Work on these three aspects of yourself, Body, Mind, Spirit. All three of these areas must grow together to rise into the 1% of humanity.

In this age, it does not take much to rise above the herd in western society and become part of the 1% of apex predators. With just a short amount of time, determination, and the will to be better than the day before. Almost overnight, you can change yourself.

Great Men

Having the strength of a strong man yet being dumber than a box of rocks, you will always make you a follower, that someone else controls, and an itch in the back of your mind that you could be something better.

You could be the most brilliant person in the room. Yet you ride a scooter and be so overweight, you can barely move, or the other extreme is never leaving your residence, being to frail to withstand the outside elements.

A weak spirit leads to always searching for something that is missing. 

Knowing there is more to life than just to exist. Not having faith leads to a weak body and a mind that deteriorates. In great men, you will see they have a healthy spirit, confidence in their actions, and continue to better themselves both in body and mind.

Even though I could become like others, who excel in different areas, I have no desire to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger or Eddie Hall or to contend with the great mind of Leonardo Da Vinci or philosophy of Aristotle. To be another Saint Paul or Billy Graham is not my calling. Men who rose to the top of 1% of humanity. Men we look up to and take inspiration from.

As the world turns, we need great men from all walks of life. Butcher, Banker, Chef, Mechanic, Soldier, Managers, CEOs, the list goes on and on. We need all these great men working together to shape our society further.

I wish to be a great man, be a great father, and be the best in the endeavors that I want to conquer and accomplish. As I have worked to better myself, I have realized that I need to attain specific goals, set minimums that must be met, and continually maintain and improve. 

As I have set these standards for myself, I have started to look at other men to see if they meet the minimum requirements and, if not, realize it and help them meet and exceed where they need to. Holding them accountable, and in return, they can hold me accountable for my actions and words.

Those who are not ready to improve, who are not willing to change are like a horse leading to water yet will not drink. I discard and move on from, for weak men are the crabs that pull you back into the barrel, part of the herd mentality, becoming prey for this world’s’ predators.

Men need standards on which to judge other Men and hold them accountable. A measure that other Men look at and know you practice what you preach.

BODY

I am going over the minimum standards for the body first.

The body is what everyone else sees. It is the first impression most people get of you before they even hear you speak. The way you dress, how you walk, and how you hold yourself. Do people notice you when walking into a room? If not, then you can train your body and dress for success.

Through my research and reading, these are physical standards I have come up with as a good judge of myself and others. These are my opinions, many I have already attained, others I have a long way to go.

Keep things simple
Diet – controls the waist
Morning cardio – is the energizer for the day
Walking – is for peace of mind
Working out/lifting – is for breaking down muscle so it will grow.

DIET

Stop Thinking Of Your Diet As A Quick Fix by Scott, goes far and deep into the mindset of diet and what it truly means.

STANDARDS

These are standards for the average joe, not your bodybuilders, powerlifters, marathon runners, all good things to attain if you want.

You should be to do regular physical work and defend yourself, a friend, or a loved one. To be prepared in a time of crisis.

For those looking for a starting point here you go.

Your overall weight does not matter as much as your body fat does. You should get your body fat down to 18-19%, remember this is a min. Being in the teens for body fat gives you all kinds of health benefits and gets you on the road to looking good in your clothes.

These are the basic movements to test one’s strength using a barbell and weights.

• Flat Bench Press: One and quarter times, your body weight.
• High Bar Back Squat: One and Half times your body weight.
• Conventual Deadlift: Two times your body weight
• Overhead Press: Your body weight

For a 200lb/90.7kg man

Bench 250/114, Squat 300/136, Deadlift 400/182, Press 200/90.7

Age, Injuries, time lifting, under or overweight all work into how easy these numbers will be accomplished, as you work your way to 19% body fat or less, progressively lifting heavier weights.

Cardio

You need cardio, you may be strong as an ox, but it won’t matter if:

• You have to move quickly to avoid a tree falling or a runaway car.
• Your child is about to ride their bike into a ditch of rushing water.
• A gunman opens fire, and you have to take cover or, better yet, you rush him to eliminate the threat.

Simple tests

• Be able to sprint 100 meters drop and do ten pushups.
• Be able to run non-stop for 3.1 miles/5 km
• Be able to go up to five flights of stairs (about 72 steps) without losing your breath.

Again, these are minimums to attain, in most, if not all of these strength and cardio activities you will want to continue to improve.

Dress

You have built a body, and yet you hide it under crappy frumpy clothes. Stop, STOP NOW!

How to dress for success:

Head

Full head of hair, get yourself an excellent clean traditional haircut.

Starting to thin going bald, shave it off.

It will impress your peers and make good women swoon.

Upper Body

Make sure your shirts fit.

Get rid of all those shirts with stupid sayings, might have been ok when you were in school, but it’s time to grow up.

If you wear a jersey better be your name on the back, never wear another man’s name on you back because you would just be demeaning yourself.

In this day in age, just a button-up shirt will make you look better than 90% of the other guys around.

Lower Body

Make sure your pants fit you.

If it’s part of a fad, don’t wear them

Sweat pants are for the gym only.

Running pants are for running.

Yoga pants are for women, and most of them shouldn’t be wearing them.

Feet

Spend a little extra on getting shoes that will last and support your feet.

