Below is a conversation with my college-bound little brother.
Little Brother: I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I feel so lazy. I just don’t want to do anything.
Roosh: Can you give me an example of when you were recently lazy?
LB: I went to the gym the other day, and when I arrived, I just didn’t want to lift. So I worked out very slowly and talked to the guys instead.
R: This is a common problem, because lifting is hard. Your body wants to conserve its energy so it decides that the better option is just to do nothing. Let me ask you something: what makes an excellent man?
LB: Motivation.
R: Motivation to do what?
LB: To do the work.
R: Remember a while back we had a conversation about the unit of one hour, where you can break down the greatness or accomplishments of a man in one-hour increments?
LB: I remember.
R: When you look at an athlete, you see a man with a strong body who has the right skills to do his sport. But what you don’t see is the hours of work he put behind it. When you see a successful businessman, you see the big company he built up and maybe his fancy car, but you don’t see the hundreds of hours he worked to build up the business. I’m learning Russian now, and have gotten compliments on it, but the people who compliment me do not see my daily struggle with it, the hours I put in every day just to learn a few new words. Any kind of excellency or greatness you see in other men comes down to the work they put in. Therefore, excellency is work. Can you see that?
LB: Yes.
R: Now when you were at the gym, and you decided not to work, would you say that was the decision of a normal man or an excellent man?
LB: Normal man.
R: Correct, a normal man will take the path of least resistance that does not involve work. What percentage of the population would you say is normal?
LB: Most.
R: I would say 99.5% of the population is normal, maybe even higher. They are sheep who follow, who prefer to stay in the herd, who like being told what to do to spare them the expense of thinking or taking risks, who seek entertainment over work, who are not in control of their emotions, and who lack willpower. They want glory and riches from not putting in effort, from not going above and beyond what they were told to do by their teacher, parents, or boss. They do the bare minimum in life and so they have a normal life that all the other people have. They have their iPhone, their entertainment, they surf the internet all day to feel some emotional pleasure, and they go to the club on the weekends to get drunk and maybe get laid. This is the life of a sheep.
LB: Is that bad? Is it bad to be normal?
R: It’s not bad. There is nothing wrong with being a sheep, and most people don’t have the genetic constitution to be anything else, but it’s not what I wanted to be. When I was faced with forks in the road, one leading back to the herd and one leading into the unknown, often involving much risk, almost every time I’ve picked the road that took me away from the herd. I’m not saying I’m an excellent man right now, but I want to be an excellent man, so I must do the work that it takes to be one, one hour at a time, one workout at a time, one Russian word at a time. This means avoiding comfort, luxury, entertainment, and mindless distraction. This means straining my mind and body, because as you know, your muscles only get bigger when you lift to your limit. If in my studies or work my brain is not tired, I did not work hard enough.
LB: But I don’t have the motivation. Like at the gym, it’s so much easier when I have a friend to push me to work out. And now I’m busy with school. If I didn’t have school, I would have the energy to do all these things.
R: Remember when you visited me in Odessa last year? I had to drag you every day just to go to boxing training. You didn’t have school or any other responsibilities, but you still didn’t want to do it. Is it possible you are using school as an excuse?
LB: It’s possible.
R: There is often something in life that keeps you busy, such as school or work obligations, but in spite of that, you must have the desire within you to fight off the fatigue and laziness to make that decision to be an excellent man. What you’re looking for is external motivation, something in your environment that will push you to do something that you should do. But external motivation is fleeting. One day it’s present and the next day it’s not. You can go to the best motivational seminar in the world, and pay thousands of dollars to do so, like many adults do, but after two weeks you’ll be lazy again and revert to your old habits. You’ll work out when your friend is present, but how about if he moves to a new town? Then you won’t work out anymore?
External motivation is only temporary, like getting energy from a cup of coffee. Only internal motivation to be excellent will push you to do the work every day, every week, every month, every year. You will not need any external motivation if you know that you want to be an excellent man, but if you don’t choose excellency, you will be like a sailboat with no sail, no direction, allowing everything in your environment to whip you this way or that. Sometimes you’ll be motivated and sometimes you won’t, sometimes you’ll do the work and sometimes you won’t.
LB: But it is helpful when my friend calls me to go to the gym. I work out harder.
