The other day I was at the gym and there was a fella bulling up as if he’d stuffed two bread loaves under his arm pits. The term to diagnose this kind of behavior is “imaginary lat syndrome”, or ILS. It’s bad enough on its own to walk around as if your lats prevent you […]
The Value in Being Uncomfortable
A handful of years ago – excuse the lack of preciseness, dates aren’t my strong suit – I hopped on a plane on down to Key West, Florida, to partake in a mastermind group with guys who were thriving in the business world. I’d been invited by a good friend who knew I was flirting […]
4 Modern Mantras I Have a Big Problem With
We tend to look at our predecessors and ancestors as ignorant or less fortunate and archaic because of what they didn’t have access to back then. We see the settlers of our nations not as above us, people to aspire toward, but men who laid the foundation so that we could be so evolved. Many […]
A No B.S. Guide to Developing Real Confidence
I remember my last fight vividly. I was at ease. I’d taken the fight on short notice with a kid that had come up from Oregon or somewhere along the coastal U.S. of A., and even though I found out he was a southpaw only minutes before the fight, I was at ease. There was […]
Grit & Gameness: How to Be Good at Being a Man
It seems that our society is hell bent on teaching goodness and equality and fairness without putting much thought into the values and virtues that make greatness. Rewarding based on participation rather than merit does more damage than good. Creating an artificial, level playing field removes initiative and reward for going above and beyond. Trying […]
Something Worth Fighting For: the Virtues That Won Independence
“Over-sentimentality, over-softness, in fact washiness and mushiness are the great dangers of this age and of this people. Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail.” – Theodore Roosevelt Today is the day that Americans celebrate their independence from tyranny. It’s a day not only to celebrate what […]
The Pussification of the West
While there is debate as to whether or not our modern society is “better” than those in the past, there’s little debate that our society is weaker. Our weakness shows in our entitled view of how the world works with us at its center. It’s seen in our seeming inability to recognize that evil exists […]
You’re Wasting Your Workouts by Not Eating This Much Protein
Without hard work you’re not going to do much of anything in this world. Laziness is inherently evil because it wastes the talents and potential and the capacity for goodness and greatness that you have. It’s this notion of “wasting” potential by not applying ourselves that we must also apply to our training. Assuming you […]
No, You Are Not Perfect Just the Way You Are
No, you are not perfect just the way you are, nor are you special, though you are unique. To be perfect how we are would nullify the need for improvement, and improvement is necessary. To be special would be to place ourselves above the masses, when it’s humility that will allow you to learn. What […]
Why You Don’t Need a Mentor
I get a fair number of emails asking amount finding the right mentor; fellas asking if I can tell them how to get a mentor or if I can in some way mentor them, it’s after reading the question that I break the news that I’ve never really had a real, solid mentor before, just […]
Are You The Strong Man or The Critic?
In Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech, he talks about “the critic”, the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, but is he addressing the critic or the strong man, the “doer of deeds”, or is it both? Many a year ago now while I was in high school, admittedly only […]
Your Life is Won In Battles That Last But Seconds
I’m still seated as a long day nears its end. My eyes are fixed on my computer’s screen, having only moments ago finished my newsletter, I check that off my to do list and start to stand up. It’s then, just as I’m about to proclaim the day a success, my adversaries defeated, both laziness […]
If You Want to Be Successful, Never Look Forward
I light my cigar, one of the few remaining from the batch I brought back from a recent trip to Argentina, and take a sip of cognac. It’s been a long week in hours worked but it seemed like it lasted only a few days. I had my head down all week, working, writing, and […]
Find Trouble
The other day I was on the phone with a pal of mine. We were talking about work, we both run our own businesses, and also adventure. We talked about the past year, the places we’d each been. I’d traveled throughout Argentina and Italy and a handful of other places. I’d hiked glaciers and rode […]
The Most Important Days to Train…
It’s been a lethargic day. For the past week I’ve been toying with a sickness that would neither fully take hold nor completely go away. My bed times have been earlier, I’ve spread out my training a bit more and it appears that I’ve finally beat the bastard. And then today happened. There are no sniffles, […]