Knowledge For Men

Leon Logothetis is a global adventurer, motivational speaker & philanthropist. It wasn’t always that way. He used to be a broker in the city of London where he felt uninspired and chronically depressed. He gave it all up for a life on the road. This radical life change was inspired by the inspirational movie The Motorcycle Diaries. Leon has visited more than 90 countries and traveled to every continent. He is the host of the TV series Amazing Adventures Of A Nobody, which is broadcast across the world by National Geographic International and, over the course of three seasons, sees Leon cross America, the United Kingdom and Europe on just 5 dollars, 5 pounds, and 5 euros a day, respectively. Leon has documented his travels for numerous media outlets including Good Morning America, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle,Outside, Good, Psychology Today, and The New York Times. His book, Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, is in stores now. His new book The Kindness Diaries, published by Readers Digest, is available now and chronicles Leon’s circumnavigation of the globe on kindness. Favorite Success Quote “Never, never, never, never give up.”~Winston Churchill Key Points 1. Removing Money Allows You to Connect with Others  During his travels, Leon found that by removing money from the equation (i.e. relying on kindness of strangers and not residual income to make his travels a success) he was able to connect for fully and openly with people. When you remove money from the equation, you no longer have a sense of superiority, and you no longer act as if you have nothing to gain from genuine connection. When you rely on other people’s kindness instead of your own wallet, every person you meet becomes a treasure chest just waiting to be opened. 2. It’s About Kindness Not Money Life is not about income, it’s about impact and kindness. It doesn’t matter whether you die penniless or a billionaire, if you did not impact others and live a life of joy and kindness, it was all for naught. While money can empower you to live a life of greater impact and enable you to extend greater kindness towards others, it is not the end game. It is not the end all be all. It’s a tool, impact and kindness are the products you are trying to build. 3. Live a Life of Passion and Adventure Too often, we get caught up in the social norms. We care so much about what society says, what mom & dad say, what our friends say, that we never pause to ask what do we have to say about all of this? Live life on your terms, doing things that make you passionate, otherwise, you will live a life of pain, boredom, and just plain unimportance. 4. Commit to Yourself  In line with the point above. If you want to start living a life of purpose, you need to commit to take care of yourself first. This is not saying that you become a self-centered, arrogant jerk, but rather that you realize that if you aren’t living a life of purpose and passion, then you will not be able to help others do the same. 5. It’s Ok to be Different One of the most important lessons to learn is that it is ok to be different. As Mark Twain said, “If you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Are you on the side of the majority right now? Are you going with the flow because it is what everyone else is doing and what they expect you to do? Or are you living life to the fullest, grabbing it by the balls and going out with joy and excitement every day?

Geoffrey F. Miller is an American evolutionary psychologist, serving as an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and known for his expertise in sexual selection in human evolution, and for his views on the evolution through sexual selection of the human brain as sexual ornamentation. Dr. Miller has authored several books including The Mating Mind, Spent, and Mate. Favorite Success Quote “There is very little difference between one man and another, but what little there is is very important” ~William James Key Points 1. One of the Keys to Success with Women is to Put Yourself in Their Shoes  If you want to become successful with women, it is imperative that you start by putting yourself in the woman’s shoes. Ask yourself what it is that she is truly looking for in a man, what are her concerns, what are her fears? Women are far more physically vulnerable than men are and as such, becoming a man that women can feel safe around should be a priority when you begin your journey into the dating world. Women are also worried about their social and economic status. What will it do to her reputation if she dates or sleeps with you? What will her friends think?  It’s questions like this that help you to understand what women are looking for and how you can better provide it. If you want to be successful with women, start by getting into their head. 2. Understand Mating Markets  This is a seemingly simple concept, but one of vital importance. If you want to succeed at fishing, go where the fish are! Plain and simple, the only way you will get good with women is if you go where there are an abundance of women. Moving to a large city, a big, liberal college, or moving overseas to countries with high populations of beautiful women (eg Argentina and Brazil) will increase your chances of success in mating drastically. 3. Looks Matter Less than You Think What science has shown us is that women value looks significantly less than they do certain mental and emotional traits. (with the exception of outliers, eg extremely overweight or a male model). What this means is that, no matter what numbers came up for you in the ovarian lottery, if you are an average guy, your success with women will be determined more by the qualities that you display than your looks. 4. Women want a Man with Potential Women love to be along for the ride, they love to find men who are ambitious and hardworking, and be there with him when he has nothing and once he gets it all. Potential is one of the sexiest things to a woman. In fact studies have shown that women would rather be with a failed entrepreneur, who put his neck on the line and tried to succeed, than they would with a trust fund baby who was rich but never worked for it. What this means for you is that you don’t have to be perfect, you just have to show women that you have potential to be the man they’ve always wanted.

