There's still time.

You are 20, 30, 50 years old, and you've lost "the one". Maybe it was recent, and it feels like a sucking chest wound. Maybe it was long ago, and it aches like a healed broken bone when the weather changes.

She sapped you of your manhood, by the time it was over, didn't she? Doing the dishes to be given a distracted hand job on your birthday. "Choreplay", we call it. Take out the garbage, clean the gutters, re-caulk the tub. There was no end to it. And you were happy to do it. Happy to think, "I'm a good guy. I'm a provider." And maybe there was that sweet afterthought of a handjob when you performed particularly well.

She made you into a pet. Worse than that--pets get to lie around all day and lick their nuts. You were only allowed to masturbate in the bathroom.

But I'm here to tell you that there's still time. I wanted to be re-watching the goddamn X-Files right now, but something came into my head and told me that there's one guy who really needs to hear my message right now. Maybe that guy is you. So here it is:

The only person who cares about you is you. Oh, maybe your children, on alternate weekends, but they're certainly not going to do anything to improve your income or give you six-pack abs. If you want to live a better life, you've got to build a better life. This is YOUR time, and you'll be amazed how the money piles up without a whiny bitch on your back.

Start with push-ups. When I started, I could only do 6. Now I do 50 before I leave for work in the morning. I promise you, you'll feel better about life. Start picking up a skill that will improve your life and/or earning potential. Notice I didn't say "hobby". Hobbies are for people who are well-adjusted and tranquil. But not you, bucko, you're a basket case. You need shock therapy.

If you make enough small steps, if you discipline yourself enough, you'll end up in a place where you're well-adjusted enough to take up a hobby. But not just yet. Hate your job? Fine. Do worse things to yourself in the morning than your job can ever do to you. Take cold showers. Work out until you want to puke. Learn a new language. Study personal finance, investing, and entrepreneurship. There is a physical core that people improve by doing planks and such nonsense. Then there is a spiritual core that damaged men improve by practicing self-discipline.

I'm not expecting improvement overnight. In fact, I expect very little. To paraphrase Jordan Peterson, you're a terrible boss and an even worse employee. You can't just order yourself to do stuff and then expect to see it happen. But the art of self-improvement is built by baby steps. What is one teeny tiny thing, that you could do, that you would do today, that would make your life the tiniest part better? Do that, and then add another thing next week. Maybe you could do 7 push-ups instead of 6 every day. Do 6 at a time, then do another one, later. That's a pretty small thing to ask of yourself, and it gives you nothing but benefit. Maybe next week, you could add a couple of sit-ups. Not many--just like 3. It's a pretty small price to pay, but maybe you'll hit some good days, where you think you can do 5. Go ahead, then, try to do 5.

Then maybe later, you discover you're tired of your whiny friends on Facebook. Delete Facebook. That's a pretty big step, but maybe if you think about it, you'll realize that it it makes you less happy, rather than more. It's a big maybe. And it's your life. But if you think it'll improve your life by 1%, maybe it's worth trying. Maybe. Living life, relaxing in the sunshine, and reading a book or playing the guitar might be more satisfying. But that's for you to discover.

You're going to die sometime between next Tuesday and 60 years from now. Make the most of it.