R: I believe it, but let’s view things from your friend’s perspective. He is internally motivated to be strong and fit, so he goes to the gym alone, but here you come, a friend who admits he’s lazy and needs his encouragement and motivation. He’s giving you a finite resource, his energy, to help you out. In other words, you are holding him down! If I was his brother, I’d say, “Hey man, your friend is a bum, he doesn’t want to work. Find friends who have internal motivation, who lift you up.” Can you see that?
LB: I didn’t think of that way.
R: Look, I’m not saying you’re a bad kid, but those who are not internally motivated drag down those who are. If someone wants, I can be their motivation coach, but I should get paid for that, because it takes away my energy and time and prevents me from doing other work. I’ve known guys who just want to socialize, who aren’t hard workers, and don’t mind disturbing my work in order to just hang out. I don’t mind hanging out every now and then, but they don’t care if I don’t finish my new book or my language studies. So I have to say no to those guys, and spend time only with those who are as internally motivated as myself to be excellent.
LB: How do I become internally motivated?
R: Do you want to be an excellent man? If you want to be a normal sheep, then keep doing what you’re doing. There is nothing wrong with it, and my love for you as a brother would not change, but you will have a standard issue life—neither extraordinary nor horrible—if you continue to choose comfort and laziness over work. When you’re faced with two options, where one involves work and discomfort and the other involves comfort and relaxation, you are making the choice between being excellent and being a sheep. When you decided at the gym the other day not to work out hard, what decision did you make?
LB: To be a sheep.
R: Right. It was the easy decision for you, because being a sheep is easy and being excellent is hard, but I can not make you excellent because being excellent is a personal decision. Understand that excellency is not one big event or one lucky break, but hundreds of tiny decisions. Being excellent is your daily habits, the extra one or two hours of work you put in every day, that when accumulated over many years, makes you excellent. The books I’ve written come from only one or two hours of focus a day. I’ve built a living doing this over the past several years, and it has given me my freedom and independence to live anywhere in the world, but it was difficult to do these two hours of work a day.
One hour of extra work a day is just too much for 99.5% of people, so they will not do it, because they never made the choice to be excellent. Why would they choose work over entertainment if they didn’t choose to be an excellent man? Excellency is not flashy or exciting—it’s the tedious, boring, and hard work you do every day. Three workouts a week over many years will make you a strong man. One hour of hard reading a day will strengthen your mind. One hour of your own work can be the start of a business. Do you see how that works?
LB: I do.
R: You’re still young, so I’m not saying don’t have fun with your friends or don’t play video games, but just keep in mind what it takes to be excellent. If there isn’t an excellent seed within you right now that is begging for water and soil, then it’s possible you are destined to be a sheep. But if there is that seed, it’s my job as a big brother to tell you how much water it needs and what kind of soil it needs to grow. Long ago I looked into the mirror and decided that I wanted to be an excellent man, so every day I put in the work, because like I said before, excellency is work. If you also want to be excellent, you now know what it takes. The only thing that can stop you is yourself.
This article was originally published on Roosh V.
Read Next: 11 Hard Truths I Learned From Taking The Red Pill
Bravo. This is reminiscent of an analogy (maybe metaphor?) I heard a few years ago:
There are two wolves fighting for dominance within you; one represents achievement, success, determination, and hard work while the other represents mediocrity, slothfulness, gluttony, and apathy. Every time you feed one wolf, he becomes stronger and more capable. Which wolf is fed is dependent solely on you.
I think Christians have it wrong using sheep as a metaphorical animal to describe themselves. I cannot imagine Jesus having to go after every sheep that goes astray. A wolf is a more appropriate animal. Wolves take care of each other and at the same time impose discipline on each other, which goes more in line with at least the guidelines given in Leviticus.
I think Christians would be better using the Sheepdog as a metaphorical animal. Not only does it have the ability to do terrifying things, but it can also do so without any “evil” tendencies.
A Vietnam Vet made a speech to a graduating class from the Naval Academy a while back where he essentially divided people into sheep, wolves, or sheepdogs based on their abilities and their respective moral codes.
Even American Sniper incorporated this into one of its opening scenes.
Ha! Forgot about that scene. Good call.
The analogy would also work when comparing us ROK readers vs. the SJW’s and everyone else out there.