Micha Mikailian is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and over 8 startups. He made his first million dollars in his early twenties and has continued to grow and expand his empire today. He’s committed to creating and supporting businesses that live on the bleeding edge of our evolution and are contributing to a more sustainable, just, and abundant world for all of us. He is currently the CEO and founder of Intently, a website browser extension that helps you stay focused on your goals by replacing all ads online with motivational and goal oriented pictures. Favorite Success Quote “It is better to walk alone than with a crowd that is walking in the wrong direction” Key Points 1. Learn to See Yourself as an Entrepreneur When you begin identifying yourself as an entrepreneur, you start to make it a part of your identity and way of life.  You no longer see yourself as an overworked employee but rather an entrepreneur who is building his side hustle into a business that will give him the time and freedom he and his family want. When you identify as an entrepreneur, you no longer see yourself as a college student trying to figure life out, but a young businessman preparing to innovate and change the world and learning the skills necessary to do it. How you see yourself will determine who you become. See yourself as an entrepreneur. 2. Entrepreneurship is a Tool Many famous entrepreneurs claim that business is a game, and while business itself may be a game, entrepreneurship is a tool. It is a tool to create freedom and wealth and happiness in people’s lives. It is a tool to change the world for the better and inspire others to be the change they want to see. 3. Focus on Your Personal Development “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development because success is something you attract by the person you become” In the podcast, Micha shared how, like many pro athletes, even though he had made a lot of money, his character and personal development did not match the income. This lead to a number of very poor life choices and multiple failures. If you want to see and sustain success, you need to develop yourself as an individual. Learn to handle your emotions, learn to set and achieve goals, to have a vision bigger than yourself and interact socially. Then and only then will you be successful. 4. Outsource the Unnecessary  Life is full of unnecessary tasks and redundant minutiae. The more of it that you can outsource, the better and more productive your life will be. Cooking, editing, scheduling, cleaning, anything that can be eliminated should as soon as you have the income. The less energy and brain power you expend on useless crap the more you can expend on creating your ideal lifestyle and having as much fun as possible.

Coach Michael Taylor is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and a radio show host who has dedicated his life to helping men reach their full potential. Despite being born in the inner city and dropping out of highschool, Michael became a mid level manager at a multi-million dollar company at only 22. However, his success did not last, and everything he built fell apart resulting in divorce, bankruptcy and foreclosure. Michael went on a 15 year personal development journey to rebuild who he was, and that journey has resulted in his company A New Conversations About Men Favorite Success Quote “I will do today what others won’t so I can do tomorrow what others can’t.” Key Points 1. It’s Not the External Stuff that Will Make You Happy  Many men, sadly, spend their whole lives in pursuit of material possessions in a search for happiness. They believe that the fancier watch, faster car, or bigger house will make them feel more fulfilled and happy, but after the initial high of the purchase wears off, they are left just as empty and alone as before. Real men understand that true happiness comes from within, it comes from intimately connecting with others and having deep and meaningful relationships, it comes from doing work that you are passionate about, it comes from being generous towards others, but most of all, happiness simply comes by being at peace with who you are and knowing that you are enough no matter what the external circumstances. If you want to be truly happy in your life, you must realize that stuff will not make you happy. It may give you a dopamine rush for a couple of days, but it will wear off. Your focus must be on becoming the grounded man, and internalizing the fact that you are enough. Then and only then will you be truly happy with life. 2. The 5 Illusions of Manhood While many men believe that they know what it means to be a man, the majority of what is purported to be “masculine” in society is anything but. The following are the 5 most common illusions about manhood and what it means to be a real man Illusion 1: You Must Be Disconnected Society would have you believe that to be a true man, you must be a robot. You cannot express emotions, it’s not ok to cry, showing that you have feelings is a sign of weakness and should be avoided at any cost. This is garbage. A man who is truly comfortable in his own skin, a man who is truly an emotionally mature man, realizes that showing his feelings is actually a sign of strength, because when you show