How the Sausage is Made
The Highly Effective Modern Man
What does it mean to be a man? If you we’re a Viking or Zulu, you were likely a warrior and a part time farmer. If you were a Hittite, Roman or Greek, you’d be able to hold a myriad of positions in society such as trade, diplomacy, agriculture, etc. If you were one of our chimp ancestors, you’re on the quest for social dominance via alliances, hunting and resource collection. If you’re one of our Bonobo ancestors, maybe you’re just looking for a little sexual exchange for some ripe Banana’s in between naps.
Throughout history, men have come in various shapes and sizes; you could be a peasant or a prince, a warrior or a eunuch, a statesman or an artist. Manhood is a vast concept ranging from time and place, culture to culture & person to person.
Yet, there are undoubtedly ways to go about embodying your true manhood. Certain well-trod paths to take that are excellent avenues to express your highest self or to launch into the unknown of your bold life successfully. This website aims to help you in just that mission.
The overarching theme here at the Highly Effective Modern Man is to be the practical, impactful and effective (no shit). It is for those who feel the call to greatness singing softly inside them, the melody perfuming their daily mundane live, and for those who have the fortitude and trepidation to heed that tune.
Because of the nature of this website, I’m carrying some important, implicit philosophical assumptions about the world that would be best to be laid bare so you know where I’m coming from and can understand the references I make, and the basis of my decision-making processes. That way you’ll be able to ascertain how well this website will or won’t serve you.
Assumptions
1. You have a potential, a higher self, a soul, individuality; that you must grow into in order to be ‘yourself’ & you’re not there yet. Vice versa, if you do not pursue this adventure with your utmost, you will live in the most profound regret and this will haunt you through your days, tainting your life, especially at the moment of your death.
2. The rigorous scientific pursuit of truth, AKA Empiricism, is the fundamental tool for ascertaining the veracity of one’s success on this journey of a lifetime. In other words, radical honesty, rigorous self-reflection & experimentation are the critical vehicles that will drive you to your ultimate destination.
2b. Men have different biology and therefore different drives, needs & desires on balance than women. Though there is variation and overlap, men have distinctive categories of life that in general need to be fulfilled in different ways than women.
2c. Nature is immensely diverse. Through genetic variation, both genotypic & phenotypic, manhood is expressed in myriad ways. One would do well to learn the fundamentals presented after a rigorous study of nature, but ultimately it is up to the individual to find his best, most authentic expression within a community context.
3. Love is the primary driving force of the universe. Without it, Truth, Freedom & all other principles devolve into one-sided tyranny of one kind or another.
4. By committing to the journey of life you let go of your ego, millions of times & expect & allow for iterative growth while simultaneously consciously improving yourself. This comes through paying attention to the quality of your internal and external reality.
5. Though each man is his own, there are discoverable, verifiable principles for male & human thriving as Homo Sapiens. These principles are not commandments, yet neither is humanity a Tabula Rasa – self-knowledge is the key to success and growth.
6. Growth necessitates change. This website assumes you will fully accept the responsibility on yourself to change and grow.
7. We are all paradoxically our own best friends & worst enemies. One must both cultivate one’s own deep inner wisdom & the capacity to appreciate and ability to remonstrate self-delusion.
8. By walking the path towards achieving our best self, we must humbly & gratefully receive an immense amount of help. We must be on the look out to appreciate and cultivate aid, luck & synchronicity from the people, places & things in our lives. This is a discipline, practice & commitment. In this we acknowledge and explore our finitude & proper relationship to the divine, the one, the constant.
These eight assumptions are what I’ve used as the core foundation framework to discern the question originally posed at the beginning of this piece. This framework will naturally discriminate out many answers that could and are offered as definitive to the previous question. Sometimes, rather comically. Only, now, I would add to the question a qualifier – what does it mean to be a great man? This is the question this website truly sets out to answer.
So, with this initial framework made clear to both you & I, we can begin to seek the answer to this question in both breadth and depth.