What It's Like to Take a Punch | The Art of Manliness
“A man never knows what he’s made of until he gets punched.” I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded philosophical enough to get my attention.| The Art of Manliness
“A man never knows what he’s made of until he gets punched.” I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded philosophical enough to get my attention.| The Art of Manliness
3 simple steps to telling a great story. Heros, plus conflicts, plus clear resolutions lead to a story anyone can enjoy.| The Art of Manliness
Why inaction can be expensive, how action can sometimes mean not doing anything, and why action is the best way to find courage in life.| The Art of Manliness
When is it okay for a man to display his emotions through crying?| The Art of Manliness
Inspired individuals can and do make a difference everyday. Live a meaningful life and make a difference.| The Art of Manliness
Making big decisions can feel paralyzing. Whether it’s choosing a new job, moving to a different city, or deciding if you should break up with someone, these choices can keep you agonizingly stuck, forever cycling through pros and cons. My guest can help you finally choose and move forward. That’s what she does for a […] This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.| Advice Archives | The Art of Manliness
Note: The following is an excerpt from Orison Swett Marden’s Be Good to Yourself, published in 1910. Whereas ceaseless striving is often framed through an antiseptic neurochemical lens — as merely a fruitless, desultory, dopamine-driven chase —or as an ethically questionable, if not outright malevolent, thirst for money and power, Marden’s framing of ambition is […]| The Art of Manliness
Twenty manly aphorisms that I once thought were dumb but now appreciate as a grown man.| The Art of Manliness
Sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone's door.| The Art of Manliness
Today we cover the foundation of the art of letter writing: stationery| The Art of Manliness
The Gila National Forest covers about 3.3 million acres in southwest New Mexico. During the dry summer season, wildfires pose a serious threat to the area. To spot wildfires in this vast landscape as soon as they start, the U.S. Forest Service relies on fire towers spread throughout the area that are each manned […]| The Art of Manliness
Rich Sommer from Mad Men talks about what he's learned about manliness from starring in the show.| The Art of Manliness
It can feel like we've made a lot of progress during the past 30 years. But if you look closer, you start to notice that we've been running on repeat.| The Art of Manliness
Sunday Firesides are a new series of short reflections to start your week. Recent studies on willpower have shown that, contrary to the popular belief that people with more self-control are better at exercising discipline, they in fact rarely use this capacity at all. Instead, they minimize the number of temptations they experience in their […]| The Art of Manliness
Nice Guys finish last. Learn how to cure your Nice Guy Syndrome from Dr. Robert Glover.| The Art of Manliness
Practice does have something to do with gaining skill, but its value depends largely upon how long one practices.| The Art of Manliness
There’s a popular maxim in personal development circles that goes: “F**k motivation. It’s fickle and unreliable and isn’t worth your time. Better to cultivate discipline.” Everywhere you look these days, people are exalting the sentiment behind this mantra; they’re down on motivation and high on discipline. Your Instagram feed is probably full of “influencers” shouting […]| The Art of Manliness
Whether you’re a businessman, a statesman, a general, or a parent, you’re strategizing on a daily basis. So how do you do it better?| The Art of Manliness
Learn the manly art of doing things. Based on Albert Bandura's research regarding self-efficacy. Learn how to get your butt in gear and do the things you want to do!| The Art of Manliness
Treating life like an experiment is about curiosity and attempting to live better. Here are some tips and tools for treating life like an experiment.| The Art of Manliness
I talk with Robert Maurer about this philosophy of small, continuous improvement used by Japanese carmakers for over 60 years| The Art of Manliness
Inside many men is the call for adventure. My guest today is one of those men and he's pursued a lifetime of amazing expeditions.| The Art of Manliness
Do you have a dream that you've had since you were a boy, but never got around to fulfilling because it didn't fit the typical life pattern of college-kids-corporate job that society pressures men into?| The Art of Manliness
This month, we ran a series of articles on the research of psychologist Daniel J. Levinson, which found that there are phases of development all throughout adulthood, just as there are in childhood and adolescence. One of the interesting sort of asides to this finding, was Levinson’s explanation of the range in which someone does […]| The Art of Manliness
