- Weak men try to convince the world they are not weak. Strong men try to convince the world of nothing.

There's a lot of terrible advice for young men on the internet, and I get it. Being a man in 2024 is (beep) confusing.

So in this video, I'm going to explain some timeless principles that are important for any young man to understand.

Let's start with this: The project of a young man means defining your usefulness to the world.

A woman's value to society is innate. She has an inherent potential to create life, but men, we're expendable.

Young men, especially, as long as there's one man somewhere with a working dick, civilization is going to be fine.

Therefore, throughout history, there has been an intense pressure on young men to earn the right to be part of the tribe, society, or civilization.

As the philosopher Camille Paglia once wrote, "A woman simply is, but a man must become." The project that Paglia alludes to, the becoming of a man, is therefore to build your value, to become a net positive for society.

As men, we have a deep, instinctual desire to do this. It's largely what generates confidence and self-esteem, and it gives our lives a sense of meaning and purpose.

Develop the ability to approach women in person and state your sexual interest in them in the simplest and most respectful terms.

Assuming you have your together and don't look like a basement-dwelling troglodyte, you will absolutely be shocked how far this will get you.

Ultimately, the only good dating advice is self-improvement.

Everything else is either a detail or a distraction. Build value within yourself, give that value to those around you, and most of your dating problems will take care of themselves over the long run.

Choosing a long-term partner will be the most important decision you make at this stage of your life.

I know no one tells you that, but it's true. A great partner will make every other endeavor that much easier and more enjoyable.

A bad partner will make every other endeavor unnecessarily difficult and complicated. So choose wisely.

And if you're really struggling with women, then read my men's dating book "Models: Attract Women Through Honesty." It's sold nearly half a million copies and even 12 years later, it continues to be one of the bestselling men's books in the world.

You're probably like most young men in that you're incredibly impatient. You want to prove your status and worth now.

You want the fast car and the fat bank account now. You want to bang the hot girl now. Trust me, my dude, I get it.

Almost all things that are valuable in a man compound slowly over a long period of time. Wealth, knowledge, strength, self-awareness, emotional maturity, family.

These things are not found. They're slowly built over the course of years and decades, there will be many temptations to bypass the long status game for a bunch of short-term bullshit status games.

This is the biggest mistake that I made when I was young.

I thought I could shortcut the long-term value game by winning a bunch of dumb, short-term value games found in parties, video games, nightclubs, and traveling.

These experiences were a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, and I did learn some things from them, but ultimately they probably distracted me from the bigger and more important goal of developing myself.

If the value of being a man compounds slowly, then that means the primary project of every young man should be to continue their education indefinitely.

You do not stop learning when you finish school.

On the contrary, the real useful education has only begun. Your project then is to learn the things they didn't teach you in school.

How to relate to people, how to be dependable and trustworthy, how to listen well, how to take risks, how to communicate your thoughts and feelings effectively.

How to stomach rejection, how to manage your emotions, how to admit when you're wrong. If you have emotional or mental health issues, now is the time to deal with them.

Not when you have a girlfriend, not when you're married, not when you're already fucking up your kids.

Get it taken care of now. Everyone will thank you for it decades later, which leads me to the sponsor of this video, BetterHelp.

There's a bit of a meme going around right now that therapy doesn't work for men. And as a man who got therapy in his 20s and benefited greatly from it, that's bullshit.

The key is to find a good therapist, a therapist who understands what you're going through and won't condescend to you or ignore your problems.

And this is what's great about BetterHelp. If you're unhappy with your therapist, you can switch at any time.

You can take your time, find someone who's the right fit for you. When I was 23, I noticed that I seemed to sabotage every romantic relationship I was in.

So I got therapy and I found a male therapist who I felt would understand a lot of my sexual insecurities, and he was great.

He actually helped me immensely. So as part of your continued education and your discovery of yourself, get your emotional together, get some therapy.

Everyone will thank you for it later. Go to www.betterhelp.com/markmanson to get 10% off your first month.

Use the link in the description to learn more. Try not to think of life as a series of achievements, but rather a series of explorations.

You're not trying to achieve money. You are simply exploring the means to make money.

You are not trying to achieve sex. You are simply exploring your sexuality. You're not trying to achieve six-pack abs.

You are simply exploring the potential of your health and fitness. This allows you to pursue worthy experiences while not entangling your ego and identity up in them.

Because even the most noteworthy achievements, when laced with ego, will turn you into a selfish asshole.

If you have to say you are something, you are not that thing. If you have to convince people that you are high value, then you are not high value.

If you have to make people respect you, then you are not worthy of respect. The best way to earn respect from people around you is to first give it unconditionally.

Took me a long time to learn that satisfaction and self-respect as a man will grow in proportion to the value that you bring to those around you.

Don't be afraid of your emotions. Learn to recognize your emotions and state them bluntly, but never let them dictate your life to you.

Emotions are merely a suggestion, not a decree.

Don't make excuses. Don't blame the world for your shortcomings. Don't become bitter or resentful about things that don't affect you at all.

The world will constantly try to seduce you with moral outrage. Usually these narratives are sold by other men whose projects have been derailed, men who have failed themselves and others, and are trying to prove to you that success is impossible.

Don't buy into these narratives. Become an expert of your own mind. Learn what motivates you. Learn what scares you.

Learn what tempts you and what vices derail you. Test and build systems for yourself. What gets you to exercise in the morning?

What helps you have difficult conversations? What gets you to stop drinking before you go too far? What upsets you unnecessarily?

What the ins and outs of your own mind is? This will affect everything you do. Complaining and talking shit is how weak people relate to each other.

Train yourself to stop doing both and stop hanging around people who do both.

You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. So take a long hard look at who you're choosing.

The world may seem like shit. The world always seems like shit to young people, but recognize that today there is more freedom and opportunity than any other time in history, yet fewer men are willing to act on it and take it than ever.

The average young male is undereducated, underemployed, overweight, broke, and has never approached a woman in his life.

Just fucking try, my God, just try and you're already ahead. So push yourself, build value, share it with others, push yourself, build value, share it with others.

Rinse and repeat. Play the long game. Start compounding value within yourself now, reap the massive rewards down the line.

Then it's just a matter of being patient. Compounding takes a long time, so never interrupt it unnecessarily.

Just remind yourself periodically that it's only going to get better as you go. And when you do get there, it won't be some big celebratory moment.

Nobody's gonna throw you a parade. No. Once you get there, you actually won't even know you're there until one day you see an old video or a story or someone reminds you of something and you kind of laugh to yourself and say, "Wow, can't believe I used to be that way." I would say, "I'd congratulate you when you get there." I will be happy for you.

But once you're there, you won't need any fucking congratulations. You'll be fulfilled all on your own.

Instead, I'll just do you a favor by ending this video. After all, you've got a lot of work to do.

My Honest Advice for Young Men

#1 NY Times Bestselling Author. World Champion Non-Fuck-Giver.

For all sponsorship/business inquiries please email Chad Boukzam at chad@cndentertainment.com


My Honest Advice for Young Men

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