Damn that was a powerful scene. That kinda stuff is just not said anymore… Only Clint Eastwood coulda done this kinda movie…
Fantastic movie.
But sheep is correct and Christ is the king of the sheep. The whole message of Christianity is weakness and submission mixed with the evils of strength, self determination and masculinity. As a response to the Roman archtype this small sect of jews created a philosophy deifying impotence and vilifying power.
Christ was the shepherd, not one of the sheep. I also don’t think you have a very good understanding of Christianity.
I have a pretty good understanding. We may just have different interpretations.
It’s not about interpretation. It’s about understanding. When you speak of interpretation you are talking about relativism and the idea that one interpretation is as valid as the next which eliminates the possibility of truth, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
That is totally incorrect. Afaic my interpretation is much more valid than yours.
The objective/subjective or absolute/relative is far too simple a distinction.
Your ideas about your religion are, I am guessing but correct me if I am wrong, faith based.
That is great. I have no problem with men of faith so long as it is authentic and honest faith. It is something I think is an admirable trait.
However, when I talk about Christianity it is not as a man of faith. I look at it as part of the very big and very complicated story that is our human history.
I see Christianity for what it is, what its place in history is and what it’s long term philosophical effects have been. In doing so I am saying that Christ was in no way a shepherd but only the head sheep mounting a battle based in resentment against a mighty and noble empire for reasons based in weakness and which has had the consequence of leading humanity down a path where weak traits are encouraged and all the consequences henceforth.
In my view a faith based opinion on Christianity has absolutely no merit or validity in the same way that a judge who has had a child that was murdered should not sit in judgment of people accused of murderinh children. You religious views make you lose your objectivity and will skew your opinions.
Likewise, when we talk about faith and Christ as the living lord my views, because I have no faith, have no merit or validity.
There is plenty of place for truth, knowledge and wisdom in both areas. However, reigious claims have no place in a discussion like this because the curveball of an all powerful God turns logic and sense on its head
Exactly. The last Pope explained that problem.
Sorry, but if you’re not Catholic you’re not Christian. Lutherism has some merits and is closer to the Truth. But all the other protestant sects are cults – Christians in name only.
Go east, young man. Find true Christianity which predates Roman secularism.
Romans wherected never secular
Joe
Many “Catholic’s are not “Catholic” Look at Francis
Which one?
Stuff like Leviticus reveals why Jesus came in the first place. Consider the rules given to Jews to live by, like no sex with animals or you mother, etc. Cultures surrounding the Jews in those days already didn’t do that stuff because they were more civilized. Part of theology is seeing that God went to the Jews first, as they were the most decadent and barbaric of humans. The example is that the lowliest of the low can be redeemed. Unfortunately for the Jews, when Jesus came he told them he was their last chance at joining the human race, and they rejected him for it. Then Christianity sprung up in Greece where it mixed with the greatest of philosophy and became for everyone.
can spin the fairy tell any number of ways. A lot of other people will say that the crazy ass laws in Leviticus were written because of the barbaric practices around the jews so they could separate themselves from the shit eating, mother fucking, goat blowing sumarians or whatever they were.
It the end it is all a bunch of stories, nearly all apocryphal, gathered together far too long ago for reasons which, even if we had a first hand explanation from a time traveler wouldn’t make sense because of the vast differences in the way we understand the world, interpreted and reinterpreted for millennia until they mean absolutely nothing on their own and only what you imbue them with.
Looking for motivation to love or to hate or to kill or to be peaceful or on how to live ones daily life from scripture strikes me as batshit insane
Comfort is the enemy of ambition.
This is why I really can’t live in the west, especially when it comes to finding likeable women. They are much too comfortable/complacent and will not go out of their way to embrace higher virtues.
Its the nature of the female of a species to seek comfort and safety. Comfort breeds seeking of pleasure. Seeking of pleasure breeds decadence. Decadence breeds degeneracy. This is why a female led society always leads to degeneracy. It’s the masculine virtues that lead man to nobility.
Bingo. It’s all falls like dominoes.
That is great wisdom.
If you are suffering from a lack of motivation then this is indicative of a hormone imbalance. This in turn can be caused by a bad diet (an excess of grains for example).
Carbs actually make me energetic
They have that effect on everyone. Do you know that cocaine makes people energetic too? Think about that.
Cocaine makes you focus on your current task
I recommend less toxic and hazardous drugs.
