Never set another goal... if you want to win. We're born, tossed into this world with more questions than answers. We have to figure out why we're here, what's our purpose, and what we ought to do to maximize our meaning while we exist. For men, especially, we're here to do something. Of course, a large part of our meaning comes from those we do it for, those we protect, those who raise us, those who embark on this ride with us. But, the doing, the work, you can't deny it's importance. More and more, however, we're pushed to prize the result, what the doing can get us, what we can acquire, what we can show to the world is positioned as having the most value. The prize outweighs the process, and so, men spend their entire lives acquiring, hoarding, comparing, envying, and in doing so, missing the true value, which is the journey. Think about the word, ambition. What comes to mind? Maybe an achiever, a go 'getter', a winner. We think about what someone has, not who or how someone is. Ambition is almost seen as someone chasing the wrong thing while thinking it's the only thing; but true ambition, as Steven Pressfield notes, is our soul begging us to live in the right way... To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence. Ambition is the man who chooses to write books or travel the world or raise a family well, when everything around him is calling him to chase status. We can chase things in a manner that has nothing to do with our ambition. Ambition isn't acquisition, it's doing. Ambition is doing great work, it's creation, it's true, it isn't muddled by the lie of comparison because it's an individual definition, and we each have our own. On some level, all men are called to be our best. We feel a disconnect if we're out of shape, if we're lazy. We feel at our best when we're disciplined, strong, when we're busy. Time flows without measure when we're doing good work, no matter what that work is. We become confident when we check off tasks, when we do difficult things. In the book, flow, the author writes about the peak of human existence being in a flow state, where we're 'in the zone', completely focused on our work, even a hobby that's challenging. We want to fight this truth because we're bombarded by the alternative definition, that the peak of human existence is seeing how much you can acquire. Which brings me to goals; do we really need them? Do they serve the purpose we think they serve, edging us closer to our potential, or do they handcuff us to an incorrect and even destructive way of being? To be honest, I don't know. I can't help myself from setting goals. It's so a part of me. When I was a kid I was dreaming of making the NHL or NBA or fighting in Madison Square Gardens. I've been setting long term goals since I was in diapers. But, I really don't think they're necessary, nor productive; at least not in the manner in which we set them. We have a direction we're going. It's forward. It's toward improvement. We can't avoid this direction. It's why we do what we do. This direction is innate. It requires no planning. It needs no final definition. The planning is more micro than macro. It's, what ought we do, not what am I trying to get? The goal should be to do our work well. It should be to create an atmosphere where we're completely lost in a task. We complete the task, and move onto the next. We don't stop to grade where we are versus where we want to be, ever. That opens the door for wishing, for wanting, for comparison and envy of those who are where we want to be. Goals are pitched as the ultimate masculine mode of operating. Honestly, I think they're the opposite. Do the workout because it's the right thing to do, don't pass by the mirror and wish you were in better shape. Set goals for tasks. Goals that restrict distraction, that have deadlines, the force focus, and forget the result. The 'goal' ought to be to do the right thing right now and only that thing, and then the next thing, and then the next, and to be completely consumed with living optimally, whether that's with work, with health, with family. If we'd just focus on the work, the task, the moment, we'd end our lives without regret, we'd end them having known we lived well, we fought the fight, we won the race. The challenge... Release what you want. Let it die. Focus only on what you ought to do, and do it well. That, my friend, is what it means to be a Man IN the Arena.

Sometimes we've had worldviews imprinted into us from an early age that suck. They make life harder, they make us weaker, more fragile. Sometimes we have to choose worldviews that help us succeed, that make us robust, even antifragile, to the point where any hard time works for us rather than against us.

The Truth Will Set You Free (to be who you ought to be) mitanutra.com/blogs/self-imp…

Discouragement is self-pity in a different wrapper. Man up. Show yourself and the world what you’re made of. There’s no value in wishing things were better. Do whatever you have to do to make them better.

Free market economies work because of failure. Closed economies fail because of a lack of failure. The vast majority of businesses fail in free economies. Failure isn't the enemy. It's what leads to evolution. Personal failures aren't the end, but a step toward your evolution.

