There are many masters out there on a grand variety of different subjects. Look at something like screenwriting there are hundreds of books written on the topic, a good many schools you can go to, tons of different courses, seminars, and the like. And yet technically screen writing is a relatively small field. Yet you could lose your life learning from all the different masters in it.
Now apply that over a life and all the different skills that a man must possess to get the most from this life. I think its easy to say that there is no one ideology, book, or person, no matter how wise or intelligent that’s going to be able to give you all of the answers. Because of this we will often go through different ideologies, ways of thinking, and “masters” in order to help us on our way.
But the issue often comes when someone stayed mired in one person’s way of thinking instead of doing what Bruce Lee said and “Take what is useful, discard what is not.”. But how does one know when its time to move on from an ideology or when the ideology is producing “bad fruits” AKA not giving you what you want or need and becoming harmful.
Water & Ideology
There is a correlation to be found between water and knowing when its time to move on from an ideology. When water is stagnant many bad things happen to it, at least from a human perspective. Different things start to grow in it, it becomes unsafe for drinking, and many animals that could once live it, cannot anymore. Stagnant water can be dangerous and unhealthy. Same with ideologies.
You don’t want to ever stay and stagnate in the same place too long. Fresh water must be coming in to refresh things. This doesn’t mean you throw out all that is old, far from it. It’s just that you have to keep learning and move beyond the ideology. Absorbing facts that ring true and synthesizing the truth wherever you find it, into an “ideology” of your own making and understanding.
And even then you have to keep learning and synthesizing new things. Keep the new water flowing in. Don’t stay stagnate, keeping learning, and keep growing. Only through doing that and assimilating new true information can you continue to produce good things and not end up with a sickness of mind of sorts. Keep the water flowing.
Some Personal Experiences
The red pill/manosphere was an ideology that frankly I think did a lot of good for me. It helped me to make some thoughts and things that I had suspected “concrete” and “validated” by seeing that many others were coming to the same conclusion as me about certain things. It was interesting to watch the development of alternative ways of thinking and counters to the dominant narrative of that time.
Overall I felt it was a boon for men worldwide and could really be something. But it started to stagnate and when it stagnated and stuck to ideologies and the like that don’t correlate to the real world eventually it attracted anger and bitterness or even created it. Without offering any solutions or even sayings that solutions did not exist. Some rewarded men for wallowing in pity and whining. Toxic things.
That and a whole lot more happened. It didn’t adapt, it didn’t evolve, it didn’t grow. And it stagnated and became a mess of a swamp. The same has happened to other ideologies I’ve learned about and for lack of a better word “followed”. By followed I don’t mean drank the coolaid and went all in but rather learned from and stayed in contact with.
But once things start to stagnate it’s time to move on and keep moving and growing.
What Fruits Are Being Produced?
Another way to ask yourself if its time to move on from something is to ask yourself what fruit is following something providing? For example when I started following copyrighting advice from guys like Joseph Sugarman, Dan Kennedy, and the like my bank account started growing. So I bought all their books and took a handful of seminars and courses from them and my bank account kept growing or I was able to increase my freedom. So that’s an “ideology” that I’ll continue to stick around and see what else comes out of it.
But then there are others that I have abandoned. For example the mainstream Protestant church is something that I cared about when younger but moved away from. I just don’t think the modern church does things that are right and that they handicap men and in some strange ways help to destroy the world and have a dysgenic ideology in many ways. But that’s a whole other topic. However I still believe in God and hold on to the many good and true insights I got from my time there.
Again take what is useful and discard what is not. The mainstream Protestant church I just don’t see producing good results. I think in particular they produce weak males at every level and are so concerned with adapting themselves to the modern culture they have lost all trueness of what they had. But that’s another topic for another time. Point is, look at your ideology and see what fruit it is producing in your own life, not other people’s lives.
Other people lie or have their own reasons for saying something is working or not. Only use your own life and concrete proof. And also understand it takes time, so give it a reasonable amount of time. One day on a diet won’t make you lose weight and reading one copyrighting book won’t allow you to travel the county in an RV. What is considered a reasonable amount of time will change from ting to thing.
You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.
Keep It Flowing
And keep learning, growing, and becoming more. In this world its about forward motion. Doesn’t mean you can’t relax or anything, relaxation is important in many ways. Rather it’s about keep growing, learning, and becoming more, just like I said. Don’t stagnate and don’t get bogged down. Learn what is good and true and look for more of it. Because sometimes that’s just about all you can do.
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
