I'm writing this for the audience of the younger and hopelessly ambitious version of myself in my late teens and early twenties. In a time where I could feel a boiling up of restless energy inside of me, but with no idea how to direct it and put it to use. For my younger brother and his group of friends, as well as the other college age guys I mentor who currently find themselves in a similar position, trying to find their way as men and become winners.

So I'll keep it short and to the point.

Some bits of knowledge on how to become a high value man, from someone who started at 18 and fucked up the entire way, but has learned an awful lot;

Find your Axis Mundi

Julius Evola writes of finding, through a focused and intentional exposure to life experiences, trials, and puzzles, your own innermost law. Finding who you really are by going out and creating that person, by chiseling your own statue out of the marble block. The Axis Mundi is the vertical flag you plant in this world that connects who you truly are to the Earth and the Heavens, creating in your soul an immovable object that is unaffected by the influence of others. Knowing you you are and being fully and unapologetically that person in following your destined path.

When I started my real entrepreneurial journey at 18 it was killing me trying to plant this flag. I felt as if I knew I needed to drive the flagpole through the ground, but did not yet have colors of my own to stake my claim. I idolized other great men to a fault in trying to be just like them, identifying traits I saw as strong that I wanted to embody. There is good in this in finding a model to find inspiration from, but you're not Julius Caesar, Steve Jobs, David Goggins or Andy Frisella.

I've found the way to find your flag is through opening yourself up and actively seeking out unique experiences. Doing this with an understanding that you are in your Apprenticeship Phase and need to learn by actively exposing yourself. And taking this as a challenge to expose yourself as much as possible to expand your understanding of life and of being a man.

Such as and in no order..

• Move away from your hometown

  
  

• Start a business or actively seek producing income outside of a 9-5 job

  
  

• Pursue and actively court women

  
  

• World travel that calls to you, whether thats into the wilderness or the concrete jungle of a new city

  
  

• Experiment with psychedelics and the ideas, creativity, and experiences they open up

The purpose of all of this is to stir up a bunch of motion around you and create a vortex of opportunities for you to experience new things so you can begin to form a deeper understanding of the world. With this understanding you can then make informed decisions about what works and does not work for you, ultimately leading you to find yourself and the law you live and lead by.

Fitness, Health, Appearance & Style

If your aim is to be a high value man It is unacceptable to be fat, of poor health, ugly, and without a sense of style if it is in your control. And unless you have a terminal illness or other extenuating circumstance, these are all completely within your control. And even IF you had a terminal illness or were bound to a wheelchair you're still likely able to achieve three of these four things!

To begin simply, if you walk into a room and you're out of shape (which probably means you also have bad style), your status is instantly lowered among other men who, even if more stupid or less powerful than you, still will see themselves above you because of your appearance. This might not even be a conscious thought within them, rather its a primal instinct to assess others for potential of threat and to put in place a natural hierarchy of who is threatening in relation to themselves.

If you do not appear to be a threat, you won't be considered as one.

This is a dog eat dog world and it is going to increasingly get more competitive as we continue forward into a world of AI and robotics. Do not make your journey harder by lowering your status amongst other humans because you are not fit and healthy, thus showing a lack of virility and power, or because you are not aesthetic and carrying an aura of confidence, thus being unattractive and non-magnetic to others. Instead, your task is to take great pride in these areas and elevate yourself within that aforementioned hierarchy.

Choosing the means of how you stay fit and healthy, as well as the direction of outward appearance, namely your fashion sense are discovered through the journey of finding your Axis Mundi. If you understand the essential nature of these things, you'll naturally pursue sport that interests you, find humans who inspire you, and begin to develop in your mind and spirit the vision of who you are, namely what that person does and how they look doing those things.

I have a vision board in I've built in Figma with very clear visuals creating the character I am building myself into. It carries an energy and a vibe of how each area of my life looks and because I've embedded those visuals into my mind and perception of myself, I naturally make decisions to actualize that vision of myself. This is the mood board of the man I am building myself to be and contains imagery of humans who inspire me, cars I want to drive, outfits I want to wear, the house I want to build, tattoos and art I want to acquire, and much more.

A continuation into sport and fitness..

The Apache Indians were known for brutal athletic rites. They valued the ritualistic burn, shedding of weakness, and of becoming a man through suffering and overcoming. They understood that tests of strength and endurance, embracing risk, and overcoming of difficult physical challenges not only prepared them for hunting and warfare, but gave them a deep understanding of themselves and their connection to the Earth and the transcendant realm.

Through endurance training in difficult terrain, mock combat, and even challenges such as running with a mouthful of water to teach breathing through their nose, the Apache prepared for the hunt and warfare, as well as showed their competency to others, earning their manhood.

Most modern men have not and will not ever hunt or experience any kind of warfare. Because of this, physical training has become non essential in terms of survival. However, for the man of value that concerns us here, it is essential to partake in or simulate these experiences in order to shed weakness, earn our manhood, and build that deep connection with ourselves and to the Earth and the transcendant.

I've found through training for combat sports and ultramarathon an experience that simulates that essential nature of the Apache experience. Through suffering thousands of miles ran, grappling another man 1 on 1, and building of my body in the weight room, I've experienced both the physical and spiritual transformation into a man. The discipline required to show up alone, the will to not quit during a difficult effort, the ability to spend hours in your own head; All of these things prepare you for the difficult path ahead. If you continuously enter the flame upon your own will, is there really anything external to yourself that could ever hurt you? For me, usually the 15 mile 1800 vert training run is harder to get through than any problem that someone else brings me.

