Throughout history men have always been interested in self improvement. The main challenge that we all face is the necessary lack of comfort that is part of the improvement process. In order to develop the habit of learning, especially lifelong learning, we’re required to accept discomfort and quite often, pain. This is part of the litmus test given to us to ensure we’re deserving of the specific improvement we seek.

There’s a saying, you’ll either find a way to succeed, or an excuse not to. While this is an over generalization, in many cases it’s valid. Many seasoned veteran sales professionals attribute two reasons they’re not able to complete a sale…objections and conditions. Typically objections are excuses to avoid a purchase that can often be ovecome, whereas in the situation of a condition, the terms of the condition must be met in order to complete the sale. In other words, the status of the condition must change before the sale can be completed. It’s important to note that conditions are not excuses. They cannot be overcome with shaming tactics or over aggression. One must wait for the circumstances to change in a fundamental way before a sale can be completed.

I believe the same theory applies to male self-improvement. Often the objections we give ourselves are in reality excuses as to why we can’t work out, can’t control our eating habits, or limit our alcohol consumption. But sometimes, there are conditions involved as well. While there are many manosphere and fitness content creators out there, most only focus on the objections or excuses, then shame men for them…but few address the potential conditions that need to be met before these men are able to improve themselves.

Some conditions are medical in nature…some are mental. No, I’m not discussing the schizos who needs to take their meds…I’m discussing attitude. If your attitude is defeatist, you will not succeed at anything you try, even if you’re well equipped to do so. However, if you have a positive attitude, you will achieve things in life you never expected.

There are also external challenges that must be overcome. While there are many societal issues that potentially interfere with self improvement in sometimes fatal ways, I perceive there are societal obstacles that if identified and addressed, will help men improve their lives.

The first, and in my view one of the most important, is that society has reframed unbridled and irresponsible consumerism as self-improvement. Are you lonely, purchase a membership to an online or offline dating group. Do you think the world’s going to end, purchase my prepper products. If you want to improve your life, you gotta purchase my shit…NOW!!!!

That is the essence of marketing for the last one hundred years. If you make this purchase, your life will improve. Here’s the problem, in too many cases, what these marketers are selling is long term dependence, not independence.

Many of the things marketed to us, especially over the internet, are convenience items, that in the long term, strip us of our self-reliance, rather than enhance it. As an example, video games, which are one of my hobbies, like social media platforms, are engineered to psychologically addict us…causing us to spend more time on them than we would’ve, had they not been so addicting. Television shows, Mainstream Media Outlets, and Movies indoctrinate us to accept things we would’ve never accepted otherwise. Rather than inspiring us to think, they’re hyper-focused on manipulating our emotions. While the current batch of milquetoast edgy mcedgelords out there call this out as propaganda…in reality it’s a form of psychological warfare designed to destroy self reliance and indoctrinate us to be dependent on commercial products as a societal norm.

Awhile ago, a YouTuber did an analysis of a survival contest show he watched. If memory serves, the contestants were put in a survival situation and had to live in that situation for a year. If they did, they’d get a million dollars. He then compared and contrasted two contestants. One contestant, a self reliant survivalist, was dropped in a location that was a friendly environment with abundant food and resources. This man quickly created a shelter, obtained food and had so much spare time he made himself dice to entertain himself. The other self-reliant man was dropped in a much tougher location. He struggled to find food and resources and the environment was far more unforgiving than the former contestant. Yet, the first contestant, who missed his girlfriend, ended up quitting first…to be with her. Whereas the man who struggled every step of the way, survived far longer.

The takeaway, and I agree, is that men need some adversity. If they get too comfortable, either through too much consumerism, or consuming convenience items like food, they sacrifice their self-reliance and lose their physical, mental, and psychological ability to confront obstacles in their lives. Whereas the men who face adversity, often survive a lot longer, because they’re learning, solving problems, and are forced to constantly work to improve their situation.

Think of it like this. A man is treading water. A mile from him is the shore. If the man continues to tread water, eventually he will drown. However, if he swims to shore he will survive. The challenge here is that many men are unconsciously too comfortable in their situation. They’re too comfortable treading water. They’re so comfortable that they’re scared to the point of paralysis of the idea that they could swim to shore. Not because there may be sharks or other hazards in the water…but because they’re afraid to exert themselves…because their muscles might hurt later from the exertion.

Now before you rightfully ridicule this man for his lazy bitch-thinking, know that the reason he’s a bitch thinker is not entirely his fault. Society has indoctrinated him to evolve into the lazy emotional, bitch-thinking consumerist he is today. This is the essence of living the comfortable blue pilled lie.

There’s another lesson to be learned here as well. As men, in order to survive and live better and longer lives, we must accept the natural adversity associated with improving ourselves. If we get too comfortable, we become overweight and develop many of the physical and psychological issues associated with obesity. If we consume too much processed foods, rather than cooking healthy foods from scratch, the same thing happens. Many of life’s conveniences, that if consumed on a regular basis will hurt us more than help us, physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

If you’ve followed my video content for any length of time, you’ll know that I occasionally say that the most important resource a man has is his time. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. This is the key to self improvement.

By investing time in learning and improving, rather than convenience, comfort, and consumerism, you starve the unhealthy things in your life and eventually remove them completely. To that end, self improvement isn’t just getting physically fit, getting laid, or being financially independent. To get to these places you also have to improve yourself intellectually. To do this, a valid option is to read, both fiction and nonfiction books. Read things that you agree with and disagree with, so you can avoid living in an echo chamber or wallow in a mudpit of confirmation bias.

At the end of the day, if you accept the necessary adversity that is a natural consequence of self improvement, take things in moderation, and are consciously mindful of your choices, not only will your quality of life will improve by leaps and bounds, but you’ll live a lot longer, more fulfilling self-reliant life.