Every man goes though ups and downs in his life. Here's a guide on how to weather them like a man.| The Art of Manliness
Uncover the phases of adult life and the idea of midlife crisis. Dive into the Mid-Life Transition and its significance in Daniel J. Levinson's research.| The Art of Manliness
The four factors that need to be in place for a man to feel like a man, and why experiencing these qualities has become harder to do in the present age.| The Art of Manliness
Do you ever feel like you're spinning your existential wheels in life? That outwardly, you seem to be doing ok, but inwardly, you feel kind of empty?| The Art of Manliness
Insults are a part of the human experience. We insult others and we get insulted back. Social media has only amplified our tendency to ridicule one another, and increased our likelihood of being on the receiving end of a barb. Yet we don’t typically understand the dynamics of insults very well. Why do we […]| The Art of Manliness
This week we return to our series called “Man Stories” where we interview an Art of Manliness reader and get his personal perspective on manliness.| The Art of Manliness
In today's episode I talk to writer Steven Pressfield. Steven has written over a dozen books in both the fiction and non-fiction categories.| The Art of Manliness
Have you ever wanted something really, really bad, but when you finally got it, you were left feeling kind of disappointed?| The Art of Manliness
If you are still "finding yourself" after college, it's because you're afraid of commitment. The only path to finding yourself is through making commitments| The Art of Manliness
This Friday is the summer solstice. It’s the longest day of the year. Afterward, the days will start getting shorter. We’re big advocates of embracing seasonality. It’s a powerful antidote to what C.S. Lewis called the horror of the same old thing. Acknowledging the summer solstice is a great opportunity to inject a seasonal tradition […]| The Art of Manliness
People have different styles when they cook. Some people are neat and tidy. After taking out and using an ingredient they don’t need anymore, they return it to the fridge or cabinet. After chopping up vegetables, they clean up the scraps left behind. When a dish has been dirtied, they put it in the sink. […] This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.| Advice Archives | The Art of Manliness
Note: This is a rebroadcast. Most everyone wants to live a good, meaningful life, though we don’t always know what that means and how to do it. Plenty of modern self-improvement programs claim to point people in the right direction, but many of the best answers were already offered more than two thousand years ago. […] This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.| Advice Archives | The Art of Manliness
We often think of the difference between a boy and a man as a matter of age. But Brian Tome says that there can be 15-year-old men and 45-year-old boys, and that the real difference maker in being grown up isn’t a matter of the number of years you accumulate but the qualities, behaviors, and […]| The Art of Manliness
Rites of passage have largely been lost in our modern world. Learn how to create your own and transition into the next stage of life.| The Art of Manliness
Have you come to a point in your life where the pursuits of your younger years no longer seem meaningful or satisfying? Maybe it's time to re-think things.| The Art of Manliness
Courage, according to Aristotle, is the mean between fear and recklessness.| The Art of Manliness
Do you spend a lot of time on social media and other time-wasting apps on your phone? If you’re unhappy with your mindless scrolling habit, you’ve likely tried different tactics to break it, like deleting apps or using screentime features to set time limits. While these Odysseian methods of restraint can help break the scroll habit, […] This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.| Character Archives | The Art of Manliness
Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for espousing a philosophy that may be a help in wrestling with existential angst and finding meaning in life. My guest would say that Nietzsche’s philosophy may also be useful for figuring out something else: how to have a healthy relationship with modern technology. His name is Nate Anderson and he’s […]| The Art of Manliness
A collection of quotes from all types of people that "explain" the ironies and variabilities of human life and psychology.| The Art of Manliness
Secrets secrets are no fun. Secrets secrets hurt someone. From a young age, this little rhyme teaches us that being secretive is a negative trait. Secrets can only lead to pain. And experience and history would seem to bear this out. A spouse keeps a secret affair, which leads to divorce. Abuse in a family […]| The Art of Manliness
