I thought of a dozen ways to write this, but in the end it was a waste of time, so I will keep this short and sweet.

My point: Simply checking boxes off a laundry list of real life xbox achievements doesn't make you a man.

  • Oh you lift huh? Cool, I do to, so does that programmer nerd who is overhearing this. So what?
  • You cold approached 10 girls today, this week, this month, whatever. So what? What difference does it make if you have cold approached so many women that its starting to make you nauseous.
  • You have worked on your game, studied the art, practiced, failed, and repeated. So what? The chad next door has never "practiced" game in his life, so what?

The list of these achievements that we (yes we) have game-ified has gotten so long, its starting to look like an apple watch presentation about the million different ways you can display your heart rate on a screen so small its not even worth using.

What am I getting at? You know what I am getting at. What makes a man isn't what he does, or even what he did, or what he will do. Its how he will learn from it.

Working out, lifting, is not about gains, its about discipline. Gains are physical, and you will one day be 85 years old and shriveled up worse than a grape. You think Arnold looks good today? He looked good when his skin young, now he just looks like an overbuilt junkyard clunker that had more money sunk in to it that its worth.

Working on your game, approaching women, etc, isn't about getting a body count, having sex every day, or having bragging rights that you can also be Chad. Approaching women has been engrained in our heads as something "scary" and if you can over come fear, anxiety, depression, laziness, etc, you can apply that everywhere. Approach a million women for all I care, if all you did was numb your sense to the point that you are a walking talking robot, why the fuck should I care? You aren't cold approaching to make the process autonomous. You are doing it to learn how to overcome your weaknesses and if possible, remove them from your life entirely.

Recently I quit my job. I was making 6 figures, a healthy amount, but I was honestly just over it. I doubt I could easily find a job that paid me this much. What's the catch? The VP himself called me into his office and asked why I was leaving. I cold turkey told him "I'm just burned out." He offered me a 1.5x salary raise and the choice of where I want to move since we are a global company. I told him "Sir, I don't want to have to be dependent on you to tell me where to move, even if you make it seem like my choice." The difference between him and me is nearly 20 years. This guy is known to be ruthless, he has fired a fair share of my collogues who just didn't cut it. There were no second chances, and if he wanted to fire me that same day to avoid paying me benefits and severance packages, etc, he could.

Most people in my position would have jumped on the opportunity, but what does life teach us about too good to be true opportunities? Yes, that they are in fact too good to be true. I knew I was getting used, even though the pay was great. Sometimes just saying no I won't put up with it is hard.

Back to the point. These check boxes that all you kids are trying to check off as if you are playing call of duty won't get you anywhere. You think that my colleagues didn't have the same exact degree as me? They did. Yet they didn't cut it.

Try doing this. Write down your ultimate red pill list, go grab a piece of paper (not your phone you millennial fuck) and a pen (no erasers here bitch) and write down with out googling what your ultimate red pill achievement list is. Dig into your subconscious.

Now replace it with this:

  • Mental discipline
  • Resistance to physical pain
  • Stress management
  • Fight instead of flight
  • Learn to dig yourself out of depression
  • Ignore anxiety
  • Patience
  • Think big and long term about your future
  • You can have the pussy only after you are done working
  • Learn to say no, enough is enough
  • Stop being a simpleton
  • Consider everything an investment of either time or money

My list looks a whole lot different right? There is probably a million other things that I didn't put on it this time, but I will leave you with a quote from an article I read a while back from the early 2000's that still stuck with me. "Men are simple creatures and are basically interested in three things: relaxation, sex and achievement."

Is that really all you are? Sleep, eat, shit, fuck, repeat? Are you just another gamer who has turned TRP into a list of CoD achievements or are you really taking what life throws at you and making the best lemonade you can?