your feelings you become vulnerable and you open yourself to the world saying “This is who I am and I won’t change it to conform to your standards” That is true masculinity. Illusion 2: Men Must Use Sexual Conquests to Validate their Masculinity As men, we are told that if we want to be truly masculine, we have to bed dozens of women with complete ease, carelessness, and a borderline apathetic attitude. The truth is far different. All religious dogma aside, a real man realizes that sex is meant for connection and is in no way indicative of his worth as a man. Sex is wonderful, and when used to increase the intimacy of a relationship, becomes an incredible experience. However, if a man uses sex as a way to validate himself to the world, he is on a one way track to broken relationships and misery. Illusion 3: To Be a Man You Must Have Money and Material Wealth While there is nothing wrong with material wealth, making money your sole focus in life, is the mark of an immature man, not a masculine man. Ambition is wonderful, wanting to get to the next level is wonderful, building a lifestyle of comfort and luxury is wonderful, using materialism as a drug to sedate yourself from the struggles you are facing is not. Being a man does not have anything to do with making a lot of money. While it’s true that it takes a certain breed of man to make millions, it takes an even higher breed of man to make millions while living his purpose, having deep connected relationships, and being totally in love with who he is and where he is going. Illusion 4: To be a Man You Have to Acquire Title and Fame Title and fame are irrelevant to masculinity. The simple fact is that there are more men who live and work behind the scenes who show true masculinity then there are truly “manly” movie and music stars. Being a man is about who you are, not who knows about you. Illusion 5: To be a Man You Have to Compete with Other Men Competition is a great motivator and can be a force multiplier in may men’s lives. But it is not the mark of a man. True men look for ways that they can collaborate and work together, not compete. 3. You Are Not Alone While many men may feel that they are alone on whatever path the are walking, the truth is, there are hundreds of men out there going through the same things you are facing. Don’t be afraid to seek help form other men, remember “Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens another man.” Stay sharp, swallow your pride and build a community where you can work through the struggles and triumphs you will face together.

Vast physical pleasure, deep love, and even union with divine source can be experienced through sex. Sexual energy is the source of all life in this world. Christopher Sunyata teaches people how to embrace their sexual power and artfully conduct it through their body and intimate relationships, integrating this power into their whole life. Drawing upon decades of practice and study under masters of sexual yoga, Taoist exercises, and Buddhist meditation, he teaches ancient body-centered practices without dogma or esoteric language that lead people to discover the secret wisdom already present within their own body. By learning to trust this wisdom within their body, people can reclaim passion and life energy that is their birthright, and create intimate relationships that deepen in love and chemistry over the years. Prior to teaching he was a successful international project manager responsible for over a billion dollars in revenue, a medical device engineer with seven patents, and a ceramic artist.  He has raised four children, two of his own, including one who has significant disabilities. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his beloved wife Karlene. Favorite Success Quote   “He knows himself, and all that’s in him, who knows adversity. To scale great heights, we must come out of lowermost depths. The way to heaven is through hell. We need fiery baptisms in the fiercest flames of our own bosoms. We must feel our hearts hot – hissing in us. And ere their fire is revealed, it must burn its way out of us, though it consume us and itself.”~Herman Melville   Key Points 1. You Need to Take Time to Acknowledge Your Present Mind and Body Every man needs to take time out of his day to simply acknowledge how he feels in the present moment, but more than merely acknowledging, he needs to ask what his body is telling him. Your mind and body are telling you a story, and when you are fully present and connected to your body you may realize that there are things that are happening in your life; stressors, lack of exercise, tension, etc. that need to be dealt with for you to live life fully. 