A Man’s Life

Lessons in Unmanliness from Victor Frankenstein

by Jeremy Anderberg

Victor Frankenstein does not get much attention in popular culture. It is Frankenstein’s creation – a nameless monster (often mistakenly called Frankenstein) – in all his green, bumbling glory that attracts the attention and the horrified screams of people worldwide. To the contrary of how film directors and producers have portrayed Frankenstein’s monster, Mary Shelley […]

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The 3 P’s of Manhood: Protect

by Brett

“Manhood is the social barrier that societies must erect against entropy, human enemies, the forces of nature, time, and all the human weaknesses that endanger group life.” -David D. Gilmore There is much discussion these days about manhood and the future of men. Sometimes I will see people try to stop one of these conversations before […]

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Manvotional: Jack London on Life That Lives

by Brett & Kate McKay

Editor’s note: The excerpt below is taken from the beginning of the preface to Jack London’s book, The Cruise of the Snark, a non-fiction work which detailed he and his wife Charmian’s attempt to sail around the world in 1907. From The Cruise of the Snark, 1911 By Jack London It began in the swimming […]

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One App to Rule Them All: 30 Ways Evernote Can Improve Your Life

by Jeremy Anderberg

Update: This article is NOT a sponsored post. We received absolutely nothing from Evernote in exchange for this post and have never communicated with anyone at Evernote. Even though we put this disclaimer below as well, we thought we’d put it up here too because some folks missed it and claimed this recommendation was paid for. […]

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Manvotional: Seneca on the Value of “Obvious” Advice

by Brett & Kate McKay

Editor’s note: Our recent posts on the simple power of aphorisms and the need to direct your attention towards that which matters most brought to my mind these excerpts from the writings of Seneca. In them, the ancient Stoic philosopher answers the question of why we should continue to study things we already know and […]

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Your Concentration Training Program: 11 Exercises That Will Strengthen Your Attention

by Brett & Kate McKay

In this series on mastering your attention, we have emphasized the fact that attention is not just the ability to focus on a single task without being distracted, but in fact is comprised of several different elements that must be effectively managed. But this doesn’t mean that single-minded focus is not of paramount importance. Yesterday […]

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Become the Supreme Commander of Your Mind: How to Effectively Manage Your Attention

by Brett & Kate McKay

In our last post we provided a big picture overview of what attention is and how it works. We explored the fact that while many people only think of attention in terms of the ability to focus on a single task, there are in fact several different types, each with their distinctive benefits and drawbacks. […]

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The Nature and Power of Ritual Series Conclusion: On Ritual Resistance

by Brett & Kate McKay

Ritual is one of the oldest and most universal forms of human expression in the world. Over the last couple of months, we have explained the reasons for its persistence and ubiquity by detailing its many and varied benefits, including the ability to carve out pockets of the sacred in a profane world, solidify bonds, […]

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The Power of Ritual: The Rocket Booster of Personal Change, Transformation, and Progress

by Brett & Kate McKay

Welcome back to our series on the nature and power of ritual. So far, we have talked about ritual’s ability to carve out pockets of the sacred in an otherwise profane world, as well as the way it can create group identity and solidify bonds between people by building shared worlds of possibilities between them. […]

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John Boyd’s Roll Call: Do You Want to Be Someone or Do Something?

by Brett & Kate McKay

According to his biographer, Robert Coram, John Boyd made “more contributions to fighter tactics, aircraft design, and the theory of air combat than any man in Air Force history.” As a fighter pilot, he was undefeated and earned the nickname “40-Second Boyd” for his ability to win any dogfight in under a minute. Unmatched in […]

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Attention, Please! What Every Man Ought to Know About Focus

by Brett & Kate McKay

“Pay attention!” “If you just focused more, you’d be more successful!” We’ve all probably heard these kinds of admonishments from a teacher or a parent. And most of us probably castigate ourselves on a daily basis for our inability to concentrate on the task at hand. It seems in our distracted world of texts, tweets, […]

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20 Aphorisms That I Thought Were Dumb as a Boy But Now Appreciate as a Grown Man

by AoM Team

This post brought to you by Old Spice. Use new Re-Fresh body spray and spray goodbye to your boyhood.. 20 aphorisms and sayings that I thought were lame as a boy, but now appreciate as a man.

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The Power of Ritual: Building Shared Worlds and Bonds That Transcend the Everyday

by Brett & Kate McKay

In advance of a series of articles we’ll be doing this year on some of the rites that have been central to manhood, we have recently been discussing the nature of ritual and its several benefits. In the last post, we explored ritual’s power to carve out pockets of the sacred in an otherwise profane […]

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How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

by Brett & Kate McKay

Editor’s note: As you look back on the year that has just past, do you feel as though you spent another 12 months merely existing instead of truly living? Do you often go to bed at night with an anxious, sinking feeling that you wasted away another precious day of your limited time here on […]

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Jumpstart Your Journaling: A 31-Day Challenge

by Jeremy Anderberg

There’s been plenty of talk on AoM recently about journaling with our articles on The Diary Habit as well as 9 habits young men should adopt. Seeing a few of the comments confirmed a notion I already had about the practice of journaling: many men would like to, but few men do to the extent […]

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Be a Scrooge This Year: Reflections from A Christmas Carol

by Jeremy Anderberg

The name of Ebenezer Scrooge has become synonymous with miserliness, greed, grumpiness…all those things you don’t want to be. It’s really too bad, and Scrooge gets an unfair treatment in my opinion, because at the end of A Christmas Carol, he’s changed his ways and become a whole new man. The story should be remembered […]

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The Power of Ritual: The Creation of Sacred Time and Space in a Profane World

by Brett & Kate McKay

Earlier this week we explored the nature of ritual and posited that its current scarcity may be at the root of the restlessness, apathy, alienation, and general boredom many modern day men experience. It’s our determination that without ritual, life often seems flat and devoid of rhythm and texture. Now, we are not suggesting that […]

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The Rites of Manhood: Man’s Need for Ritual

by Brett & Kate McKay

Does modern life ever feel excruciatingly flat to you? A bleak landscape devoid of layers, rhythm, interest, texture? Are you ever haunted by the question “Is this all there is?” Have you ever looked at an old photo and felt that the scene held such an inexplicable richness that it seemed you could practically step […]

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Manvotional: Man’s Chief Purpose

by Brett & Kate McKay

From Faith for Living, 1940 By Lewis Mumford Man’s chief purpose…is the creation and preservation of values, that is what gives meaning to our civilization, and the participation in this is what gives significance, ultimately, to the individual human life… The individual contribution, the work of any single generation, is infinitesimal; the power and glory […]

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