Btw, you seem to be using the terms “grains” and “carbs” interchangeably. I don’t have an issue with carbs per se. It is grains that are very harmful, as is sugar and alcohol. If you are getting your carbs from fruit and vegetables then you will be fine.
My point
Dude, there’s a difference between making a clear and concise point and being so concise that no one knows what you’re talking about.
>=)
Good shit. I’ll tell you what makes a man excellent. Having enemies. This gives you someone or something to galvanize your hate against and motivate you like no other.
http://bit.ly/NoEnemiesMakeYouSoft
Haters gonna hate!
Motivation is a fickle thing when you compare it to the task master that is Discipline.
yeah man, Motivation is temporal and can fail you, for being a better man one should build Dicipline every day, forcing yourself to take t hard choice instead of the easy one
another pov is to see motivation like a kind of resource. like water in the body, could be full or depleted. It’s the same with motivation. You’ll need to refuel it regurlarly because it tends to deplete with time, more or less quickly, depends on personnality i think.
The more you do aloof to the herd, the more enemies you make. Build something and branch out with it in culture, life, business or family and you attract haters, detractors and people that will shit test you 360° looking for your weak spot. Know how to differentiate the ones that have blood out for you from the ones that are immature yet bowing up to you because THOSE ones are likely up and coming versions of yourself. Know how to distinguish a tribesman in need of mentoring from a reaper.
Blood enemies of your tribe you have no use for and the sworn enemies against the very principle of family itself regardless of tribe you eviscerate. Their spirit is not of our species period. Never should a raging predatory animal or pack of animals or cabal, yes I said ‘CABAL’ in a neighborhood or in a culture be free to run roughshod over the thread of tribe and patriarchy that keeps the culture and civilization glued together. If one patriarch be steamrolled, the culprits will move on to menace another and another. They will ambush and prey on innocents until stopped.
I can remember a decade ago or so encountering quite a few people in professional circles who would say such outrageous things as ”the traditional nuclear family is archaic” or that family (tribe) is ”the old way”. Come to think of it it’s been a few years since I’ve heard such overt shit talk. The enemy is already clamming up. Where they’d previously pontificate their anti family state label drivel with a smirk from academia, now they’re quiet. They sense a real presence of patriarchy in the air.
Go around bashing and denouncing the timeless patriarchal family ethic and any random person or strain in a community is itching to string them up by their toes. I dare any sweet looking socialist mouthpiece to boldly declare that ‘state husbandry’ is the order and decree of the day. Now it’s only goons in boots trying desparately to enforce fatherless husbandry by the bitchstate.
A good point.
In fact there is an article in the Daily Mail today about the Nike founder Phil Knight. And he says it was hatred of the main rival Adidas that was the main driver of his success with Nike.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3561662/Nike-founder-reveals-unhealthy-contempt-Adidas-inspired-success-firm-called-Bengal-Dimension-Six.html
This is a very important key to unlock inner power.
Hatred is a POWERFUL motivator and probably the source of my determination and strength to break through personal barriers.
When people do something for “love” it is rarely powerful and even more rarely selfless.
I’d rather be honest with myself and others. I’m doing this because I fucking HATE!
It’s feels fucking great.
You know, dude, I’m not sure your seriousness, but there’s a valid point there. A well-to-do friend has a son that everyone worried about, he was having problems dealing with things, got a counselor. . .The priviledged kid drama. I told him he ought to make him walk to school and be put on his own to deal with bullies and stuff. That develops creativity, coping skills, and will. Combine those and you’ve got a winner.
This is true. Usually the things we do to help those we love end up harming them much more. We enable them to be lazy and seek a safe comfort which weakens them.
Often we need to leave them to the consequences of their a actions and the solitude of not relying on soneone to save them every time they screw up.
In this way they are forced to use every effort they have to achieve.
Yeah, I love kids. My worry about ever having them is that I’d screw them up and not prepare them for life. I know how I grew up, and I had to deal with crap that I wouldn’t want my kids to have to. On the other hand, if I coddled and protected them I’d be doing them a diservice.
