masculinetools.com

Men, let me explain to you one of the deepest parts of training heavy and accomplishing “personal bests” moving heavy weights. I’m mostly talking about squats and deadlifts.

One of the deepest parts about this form of masculine endeavor is this:

No one is watching.

That’s right. One of the most satisfying aspects of this type of masculine performance is, there is NO ONE WATCHING. There is no audience. It’s you alone.

You are NOT performing for anyone, and yet…. This is your gift to yourself. A private ritual. You against you, win or lose, it’s ALL you.

So, let me tell you how it is. Listen up, and pay attention, cus if you aren’t doing this, it’s as close as you will get to understanding what you are missing, and make no mistake, you ARE missing…

As you approach the loaded bar, it’s you ALONE. You strap yourself to the weight. A ponderous weight. It feels not right, but you are fully alive. And it hurts alot. And you become angry…

The full realization of what you’ve committed yourself to becomes obvious and it seems foolish and desperate, and yet… you know you WILL move that sonofabitch….

And it’s you alone. There will be no encouraging words. No one to help. God forbid, no ‘support’ (heh).

And your body bends. But it does not break. So you tempt it further…. and still it holds…

You’re in a frenzied state, possessed by a singularity of purpose. All systems are locked in. A berserker unleashed.

Execution is NOT imminent. The strain feels wrong, a self-induced torture, pure masochism.

Everything is to its limits, all dials at 10, and failure looms as a possibility, until… it doesn’t.

Failure looms, until it doesn’t. And you SMASH that fucker and you destroy that weight and you defeat gravity and the earth with your flesh and blood and bone.

And the deed is done. As you said it would be.
And the story unfolds…. and it hurts alot….

As you knew it would. And you are alone. To revel in your glory.

And the deed is done. And it’s you alone as it’s always been.

Men!

Where the warrior? Where the contender. Where the challenge and the challenger?

I call my brothers forward, out of their slumber. Join us and commit to honoring your potential by strapping on the yoke of self-induced tribulation and struggle. Until you do, you neglect the gifts you’ve been given and you will atrophy, like a useless withered appendage.

Men who inspire me are rare. Men who represent the ideals I hold are even rarer.

But men who are actually alive and in my life that inspire me and represent the ideals I hold are rarer still.

This collage took me little time to create, but reminds me of the things I aspire to and the ideals I hold.

A Masculine Tool par excellence.

Year-end is a very powerful time for the hungry man, the inspired man, the manly man.

A time of reflection, self-examination and planning, year-end is ripe with potential for a man who wants to take stock and envision his life from multiple vantage points, levels and horizons.

For instance, one useful way I look at my life is as if from a cockpit of a large aircraft (as the image above).

I am surrounded by various instruments and gauges, each designed to keep me on track with where I am going in my life. What are those gauges telling me and how do I use them?

An even more powerful way of imaging my life is to see it as the progression of a Great War.

Each dimension of my life, which is a Great War, has a map. A War Map.

I’m going to (very) briefly tell you about my War Maps, what each one shows me and how I use it.

1. The first and most important War Map is my Ultimate Purpose War Map.

What is the reason for my existence? What is my life about? Why am I alive? What is my core motivation that all other motivations in my life answer to?

If a man cannot answer these questions he will easily get off course and lost. Distracted by the small details of life he will never get where he is going, because he doesn’t have a fucking clue, WHERE he is going.

Do you know where YOU are going?

Determine your Ultimate Purpose War Map now.

2. The second War Map is my Ultimate Principles War Map.

What are my guiding principles that inform my life decisions? What are my ultimate values? What are my rules and what will I not tolerate or accept in my life?

If a man cannot answer these questions he will not have a true north or a guiding star. Without Ultimate Principles, a man will be weak in his capacity to make decisions because his decisions are based on however he is feeling at the time. Just like a little girl.

Do you know WHY you are going where you are going?

Determine your Ultimate Principles War Map now.

3. Third is my Ultimate Vision War Map.

What will my life look like when I am living in alignment with my Ultimate Purpose and according to my Ultimate Principles? Using as much detail as possible, I describe my dream-life, as well as what I would like my day to day existence to look like.

If a man has no vision he will end up living a life according to someone else’s vision. Waking up at the end of his life he will wonder what the fuck happened and how did he get here?

Will you know what your dream-life will LOOK LIKE when you get there?

Determine your Ultimate Vision War Map now.

4. The next Map is a list of short term (3 month) and longer term goals (1 year), my Goals War Map.

Looking at my Ultimate Purpose and Principles and seeing my Ultimate Vision, what are the goals I need to set to make that vision a reality?

Those goals need to be attainable but also audacious. Those goals must make a demand upon me in a big way, so that I will strain and struggle to accomplish them.

If a man is not living a goal driven life he is sitting still and not going anywhere, wasting the brief time he has to create a life worth living.

Are you creating a life worth living?

According to your Ultimate Purpose, Principles and Vision, what are the goals you need to set to get you to where you have determined you are going?

Create your Goals War Map, now.

