This is a guest post by Jon Anthony.
It’s no secret that masculinity is becoming more and more taboo in our culture. Everywhere we go, we’re discouraged from expressing our masculinity. We can’t talk about politics or religion, lest we be fired by overly sensitive HR departments. We can’t hit on women, without fear of being falsely accused of rape. We can’t even make a few lighthearted jokes, because you can bet your ass that some feminazi bitch will find it offensive.
So what can we do? Clearly we can’t just give up entirely, because lacking masculinity has disastrous consequences. When we don’t take the time to develop masculine characteristics such as assertiveness, decisiveness, confidence, or strength of will, every area of our life atrophies. Without these characteristics, you will have no women in your life. You will have no financial success. You will have no happiness.
It is for these reasons that developing yourself as a man is of the utmost importance; but how do we do this in our hyper-liberal culture where masculinity is not only discouraged in our youth, but even threatened? I propose that we must get in touch with what Robert Bly named “The Wild Man,” and we can only do this one way: through living life dangerously.
Living Life Dangerously
“Living life dangerously? What does that mean?” I can hear someone ask. Well, it isn’t exactly what it sounds like. It doesn’t mean to be reckless or to take completely unnecessary risks, but rather it comes down to a mindset; it comes down to a mindset of valuing growth, expansion, and new experiences over stagnation, retreat, and stability.
Most men get trapped into very narrow ways of interpreting reality. They simply check out, and take the path of least resistance from the time they’re born, and while this is stable, it is not fulfilling in the slightest. Men need danger. We need action. We need to live life on the edge, we need adventure, and we desperately crave a chance to prove ourselves.
But how do we live in such a way in our problem society? I propose a three-pronged solution. First, we must discover our masculine purpose. “Duty,” in the words of General Patton, “is the essence of manhood.” If we do not embody some sort of higher purpose, such as fighting for an ideology, a nation, or for someone that we love, we will not be fulfilled as men.
The second part of this three-pronged solution is to turn this purpose into a sustainable lifestyle. Unless you are self-employed—or have a significant amount of side-income—you are not free. As I’ve learned so harshly in the past, feminized HR departments can fire you on any sort of trumped up charges whenever they please.
And lastly, the third part of our three-pronged approach is to begin living dangerously. Living dangerously entails making love to the world by penetrating it with your masculine essence, your passionate energy. This means to constantly be exploring, growing, seizing, and thriving; it means to be a fully awakened man who has found his place in the world, and is changing it for the better. If you are not pushing yourself to become a greater man, then you’re slowly becoming a worse one; decay is the natural state of everything, and we must fight to simply move forward.
Phase 1: Discover Your Masculine Purpose
Men of the past knew what their purpose was: to protect the tribe. The purpose of man has always been to fight for a greater cause than himself, whether it be to defend his country during World War II, or to die an honorable death against Germanic invaders. But now? What purpose do we have? Our biggest concern is whether or not a girl on Tinder hits us back, or if we’ll get that $3,000/year pay raise.
This will simply not do. If you wish to reclaim your masculinity you must discover your purpose; this will not be an easy task for many of you. We have our passions and souls crushed out of us by our horrible educational system, so getting in touch with that inner spirit may be difficult. But, that being said, there’s one surefire way to discover your purpose on this Earth.
Do you want to know what your purpose is? Just ask yourself the following question: how were you wounded the most by the world? Yup, that’s it. In the words of Robert Bly: “Our greatest gift to the world will stem from our greatest wound.” That’s why the man who is depressed and angry, and doesn’t know how to communicate his feelings, often becomes an incredible musician. It’s why the man who never received a good education as a child becomes a teacher.
For me, I was never given the guidance that I needed to become a man; that’s why my greatest purpose is to help other men develop themselves. I can’t speak for Matt, but it’s pretty clear that his purpose is to combat the cancerous ideologies of liberalism and feminism and to spread awareness of their folly, so that the West can survive.
What is your purpose? If you died today, what would you want to accomplish? In general, there’s two types of purpose: sharing emotions, ideas, or wisdom with the world (think musicians, serial entrepreneurs, bloggers, etc.) and helping others (think doctors, psychologists, and charity workers).
Maybe you love to work out and sculpt a better body; make your purpose to help others do the same. Maybe you love to hunt, because it gets you in touch with your primal masculinity; make your purpose to help others do the same. There’s an endless list of passions that you could have, and believe me, if you’re passionate enough about it, there’s a way to monetize it… I’m going to show you how.
Phase 2: Align Your Passion with Your Lifestyle
Once you have your purpose laid out, it’s time to figure out how to turn it into a lifestyle. “Is this absolutely necessary?” I can hear someone ask. “I’m quite satisfied with my job.” And to be fair, maybe you are. But ask yourself: if you were fired today, which isn’t all that unlikely, would you be able to support yourself financially?
A lot of men don’t realize the harsh reality of the world that we live in. They think that they’ll never be fired, but unfortunately, due to our culture, you can be fired for something as stupid as an “offensive” Tweet or even something as simple as voting for Trump. It is your responsibility as a man to start working on being self-employed, because until then, you are not free.
