Health Wealth Mind

“The mentally disturbed do not employ the Principle of Scientific Parsimony: the most simple theory to explain a given set of facts. They shoot for the baroque.”
― Philip K. Dick, Valis

Public Service Announcement:

Do you have a friend or family member who insists on believing conspiracy theories and you’re tired of trying to point them towards a modicum of sanity, then worry no more.

You see, the problem is, they don’t believe you. But the chances are, they will be a fan of John Cena, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Rudd, Billy Porter or the wonderful and lovely Alex Trebek.

So, stop banging your head against the wall and show them this video of their favourite stars making sense at The True True Truth

I take a fairly libertarian stance on most matters. I don’t really care about what other people do, as long as it doesn’t affect me or harm others. Effectively, I believe you should be free to jump about and wave your arms as much as you like, until you hit me in the face, but only until then.

This doesn’t mean I don’t make fun of ideas which I think are ridiculous. Of course I do. I don’t think gay rights or gender inequality are laughing matters, so I don’t poke fun at them, and the same goes for racism (though homophobes and racists are free game). But religion and conspiracy theories, now these are things I enjoy taking a healthy, mostly good-natured, poke at.

If you present me with a good enough argument or evidence of something, it could easily change my mind, it’s happened before and it’ll happen again, how else would we ever grow and learn? But neither evidence or a good argument have ever been presented to me by anyone around conspiracy theories.

Continue reading “Why Conspiracy Theories Are Ridiculous”

“Anybody can look at you. It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.” – John Green

In one of my recent posts, I explored some thoughts around 10 Types of Depression. The article was well received and I had people reaching out asking after a similar perspective on some lessor known conditions and syndromes.

Among them were 3 relatively obscure ones that readers had heard about but weren’t sure actually existed. Namely: “Cotard’s Delusion”, “Depersonalisation Disorder” and “Capgras Syndrome”.

I think lots of us dismiss people as being difficult or crazy, or just assholes (or difficult crazy assholes). It’s hard for normally functioning people to appreciate the depth and breadth of the human psyche or be empathetic towards the less fortunate. For this reason, I’ve taken a stab at bridging the gap between the “normal” mind and those more unusual ones.

Continue reading “18 Mental Conditions You Probably Don’t Even Know Exist”

“Love is the most challenging activity that people get into. We’re invited into this very dangerous arena, where the possibilities for humiliation and failure are ample. After a certain amount of time the accumulation of defeats is going to be significant and one needs to find the courage not to shut down..” -Leonard Cohen

The term “out of my league” is one that has always annoyed me. What exactly does it mean anyway? She wouldn’t be with someone like you because you’re not good looking enough, don’t have enough money or friends? Nonsense. We’ve all dated a woman we initially thought was a 10 only to find out she had the IQ of a garden salad without dressing.

They’re not great in bed and one always fears she’d do herself a mischief in the kitchen by poking around your expensive toaster with a knife. How are you going to explain a girl who is THAT hot, half naked and dead in your kitchen? They would lock you up and throw away the key my good man.

Continue reading “14 Steps to Acquire a Partner”

“I speak of a clinical depression that is the background of your entire life, a background of anguish and anxiety, a sense that nothing goes well, that pleasure is unavailable and all your strategies collapse”. -Leonard Cohen

Just a warning here folks, this is a blunt account of mental disorders and depression. Though I do think this is an important topic to address and while I’ve done my best to keep it light where possible, this post may trigger ‘at risk’ individuals so, please, if you think exposure to a necropsy of depression may trigger you, please skip this one or have a friend/loved one (who appreciates your condition) read it first and offer you some bullet points. -Thank you

Most people just go through their lives treating depression like the toupee wearing friend-of-the-family at gatherings who pulls quarters out of people’s ears.

We do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen to our kids and if we’re unlucky enough to be confronted with it ourselves, we try ignore it and hope it goes away quickly.

Continue reading “10 Types of Depression”

“In the best conversations, you don’t even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It felt like we were in some place your body can’t visit, some place with no ceiling and no walls and no floor and no instruments” ― John Green

Talking to other people comes relatively easy for most of us. We open our mouths and words just come out, sometimes faster than we can think. But is what we say effective? Do people listen when we speak or do they tend to tune us out?

Is what we say interesting to people or are we just spewing mindless drivel into the ears of those who are unfortunate enough to be within earshot? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to be a more effective communicator and conversationalist, improve your interpersonal communication skills or just become more adept at communicating simply. The type of person people are drawn to at functions and gatherings.

There are some simple rules you can learn and incorporate into the way you communicate. These steps will make a huge difference to how you are interacted with and how effective you can be.

Continue reading “9 Tips to Improve Your Conversation Skills”

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”  -Lou Holtz

Please consult your doctor before embarking on any exercises outlined in this post. If you’re a beginner, you need to do less than is outlined. These workouts are intended for intermediate to experienced individuals. Thanks!

