There is nothing greater than the feeling of completion – of having worked on a demanding project that is important to you for a long period, and then bringing it to a successful conclusion.
David Deida, in classic book The Way of the Superior Man, writes famously that for a man to be whole he should have a mission other than women – something he is passionate about from the core of his soul to dedicate his life to.
In my experience this is true. For me, the passion happens to be writing. For another man it might be sports, or art or carpentry – anything, so long as it requires focus and exertion. Ideally, whatever you choose should be something that you are inextricably drawn to, and it should involve you making something to put out into the world – whether that be a book, a video or a great golf swing.
Too many people are passive consumers, and no wonder: there’s a whole world of content out there to be read, watched, listened to, downloaded. There is too much information and it turns us into mindless consumers. A real man is a man who produces something, who gives to the world rather than merely receives. And the great thing is, it is through this act of giving that we are happiest.
But one difficulty is that, having taken on your project, you may find yourself floundering halfway through, intimidated by the enormity of it and unable to carry on. How much easier it would be simply to give up. To go back to playing Call of Duty or watching football instead.
Here’s a tip – don’t. Just don’t. The secret to completion is consistency of effort. The secret to consistency of effort is breaking every task down to its minimum components, and executing these on a daily basis.
Don’t think about the end goal – just think about what you need to do today, and do it to the best of your ability. If you’re tired and you can only manage half an hour’s writing then just do half an hour – it’s better than nothing, and it means you’re exercising the muscles necessary to get to the end of the task. Days add up to months, months add up to years, and before you know it your project is done, and you will feel a sense of satisfaction deeper than from anything else.
Seek progress, not perfection, every day. Break everything down into manageable chunks, do whatever you can in the given time you have and don’t be hard on yourself – you can always polish later. In time, you will have successfully completed your project: and when that happens you’ll realize that completion really is better than sex.
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Read More: You Will Always Face Criticism
Great article!
Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting?
They’ve got the ACE gene!
Scientists have looked into the genetics of Jamaican sprinters’ dominance. The first gene associated with powerful sprinting is the angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE, gene. If you have a particular variant of this gene (known as the “D allele”) you are likely to have a larger than average heart capable of pumping highly oxygenated blood to muscles quicker than the average human. That also gives your body a better response to training. In people of west African origin, the frequency of the variant is slightly higher than in those of European and Japanese origin. In Jamaica, it’s a little higher than in west Africa.
That is interesting because, of the 10 million people forcibly removed from Africa in the transatlantic slave trade, more than a million died en route. The last stop for the Caribbean slave ships was Jamaica; if you made it this far, you were among the toughest of the tough.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/21/jamaicans-sprinting-athletics-commonwealth-games
“Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting?”
Because they run faster than other guys………..
Which, seriously, they do for a million different reasons.
But then, what about the XYZCTRJ gene? It allows someone to pad his resume by publishing an article in some journal. And then subsequently hype himself for the conference circuit. And, it may even possibly have some small effect on sprinting talent.
But in the real world, virtually no A happens BECAUSE of some B. That whole myth is the core oversimplification that dooms dimbulbs to fall for the idiocy that some others are richer than them because they are better at picking lottery numbers. By any appreciable margin.
Just saying.
The overrepresentation of blacks in western athletics was covered thoroughly in John Entine’s “Taboo.” He refutes the theory that slave trading was a genetic bottlenecking that led to their success quite thoroughly, though predictably the myth still persists.
It sounds reasonable though. Africans never dominated basketball, boxing or 100 meter dash. Only black Americans.
Lack of environmental stimulus was attributed to that. Additionally, he identified how Western African footballers are generally considered to have superior speed to their other competitors. He also talked about how Eastern Africans make for superior distance runners. In short, the evolutionary track of Africans was different than others and consequently resulted in more genetically gifted physical attributes.
Haha beecause we know African have suuch big muscle like lineebacker riight? Haha
Huh ?!
I remember hearing slave owners used to breed the healthy muscular slaves like you would pit bulls or any other livestock to get the best offspring, makes sense when you think about it
I don’t doubt that they did. I believe the John Entine’s view that a few generations of breeding isn’t nearly enough to alter their evolution significantly up to this point. They also probably wanted to the most productive workers to reproduce so I don’t think that transcended through the generations at all.