Nice analogy Roosh but I think Sheep is not a good comparison though they are a herd animal it is more like a lemming who mindlessly follows might be more appropriate but reading your article here well it sounds like your little brother suffers depression which is a condition I can understand it is not the body that is tired but the mind the mind from suffering bad experiences like personal betrayals from false mentors or bad girlfriends and of course War, truth is we all but burned, these things well they tend to cause the soul to feel very tired with life and the struggle to fly again is long and difficult but the struggle must be done none the less, anyway the mark of a man is dealing with problems problems like TROLLS one named Hastur who has been on a daily basis posting hateful comments against me on some of the articles here such as ‘How False Accuser Michelle Fields tried to bring down Donald Trump’ and “why isn’t anyone in the establishment talking about Jewish and Asian privilege’ which being moderator for return of kings I have brought to your attention. Truth is this slime has been harassing me at other sights and I have complained against his foul behavior there as well, I have even gone through the lengthy process of filling out complaints against him with DISQUS as well which talk about twists and difficulty is something I would have thought the Federal government would devise so hopefully those people will deal with him in the meantime I am dealing with him at Return of Kings by notifying You I really wish there could be a more polite less public method of making my complaints known to you.
Thing is Roosh and I speak from Experience we all experience our own personal disasters, we all get burned, we all experience loss, we all experience pain, we all experience setbacks and the mark of a great man is not his successes but his willingness to pick himself up, learn from what happened and get back to struggling even after he has experienced unspeakable disasters. Life is a constant struggle and I have learned Nobody really loses unless they quit. You would be surprised how the strong the struggle within is
This is similar to that article regarding fortitude on ROK a while back.
Likely so, I like to read articles here. Life is struggle and part of being a man is struggling with life.
This was the article I was referring to.
I like it. Honestly I hated every minute my father made me work on the construction sites growing up. Now as an adult I am one of the most productive people I know. In the gym, at work or in my personal affairs I see a goal and I accomplish it. Motivation is for the weak you need to grind folks.
You have to find enjoyment in doing the hard things. Its a hard skill to learn. A good measure of intelligence is having the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward. Its something I think you can only learn from experience.
I notice that days when I don’t have the motivation to work out, I push myself to do it and finish it. That feeling of accomplishment makes up for the work needed to get there. After you finish, you realize that it was not all that bad after all. Just get it done is all I think of.
When I used to go to the martial arts gym, I fucking pushed myself every single time, no matter how sick I felt. At the end of each hour, I felt awesome and looked forward to next time. I knew that I hated the pain, but afterwards I always felt like I wanted more of it.
Me too. The dojo has magical, masculine-enhancing powers.
Life doesn’t get any easier. It just gets less hard.
What makes a Man excellent? Seeking God.
出る杭は打たれる。 “The stake that sticks up gets hammered down.”
The hammering begins the moment your excellence starts to show. The question is, how long can you take the hammering. The motivation for excellence is easy. It’s taking the hammering is what isn’t.
Great Article Man. 5/5
Stinks like pointless narcissism to me. Impressing others with some kind of excellence and being afraid of beinf a ‘sheep’. To make individual decisions does not equal making decisions just to do it differently.
I’m not sure where you are getting the “impressing others” bit. I didn’t get that at all.
Just the vibe I get from it. Yeah, on the one hand he says it is okay, but on the other hand he uses the word sheep which has a negative connotation. He talks about how others complimented him on his skills. And he does not actually explain what the point is about being excellent. To excel is to surpass others. Unless there are others who stay behind, you can not excel. So it is all just about being better than others by “objective” criteria. And what for, if not to receive lots of validation for it.
So are your saying there is something wrong with competition itself?
It is after all the driving force of biological life.
Should we just abandon all sports and anything of a competitive nature?
I just don`t see anything wrong with striving to improve and be the best at something.
Behind basically any product, invention and important milestone in human history, there are people with a certain need for validation.
It`s just human nature.
Competition happens as a byproduct of doing what you love. Competition for competitions sake is pointless.
I don’t think you understood the article.
Roosh was explaining what makes a man excellent.
Excellence is just a word. Obsessing about being able to carry that title comes pretty close to being an ideology to me. Besides, at no point does Roosh explain what his internal motivation for being “excellent” is.
If you want to be a mediocre loser there’s nothing wrong with that. And if you don’t feel motivation to be a badass, then I suppose it’s okay too. Not everyone can be excellent. Nothing wrong with an “ideology”, that is simply a grouping of ideas.
