I think I’ve talked about it before but I had different heroes growing up then most. I was discouraged from idolizing “man who is good at playing with balls X, Y, X.” and told to find other heroes. One place I found them was from history. I was homeschooled for a short period of time and for that time was able to do a deep dive on history where I discovered a great many things. One of them was the American General George S. Patton. Patton was an old school general and a very interest figure to study, for many different reasons.
Today we’re not going to get into any of the political reasons that this man was so fascinating and controversial or why he was assassinated (anyone with half a brain could see what happened) or his thought about WWII or any of that. All worthy of your study and consideration but not something we’re going to focus on today. Today we’re going to focus on Patton the man and in particular a quote that stood out to me as a kid and still does today.
The quote is “Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way.” or something to that extent. We’re going to talk about how this quote applies to your own life and then expound on it from there. There are a great many wise things the general said and maybe we’ll dive into them at some point in the future but for now let’s break down this quote and how it applies to men and making your life better.
Lead, Follow, Or Move
One thing you have to understand as a man is that (aside from legal matters) you don’t need permission from others. You need to be a self-starter and go out and do things on your own. You can’t wait around for others to decide things for you. You have to decide them yourself and then act to make those things come about. Again not talking about legal things here, always follow the law, talking about non-legal life actions. For example maybe you want to start a business but want permission from friends or family because you don’t have to confidence to go out and do it.
That’s a problem. And it relates to the quote above. The quote above talks about in your life you should essentially always be in a state of action in regards to things you want. Leading yourself, following someone who knows the way, or getting the hell out of the way so others who know what they’re doing can go forward. So often we get caught up with people bumbling about not knowing what they’re doing and not knowing where they’re going. Strive to never be one of these people. It’s fine to not know what you’re doing or where you’re going but be honest about and seek a remedy to it if it matters to you.
Another useful way of interpreting it is always have someone above you that you’re following after that can help guide you. Maybe it’s a coach or instructor, maybe it’s books on a subject your interested in, just someone ahead of you in the game that you can learn from. Then always be leading yourself, always discipline yourself to keep striving and keep going forward, to keep working towards your goals and the life that you want to live, day in and day out. And finally get out of the way on things you have no business being in. It’ll save you lots of time and headaches.
A Corollary To Leading
This brings me to another facet of manhood and living a good life. One that I was originally going to write about when the old general’s quote shot up from the subconscious. And that is addressing whining and working on one’s problems. One big problem I have/had with many men’s self-improvement “spheres” was the amount of blaming, victimizing, and whining that went on. Seriously some of those sites and places were like bitter old women bitching after having a bottle of wine each. And these were sites that claimed to be “manly”.
To me one of the antithesis of masculinity is whining and bitching, moaning and groaning about things that are wrong. If you see something wrong in your life or in the community around you then set about working on a solution to it. Get off your ass and take action but for shit’s sake don’t sit around and cry like a bitch about it. Find a solution or shut up about it, that’s what men have done and always will do. Not sit around and bitch and whine and cry and moan. Despite what you may have heard.
Get up and do something or sit down and shut up about it. Reminded me of the lead, follow, or get out of the way. You can almost always fix things in your own life or at least make them much better than they are now if you work hard at it. It’s not politically correct to say that people end up where they are because of their own faults and while fate certainly doesn’t deal equal hands those that don’t make excuses and get moving always end up better then those that do not. This is politically incorrect because it hurts the ego of many. But to me truth should be above ego. Great axiom to have for your own life but never expect humanity as a whole to follow it.
Lessons For Your Own Life
I don’t think I shared anything profound here, rather reminds for masculinity and living the life that you want. Lead, follow, or get out of the way likewise if you run into a problem then find a solution to it or shut up about it, but don’t sit around a bitch like a bitter old crone about it. Or at least don’t do that and then call yourself a man. Nut up or shut to put it another way. Sure you can’t solve every problem and there’s not a easy or workable solution to everything. But you can always improve your lot and you can always fight back against the problems in your own life and immediately around you. Just don’t sit around and mope.
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