2.You Will Die Someday  One of the most uncomfortable truths of life is our own mortality. No matter who you are, what you do, how much money you make, how many women you sleep with, or how big of an impact you make, you will still die. This is an inescapable truth, and although it is unpleasant can also be incredibly freeing. People tend to ruminate on shit that really doesn’t matter, they worry about the car they drive, what clothes they are going to wear, and a number of other things that will make no difference in the long run. If you want to be living a life of joy and freedom, learn to accept your death and live in accordance with the reality of your own fate. Love openly and fully, connect with people, get away from your damn phone and just be present. take care of your body, never hold back anything, go on adventures. We are all dead men walking, better make the most of it. 3. Learn to Accept and Enjoy Your Various Emotional States Our life is like a river, flowing between the banks of pleasure and pain. The only time we get into trouble is when we try to get out of the river and onto the bank, either of pleasure or pain, and we try to stay there. But as long as we realize that our life is a river and pleasure and pain are the boundaries, we’re going to do fine. We’re right in the middle between the two of them. We can’t really catch hold on either side. A lot of things go by.” ~Reggie Ray 4. Perfection is About Constant Improvement  So many people are overly critical of themselves because they are not perfect. They fuss over every little mishap and screwed up event in their life without realizing that perfection is an unattainable goal, a carrot on a string. True perfection is constantly improving who you are. It’s about being better than the man you were yesterday, learning new things, improving your character, your mind, your body, and your spirit. Don’t worry about being better than everyone else or never messing up, simply work to be better day by day and you will experience joy and fulfillment.

Olaniyi “Nee” Sobomehin is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Portland State. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After being cut from the NFL due to an injury, Olaniyi decided to begin coaching and from there, in adittion to being a full time fire fighter, he has built a coaching company imnotyou.com to help young athletes be successful at an elite level. Favorite Success Quote   “Life is just a battle against your disbelief that’s why I’m screaming I’m the greatest of all time like young Ali”~Nipsey Hustle   Key Points 1. If Your Mindset isn’t Right Your Life Won’t be Right  Everything in your life, good or bad, stems from your mindset and your internal beliefs. If your mindset is weak, your life will be weak, it’s that simple. You must develop the habit of improving the quality of your thinking daily. Stop tolerating weak and amateur level behavior and beliefs from yourself, challenge all of your limiting beliefs that say “I can’t do this” or “I’m not worthy.” Quit complaining and making excuses and just get to work, improve your mindset and build the life of your dreams. 2. Begin Your Morning in the Right State  One of the habits nearly every successful person follows is a powerful morning routine. How you start your days plays a huge role in the outcome of your days, and your days control the outcome of your life, so if you want to take control of your life, take control of your mornings. Some habits you can begin instilling into your morning routine for rapid results are: 1. Affirmations: Tell yourself that you are the best over and over, and over 2. Meditation: Quiet your mind and get present and focused for the day ahead 3. Read: There is almost nothing as important as educating yourself, read, read, read. 4. Exercise: Get the endorphins going and the blood flowing 3. Eliminate Things That Are Distracting You From Your Goals  We live in a digital age where big companies capitalize on creating products that distract us from living our lives. If you want to be truly successful, you must begin to ruthlessly eliminate things that distract you from achieving your goals. Do you really need to spend hours on facebook each day for “Business,” is the next episode of Breaking Bad really more important than your dreams and aspirations? Start eliminating distractions so that you can fill your life with real experiences and real achievement and impact. 4. Read as Much as You Can  One of the cornerstone habit of every successful individual is massive self education. The most important investment you can make is in yourself, and reading is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to do that. Begin incorporating an hour of reading or listening to audiobooks into your life every day. Fill your head with the thoughts and life lessons of the greatest people who have ever lived and watch the quality of your life transform. 5. To Get Good Results You Need Good Emotions Your emotions are either helping or hurting you, there is no in between. If you want to see exceptional results in your life you need to have an exceptional quality of emotions. Learn to control how you feel in each moment. Understand the affect that sleep, exercise, posture, diet, and even your clothing has on how you feel in each moment and begin to build a lifestyle conducive to positive emotions. 6. Stop Being a Wimp aka Own Your Situation Whenever you find yourself allowing circumstances and negative emotions to rule your life, or whenever you begin playing the blame game, stop being a little wimp and own your situation. You are where you are because of the actions you have (or haven’t) taken. You are responsible for your life, no one else. When you take 100% responsibility for your life, there is no one left to blame, and when there is no one left to blame you can begin living the life that you were born to live.