You will not be able to reclaim your masculinity if you’re forced to work for someone else, period. You’ll constantly have to watch what you say, you’ll constantly have to avoid certain conversations, and you’ll be forced to play Machiavellian games with your co-workers to get on your boss’s good side.
In other words, you’ll be forced to act like a little bitch. As someone who’s worked in plenty of negative work environments, I can personally tell you with 100 percent certainty that you cannot be a masculine man if you work in a typical HR-dominated office place. Period. It’s time to start moving towards freedom.
You’ve already taken the first step, though: finding your passion. Now, I’m going to discuss how to monetize it. Monetizing your passion will fill your belly with fire. It will give you a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to keep fighting, and it will give you a sense of fulfillment.
The first step to monetizing your passion is creating a blog. I don’t care what your passion is; whatever it is, you need a blog. I’m not just saying this, because I own one. I’m saying this, because having a blog is the best way to slowly start creating an audience that resonates with what you’re saying.
It doesn’t matter what your passion is. Whether it’s fishing or massage therapy or pottery, there’s a way to monetize it, and it’s an incredibly simple, three step process: create a blog, write content and build up an audience, and sell them something. It’s literally that simple. I’m not going to go into the intricacies and technical details, but I’ll give you a summary of what to do.
Say, for example, that your passion is something really obscure, like snorkeling. You love to snorkel. You’ve been all over the globe, experienced hundreds of different dives in different locations, and you’ve mastered your craft. Okay, so first create a blog about snorkeling. Name it “snorkelguru.com” or “thesnorkelmaster.com” or something like that.
You want people to see your website name and automatically assume that you’re an expert based off of it. For example, when people see my website name (Masculine Development), it’s pretty clear what the blog is about: developing your masculinity. This is what you want.
Now, put out regular content about snorkeling; talk about all of the coolest places to go diving, the basics of snorkeling, your experiences… just slowly build up a base of dedicated readers that likes your content. Then, once you’re getting several hundred views a day, sign up for an affiliate program and recommend products. In this case, you’d be recommending different wet suits, flippers, goggles, and snorkels.
At this point, every time someone buys something you recommend, you’ll get a cut. It won’t be much, but it can add up as you get more viewers. The point is that you’re finally starting to turn your purpose into a lifestyle; this should be every man’s goal. It’s incredibly fulfilling to make money doing what you love, take my word for it.
Now, once you’re getting 1,000 or so views a day, make an eBook. It can be a guide on the best snorkeling locations, a beginner’s guide to snorkeling, or a list of the best expert tips that nobody else knows; just sell something related to your passion (in this case, snorkeling). Continue to put out good content related to your passion, and eventually you’ll be able to quit your job, or at the very least you won’t have to worry about getting fired for being a man.
This may seem like a very long and tedious process, but realistically, it doesn’t take that long: maybe 2-3 years if you’re a newbie at it and don’t have anyone to help you. But ask yourself this: would you rather be free in three years, or still a slave?
Phase 3: Live Dangerously
Now that you are 100 percent financially independent, you are free to be whatever man you wish to be. This phase essentially comes down to a certain mindset; a mindset that is fully awake and engaged with reality. This is what happens when you are living life on your own terms. It’s almost like parts of your brain that were previously dormant begin to function properly, and you begin to see life as one great big adventure, rather than as a giant chore.
This is the ultimate reward of putting in the hard work that it takes to become a man on your own purpose, a man who is 100 percent financially independent, free of the shackles of limited speech and political correctness. The adventure does not stop here, though… this is where it just begins. This is when you truly start to awaken as a man.
You start to see the bigger picture of what you’re accomplishing in the world. Questions such as “What do I want to do with my life?” and “What do I want my legacy to be?” run through your head at a million miles a second. This is when you begin to drastically push your boundaries and live life to the limit. It’s when you have the financial means and the freedom to do what you really wish to do as a man.
For some, as in our example, this may be starting a snorkeling school and turning it into a business. For others it may be traveling the globe and covering live footage of various political events (such as Matt Forney). For others yet, it may be raising a young man to be the best that he can be.
Regardless of your individual path, all men who live dangerously share similarities. They live life on their own terms, they don’t take shit from people who don’t care about them, they fully embody their cause, and they fight every second of every day to achieve their goals. This is the mindset of the fully conscious man, and it should be something that we all strive for.
Conclusion
In summary, learning to reclaim your lost masculinity and live out your passions are essentially one in the same. No man can be fully in touch with his masculinity unless he fights for a cause that he truly believes is noble; whether it be helping others, defending his country, or sharing his wisdom.
Whatever your cause may be, you must find a way to make a living from it; this is the only way to be truly happy: when work and play are the same thing. So go, discover your passion, find a creative outlet to monetize, and begin to live life dangerously. We need more men to shrug off their chains of apathy and laziness, lest our world succumb to the blights of feminism, indolence, and foolishness.
You are the cure to the plague of liberalism that is devastating the West; without more men standing up and taking action, nothing will change. I’m doing my part, Matt is doing his part, and I hope that you choose to do your part, too. Let’s do this.
“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.”
Pablo Picasso
Jon blogs at Masculine Development and is also a columnist for Return of Kings.
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The post How to Reclaim Your Lost Masculinity and Follow Your Passions appeared first on Matt Forney.