformation starts with radical personal / self responsibility. Once men realise they are the creators of their own reality - big shifts are possible.
6. Team work is everything. Jono Ridler never said a single ‘I did this’ despite the huge personal physical and mental achievement swimming the North Island. It was all ‘we did this’. We had a big engine room for this gathering, and this year was a big step up because we trusted in more people to share the load.
7. Values and shared agreements set the tone for wellbeing and culture. The Provider Codes gave us a framework to walk in and course to steer. We all need this in our day to day life. What are our personal values, and will we stick to them when distractions come up? What are our values in the collectives we walk in, and how will we navigate conflicting values?
8. When you are doing the right things in life, the universe has your back. We set the dates 12 months out with intention for good, and ended up with 3 perfect bluebird days of weather.
9. Everything comes back to the breath. There are only two things we are guaranteed in life, our first breath, and our last. Everything in between is a blessing, and to remember this all we need to do, is take a long breath in, and an even longer breath out. And repeat. We all share the same breath. This is consciousness. This is unity.
10. You get out, what you put in.
Ngā mihi te aroha.
Photos: Mike Matthew / Journey Hero