Cole is an author, investor, award winning speaker and entrepreneur. He is passionate about truly living life, creating massive financial success for himself and others, and most importantly, giving back. Cole has taught tens of thousands of people to be more than just alive, but to become the best versions of themselves, create massive profits, and then impact others by living a life of significance. Having barely escaped death 2 times in 2 separate accidents, Cole has a true appreciation for life and lives it to the fullest. He loves boating, is a water sport enthusiast, adrenaline junkie, drives fast cars, is a husband, father, and philanthropist. Cole’s story of losing everything, even temporarily his ability to walk, to now having monumental success is truly inspirational. Favorite Success Quote   “The truth is you can spend your life any way you want but you can only spend it once”~John C. Maxwell   Key Points 1. The World Teaches Life Wrong  Society, the media, friends and even family have taught you the wrong way to go about doing life. We are all taught from a young age that if we just go to college, get good grades and a good degree, then find a safe secure job and work our asses off for 20 years, then we will be ok. We will be successful. We’re taught that success is about keeping up with the Joneses, having a bigger house, a faster car, a bigger credit card max, or sending your kids to a more prestigious private school. But what we aren’t taught is that success is really about doing things that you love. Success is about finding what you are passionate about and good at, finding your God given gifts and then applying those to live a life of impact. Success is about having fulfilling relationships, meaningful work, joyful experiences, and leaving a legacy. And if big houses and fast cars are a part of that for you, than more power to you. Just realize that there is more to life than society’s definition of success, and keeping up with the joneses and working that “secure” job until you retire is a one stop ticket to a life of regret. 2. Focus on Creation  If you want to succeed in life and business, then start focusing on creation. Spend more time focusing on how you can create better content, create more value in the market place, and create better resources for people and spend less time worrying how you can “get” more. Business is about creation, it’s about adding value and building something that your audience wants and needs. 3. Eliminate Distractions that Prevent You From Living Life  Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Adult Content. All of these, when taken to extremes are nothing more than distractions that will prevent you from living the life of your dreams. If you want to be successful and live life on your terms, you must begin to eliminate distractions and toxic activities/individuals that are poisoning your life. If you constantly find yourself wasting hours on Facebook, block it. If you are always watching Netflix, cancel your subscription for a while. (Do realize that after a long day of working on important things and getting crap done, you have earned the right to crash with some Game of Thrones of The Walking Dead, it’s when it prevents you from achieving desired results that it becomes an issue) 4. Surround Yourself With Top People in Your Industry  Success leaves clues, it’s not an accident or an art, it’s a science. If you want to be as successful as you can, you must surround yourself with other individuals in your industry who are achieving at a high level. Figure out what they are doing and copy it. As Picasso said “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” You must realize that success is not a solo venture, you need mentors and accountability in your life and by surrounding yourself with people achieving on a higher level you will basically shortcut your way to success by avoiding pitfalls that they made and finding the things that worked and doing them that much quicker.