There are a plethora of resources on the net to better your style. Don’t be afraid to invest in the gear you need for all your upcoming adventures.

MIND

We looked at the physical, which is easy for others to see and to judge. 

When building your mind, the only way others may have a chance to see the mental strength you have created is through written works or conversation.

What does it take to strengthen the mind? For starters, read a book. Blogs, essays, and Wikipedia can fill in some information but not like a well thought out book. You need to read books of substance with a note pad close at hand to record your thoughts.

The second thing is to discuss what you have read and learned with other men. The discussion will help solidify and strengthen your understanding of the information you absorbed. Many times, with different outlooks and opinions, you are broadening your knowledge.

Reading just one book a year will put you ahead of most of the population.

One book is not enough to keep up with your physical balance. I think fifty-two books are what men should shoot for, one per week. A book a week is a hefty challenge, and we are talking about minimums.

The minimum number of books you should read is Twelve. That works out to one book a month. Any man wanting to strengthen his mind can find enough time to accomplish this. In only reading twelve books, they should cover several categories making you well rounded in thought and comprehension.

• Biography: Reading about great men in history, can help inspire you, show you how to improve yourself, and teach you what it takes to be a great leader.
• Business: Working for a company or working for yourself, improving your business skills, and learning new skill sets will always make you desirable.
• Fantasy-Sci-Fi: Everyone needs a little fun in their life. Many times, these books have morals to them. Good vs. Evil concepts. Some of the best quotes.
• Finance: Learning to control your finances is an important endeavor. Yes, you may budget well, balance your accounts. Promotion at work or your e com business takes off; you go from a making 45k to 100k to a Million, are you prepared.
• Fitness: Optimizing your fitness should always be on your back burner of thoughts. Old or new concepts to try as you go from being a beginner to extraordinary. Trying out new fitness challenges for yourself. Iron man, strong man, trail running, kayaking, etc. etc.
• Historical non-fiction: Learning about history’s greatest triumphs and colossal fails, learning to apply these lessons as you build your empire.
• Mindset: Need to change your frame of thought? Are you headed in the right direction for your goals? When is the last time you genuinely look at yourself to see if your mind is healthy?
• Nutrition: Needs to feed the body, is your current diet right for you (not talking fad diets) your vitamins and minerals on point. New studies are always coming out, do they contradict what you knew before or reaffirmed what you currently believe.
• Philosophy: Being able to talk intelligently about existence, knowledge, values, and reasoning can bring depth to a conversation beyond the here and now. To be able to debate to a better understanding of thoughts.
• Psychology: Learning about how your mind works and other people’s minds can lead to a better interaction with those you come in contact with.
• Science non-fiction: Knowing the basics of why things work the way they do. Will lead to taking the veil off of your misconception.
• Survival: Simple as changing a tire or being in a plane crash. You should always be ready for what life throws at you.

Most books fit into these categories; just reading twelve books a year will strengthen your mind and give you a new outlook. You will not lack conversation or talking about many subjects; others will look to you as a source of knowledge.

Strengthening your mind with books is only half of the equation. What is the point of reading all this information if you do not apply it? Work to incorporate what you have learned into your daily life. Take your knowledge of what you have learned and pass it on to another. One of the best ways of doing this is in conversation.

First and foremost, if you can sit down with another man and have face to face conversation, this is the best way. Being able to read body language, along with hearing words, gives greater depth to a conversation.

Life keeps us busy, time is valuable, next I would say that technology helps us out, and video chat is an excellent way to go, again with one or a group.

These are my thoughts on the minimums to strengthen your mind. Wanting to go a step beyond, learn to get up in front of your peers and give a speech. Take a speech class, join Toastmasters, speak at local club or church. The benefits of public speaking will take you to new heights.

* MODERN WARRIOR ACADEMY is working to bring you tools to take book learning to the next level.*

SPIRIT

The body is the outward appearance that everyone sees, the strength of mind from spoken and written words. Your spirit is a very personal side; balancing and strengthening the Body and Mind, only those very close to you will indeed see your strength of spirit.

Spirit is your sense of self, something that science can’t prove; it just is. 

Your spirit is where your faith comes into your conscious thought. Faith in your body’s capabilities. Faith in what you know to be true. Faith that there is something more than just being a meat bag crawling through existence on this celestial planet we call earth.

Your corporeal body collects information through the five senses, for your mind to process and your spirit decides what to do with all this information. Fight or flight, offense or defense, relax or push harder. Your spirit is the great decision maker that not only controls the mind and body. It melds your mind and body to work as one. For without your spirit you are nothing.

Your mind can quit working, yet your body can still survive, your heart can even beat, your lungs still process air, your nerves can still sense. Without spirit there is death.

Your body, broken beyond repair, disease transfixed you to a wheelchair for life, yet you could have one of the most influential minds of all time. Without spirit there is death.

Without the spirit the body and mind are useless.

To strengthen your spirit, you need

Challenges

Hard ships

Great loss

Great joys

Accomplishments

Goals Crushed

Fulfillment

You need to live life to its fullest, chasing after dreams, carving out your empire. You can carve out a place as a lone wolf finding your path through this world. Yet finding a clan of brothers, a tribe of like-minded men, men to hold you accountable as iron sharpening iron. It can help build your spirit up, strengthen it, be there during the highs and the lows of what life throws at you.

Written by Nathan

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