The Stages Of A Man’s Development

Everything goes in stages. There are stages of life, stages of launching a business, stages of civilizations, stages of planets, stars, and even entire universes. The purpose of these stages is to move on to something that is better and higher. To move away from chaos and towards higher and higher levels of order. This isn’t to say that being a certain stage is “bad” after all everyone must go through being an embryo to toddler to teen and eventually an adult. This doesn’t make any of those stages bad though ideally we would progress with each and every stage and maximize our development with every stage.

It’s no different with being a man. There are stages that men go through as they age and mature. Some get stuck in certain stages never making it out and never realizing that they were not at the final stage until it was too late. Likewise there are those that would prefer that all men jump to the final stage or evolution right away. When that isn’t going to happen. They must be brought through the stages to get to the end goal. Some will fly through certain stages while spending more time in others. It’s different for everyone, here are the stages that I’ve seen and where a man ultimately wants to end up.

These stages in done in what man’s main goal is at that time, what he is pursuing at that time. It’s rare but some men tear through all the stages pretty quickly and can end up at the final one before they have even entered their late twenties, some never make it out of the first stage. The stages can be different for different men but this is the order that I’ve most commonly seen as well as no matter what the end goal (final stage) is the same for all.

The First Stage Of Man – Man Chases Women

This is where many men never get out of because they never have the success with women that they want. Whenever you look at many men that are on paths of self-development and improving themselves one thing that the majority have in common was that they started on their journey because they wanted to be more attractive to women. I’ll admit my first trips to the weight room were to attract more women. It’s grown into something much larger than that now but that’s how it started. Likewise most (especially in the masculine self-improvement sphere) started out trying to attract more women.

This led them down the rabbit hole that led to further development. I knew little to nothing about entrepreneurship before the manosphere and now it’s how I make my living. There’s nothing wrong with this stage it’s natural and good and like I’ve said elsewhere women will always have a part in a healthy hormonally optimized man’s life. However this stage becomes a problem when it’s made the number one focus or is never moved past. Women are fun but there is much more to life and to a man’s development.

The Second Stage Of Man – Man Chases Money

Having had his fill of women or seeing that there is a limited reward there a man moves on to other things. What he generally seeks next is money. He believes with money that he can have all that he wants. Money is great, money is important, and best of all money is the basis of freedom. A man must learn and master the art and science of money getting because it’s going to play a large role in his life until his dying breath. Most men unfortunatelly never master this stage. They stay broke for their entire lives and the majority of their time is taken up doing something they don’t want to do for people they don’t want to do it for.

This saps a man’s strength, energy, and frankly will to live. Money is the agent of freedom and freedom is tied deeply to a man’s soul. This is the stage in which a man will build his business, learn sales and marketing, and come to a deeper understanding of how humanity works. He’ll understand the importance of freedom and how money makes so much of the world go around. However if he gets caught in this stage and starts to see money as the end goal and not a means to an end he’ll cripple his overall development and die not realizing his full potential. Money is great and needed but it is not the end goal and it is not everything.

The Third Stage Of Man – Man Chases Power

Finding that neither women nor money provide him with what he really wants he seeks to next level, power. This is the stage where men will forge mighty kingdoms or become leaders of nations. A man may figure with power comes money and women anyways. The skills that a man developed during the other stages will help him with this one. He learns even more of human nature and the great importance of strength. He learns in this world if you don’t understand the game then you are being played. He begins to understand the nature of those that run the show behind the scenes and how it really is all a joke. He finds what he learned about human nature from sales and marketing is just the tip of the iceberg.

He begins to see the larger pattern behind things and gain information that 99% of humanity never has and never will have access to. Once he becomes comfortable at this level he will sooner or later be faced with a choice. He can remain at this level and be set for life. He’ll have everything that his heart desires and much of it. All he has to do is not upset the apple cart, all he has to do is toe the line and keep the structure in place. He finds power to be addicting, perhaps the most addicting thing that there is. He has risen above the ranks of the vast majority of humanity and now has the chance to happily rule them.

The Fourth & Final Stage Of Man – Man Chases Legacy

History is filled with men who lived happily at the power stage of development. They were the fat kings, the lazy cheiftains, and comfortable bankers. They liked the way things were and didn’t plan of fighting against something that rewarded them so, after all why would they? Power has a nature of corrupting and any power structure that has been in place for some time is going to suffer from this corruption. And the corruption is going to be hard to get rid of because often it requires doing so from the inside. And let’s face it if you’re comfortable and have everything that you want why change anything even if it hurts others, is bad for humanity as a whole, or the worst thing goes against your honor.

However a few men see the corruption of the power structure and seek to stand against it, to fight for something beyond themselves. To leave a legacy behind for all men that come after them. To be a bright shining beacon of what a man can do in history. A prime example of this is Andrew Jackson. A man who worked his way up from soldier to President of the United States and then went and fought the bank. A man who could have sat back and enjoyed his work instead chose to fight the most powerful and corrupt structure and was nearly assassinated because of it. This was because Andrew Jackson was principled and believed in something beyond his own comfort…his legacy.

Summary

There are plenty more examples throughout history. Maybe you see the stages differently, this isn’t meant to be an exact chart but rather a rough description of the stages that a man can go through in his development. They all feed into one another even if the order may be a bit different for each man. These should be used a guide to your current development and what the future may hold. Ultimately what every man seeks is a legacy that will be passed down for generations and that will be an example for all men who come after him.

If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!

-Charles Sledge