In our modern day technologically advanced society why have we been conditioned to look outside of ourselves for answers? We have, as a general population, become increasingly reliant on others, particularly government and organizations, to survive. The primitive survival instinct that we once had seems to have been lost to the wind as we continue to be controlled by television, government, celebrities, athletes, etc… The time to change is now and the focus should be placed on yourself, which requires discipline, responsibility and spirituality.
A common misconception that is propagated is that being self-reliant means you do not accept help from others. Wrong, being self-reliant does not mean you should not accept help or advice from others it just means you are capable of taking care of yourself in the absence of others. In fact, being self-reliant, means you learn to 'take advice' from experts but not everyone (you are selective).
Self-reliance is not taught in school anymore so you must WORK to find it elsewhere. Here are some starting points that all young men (and women) should focus on:
1. Cooking… with ready-to-eat meals and restaurants everywhere I have found more and more young people not knowing how to cook. This is a skill that everyone should have, not only for survival, but in order to live a healthy and fulfilled life. First, read or start following recipes. Second, use the TV as a tool and watch a cooking channel weekly. Third, try, do not be afraid to fail because you will learn and get better with each horrific meal.
2. Discipline… as Jocko says, “discipline is freedom.” Discipline your life by setting goals, prioritizing your time, organizing a schedule, etc… the best place to start is set 20 minutes first thing in the morning to do something that will provide you with better health or a skill. Do it, do not skip a day and in 90 days you will form a habit that can build to more habits.
3. Intuition… you will never learn this in classroom! You have to experience life and put yourself in unfamiliar situations that require you to critically think. It is very important that you work on exposing yourself to different things to get this base of thinking.
4. Strength… in this context I am speaking about physical strength. Not everyone is a “gym rat” but every MAN should have muscle. In 2022 there are way too many young men walking around looking like wet noodles. Start hitting the gym, doing manual labor or choose various other activities that require you to push yourself physically and mentally.
5. Survival Skills… learn basic skills that can help you in a crisis, something you can always have as a skill. Here are a few examples:
- Start a fire
- Pitch a tent
- Shoot a gun
- Cook
- Plant and harvest vegetables (garden 101)
The best time to develop these traits are 0-7 years of age, with on-going development through the teenage years. Dad’s make sure you are spending time at home teaching your young boys to become men, it is the greatest investment you can make in life!!
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