Love this. Appeals to my belief in the need for men to place importance on craftsmanship. Quality of process leading to mastery of skill & creating a superior product or service.
Seems to be a distinct lack of this practice in general currently.
Huge respect & new appreciation for the way my Dad used to work his way through his carpentry projects & how an old boss i used to work for guided me through the intricacies of assembling & completing workable electronic circuit boards.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance should be standard issue reading for all men. “Shop Class as Soulcraft” is a good modern take as well.
Very good article — much truth here. Please, more articles like this one.
Nice article. People are easily overwhelmed by the enormity of long term goals, but it’s important to remember that any progress you make leaves you better off than where you started. Goals are important, but don’t overlook the progress you’re making now.
Great piece Troy. Good to see this kind of positive and tough thinking to get guys on the right track in life. I love women, but they can be a huge distraction from these kinds of goals. As much as they love successful guys, they rarely understand or appreciate the process and effort it takes to get there. They want to monopolize your time for their own self interests.
Short, and sweet and true
Arbeit macht frei…or something
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” -Thomas Jefferson
I like this a lot, really sacrificing even a half hour a day towards improving yourself or working towards a goal makes the goal so much easier. Completion of goals has to be one of the greatest feelings of long-term satisfaction in the entire world. I love the attitude and the advice of this article, simple and concise.
Nice!!
The importance of sticking with it, is only increasing, as our culture gets more and more short termy. In most fields, it’s almost a truism by now that those with them most innate talent, will always languish behind those that never had a choice but to work for it.
Never understood this concept until I would continually have sex, ejaculate, and feel empty. Right after I would have the urge to do something with lasting value, like building, writing, exercise, ect.
Continual progress in sex and completion is the recipe for satisfaction, one without the other is unfulfilling.
Once you understand how something is done the problem dissipates and the rewards diminish with each successful completion. We are all essentially Sisyphus. Roosh mentioned this in one of his articles before. To understand something is to be free of it. To be free of something also invites nihilistic thoughts to return until another project or endeavor is begun. The secret to fulfillment is to constantly work and like the article says we have to work towards something constructive.
Great point, we’re never truly satisfied. Gift and a curse.
I love making things. Whether it be music or software or landscaping or building a screened porch. It takes time and effort and a lot of planning. And there’s nothing like seeing the job done, especially when it turns out the way you planned. Keeping busy is what kept me sane when my wife left. It passed the hours and gave me purpose. And the kids live with me so we’re always doing things together. I don’t understand how people can say they’re bored. Get out and do something! I’m heading out right now to go do something.
Once upon a time I had a girl tell me that she learned to play piano, because she grew up in a small town where there was nothing to do.
I pointed out to her that learning to play the piano is something to do.
One might presume that had she grown up in a city her only skill would have been club slutting.
Exactly. My kids sit around with their expensive gadgets that I would have killed for had they existed when I was their age. I would have been taking them apart, learning to program them, doing things that had never been done before. Instead they are bored. Sad really. No motivation.
Troy thanks for this. The mind needs an outlet to release onto other than always gaming women and the usual general dealings with deceitful people of society. What better way to achieve satisfaction than constructing something of value to likeminded individuals. It can be anything really. Trim a bonsai tree to perfection, construct a rock garden, paint a portrait, build a shed, modify a car or motorcycle. Anything that takes massive time and persistence to complete. If you focus on these things you help tame your mind from all the fuckshit, attention whoring and generalized narcissism that deeply disturbs you at the core. Pick one thing. Anythjng. But the key is to persist.
Great motivation as I’m studying for my college final exams. haha
That’s good keep at it then Arjun. I’m also studying for my final uni exams. It’s so fulfilling to achieve a goal, and it’ll all be well worth it in the end. Stay motivated man
This is seriously the best article I’ve read in quite a while. Nice work Troy, keep them coming!
And as Albert Einstein said, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
Great article. The project I’m working on is getting into much better shape through diet and weightlifting so I am fit enough to play sports on multiple nights of the week without wearing out my body. Instead of thinking about the end goal which could take months I focus on what do I need to do today to propel me towards my goals. Also, it’s important to appreciate the milestones of a project at all phases ie. the first 5 lb of weight loss is just as important as the last 5 lb.