Why the need to call me a loser?
Yeah on reflection that was not what I wanted to say. It was late.
So reiterating, I equate “excellence” with self-improvement. If you don’t want to develop and improve yourself, that’s fine, but not improving one’s self seems contradictory, as in, you should not be here if you don’t want to develop yourself.
I guess I would use the term life-improvement. Finding the path that makes me most happy in each area of my life, whether that involves competition and strife or relaxing and taking it as it comes.
Fair enough
Solid advice. I would caution LB though that just because you work hard does not guarantee excellence (depending on how you define that word). I know a lot of people who have busted their asses for decades and are very smart/gifted people, and yet they have nothing more than a middle management position and a mortgage to show for it.
There’s a little luck involved.
Some qualities are independant of external circumstances.
Even if a guy is in a low paying job, if he speaks Russian or Mandarin, that’s quite an achievement. If you end up as a director of a company you could loose it all. If you can play the trumpet, nothing can take that away.
I get where Roosh is coming from as far as what makes a man excellent, but I think there’s one problem with this analysis: How does one get motivated to start with?
I ask this because I think anyone can be motivated to do anything, the problem is that the motivation can go away quickly unless it’s accompanied by something else.
For me, that “something” consists of an addictive desire to always seek self improvement, and to be better than I was 1 year ago, 1 month ago, yesterday and so on.
To illustrate what I mean, consider it this way:
Example 1: Guy who is “motivated” to lose weight, but lacks something else guiding said motivation. He cannot even articulate why he’s motivated to lose weight.
Example 2: Guy who has a similar motivation to lose weight. But understands and is able to explain that his desire to lose weight is indicative of a deeper desire: To continually get better at everything he does, even if he has to fail many times to achieve it.
The guy in Example 1 will most likely lose his entire motivation after new years discounts at Planet Fitness expire.
The guy in Example 2 gets at least 3 PR’s a month when he lifts, and has gone from being a fat slob to someone in complete control, with a sense of purpose and direction.
Here’s an excerpt from an essay (Metaphors and Emergent Psychology) I’m building. Granted, I might dump the paragraph or re-arrange it, but it is somewhat relevant to Roosh’s brotherly advice, albeit it takes a different vector:
Global adventurists Simon and Lisa Thomas of the United Kingdom offer an exception to that rule after traveling to over 130 counties via BMW duel-sport touring motorcycles in a span of thirteen years. During a planned stop-over at a BMW Motorcycle dealership in Maryland, Simon said, “the routine is terrifying, the unknown is the only path towards growth, change and adventure.” Doubtless, many of us think in terms of moving towards the unknown with the prior knowledge that tough roads are ahead and, most certainly struggle. If anything, taking the lone-hand requires independence in thought and the ejecting from the gravitation pull of the opinions of others, especially if one is to grow. Inertia rules the day for most of us and is enemy number one getting in the way of progress. Emergent psychology is the antidote to entropy, or chaos. Throttling it into the unknown with eyes focused forward is to set in motion the possibility for radical change. Keep the heat on!
*Ed, the context is that the paradox of moving into the unknown is a path towards sanctuary.
But does this hard work always lead to excellence?
What happens if you just have no ability of what you are trying to achieve. If you are no good at math, and have low intelligence, you could spend all year reading books on math but you would still not achieve. What about if you have a mental handicap, such as being starved of oxygen at birth – obviously you cannot then achieve great intellectual things. Where and how do you draw the line between working hard to achieve something great, and saving your energy?
I would argue that “results” are also an external motivation. If your only motivation to do maths is “I want to be as smart as Einstein” then what happens if you get frustrated that you aren’t as smart as him after 6 months? A year?
I don’t go the gym to be the strongest. I go to be the strongest version of me. I recently achieved a 200kg deadlift (an achievement with a loss back disc injury) and was exstatic. My overall goal at the gym isn’t to lift X amount of weight, that weight is simply a goalpost along the way.
Roosh didn’t write his books to be his income, he wrote to educate others, maybe even as a way to sort out his own feelings on the subject matter.
Being excellent is a continuous effort. Results vary person to person.
One is not good at math because he doesn’t do the work that those who are good put in. Check out how much homework and time the highest mark in the class devotes to math, or an average of the top 10% of the class.
Either that, or the man is mentally retarded.