Zan Perrion is internationally recognized as one of the most original and insightful voices on relationships and seduction in the world today. A regular media commentator, he has been widely featured in the international press. Zan is the founder of the Ars Amorata philosophy–a celebration of the art of seduction, the rebirth of romance, and a lifelong quest for beauty and adventure. He is also a co-founder of the Amorati network of men and author of The Alabaster Girl  Favorite Success Quote   “Beauty needs a witness”~Zan Perrion   Key Points 1. The Greatest Seduction is Authenticity  Today, there are a plethora of dating coaches and pickup “gurus” claiming that they have the secret sauce to seduction, the one line that will immediately drop panties and guarantee quick effortless sex. However, what these so-called gurus do not realize, and where they are doing most men a disservice, is that seduction is all about authenticity. It’s about being who you are, expressing your desire unashamedly and fearlessly. It’s about being willing to open up and share the parts of you that you don’t think  women will like. If you want to be a great seducer and lover, you first have to be authentic, to be the grounded masculine man who knows who he is and what he wants in life and is openly living and expressing that on a daily basis. Forget all of the cloak and dagger techniques and one-liners, just be real, be you, and be authentic. If a woman can’t appreciate that then she wouldn’t have been a good fit in your life anyways and you save yourself wasted effort on a relationship that would have been built upon a facade. 2. A Great Lover Appreciates the Beauty of All Women  Something many men fail to do is to appreciate the beauty in all women. Sure they appreciate the tan, fit, busty blonde, but they forget to see the beauty in every woman they come into contact with. Any time you are talking to a girl, whether you are sexually interested or not, try to find something beautiful about her and express it. Maybe it is her smile, her body, her eyes or dress, or maybe it’s the way she laughs, her passion, her kindness, her gentle spirit. There is beauty in everyone if we will just look, and the world would be a far better place if more people were able to see and acknowledge the beauty within every person with whom they interact. 3. A Boy Looks for What He Can Get a Man Looks for What He Can Share  The true difference between, a boy and a man is simply the focus they have. A boy looks for what he can get; sex, money, prestige, status, fulfillment etc etc. a man, however, looks for what he can give. He comes into every interaction looking for ways to lift others up and to share himself, to make others feel beautiful and loved. A man is content in himself and doesn’t need the validation of others. He is already full, and as a result he can pour out into others lives without holding back. 4. There is Great Beauty in Women if You Continue  Many guys have been screwed over by women. We have opened ourselves up and put ourselves on the line only to be burned and hurt. After this, we became jaded and angry, stereotyping all women as mean and deceitful, failing to realize that like all other generalizations, one isolated incident does not account for a whole populations actions. If you want to be successful with women and in life in general, you must realize that there is great beauty if you will just continue. Yes, there are women who are simply mean and hurtful, but the vast majority are beautiful creatures, incredible treasure chests of beauty just waiting for the right guy who can come along and unlock them. So keep going, keep being authentic and keep searching for the beauty in all women and you will find it. Like the bible says (and this is applicable regardless of you religious beliefs or lack thereof) “Seek and you shall find, ask and it will be given, knock and the door will be opened. ” Keep seeking, asking and knocking and you will find more satisfaction and deep intimacy than you ever thought possible. 5. It’s Not About the Move You Make Just That You Make a Move  Just make a move. Stop worrying about doing the right thing and just do something. So many guys never have success in any area of their life because they are afraid of taking imperfect action, but what they fail to realize is that no action is perfect and the only way to be successful is to continually experiment, fail, learn, and experiment again. Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid not to try.

Dane Maxwell is a serial entrepreneur, the founder of  Zannee and the CEO of The Foundation program. He has taken his businesses from mere ideas to seven figure companies within a brief period of 5 years. Success Quote “All you have to do is care” – Dane Maxwell Key Points 1. All You Have to Do is Care  That’s it. All you have to do is care. If you want to succeed at business, health, love, spirituality or any other facet of your life, all you have to do is care. You have to care about what you are doing more than you care about the next episode of American Idol or the next adult video you were going to watch. You have to care enough to get uncomfortable, to do the hard thing, to put in the work, to sweat, to cry and to bleed until you achieve your goal. If you want a great relationship. All you have to do is care If you want a successful, globally impactful business, all you have to do is care. If you want to live the life of your dreams and help as many people as you possibly can along the way. All you have to do is care. 2. Accept Devastation on a Daily Basis On the road to success, you will be devastated. It’s all but inevitable. Part of the entrepreneurial lifestyle, and really life as a human being is accepting that at any moment you could be devastated on either a large or a small scale. If you want to lead a happy, fulfilled life, you must learn to accept this possibility and not run from it. If you live your life in constant fear of devastation and failure, you will never truly live. If you accept the inherent risk of this human existence and accept that devastation could occur at any moment, then you are free to live fully and openly. 3. With the Context of Unconditional Love There is No Concept of Worth  Everyone is familiar with the concept of worth. Be it net worth, social worth or self worth, we have all heard the term and are all well versed ascribing worth to everything in our lives, especially ourselves. However, Dane suggests that we should approach this concept from a completely different angle. Unconditional love. If you love yourself unconditionally there is no concept of worth, you are loves no matter how you are. No matter how well your business does. No matter if you are successful in your relationships, no matter if you feel lost and unsure, or on fire and passionate. This idea of radical, unconditional love for both yourself and everyone in your life is the powerhouse for transformation. 4. True Power Comes from Being Vulnerable in Community  We always speak of a confident man as someone who has his shit together. Someone who is unaffected by others and who feels a total independence from outcome. In the interview, Dane suggests that real power, true power, lies in authenticity and vulnerability. Real power lies in being able to look the people who are counting on you in the face and say “Guys I’m scared, I don’t know what I’m doing.” When you open yourself up, when you are vulnerable and honest, you are confident. It shows that you are a man who is willing to be hurt, who is willing to be ridiculed and mocked and who is willing to admit his own weaknesses and shortcomings. True power lies in vulnerability 5. How You Treat Women is Indicative of Your Character One of the greatest indicators of a man’s character is how he treats the women in his life. Men who treat women as party favors and objects to be enjoyed for a night before pissing off are likely the same in all other areas of their lives. Their interactions in business, health and spirituality are likely equally shallow and disconnected. If you want to be a great man, understand a woman’s heart. Be willing to sit with her for hours while she shares her feelings without any concern for your own desires. Be willing to work at a relationship and work to connect with a woman. If you can understand the heart of a woman, you can unlock everything else in your life.