5. Next, using my list of goals, I create my Projects War Map.

A project is an endeavor that you agree to accomplish and that has multiple steps. A project is often confused with things on a To-Do list, because you cannot do a project, you can only work on the steps contained within the project. I have a list of between 20 and 30 projects going at any one time.

Without a written list of clearly defined projects a man will try to run his life by using his mind to manage his various obligations and commitments. The mind is no place to manage a life, like the bathroom is no place to fly a plane. Get in the cockpit and in front of your gauges.

Create your Projects War Map now.

6. Finally, using my Projects War Map I create my Next Actions War Map.

Next Actions are single steps that you can accomplish to move you closer to completing a project.

Every day you will look at your Next Actions War Map, which was determined by your Projects War Map, which was created by determining your Ultimate Vision Map, which was informed by your Ultimate Purpose and Principles War Maps.

Every day you will create a To-Do list, which will be made up from your Next Action War Map, according to your time, location and schedule.

Now that you have created your War Maps, get a journal (Battle Log) and a day planner (Battle Planner), put them all together to create a life that even the gods will nod to.

War Maps
1. Ultimate Purpose
2. Ultimate Principles
3. Ultimate Vision
4. Goals (short and long term)
5. Projects
6. Next actions

Battle Planner (Calendar)
Battle Log (Journal)

If you have any questions or want some examples, hit me with them. According to my War Maps, 2017 will be the best year of my life.

* These ideas were strongly influenced by David Allen‘s book, Making It All Work. I simply personalized and masculinized them.

Men,

If you are reading these words, you must be alive. You must be alive but I doubt you can feel your aliveness, the very essence of what makes reading possible.

You must be alive but it is a fact that you will one day die. You may die later today, or in a couple hours.

I don’t think it is possible to hold the fact of death too closely. It adds urgency and awe to your living experience.

Also, nothing cuts through unnecessary seriousness and life stifling solemnity than the fact of ones certain death.

Death Awareness is a Masculine Tool that should be kept forever clenched in a man’s most dominant hand.

A man should train and do whatever it takes to maintain Death Awareness and wield that Masculine Tool moment to moment with precision, power and playfulness.

To do otherwise is to live life like the dead, an empty corpse devoid of the urgency that IS, life itself.

Equalism, Feminism and pathological tolerance has made us a society of weak pathetic sissies.

Living life today is no challenge. I could do it with my eyes closed. Or drunk and drugged.

I crave experience that brings me to my edge.

I yearn for confrontation, conflict and a challenge that draws the best from me.

I have no dangers, I have no enemies, I have no challenges. I must create these things in my life to feel alive.

I DO NOT want peace.

Fuck peace. Peace is death, life is conflict. Give me life.

Fuck safety. Safety is weak, life is daring. Give me life.

Fuck tolerance. Tolerance is mediocrity, life is challenging and brutally intolerant. Give me life.

I would rather die trying to be ANYTHING other than peaceful, safe and tolerant.

All my challenges, all my conflicts, are self induced and self created. So create them I do and I will.

I live as a mythic creation, battling the diseases of decline and decay.

I am a superhero, at war with the deadly soul sucking creature of modern culture.

I live as a god, destroying the demonic forces of conformity and mediocrity.

I train as a warrior, preparing for the coming battle, knife in teeth and my death plot paid for.

My every environment is an arena. My every interaction is a challenge.

Even my bed is a battleground.

My every experience is squeezed of all its life and the marrow is sucked from it’s smashed bones as I pulverize and devour them, juices of joy dribbing down my dirty bearded chin.

Give me life.

This weblog is called Masculine Tools.

What the fuck is a Masculine Tool? No, not that kind of tool dipshit. What is a Masculine Tool as it relates to this blog? It’s my blog, so I’ll define it:

A Masculine Tool is anything a man uses to exercise one or more of his masculine dimensions, often evoking an intensely masculine experience.

That definition is a slightly unwieldy mouthful, so let’s unpack it in 3 pieces…

1. A Masculine Tool is anything a man uses to exercise…

In the hands of a man, a Masculine Tool can be a physical object (a piece of equipment, training gear, or weapon) a behavior (a type of practice or a form of training), or a concept (a particular point of view or an understanding).

Masculine Tools, as we are talking about here, include such ‘things’ as weights, reading materials, handyman skills, firearms, gym equipment, written journals, seduction skills, various forms of running, fighting and defensive skills, inspirational and educational movies, sexual skills, forms of artistic or ritual equipment, self-awareness, competitive sports, mechanical skills, extreme challenges etc.…

2. A Masculine Tool is used to exercise one or more of his masculine dimensions…

Masculine Tools are used to exercise, engage and challenge our masculine dimensions, forcing ourselves to go beyond our current limitations, to exercise our previously unknown dimensions, or reawaken aspects of ourselves that we have allowed to wither or atrophy due to lack of use.

These masculine dimensions include the already mentioned masculine virtues such as Strength, Courage, Honor and Mastery, but also include dimensions such as Self Awareness, Autonomy and Intimacy, Emotional Maturity, Shadow-aspect, and Mortality to name a few.

