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Good article. I’ll add avoid tattoos unless one wants to appear low class.
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i highly disagree with this.
the only men who can be in the top ten percent of men are of high phenotypic quality (i.e. good looks) and that is established at conception. simple lifestyle changing habits cannot “bend” or “alter” female choice because females look for “honest signals” in a mate, which are for the most part, non-alterable (aside from cosmetic surgery). if a man is low on the sexual dimorphic scale (feminine face and/or short in stature) there’s practically nothing he can do to become a part of the top ten percent.
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James, assuming what you say is true, what should a man low on the sexual dimorphic scale do?
Maybe, do all 5 things anyway?
Reply “Honest signals” can include leanness and muscularity, because they have a cost and show self-discipline. And honest signals can get overlooked because of things like pot bellies or acne or poor posture. So while short stature or a feminine face are indeed handicaps, they can be mitigated in other areas.
Reply @P.D. Mangan:
““Honest signals” can include leanness and muscularity…So while short stature or a feminine face are indeed handicaps, they can be mitigated in other areas.”
This is true but only to a certain extent. Men can better themselves in varying degrees but the idea that these simple (or even complex) fixes can change a man’s inherent market value is a plain lie. The top ten percent is already reserved only for a hand-full of instinctively attractive men.
@lemmy caution:
I’m not saying men should not do their best to better themselves but the idea that in doing so, most men will reach the top ten percent out of sheer hard work, is ridiculous. That type of thinking does not bode well with what actual science says (namely, that of bio-evolution). The sexual mating market abides by a Pareto principle (80/20 rule) and this is largely based of attractive phenotypes and not personality quirks or muscular/postural “gains”.
@zax:
How so? One can say the same thing about your comment but it still doesn’t prove anything.
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James,
Have you done all five things? If you do all five things to the very best of your ability, your life will not get worse, I guarantee you of that.
The idea of the top 10% of men is a thought exercise, not a quantitative ranking. A ranking would be impossible, because some aspects of it are subjective. But there’s nothing subjective about comparing your current self to your past self and seeing improvement.
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He is a fat schlub who has given up and doesn’t want to do the work to improve himself, so naturally he insists that improvement is impossible.
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This is good advice for the physical and health aspect. Surprising there is no angle on the mental/intellectual side, or the inner frame.
For the former, I would say to read. Pick up a good speed reading program, then be on your way to reading one book a week. The majority of Americans don’t read, so you’ll be ahead of the pack and expand your intelligence.
As for the latter, focus on self-belief. IT’s your default state, so work on acknowledging the negative thoughts that come in your head and chase them off like a thief in the night.
Reply Thanks. Agree of course that the mental side and the inner frame, as you put it, are not to be neglected. But since I mainly focus on health here, I left it at the physical side.
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[…] Mangan provides 5 steps to being in the top 10% of males. Among the steps are to lose weight, dress better, carry yourself with good posture, and to gain […]
Reply […] How to be in the top 10% of men (via Rogue Health and Fitness) How to train our brains to be better at everything (via […]
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Maybe you can’t work your way to THE top 10% but you can be the top 10% of your peer group and that’s better than where you were.
You spoke about posture. I know a surefire, no doubt way to make your posture perfect with no thinking.
“Miss Craig’s 21-Day Shape-Up Program for Men and Women: A Plan of Natural Movement Exercises for Anyone in Search of a Trim and Healthy Body”
It’s a very doorky looking book full of doorky stretchish type exercises. If you do these in 6 months you will feel abnormal if you slouch. For some reason the exercises just force your body to align itself in good posture. If you sit in a chair and try to slouch down it will uncomfortable. You have to sit up straight. Millions of these books sold and you can get one for a penny and postage on Amazon. Not only will it help your posture but I have a theory that health is somewhat related to pumping toxins out of the system. The lymph nodes do this and to work they need motion of the limbs. So while your helping your posture you’re also pumping waste from your system.
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Oh, mutton chops for example, or imperials. Although I rather like imperials.
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As for dressing well, the thrift shop is also a great place for decent clothes. For example, I bought a couple of sport coats/blazers, for less than $10 each, took them to a tailor and had them taken in here and there for another $10 each. Shirts are event cheaper. Granted, you do have to comb through a bunch of junk to find something close to fitting. But it can be done.
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As a young man, I think that your blog is great. Very helpful on how to be a better man.
Thanks for the content.
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You recommend men, “Eat…fruits,” but only “maybe some potatoes.”
Are potatoes worse than fruit?
Reply I’m firmly in the low-carb camp. If someone is lean, doesn’t need to lose fat, muscular, exercises regularly, carbohydrates like potatoes and fruit will likely not cause much harm. But even there, stories abound of athletes becoming insulin resistant and on their way to diabetes because of a high carbohydrate diet, e.g. Shawn Baker and Tim Noakes, the former a powerlifter and sprinter, the latter a distance runner. Both got better by virtually eliminating carbs. If you have any markers of insulin resistance, such as too high body fat, and/or you don’t exercise regularly, I recommend you avoid concentrated sources of carbs like potatoes. Fruit is arguably worse than potatoes, since it contains lots of sugar including fructose, which is metabolically damaging, whereas potatoes contain only starch, which consists of chains of glucose.
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