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Man’s Life Mastery Blueprint [Part 1] – In Pursuit of Objectives Bigger Than Oneself
“You and I live in an age when only a rare minority of individuals desire to spend their lives in pursuit of objectives, which are bigger than they are. In our age, for most people, when they die it will be as though they’ve never lived”. ~ Rusty Rustenbach, in his pastoral article “Giving Yourself Away”
Most people will spend their entire lives wandering aimlessly, without ever pursuing any significant goal, let alone a goal bigger than they are. Most people will live mediocre lives – lives without meaning. And, for most people, this is totally fine.
But, not for you! You are committed to designing your own Life Mastery Blueprint and to living your life by it! You are committed to contributing to humanity. You are committed to living a life of meaning!
My mentor Jim Rohn said:
“When you are laying on your death bed and when the score card of your life is shown let it show that you failed, but don’t let it show that you didn’t try.”
I have a confession to make: My biggest fear in life is that when my time comes and I’m laying on my death bed and the score card of my life is shown, that it will show that I didn’t fail enough times and that I didn’t try hard enough, that I missed opportunities, that I left important things undone. That it will show that I didn’t spend my life in pursuit of objectives bigger than myself.
Now, as I am coasting well into the 42-nd year of my life I am in a hurry to change that. I am in a hurry to get on a steady path to a life of mastery – on a steady path to a life of meaning.
It took me 42 years of trying and failing, and of failing to try, of searching for the ingredients of a good life. I finally designed a template, that I – and any man – can use as a blueprint to master his own journey so that he can pursue goals bigger than himself so that he can contribute to humanity in more than one ways so that he can live a good life.
This blueprint is the result of books I’ve read, wise people I had the fortune to spend time with, of studying the successful lives of others before me. It is a result of my own life experience, my own trials, and errors, of seeing what works and what doesn’t, on spending a good amount of time pondering the subject of Life mastery.
This blueprint is also a work in progress. As I continue to enrich myself as a person, as I continue to study others who I admire I may add or update it. But, for the present moment, this is what I feel is the most thorough representation of values, qualities, abilities and skills a man should possess and master in order to have a richer and more rewarding life experience.
Why “Men’s Life Mastery”? Doesn’t it apply to women?
The only reason why this blueprint is geared toward men is that I am a man and that’s what I have most experience being. There are some core values, skills and abilities that are historically and traditionally considered to be the responsibility of men.
For example, the ability to protect is a manly virtue and obligation. The values of Courage and Honor are to a great degree the core values for this manly virtue. Also, as a man masters his body as a part of mastering his life he has to acquire combative skills and he has to train his mindset to be able to push through the pain. Women do not need to master such skills, as that’s what they have us for.
That being said, with a few exceptions (and maybe with a few additions) this blueprint applies to women as well.
Now, if you ask whether I’ve achieved Life Mastery I will be the first to admit that I have not. I am a student in all this myself. What I know is that I am confidently moving in the direction of a life well spent – a life of meaning.
And, what I also know is that I want to share my journey with you in hopes that you will find it inspiring to seek to live a good life, a life of meaning, a life that’s dedicated to the pursuit of goals bigger than you are.