While we often associate Eastern spiritual and philosophical traditions with meditation and contemplation, there’s another side to this wisdom that centers on action and can help us move through depression, anxiety, fear, and just general malaise. My guest today is the author of a book about this action-oriented philosophy. His name is Gregg Krech, […]| The Art of Manliness
Uncertainty is a constant of human existence. How will market conditions affect your new business venture? What will be the results of the medical test you just took? Will a new relationship work out? For most of us, situations of uncertainty trigger anxiety, even fear. But the stress of uncertainty doesn’t have to overwhelm you. […]| The Art of Manliness
Man has spent thousands of years mapping, domesticating, and harnessing his environment. He has sailed the earth’s seas, climbed its mountains, plumbed its depths, and left its atmosphere. He has tamed the wilderness, supplanted thick forests with sprawling cities, cultivated agricultural yields that can feed billions. He has channeled electricity, routed many diseases, shrunk space […]| The Art of Manliness
Ask any graphic designer or architect, and they’ll tell you that, much to their chagrin, clients have a much easier time expressing what they don’t like about a draft or mock-up than conveying what they’d rather have it look like instead. Individuals often evince this same dynamic in designing the architecture of their lives. “I […]| The Art of Manliness
What life lessons can we learn from straight razor shaving? Let's find out from this parable.| The Art of Manliness
Figuring out the pitfalls and best practices of adulthood can be tricky. It’s helpful to have some pearls of wisdom to guide you along the way. My guest today has spent decades collecting these kinds of helpful truths and has crafted her own guiding mantras of maturity. Gretchen Rubin is the author of numerous bestselling […]| The Art of Manliness
Hustle is the key to success. Find out how a little hustling can give you the life you want.| The Art of Manliness
Pride has been called one of the deadly sins. But what if it holds the key to human success? That’s the argument my guest makes in her book, "Take Pride."| The Art of Manliness
We’re often told violence is never the answer. My guest today would argue that not only is that idea wrong, it's also extremely dangerous.| The Art of Manliness
Phases of growth and interest, conflict and drama, change and renewal happen continuously throughout one's life, and in a predictable pattern.| The Art of Manliness
Does your life ever feel like the movie Groundhog Day? You seemingly repeat the same old loop over and over again: wake up, commute, work, commute, home, bed. Rinse and repeat. It can feel a little depressing, a little desperation-producing. It can seem like inhabiting a certain kind of hell. To understand and break out […]| The Art of Manliness
Sociologists have identified three phases that constitute a proper rite of passage: separation, transition, and re-incorporation.| The Art of Manliness
Resilience is often touted as the end all, be all of coping with life’s challenges and setbacks. But my guest knows from her studies, executive coaching, and her own life that sometimes resilience just isn’t enough. You need an even more durable source of strength. Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist and researcher and […] This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.| Character Archives | The Art of Manliness
When I turned forty a couple of years ago, one of the things I did for that milestone was to go through all the journals I’ve kept from childhood through adulthood. It was a way to do a retrospective inventory at the midpoint of life. In one of my journals from high school, I had […]| The Art of Manliness
Before there was politics, there was sex and love, games and sports, spirituality and art, glory and honor. As civilization became increasingly complex, governments were instituted to protect this primordial pursuit of happiness in a more structured and equitable way. As Aristotle put it, “every state is a community of some kind, and every community […]| The Art of Manliness
Nicholas Carr and I discuss why our utopian future is creepy, how the internet is making us dumber, and why mundane tasks are a source of satisfaction.| The Art of Manliness
Many people have, throughout their lives, experienced varying degrees of existential angst: the feeling of being some combination of unmoored, bored, anxious, restless, depressed, lost, isolated, and/or alienated, and simply wondering what it’s all about. For many too, these feelings of existential angst have been exacerbated over the past pandemic-burdened year. Yet, heightened though these […]| The Art of Manliness
Today’s teens and 20- and 30-somethings -- Generations Y and Z -- are in fact surprisingly like their midcentury counterparts.| The Art of Manliness
"When I first came down to the city from my mountain home, I began to wither, and wish instinctively for the vital woods and high sky."| The Art of Manliness