3. Using a Masculine Tool will often evoke an intensely masculine experience…

Using a Masculine Tool correctly, in my experience, gives rise to intense feelings of power, virility, potency and ruggedness, as well as a surging of a primal or animalistic nature.

For example, two Masculine Tools I try to use every day, forest trail running and weight training, evoke intensely masculine experiences. I’ll explain:

Forest trail running is just what it sounds like, running, not jogging, on trails that wind through the forest. Forest trail running demands a very high degree of focus and precision, due to the elevation changes, twists, turns and obstacles, but especially because many of the trails are heavily covered with tree roots.

This kind of running forces me to into a hyper-alert state, where I feel wild and predatory, like I’m stalking an animal or an enemy, exercising dimensions such as concentration, stamina, speed, agility, flexibility and respiration control.

Weight training involves moving heavy weights using physical strength, power and endurance. While there are countless exercises that can be performed, the lifts that use combinations of large muscle groups and dramatically tax the entire musculature are best, especially the Deadlift.

The Deadlift is a pure, Masculine Tool designed to evoke a mammoth physical exertion, pitting ones pure power and determination, against the earth’s gravity and the cold dead weight in your grip. After a good set of Deadlifts, although drained and depleted I actually feel simultaneously stronger and energized.

The common experience between the Masculine Tools of forest trail running and weight training is that they both evoke what I will call an extremely dramatic experience of masculinity, primal, potent and intense.

This kind of experience includes a heightened self awareness and bodily fullness, sharpened perceptions, and a sense of confidence, competence and satisfaction.

Finally and most importantly, many Masculine Tools engage several masculine dimensions simultaneously and work synergistically, creating a 1 + 1 + 1 = 7 kind of effect. Separately, a flame, gasoline and oxygen are pretty unremarkable. Put them together and you can burn the World to the ground. So it goes with Masculine Tools, and because a good man has many dimensions, he will need to use many many tools.

In the end, Masculine Tools are used by manly uncompromising men who unapologetically demand more of themselves and more of everything in their lives, testosterone and adrenaline, flesh and blood, power and performance, aggression and virility.

What kind of Masculine Tools are you wielding to forge your masculine identity?

I had a goal to deadlift 405 lbs before my 50th birthday, instead I got 465 today and will shoot for 500 at Yule.

Is easier to be a beast in the gym on Samhain, even without the costume and make up  heh

A life spent in mindless labor, trivial pursuits, and the fulfillment of base desires is not only boring, plain and normal- it is not one that is even worth living.

By living this way, you are one of billions of people on this planet living essentially the exact same life, with only minor discrepancies between the two. You are only serving as the tiniest, most insignificant piece in a machine larger than your imagining, and when your light goes out, you are infinitely replaceable and no one will notice your passing. ~ Paul Waggener

If you were lucky, as I was, when you were young your parents exposed you to team sports. Joining a team usually meant you were about to be supported by a variety of external motivators. For example, joining a team meant you would be encouraged by parents, pushed by a coach, and challenged and inspired by team mates.

In hockey and baseball, my parents cheered for me, sitting in the stands or the bleachers, yelling and screaming encouragement and advice. My Dad was a total athlete, a very good ball player, an even better hockey player, and I benefited immensely from his demonstrations, instructions and expectations.

Year after year on every team there was always a coach, molding and teaching me how to better my performance and teamwork, whether it was hitting, skating, running, shooting, throwing…. Under the coaches eye I was always training some skill and got stronger and faster and better.

But I also performed with team mates, who drove me to be my best. If I remember correctly, and I’m sure I do, it was the opinions of my team mates, that mattered the most to me. Their praise or disappointment held the most weight. Their admiration or disrespect cut the deepest.

My parents. My coaches. My team mates. That was a lot of outer motivation and inspiration to ignite my own inner desire to perform and excel. Now, its been 30 years since my last team sport, the last time my parents encouraged me perform, the last time my coach drove me to excel, the last time my team mates expected greatness from me, and the last time I expected greatness from them.

These days I am training solo, I am training for all different reasons, and I’m training with all different motivators. Today, any physical challenge I engage in is purely self-inflicted, and any motivation I generate is from within. All things considered, I train today with an intensity that often exceeds the intensity of my late teens.

But here’s the thing:

I can be as self-motivated as anyone, but I have a deep sense that something is missing from my life.

I can’t help but wonder if, surrounded by a team of badass men today, I wouldn’t draw out of myself even deeper and higher levels of performance, achievement, or even greatness. Especially greatness.

Seems the men I meet these days understand and know what I mean when I talk about being held to account by respectable, inspirational men. They understand the value of it. So let me ask you:

When was the last time you stepped up before a group of strong and hungry men and stated your goals, your mission, and your deepest purpose in life?

When was the last time you gave a voice to your deep yearning, and were held to account by men you respect, to stay true to that yearning, come what may?

When was the last time greatness was expected of you by men you trust and admire?

For me, it’s been more than 30 years and for me, it’s time I did something about that.