Roosh, what you told your brother is the right stuff. That’s the kind of knowledge that is along the lines of the wisdom my father gave to me years ago as a kid and to this day (as a much older kid) he continues to offer.
It’s that kind of thinking that draws me and others like me to want freedom and to be the best person I can be one day.
Yours is the mindset of a champion — and this is what separates the men from the sheep. I’ve met many people who have admitted to me flat out that they would be happier in a sheep pen. And that’s perfectly OK.
But not for you, not for me, and not for anyone here.
Keep doing what you do.
Maybe “taking the red pill” should be replaced with “taking the right stuff” or “making oneself great”.
@Marshallaw I like that. “Taking the right stuff.” That fits well.
Amen !
Awesome post!
Kratom makes a man excellent.
If you ain’t taking Kratom, YOU AINT LIVINGGGG!!!!
end my suffering please
I’m convinced that a big part of motivation is physiological. Eating right, sleeping right, and feeling overall healthy can greatly increase your energy levels which will motivate you to be productive. For men specially, not fapping too much can also be create loads of creative energy. Roosh, tell your brother to stop fapping too much
Lmfaooo 10/10 for the fapping comment. However, being healthy body wise is not everything. Those will definitely help a bit, but not “greatly increase your energy levels”. There is no excuses on the path to greatness. You must find the willpower within to conquer any obstacles and achieve your goals/dreams/ambitions/desires. If the fire is roaring within, it won’t matter whether you ate mcdicks for breakfast and had 3 hours of sleep. You will get your shit DONE!
Also taking on a lunk of shit person that takes you down like a deadweight, holding you hostage in the presence of white knights while they shove twinkies up their ass – – that can also short change even the best motivated person no matter how hard they work out, eat right and bang the red pill drums. You can’t make a piece of shit not want to sink is what I’m saying.
Absolutely agree.
It’s probably the most underrated part of being so “great”.
I like this article, and the message is right on the point. But we have to acknowledge everything isn’t 100% psychological. Mind and body work together. It’s easier to feel motivated and driven to become an excellent man when you eat clean food and overall reach a balanced physiology.
“If you want, you can”. Sometimes I’m tempted to say this inseated: “If you can, you’ll want”.
Garrulous Roosh is garrulous.
Well said Roosh……..well said indeed.
You should have a problem with lazy people because when the lazy people are the majority, they will vote to take your resources or even kill/jail you. Being lazy is immoral and is the basis for social justice warriorism, facism, and communism.
“But…but…I worked my ass off for that art history degree!”
I could say stupidity is also a result of laziness. They are afraid of tackling something meaningful. Thus, their level of intelligence/knowledge never raises. So then they consume ideas implanted by the media, government, and entertainment, rad-fem, etc. because they are easy pills to swallow.
What a (Edit: contrived) wedge of cheese.
That was deep, thanks for the article.
Great Post Roosh, A man needs to know the difference between temporal motivation and Dicipline
I’ll print this for my brother.
Roosh, I was actually going through what your brother was going through for a bit until I remembered that the hour is the unit of the man. Now reading about that idea with you using your brother as an example made me realize that although I was doing more than what the normal person does, it wasn’t enough to set me on the path of becoming an excellent man.
Thank you Roosh. Bless you and your brother.
And don’t forget the big omission from this story…our beloved Kratom.
TL;DR
Damn! I wish I had an older brother like you! Kid have any clue what he got?
There is much truth here, but I would add something that might otherwise go unobserved: Motivation is not atomic. It is composed of two other attributes:
1. Purpose: A chosen direction in which to head.
2. Resolve: The emotional strength required to proceed.
Nor are these simple things. Not all purposes are worthy of a man. Moreover, many purposes must now and then be modified, even temporarily set aside, to cope with contingencies. Nor is resolve a binary commodity; it comes in varying degrees, and can wax or wane with time.
Perhaps the simplest formulation that captures motivation in its totality is the embrace of a conscious, value-centered life. Yet even this will evoke demands for clarification: What values? How are we to know whether they’re worthy? Or whether we’re advancing toward them? What if we find that the values we’ve chosen clash with one another; how do we decide how to proceed?
This business of manhood does often require more than a passing thought.