[Man in the Arena Series] EP 1. Kirk Kerkorian: the Invisible Billionaire youtu.be/4peVWJeZNOU

New Series called the Man in the Arena Series | EP 1 is about Kirk Kerkorian: the Invisible Billionaire

Habit > motivation Focus on building the habits you want by starting with the lowest barrier to entry (the thing you can’t NOT do - ie. 1 push up a day). Then gradually increase. No matter how much you don’t feel like doing one push up. You’ll do it. Apply this to other areas of life: Read 1 page a day. Write one paragraph a day. Eat one high protein meal a day. Go for one sauntering walk a day. The interwebz is filled with manufactured (a few genuine) personalities who’ll make you think you’re a bitch if you’re not climbing Kilimanjaro everyday. So, you buy in, not to the upside, but to the downside. And you do nothing. No one ever says do 1, and counts it as a win. If you’re investing and you increase by 100% in a day, you’re a hero. But in life, in habits, people tell you that you have to do a full 180 or you’re shite. Nonsense. Start with 1.

It's a shame @mitanutra isn't more dominant in the supplement game. @ChadHowse used real science to create a set of products that will optimize the hell out of you AND are competition legal. They sell just 8 products, and those 8 alone will make you stronger and faster for less money than anything on the market that you don't have to inject or is banned by WADA (for my guys who get drug tested). Highly recommended that you check them out. bit.ly/3EGGpCq

Love this brother, appreciate it!

'Loving what you do' = solving exciting problems. Ideally with some skin in the game.

Care about fewer things, more.

Appreciate the shout out brother!

Good habits compound over time. Eat animals. Eat fruits and veggies. Lift 4 days a week. Do cardio 5 days a week. Repeat forever.

Everyone gambles. We make bets of money, time, and effort on what we think will create the best future. If you're not gambling, you're waiting for luck to intervene.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, ‘act as if’, before… Act as if you’ve reached your goal, as if you’re already that guy, because it’s ‘that guy’ that’s responsible for the goal being achieved, so if you act as if you’re already him, then the goal will come. It’s a nice idea, however, there’s only one instance where I think it holds true and it becomes beneficial. The reality is that if you’re building a business, you’re not going to act as if you’re the guy who has the business built. Heck, no. You’ve got to do more than him, risk more, work more, think more, create more. You’re far away from that delegated, mission-only focus. You’re in the weeds, and you have to be. You’re not going to act as if you’re the guy who’s already in shape, either. Because while he has great habits formed, you have to diet a bit more, you have to be more strict with protein intake, with what you do for cardio, even lifting. The guy that gets the results is 10x the guy who has the results… …EXCEPT when it comes to handling stress. I heard a clip the other day of the comedian Theo Von talking about Joe Rogan. It was so good that I actually wrote it down verbatim. “If he does feel pressure, he doesn’t let you see it,” he said, when talking about Rogan’s insane schedule and the weight of the world he must have on his shoulders. In that sense, we CAN and SHOULD act as if. Act as if everything’s alright, even if it isn’t. Act as if the pressure we face which, as men, is world-consuming, is light, even not there. We do the work. We take the risks. We take on more than we may think we can handle. We’re responsible for putting food in our kid’s mouths, giving our wives all we think they deserve, aiming for the upside, being in great shape, protecting those around us, providing for them, guiding them, teaching them, all the while not fully understanding everything ourselves, and continuously pursuing knowledge and wisdom… …And growth. It’s a lot, sure. But we don’t have to act like it is. And in not acting like it is, it becomes not a lot. It’s a frame of mind that’s rooted in Stoicism, Christianity, and any other GOOD philosophy or religion. It’s the idea that we can control what we can, and nothing more. We have to do everything we can, all of the work and discipline we can have, must be ours, we can’t avoid that. It’s not indifference to the struggle, it’s indifference to the worry and the weight of it all. Yes, we struggle, but we don’t struggle with the struggle. All you can do, is all you can do. You have to do all you can do, it’s hard, sure, but we don’t have to see it as such, after all, this is our life, this is what we chose, these are our battles, and we ought not only fight them with honor and pride, but with peace, with a Stoic demeanor. In the end, it’s a choice. Not a one off decision, but a choice to constantly check yourself, how you’re thinking, how you’re acting, what you’re showing to others. It’s a choice to train yourself to not be bothered by what bothers almost everyone. This is true strength and grit. It’s going through hell while feeling like you’re in Heaven. It makes the lives of those around you better. It allows you to think more clearly. It makes this struggle called life easier, even more fun. It makes the goal you’re aiming at far more likely. It is, at the very least, worth trying. Get after it.

Do good, difficult things well, and you live a good life. Avoid doing good, difficult things, and you welcome regret as your permanent companion.

We over-emphasize what we think we need. We under-emphasize what we actually need.

The unknown worries us more than the known. Live in the known.

'Act as if' typically applies to acting as if the result has been achieved & you're already 'that guy'. Okay... But the best use of this idea is to train yourself to be able to deal with hell as if it's nothing. Have stressful events, but act as if nothing bothers you.