Is it more difficult to be a man or a woman? Some say men, some say women. The small physical size and child bearing responsibilities of women makes me inclined to say that they received the short straw on the difficulties in life. But when you compare what they have to do in life relative to men, it tilts the scales in favor of women. The fundamental difference between men and women is that men have to prove their worth. Whereas women don’t. As a man, your success literally defines you. If you don’t at least attempt to reach the top half of the dominance hierarchy, the world becomes your enemy. Society will deem you irrelevant. Women will be repulsed by you. You’ll enter a stage of self-contempt until your existence becomes unbearable.
The game of success is mandatory for every man and it begins when they reach adulthood. Corporate Machiavelli wrote a short, harsh piece in relation to this topic. Read it here; Life as a Man.
What Does this Mean For You?
Several things. Mandatory participation in the game of success means there’s no room for happiness and enjoyment. You will have to start proving yourself as soon as you reach ages 15-18. In some countries ‘men’ have to prove themselves as young as 5. Being a provider is not the same as being successful. Plenty of men provide. But only some are successful. Not only must you be a provider, but you have to outperform your production to your consumption ratio by a significant margin to attain success. And this begs the question, how do you define success?
Success in general, is wealth, which the world defines as money, power and status. I do think value should be the fourth element under wealth. Because those at the top have a responsibility to aid in societal progression. Not to mention it is infinitely easier to become successful through criminal, expedient means. Value in a sense, keeps success honest. It differentiates between your 20 year old genius tech entrepreneur and your typical rich kid who inherited his wealth.
Value, money, power and status are the elements that collectively make up the word success. To put it in a applicable sentence;
a man must become exceptionally competent within a domain to provide value, get rewarded with money, then use that money to buy power and status.
You have No Time
Contrary to what most people say, you have no time. The success game is a highly competitive field. The Pareto Principle already suggests that the odds are stacked against you; that the majority of men will occupy the bottom half of the dominance hierarchy in their lives. IQ distribution also indicates that in all likelihood you don’t intellectually have what it takes. The only element you possess that could try to mildly offset the overwhelming odds of your success, is time.
Orient Yourself
Given that you have decided to take a shot at the success game, and considering all this information above, how would you orient yourself on a path of least resistance to attain success?
- Study yourself, your temperament and your personality
- Identify your strengths and weakness
- Determine an apex value of abundance
- Verify that your strengths align with your apex value
- Sacrifice all other values in exchange for the apex
Your apex value has to in one way or another, provide a form of abundance upon attaining it. This means, if you have chosen to attain your apex value through college, you have to aim higher than your typical 4-6 year degree. If you have chosen to attain it outside of formal education, then your startup has to provide substantial value for it to adopt large amount of users that would result in success.
You basically only have these two options. And your personality will be a strong determinant of which path you should take. Read my article on Your Apex Value is Your Passion to get a better grasp of which path to take. If you’re a member, don’t forget to read The Philosophy of Becoming High Value, which explains the root of what it means to become successful.
Offset the Odds
Everything you do or don’t do has a cost. Money is not the only currency we exchange values with. There are values we constantly exchange as currencies to obtain other values. For instance, our future success is predicated on paying the price to forgo indulgences in the present. The cost of success is to suffer in self-imposed slavery. We have the opportunity to fight for wealth and power on a platform that doesn’t ignite wars and kill people. That platform is called capitalism, where most of us are given the opportunity to excel towards success. Allocating the majority of your time in one domain, will make you excel within that domain. By far, this strategy gives you the highest probability of attaining success. You can either give 200% effort on one value while sacrificing everything else for it. Or give 50% effort on four values equally and forgo the attainment of high level success.
You are Doomed Regardless
If you refuse to play the success game, you will be looked down upon and be labelled as a failure. If you play the success game and win, you will spend the rest of your life protecting what you’ve built. Either way, your existence will not escape suffering. The only way to be content with this fate of yours, is to find meaning. And the only way to find meaning, is to strive to become a successful man. Because that’s what the world demands from men.
If you need guidance and orientation in life to strive towards the attainment of your apex value, read my free articles under UM’s Take. Those serious about wanting achieve their values join the LOBBY where we collectively discuss my monthly articles and relevant personal matters.