It has long been observed that societies seem to oscillate between periods of peace and plenty, and periods of conflict and hardship.| The Art of Manliness
When people think about living more fully and making better use of their time, they typically think of finding some new organizational system they can structure their lives with. Oliver Burkeman says that what you really need instead are perspective shifts — small, sustainable changes in how you view and approach your day-to-day life. He […]| The Art of Manliness
Note: This is a rebroadcast. When you think about someone having a midlife crisis, you probably think of a man getting divorced, stepping out with a younger woman, and buying a sports car. But my guest today says the often jokey, mockable trope of the midlife crisis we have in our popular culture discounts the […]| The Art of Manliness
I had the pleasure of speaking with AoM Community member, Kasper, and asking him for his take on manliness. Kasper lives and works in London as an artist.| The Art of Manliness
If you're familiar with the world of collegiate or Olympic wrestling, then you probably know who Dan Gable is.| The Art of Manliness
Note: In the 1930s, the Cleveland Academy of Medicine held a contest that solicited submissions for the best set of rules for mental health. The winning set of rules, which we share below, was penned by psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Fetterman and published in the academy’s bulletin. MENTAL HEALTH RULES HAVE A HOBBY: Acquire pursuits which […]| The Art of Manliness
To train the body, strengthening its muscles, increasing its cardiovascular health, and improving its agility, you need to do exercises like stretching, running, and lifting weights. To train the soul, expanding its capacity, you likewise need to perform exercises, in this case, what are called “spiritual disciplines” — practices like fasting, silence, self-examination, study, and […]| The Art of Manliness
In the aftermath of the Second Punic War, Roman citizens erected several statues — which remained standing for centuries — of Hannibal. Hannibal. The cruel Carthaginian general who started the war, occupied most of southern Italy for a decade and a half, and terrorized Romans for just as long. Typical of an honor-based culture, ancient […]| The Art of Manliness
You’ve heard of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But did you know that its author, Stephen Covey, was in his late fifties when it came out? After it became a monumental bestseller, Covey continued to work on new book ideas, one of which encapsulated his own experience with late-in-life success and his commitment to having an ever-forward-looking attitude. A […]| The Art of Manliness
Why do we feel wonder? What purpose does it serve in our survival and flourishing as humans?| The Art of Manliness
It takes a little courage to offer one’s feelings directly; to risk exposing one’s achingly earnest flanks to criticism and embarrassment.| The Art of Manliness
When a tragedy — a serious accident, an unexpected death — befalls someone, friends and family quickly spring into action. Emergency room lobbies are crowded with visitors; hospital rooms are filled with flowers; mailboxes are stuffed with sympathy cards; doorsteps are laden with meals. It’s hard for loved ones not to think of the victim […]| The Art of Manliness
Emerson said that the average man is “born red, and dies gray.” By this, he meant that when a baby arrives in the world, and inhales his first lungfuls of earthly air, the child turns ruddy in hue, flushed with the vigor and vitality of new life. Thereafter, however, at least once the bloom of […]| The Art of Manliness
The journey of personal development, of becoming a more excellent and extraordinary individual, can sometimes seem a little abstract. That’s why it’s helpful to imagine it as Mark Divine does, as a set of five metaphorical mountains to scale. Mark is a retired Navy SEAL Commander, a professor of leadership, a yogi, the creator of […]| The Art of Manliness
Some people have no problem attracting others. Everyone wants to work with them, to be their friend, to have them on their team. Other people have little luck in making and keeping relationships. Their overtures for connection are routinely rejected, and they typically cannot understand why. We often think that the formation of relationships is […]| The Art of Manliness
Note: This is a rebroadcast. Matthew Dicks wears a lot of hats. Among other things, he’s a storyteller, communications consultant, writer, and schoolteacher. In order to excel in his professional life, as well as do what he loves in his personal life, he’s developed a set of strategies that help him be more creative and […]| The Art of Manliness
Learn why it's okay to mind your own business. Discover the pitfalls of getting involved in other people's lives and how to prioritize your own well-being.| The Art of Manliness
