What I Would Tell My 17-Year Old Self - Part 3

Be sure to read part 1 here.

And part 2 here.

5) Develop Inner Strength

Have you ever heard anyone get called a “snowflake?” This term describes people who need to feel special and unique, and who melt if faced with any significant challenge. They blame others for their situation, take no responsibility for improving their lot, complain at the drop of a hat, and feel entitled to the rewards without having to put in the work.

Don’t be a snowflake.

You must develop grit - a combination of tenacity, resilience, and resourcefulness. You must forge your personality in the fires of challenge and difficulty. You must take charge of your time, focus, and energy and use them to achieve your aims despite setbacks. The man who does this is a true leader, and these days has the world available to him.

But you must - MUST - own your focus and attention. Social media is only positive when you use it to network, market, or learn from those who can teach you. If you consume it, jumping from outrage to outrage or shiny thing to shiny thing, your focus will be wasted on stupid shit that leaves you feeling empty and unfulfilled at the end of the day. Take back your time and energy and use it on your mission.

6) The Current Narrative Is Not Your Friend; The Classic Narrative Is Your Friend

Many modern theories of meaning or subjectivity are fashionable today, such as critical race theory, nihilism, feminism, intersectionality, and the like. They teach that all existence is subjective, that feelings are more important than reality, and that all interactions necessarily fall into an oppressor / oppressed paradigm. They generally teach that men and masculinity are toxic, the root of all that is bad in society, and that women should generally be in charge.

These are not your friends.

These ideologies are not honest attempts at finding truth; rather, they are methods deliberately employed by certain groups of people to advance their agendas by dismantling opposing institutions such as Christianity, capitalism, and the idea of America as a united meritocracy.

In contrast, ancient traditions based their body of knowledge on actual lived experience, on trial and error over many lives and generations. The ancients didn’t have “history.” They had myths, which contained all human behavior, psychology, and civilizational patterns. The myths were loaded with symbolism and multiple layers of truth. They didn’t bother to record what historical individuals did what things, or in what order things happened, because it didn’t matter - all that happened was simply repeats of what truth was contained in the myths.

They contain archetypes of men - warrior, king, joker, magician - and of women - mother, whore, witch, virgin - that contain essential and eternal truth about human behavior and psychology.

This is where truth is found.

Forget the modern “woke” narratives. Adhere to the classic, eternal tradition. Study ancient philosophy and myths and you will understand what is true and real.

7) Make Use of Time While It’s On Your Side

At 17 your top 3 priorities tend to be:

1. MUST. GET. VAGINAS.
2. Study ha MUST. GET. VAGINAS.
3. Learn ho MUST. GET. VAGINAS.

Don’t fight this, use it (see #4 in the previous post). But make sure you also give some thought to the longer term. Start setting things up for downstream wins now when time is on your side:

• Learn nutrition and exercise. Ignore the main narrative - learn from those who have the health and physique you want to have.
• Learn some trade or way to make money. Find a mentor.
• Learn the basics of investing, and put money into investments now. Look at the graph from the first post.
• Put 10% of your gross pay into an account for anything you want, 20% into investments, and live off of the rest. Each increase in income you have, put half of the increase into investments. You’ll come out way ahead.
• If the numbers work out, college *might* be worth it to learn a high paying skill.
• Begin to build a network in your social media accounts and in real life. Focus on those who can teach you.
• Learn how women work and how men work. It’s nothing like what society or the culture portrays.
• Read, read, read. Real books from the eras when people wrote with fewer “political correctness” constraints and could tell it like it is.
• Dig into religion. Not just belief systems - consider Eastern ideas, religions with more of a ritual aspect like Catholicism or Orthodoxy, and mysticism or esotericism. Find the truths.
• Learn to ignore the kind of peer pressure that blocks you from understanding things on your own terms.

You may have heard the expression “the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago; the next best time is right now.”

Plant those trees today.