So far we’ve covered three things that can ruin a man’s life. Those three things are not having goals which was the first one we covered. The next was poor money management, not understanding how to acquire money in an efficient and effective way, as well as debt. And thirdly we covered bad relationships both with acquaintances and friends, as well as family, and also with women.
We’ve covered a lot of ground despite only covering three things. If most men addressed those three things alone they’d already be ahead of eighty percent of the population out there. Sad to say but also true. However we’re not looking just to be above average, that’s a very low goal for most things. What we’re looking for is to be the best we can be. And to do that we have to cover all areas.
Thing That Ruins The Lives Of Men 4 – Addictions
Addictions are many and varied and they all stem from the same process in the mind. There are different flavors for different people but they all negatively affect your life and keep you from performing at your best. Addictions of all sorts have ruined many different peoples lives as well. We’ll look at some of the most common as well as ways to deal with them in a healthy manner. The biggest ones that I can think of for modern males are porn, weed, alcohol, tobacco, and hard drugs.
While crack addiction may be more pronounced and noticeable than say, porn. That doesn’t therefore mean that porn isn’t a problem. My suggestion would be to cut out the above five things for at the very least a month’s time and see how hard it is for you. If it’s hard, a struggle, or something that you can’t do then you have a problem that needs to be addressed. Addiction starts in the brain and therefore it signals a problem with brain functioning.
Luckily there are many ways to help your brain function. The biggest thing is meditation. Meditation essentially serves as anti-addiction. It does the opposite to your brain what addiction does and is critical in addiction recovery and prevention. Next look at diet. Diet plays a huge role in recovering from or preventing addiction. The fact that this is ignored is a big reason why services like AA fail so often. Things like exercising, spending time in nature, getting good sleep, and the like are also important.
Another big mistake that is made when trying to prevent or recover from addiction or bad habits is simply going cold turkey and relying on willpower. Willpower is great and a great gift but you have to work with yourself as well on this matter. You can’t just cut out a bad habit and then hope for the best. You have to replace it with a good habit at the same time. You have to fill in that gap, otherwise your old habit will come charging back in. This doesn’t mean by replacing it, the bad habit won’t put up a fight.
Just that if you want to have a chance for success then you have to include a good habit. You should essentially always have a good habit you’re trying to cultivate and a bad habit you’re trying to cull. These work symbiotically to help you forge the good habit and erase the bad habit. Addictions have no place in a man’s life. You must be in control of your mind and thoughts, not a slave to passions or your baser nature.
Be in control and give yourself to tools and work needed to do so.
Thing That Ruins The Life Of Men 5 – Not Growing
We need to grow each and every day. In some way, shape, or form we need to be better today than we were the day before or at least on the path there. You can never stop learning and you can never stop growing. You must constantly push and press yourself. Not to the point or burnout or exhaustion but rather just pushing yourself a little each day. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady in the way to win the race.
Grow each and every day. Always look for new experiences and have a skill that your learning. Similar to goals it doesn’t matter so much what skill you’re learning more so than you have something you’re pressing towards and bettering at. Read books, take classes, learn new things. Understand that there’s only growing and stagnating, you can never just stay where you’re at.
You’re either moving forward or sinking into the mire. Life is constant motion, this doesn’t mean you can’t ever relax, that’s not what I mean at all. Rather just always be moving forward. Never stop learning, if you get that then you’ve got it. So many stop learning after their work training is done and then they end up stagnating in life and fighting harder and harder to stay where they are. Stagnate or grow, those are the only two choices.
So like I said above read books, takes classes, seek out new experiences, learn a new skill, push yourself to get outside of your comfort zone, and try new things. And never stop.
Two More Pieces Of The Puzzle
Two more pieces of the puzzle. We’ve covered half of the top ten things that ruin men’s lives so far and will be covering the rest soon. We talked about addictions and not growing, two major causes of harm, failure, and pain in the majority of men’s lives. Work on culling bad habits and encouraging good. Work on giving yourself the support mentally that you need to overcome addictions whether minor or severe. Always be learning and growing, each and every day learn something new, be a little better than you were the day before.
Simple things but that doesn’t make them any less life changing.
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