I did the whole partying and not giving a fuck thing from about 16-21.After the passing of a friend i had the realization that i could spend my time chasing women and partying, which at the end of the day left me wanting more, or I could apply myself to school, work, and all over self improvement. I will admit i don’t get laid nearly as much but to be honest the quality of my lays wasn’t anything to write home about, i would have been better off just beating off in some cases. Ive been trying this idea out that i should act accordingly to the type of woman i want to attract, correct me if that is wrong. But i feel like you cant expect a housewife if all your surrounding yourself with is hoes. That being said, If all a man can be proud of in life is how many women he has banged that is not saying much. I actually have a friend to whom that is his claim to fame and the girls and the times he’s actually tried to settle down he ended up catching feelings for a stripper and his high schools party girl.
1. Determine your greatest ability or interest (e.g.,
music, writing, business, sport).
2. Determine what needs to be done to master it
(i.e., school, training).
3. Focus hard on the vision but once you have it,
commit fully.
4. Determine what needs to be done to attain it.
5. Write goals and daily to do lists and carry them
out.
I think this is very true. After 20 years of just sucking up resources, I feel much more of an incentive to go out and make something. Half the time watching movies or reading a book these days I’m just thinking – how could this have been better? What are the flaws? Where are the plot holes? I’m not happy these days unless I’m creating, even if its just uploading a video to Youtube.
I must say this hits hard with me, regardless of my sex drought and many failings throughout my 20’s, I still feel the passion within myself to build and utilize my talent, to forgo women and all the BS, Though I really CANNOT shake the fact that I am 30 and still not doing what I want to be doing professionally, I just keep working menial jobs depressed that I am to old to make it.
Remember we all Die in the End! Go out there & go get what you Deserve!
Let’s say you don’t start working on anything because you think you are too old… How old are you going to be in 5 years then?
35?
Exactly. So you may as well do it. I finished my education at 39 (started late), and now at way over 50 am starting and exploring new things. It.is.never.too.late. The quest never really starts, or ends for that matter…
At 30 I was doing minimum wage jobs, semi illegal, and all alone in this world… I am well into 6 figures now and my goal is to break 200K within 2 years.
A fellow late bloomer … good to hear you have done well for yourself.
I sometimes have a hard time believing in the red pill rhetoric that life gets better for men. Mainly due to the fact that I have made & attempted many leaps forward, with seemingly zero results. My 20’s were only sprinkled with good feelings.
Though my goals and problems aren’t really monetary, I seem to have an affliction of angst and the feeling that I will never really get to live with the confidence we are sold as a result of dropping the blue pill lifestyle.
How far down the rabbit hole were you? did your life seem impossible?
What profession did you end up studying?
Software and a couple of other things on the side..
I believe red pill is taken the wrong way by most men. In my opinion, RP is only a way to see the world for what it is. Many took it but still do nothing about it.. RP helps you but it’s not the end all meet all. It also does not mean success and women just automatically follow. As a matter of fact it doesn’t really matter what follows. What’s important is you being at peace with yourself. I am more on the mgtow side of things, not hard core but leaning that way..
About life in general, always remember this. Success is build on failure, and failure is built on success. Most talk about the first part, but the second is much more important. Imagine a life where you only enjoy success. It comes a point where the failure will knock on the door and it will be monumental, and you will not recover from it. Ever. So enjoy the set backs because they are necessary. I have no doubt about that.
It doesn’t matter where you are in your life, always expect to be pushed back, even when you think you are at the top. It will always happen, and the rabbit hole is there waiting… You ask how far down was I that rabbit hole… I went in and out of it numerous times. Three major ones I remember now.. So? Who cares. What matters is you forging the ability in you to always be able to get out. Then you knowing that, you’ll be able to enjoy life without fear.
I just got a raspberry pi. I might have to become celibate for awhile.
Troy, you’re obviously working on that completion thingie. Ye, Gawds, when did Roosh start allowing gay trans-gender feminists like Troy in?