David Wagner is a spiritual teacher, men’s group leader, and proud father who has dedicated his life to the exploration of personal transformation. He travels widely leading workshops and retreats for people from all walks of life from all over the world. He is the host of The Whole Manchilada Podcast, is a featured meditation teacher on Yogaglo.com, and serves on the faculties of Kripalu and Omega Institutes. Favorite Success Quote “Success is messy.” ~T. Harv Eker Key Points 1. Fearlessly Look at Your Mess One of the biggest challenges that modern men face is to look at themselves without bias or emotion and examine the mess in their lives. To fearlessly look at your life and examine your bullshit, taking full responsibility for it and where it has gotten you takes courage and backbone. Realize that you can never completely eliminate all the bs in your life, but you can become aware of it and mitigate its effects in different areas. Be courageous, be fearless, take an honest look at yourself in the mirror and be willing to face whatever it is that you see. 2. You Can do the “Right” Thing and Still be Screwed  Something most men today do not realize is that they can do all of the “right” things by family and society’s standards and still be completely screwed. Going to college, getting a good job, coming home to a mediocre marriage and a night full of sitcom reruns and reality TV is not success, it’s barely existing. Society tells men that as long as they stay out of jail, and don’t hit anyone, they are doing ok. But the truth is, most men are dying, in fact, most men have been dying since they left college. They give up their hopes and their dreams in favor of playing it safe and doing the “right” thing, they stay in terrible relationships that leave them drained and bitter because it’s the “right” thing, and they never risk stepping out of their comfort zone and expressing themselves fully because doing what everyone else does is the “right” thing to do. If you want to be a real man, a man with grit, backbone, and balls, there will come a time in your life where you must abandon the so-called right thing in favor of “your thing.” Forget living for society, your friends, or your family. If you want to be a success and enjoy your life, you must do the things that will make you happy, not the things that everyone accepts as the “right” path to take. 3. There is No One Way to Express Your “Wild Man” A common misconception in the world of men is that you somehow have to be this alpha on a Harley Davidson, sporting a beard and a full sleeve of tattoos to be a real man. The truth is that being a man is much less a matter of outward appearances and much more a matter of conviction and personal power. It’s a matter of owning who you are and fearlessly expressing yourself to the world 4. Avoid Simulation and Embrace Reality  With the ever growing prevalence of video games and online porn, now more than ever before, it is easy for men to live out their dreams vicariously through virtual simulations. Instead of going out and meeting women and getting to a place in their sex lives where they can have that vibrant, passionate, crazy sex, men are settling for sitting shamefully by their laptop, lotion in hand. Instead of creating a life of freedom and adventure and purpose, men are leveling up their Dark Elf Wizard in Skyrim or World of War Craft or getting to the latest prestige in Call of Duty. Men are settling for results that are far below what they are capable of simply because of the ease and comfort of simulation. While adult content and video games may have their place in some men’s lives, you need to look at why you are using these distractions and make the necessary changes so that your life is so kick ass that no simulation could ever compare.