This is a good read. Roosh, you should rope your little brother into doing more question and answer articles like this. It’s a very accessible format for imparting ideas and ‘moral instruction’
Especially to younger men in their late teens and early twenties. If there’s to be any future for western civilisation (not in its present form I may add), it’s the generations to come.
yes, I think Roosh is aware that with the decline of fathers both as a physical presence / reality in young men’s lives (esp.) and as a socially legitimated role there needs to be other resources available beyond the ideological poison peddled by the MSM
Roosh is not a Westerner, thus he cannot speak for it.
that depends on the definition of westerner, but since he’s advancing western ideas, and in this article, some of the oldest and most venerable ones too, then that issue is arguably immaterial
This format was the norm for philosophical writing in the Ancient world. From Plato to Cicero, a real or imagined conversation between an older, wiser Man and a younger protégé was a recognised literary convention.
yes, I got the impression that was what Roosh had in mind when he thought this out. When he’s talking about ‘excellence’ you could argue that this is a take on the ‘good life’ but specifically tailored for young men. The references to living simply and without excess are also clearly stoical in inspiration, and the form is somewhat dialectical
Absolutely!
Good to see the authentic western tradition perpetuated here on RoK…
We’re carrying the touch for civilization I guess
What makes a great man. Living a life of virtue as an example and teacher for others to look to.
The cardinal virtues
1805 Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called “cardinal”; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. “If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom’s] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage.”64 These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.
1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; “the prudent man looks where he is going.”65 “Keep sane and sober for your prayers.”66 Prudence is “right reason in action,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle.67 It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.
1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the “virtue of religion.” Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”68 “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”69
1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.”70 “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”71
1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: “Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.”72 Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: “Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites.”73 In the New Testament it is called “moderation” or “sobriety.” We ought “to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.”74
Men of those times would absolutely not have tolerated non whites like Roosh to bang their white women.
Those virtues are timeless and are as valid today as they ever were.
I only wish I had figured out this sage advice in my late teen/early twenties. Better late than never I suppose.
Being the bull that gets to copulate with the cows still makes you cattle, now I am aware that there many that are perfectly happy being cattle but you cannot be kings if you declare jews and other such non whites as your masters.
I needed this today. Skipped martial arts last night and as I was doing so I kept asking myself, why?
Ghg
Hey yall. I am a 22 year old guy living in the midwest, i only have a h.s. diploma and have never really developed any skills. I just recently gave my life to God and became red pill. Any sugvestions on what to do with my life? Thanks
Find your purpose in life, everything else will follow.
Roosh, you motivated me to get my ass to the YMCA and go swimming tonight even though its hard. Also I will look harder for a better job that stretches me more. And hopefully I can use your words to motivate my single-mother-raised son from a previous marriage. He is not very motivated.
Thought it was another article about kratom. fortunatly it is not !
“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.” – Alexis Carrel
https://imgur.com/mzfexXy
A similar point was made by former Ranger LTC David Grossman.
I find it funny that stating the obvious (achieving great things is hard, most people are weak) is praised as some sort of special insight.
It seems fairly basic to me that achieving hard things is not easy. I don’t intend to diminish Roosh’s words, but rather to just take another opportunity call society stupid for failing to realize what appears to be an elementary axiom.
http://treehouseletter.com/2015/01/30/the-sheep-the-wolf-the-sheepdog-ltc-dave-grossman-american-sniper/
Plato’s Republic 2.0
I’ve always been motivated by the Homeric idea of Kleos, and it’s similar to this.
The heroes fought so hard because that’s what they needed to do to be immortal. So it is here.
Awesome. Sending this to my college-bound brother now.
Good stuff, worth re-reading.
The Greeks called it Lethe; being asleep. Men have to get that fire within going, and it comes with not being a sheep. And once you get pointed in the right direction, it’s actually easier than how you were before. Marcus Aueralious talks about it too. Great article.
Motivation to work out?
Join a gym with hot babes! NOT guys! Well, if you like women, otherwise… why are you here?
Some of them actually want to work out with you, have them spot, talk to them! Jeeze!
You might be surprised…
For someone who has written so much, your writing is stale. Stop giving your brother advice.
a book in this format would be extremely appreciated.
pynus. I have one. Let me be king now
Roosh… why don’t you consider yourself an excellent man right now? Genuinely interested, and would be surprised if you think you can only be excellent when you’ve achieved those future goals.