Every now and then, a man needs a reset. For me, this has been a way to branch out and cultivate value. Every couple of years, I find myself returning to Monk Mode for a few months. As of last week, I deleted all of my social media, and have decided to ghost the world for an indefinite amount of time. The new focus of my solitude will be surfing. Last time, it was rock climbing.

The Start Whether it was a breakup, a rut in life, or just general dissatisfaction with the direction of my life, my monk modes begin with a hard reset. I don’t play video games. I vanish off of social media. My core focus hones in to a select few things. I’ve found this helps shed all the excess bullshit people end up concerning themselves with. Social media followings, the latest this or that, ect. Fuck it all.

For those unsure of where to ground the start of their monk mode, clean eating and lifting is a solid foundation. Physical well being is godly important. Do not let your body get soft. Don’t slack on your nutrition. It’s just too important. Read everything you can about diet, lifting, and mental wellbeing. These things will give you a strong foundation to guide the rest of your monk mode journey.

Letting Go

We’re men. We keep our feelings to ourselves because that’s just the way the world is. We control our emotions, because we know letting them control us will be perceived as weakness by many. It’s the unfortunate truth of being a man. After laying the framework for fitness, now we must focus on mental clarity and health. Meditation is a powerful tool for this. Accept the shitty things that have happened. Understand how they’ve impacted you. Then let it fade away. Some people invoke a sense of spirituality or religion with this. Whatever works best for you. Clear your mind.

Moving towards something The ultimate goal of monk mode is to guide us to a destination with more value than the place we left behind. This could be any number of things for a man. Mastery of a craft, career advancement, a lean strong body, ect. Whatever this direction, monk mode allows you to wholly focus on it with minimal distraction. Everything else is secondary. An important part to this phase is discipline. It’s hard to buck old habits. It’s so much easier to fall into comfort. Don’t. You must have discipline. Without it, you are going to fail.

Mastery

This is the part of monk mode where it all falls into place. On my last journey, I focused on rock climbing. It combines fitness with something that I found challenging and rewarding. In 5 months, I went from struggling up V3/5.9/5.10- to sending V7/5.12c/d climbing routes. I found it immensely rewarding to see these results of my effort. Far more rewarding than chasing pussy at bars and clubs. I learned a lot about myself, my chosen target, and had built more value into my life. I aim to achieve the same with surfing this time around.

Exiting Monk Mode, and re-integration Inevitably, every monk mode ends. After an intense inward journey of self improvement, there comes a time to return to a more social world. During this period, I recommend taking the switch slowly. Give yourself a month to brush up on game, social cues, the latest happenings, ect. A successful monk mode will return you to whichever venues you choose a better, healthier, more confident man. Don’t underestimate the power of leaving things on pause to build yourself. Don’t be afraid to step back and do it.