My unique lane has been training for and running ultra, but climbing and other forms of alpinism, lifting weights, cycling, combat sports and other are all paths to self overcoming and the strengthening of your will power.

Be Actively Making Plays, Pursue Your Career

Financial success is for our man in question not an option. You should not lose any time starting to stir up as much motion as you possibly can. The earlier you are out there exposing yourself to risk, judgement, and failure the earlier you learn the lessons and build the skills required to make good decisions. By choosing a direction, committing to it, and putting in real time and effort, you intentionally you can build the skills and career you’re aiming for.

In my early teens I had a natural inclination to branding, design, and making money online. This also connected with my love of fitness and fashion. By the time I was 18 I had identified this was the direction I wanted to build a career in and for almost a decade now I have not strayed from that path. Surely, I've taken weird turns and have gotten lost along the way, but I've always been pointing at my core identity and interests. This has allowed me to build an arsenal of skills and an understanding of the industry which compounds my ability to make make good decisions which leads to my ability to make money.

Steps to take as a young guy, in order;

• Identify what you enjoy most about life and an activity you want to do every day. You can monetize anything and if you're doing something you love, it will never feel like work. Doing something you hate for money is misery.

  
  

• Self education is a non negotiable, you must seek knowledge and fall in love with learning. Learn from the greats through biographies and philosophy. Interact with modern pros through social media and YouTube. The schooling system is not enough, you will fall behind others who are self educating.

  
  

• Build something you can sell. Whether that is your time to complete a task, a product, a service, or your ability to sell and market for others. What you start with surely won't be what you end up with—I started 5 different brands and businesses before I landed on what worked.

  
  

• Network and do cold outreach to find mentors, operators, and buyers within your niche. The more people who know you and what you do exposes you to more opportunities for "luck". And to me, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. You have to be actively taking swings at finding opportunities. I actively identify and reach out to people who I could learn from, sell to, or build business with and try to build a mutually beneficial relationship. A game you can play with yourself is to hold a standard for how many "points of contact" you make a day, or in one sitting. I'll sit and use Apollo with my email and tell myself I won't get up until I've sent 100 emails. You can automate this, but manual sniper precision outreach is more effective.

  
  

• In the early days you need to put more time in than anyone else, this is the hardest stage. You are starting with nothing and trying to stir up enough motion that it can become something. Nobody knows you, you have no skills, and you have little to no context on life. You need to actively build upon all of these things. When a jet is taking off it starts flat and close to the ground, gradually lifting off until the trajectory is close to vertical. The initial lift off is the hardest part, so relentlessly be trying to build momentum.

  
  

• A simple tactic you can utilize to hold yourself to a high standard is to implement Andy Frisella's Power List. Identify the 5 critical tasks you need to accomplish that day to win the day. The more wins you stack up, the more momentum you create. I implemented this into my life when I was 18 and have dozens of completed journals over the years. This is a system that works, period.

It is going to increasingly more difficult to carve out a career in this epoch. AI, robotics, financial markets, politics, war, the list goes on are all affecting our ability to build and find financial success. It is upon you to put focused effort into stirring up motion and completing the tasks required to create opportunity for yourself.

Don't Get Sucked Into The Vortex

There is an age old saying from business and personal development gurus saying you are who you surround yourself with, you are the makeup of the 5 people you're around most. When I was young, I felt there was some truth to this, but I didn't take this as seriously as I am telling you to take it now. I'm telling you there is no reversal, there is no exception to this timeless law of human nature.

Proverbs 27:17 tells us that weak company dulls the blade, but iron sharpens iron.

Something I observe often in younger guys I mentor, especially in and around college age, is the constant wrapping up in other people's negative vortexes. Whether its a girlfriend who constantly drinks too much with her sorority sisters, roommates who aren't disciplined, friends who are content coasting by, or simply family set in their ways, you are heavily influenced by these people. This is both due to a literal downward pull on your energy from their lack of energy or negative energy, as well as their lacking the embodiment of anything inspiring. Exposing yourself and getting caught up in this negative vortex is catastrophic to positive momentum.

The converse here are people who have high energy and are inspiring, who have an upward magnetic pull and help increase your momentum if exposed to theirs. A decision has to be made about who you want to spend your time with and if that means breaking up with somebody, finding new friends, or even finding some distance from your family, it must be done. You must position yourself amongst other people who are on the same path as you.

For me, I struggled most with having a girlfriend and friends who I told myself were on the path, but deep down I knew were not. Due to my fear of being alone or confronting the reality that I had work to do to find high value people in my life, I continued to associate with people bringing me down. It was not until I valued this law and eliminated people from my life and actively vetting anyone new with strict requirements that I have felt a perpetual upwards momentum and strength against any downward direction that others are caught in.

Conclusion: Spirit, Virtue, Mission

Through everything we’ve talked about; finding your Axis Mundi, sharpening your mind, building your body, pushing toward the edges of your potential, you begin to uncover the core of who you are. That process is how virtue is built. Values are nice ideas. Virtue is what remains after life has tested those ideas and you’ve proven them through action.

As you chip away at yourself and expose what’s underneath, you start to see the contours of your mission. Not a slogan or a cute personal mantra, but the real thing. Your direction, your reason for being, the impact you’re here to make on the world and the people in it.

Your job is simple: pour yourself into that mission fully. Charge your spirit with inspiration, discipline, and intensity. Learn relentlessly. Build relentlessly. Move toward the higher version of yourself with the seriousness of someone whose life depends on it.

Because it does.

A high value man is not created by accident. He is forged. He is shaped by trials, refined by effort, and defined by the standard he holds for himself every single day. The world is only getting harder, sharper, more competitive.

You cannot drift your way into greatness.