Life can become pretty busy at times and it may not be possible to get to the gym regularly, even if the world isn’t on lock-down.  But when you’re required by law to stay indoors or if you’ve decided to work for yourself with a new online business, working out is still very possible. Working out every day isn’t just good for your physically but it can help fight off depression too. Sure, chasing naughty kids with a slipper, or avoiding projectiles hurled around the house, can work up a good sweat, but it just doesn’t give you the muscle focus required to ensure positive gains.

What you need is an easy to follow workout guide to really focus on each body part to ensure you remain flexible and continue to stack on the muscle while you’re stuck indoors (who knows, your new “home built” physique might make you even more appealing to your “other half” and you can try out some sex tips to blow their minds further)

All that’s required is a good attitude, a little motivation, a couple dumbbell weights and a few square meters for you to be able to move about. If your family won’t leave you alone, take the weights into the bathroom and workout there. The puffing and grunting will cause them to think you’re dealing with terrible symptoms of the virus. This should keep them away long enough for you to make some good progress.

Also, when you emerge from the space all red-faced and sweaty, chances are they will stay clear of you for the rest of the day, the benefits are endless.

Continue reading “23 Exercises to Build Muscle at Home”

“Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.” -Michel Foucault

We’ve all experienced it. Men who seem to effortlessly command respect from others. They walk into a room filled with people they’ve never met and leave with offers of investment, romantic dates and admiration. These “men” (more commonly known by us lessor mortals as Wankers) seem to skate along in life with good fortune and admiration stalking them like a thief in the night.

So many doors are open to them, and people to their ideas, that they typically have to turn down opportunities the rest of us only dream about.  

These men somehow never appear to be caught off guard in any way, or if they are, they are able to bounce back and end up even further ahead than they were to begin with.

Are these men born under a lucky sign or is there something about what they say and do which affords them lives of such success and power?

Continue reading “The 48 Laws of Power”

“You’re either going to make excuses or you’re going to make progress, you can’t do both” -Thane Hean

You’ve either reached the 40-year milestone already or you someday will. In either case, it’s worth noting that, around the age of 40, a man’s body begins to change. I’m not just talking about grey hairs sprouting from our ears and our willies experiencing the occasional performance anxiety (though these certainly keep life interesting. Some changes are more subtle and we are made aware of them only by understanding the physiology/science of aging.

When I turned 40, nothing happened. I still had all my hair, my eye sight was 20/20 and I could still train in the gym every day for 90min with men half my age. But, by the time I was 43, I required reading glasses, had a bald patch around my crown, my knees hurt just walking up stairs and I always looked like I was in my second trimester.

It was time for change!

Continue reading “6 Tips to Keep Building Muscle Over 40”

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society” -Mark Twain

They say you become like the people you spend the most time with. I actually really believe that. People and things rub off on us, birds of a feather and all of that. When we immerse ourselves in a culture or an avenue of interest, we tend to be influenced by it, so it’s important we choose wisely.

I like to get a nice even spread of manly information. Some blogs I follow because they’re entertaining, some teach about grooming, some about travel, psychology or fashion and Meditation; some even tackle Ways to Cultivate Your Personal Brand. But the one thing all of the blogs I follow have in common is that they are well written and the owners care about their visitors/readers. And that means a great deal to me because I care about my readers. It is my hope that I become, to my readers, what these blogs have become to me: valuable content with thought-provoking and practical advice.

With this in mind, I have compiled a list of the 10 sites (I love Top 10 Lists) that I spend the most time on. I wish someone had sent me this list long ago. These blogs have rubbed off on me and I am better for it, I hope I they do the same for you.

Continue reading “The 10 Best Blogs For Men”

“Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind, on the present moment“. -Buddha

Look, I understand where most men stand on things of a spiritual nature. Getting in touch with one’s self takes being vulnerable and I appreciate that this doesn’t come naturally for us big brave guys, we don’t need to meditate, we’re tough men GRRRR!

Except we’re not. In the United Kingdom, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 And men are TWICE as likely to take their own lives in the United States than in the UK. In 2019, 11 Million men in the United States climbed out of their cars to confront another driver in a road rage incident and 5.8 Million men died in fist fights (almost half a million of these happened at work). And, perhaps the most sobering stat, 7 men die every 2 seconds in America as a direct result of stress.

So, what the f-ck is going on?

Let’s get real guys, something’s gotta give. Losing our shit at someone because we can’t control our tempers isn’t a manly thing to do. Risking peoples lives on the road isn’t either, and nor is bottling stuff up until it kills us or we kill ourselves. Read this post, pass the information on, and let’s start taking control of our lives instead of being mere spectators to the carnage.

Continue reading “6 Things You Need to Know Before Meditating”