The past few years have seen the incredible, but predictable rise of “alpha male” content. Everybody wants to know how to be a man, and how to be a high-performing one at that. Being a winner is all that matters. From what I’ve noticed, being a well-rounded man is more important than being a winner. I’ve met a good number of rich men, particularly in my younger years. I don’t really envy them, even though they live good lives. There are a lot of jacked guys who are broke. Being an “alpha male” is stupid. A lot of those people are scammers, not alpha males, working dangerous occupations, or in and out of prison. As far as focusing on one area of life such as wealth or fitness, you never know what can happen in life. That being said, these are the four things you should probably focus on, “as a man”.
Physical Health
The obvious thing to do when you’re between the ages of 18 and 26/27 is to focus on career and money. If you can break into the upper range of wealth, you can guarantee your health in the future. It’s painful being focused on money for 5 to 10 years, but it’s worthwhile on an overall basis. Being focused on money has made it possible for me to live in a tropical country while working. The next 75 years of my life will likely be spent enduring far less stress than the average North American. But in the long run, being healthy is far more valuable than being rich. Try your best to eat well, exercise, and avoid vices. Humans can live for a pretty long time if they do those things and live safely. It’s a lot better to be healthy than unhealthy, especially as you age. I personally want to live a long life and spend lots of time with those around me.
Morality
It’s hard to have self-esteem if you know you’re a bad person. You should make sure you have some sort of moral code. Nothing too extreme, but don’t follow the crowd. Think. Do your best to help the world. I hope my writing can help the world. Don’t do bad things either. It’s great not having a massive amount of guilt on your shoulders. You might not feel this way if you’re under 21 or 22, but 99% of people will want to be able to say they were a good person when it comes time to pass on. Cultivating your sense of morality is difficult. A lot of people are prone to copying their favorite celebrities. In my experience, the only way to become a more moral person is to consume a lot of content, improve your critical thinking skills, and live a lot. Everyone has their own set of morals, and you shouldn’t be too quick to follow the mainstream.
Financial success
You don’t need to be super rich, as far as I’m concerned. You just need to be better than most. Financial success is an important part of being a man. I actually think this is an unfortunate aspect of life in today’s world. Focusing on money can feel like a massive waste of time. I personally don’t relish the fact that I have to do it. But we live in a capitalist world. Money buys health. It buys an education for you children. It gets you everything you need in today’s world. You want to be getting your own money. Financial success might not seem important when you’re young, but it’s everything as you get older. Not just for flash and status, but for a comfortable life and retirement.
Making friends
Everybody wants friends. Having good friends is important. Life gets transactional as you age. Make sure you spend time making friends if you’re from a wealthy country. Your ability to socialize will go a lot farther than your money if you’re already rich.
I don’t think being a man is about being tough, dealing with hardship, or stoicism. What’s the point of being really good at suffering? My hunch is that most people would rather live a good life than be an alpha male. Being an alpha male doesn’t mean anything in today’s world. We’re increasingly able to curate our environments, and that means there are no alphas. This means that the pillars of masculinity (or femininity) can be found using logic. It’s all a matter of categorizing life into separate pillars. How we go about fulfilling our desires is really what’s separated by gender, if anything can be.
Thanks for paying attention.
