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Man Law #65 – Stay Focused, Maintain “Grim Determination!”
“Every plan fails once you engage the enemy.” – Sun Tzu
Or as Mike Tyson put it:
“Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouf” – Mike Tyson
Athletes tend to be the ones that visibly display this focus, however, all individuals that have succeeded in the upper realms of their field no what it is to have this supreme confidence in the outcome.
You see the look on the faces of the greatest athletes of all time, the best businessmen and women, and people at the top of their field – a hyperawareness and focus, a look not of anger but one of supreme command over one’s self. A Mental Toughness. The look of “grim determination.”
The ability to see task through is one that will allow you to master any and everything. Whether you are mastering an instrument, horseback riding, or just trying to make the fanciest drink at the bar, you have to enter a state that blast through any resistance in your way and quiets your subconscious mind of defeat and self-doubt.
Chances are, you have entered this state of mind. Whether you were studying for the SATs, GREs, a final exam that you had to pass or about to go out for an audition, submit a book proposal, or release a new song, you already know what it means to have this grim determination. It’s the underlying belief that “If I don’t get this done, nobody is going to do it for me.” It’s a sense that you need to control your emotions from becoming overly happy or overly sad. That you will survive whatever obstacles come in your way.
I keep the following speech given by Al Pachino in A Whole Nine Yards. It might be the greatest inspirational speech ever given to those who need to stay focused. I have it bookmarked on my computer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk
Despite the fact that this is a movie about football, the speech can be applied to anything you hope to accomplish whether its lifting a weight, sticking with a diet, getting into grad school, or simply resisting the need to go out when you know you have to get something done.
Rickson Gracie, arguably the BEST practitioner of Brazilian JiuJitsu has the look of "grim determination." Even after winning the fight, he remains calm in seeing the outcome through to the end.
I like to think of myself as an “Optimistic Realist”. I hope for the best but prepare for the worst. It’s this type of mental toughness that will pull you through tough times.
How far are you willing to fight and die for that inch?
Man Law #64 – Master the Zen Approach, Be Like Water.
Free your mind from distraction. Go in there and Do it. Join a Yoga class and thank me later.
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid,outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.” – Bruce Lee, 1975 (Tao of Jeet Kune Do)
Contrary to popular belief, Bruce Lee wrote the first guide to picking up women. The original “Tao of Jeet Kune Do” contained a brilliant collection of his own personal “pick up artist” (more than just a coincidence) guidelines and life lessons. Instead of martial arts drawings, the guide had explicit self-drawn illustrations of maximum impact positions found in the Kama Sutra. His infamous one-inch punch was actually a complete hip movement lacking any hand involvement that he discovered during coitus. When publisher after publisher turned this guide down for its graphic depictions, Good Ole Bruce, changed the content to fit his “day job” profession as a martial artist. He kept many of the quotes the same because they applied to many situations whether they were involved with a woman or a desperate fight for your life. It is not by coincidence that the two are so closely related.
You want a positive mind state when approaching and a "lifting" quality - Pick UP the person.
For lack of a better term, when you approach women, you should not think of it as an “approach”. Your mind needs to be open, free. Forget pick up lines. Pay attention to what’s around you in the moment. Hearing the word “approach” fires cylinders in your brain that tense your muscles and causes unnecessary tension. Your goal at this point is to jump right in the situation before your brain has a chance to talk yourself out of it. Jump In – Think Later. There are many times in your life that jumping in without thinking something through is not a good idea. This is not one of them.
The more you delay and “justify” the decision, the less likely you will decide on anything. My father used to call this “Getting Ready to ‘Get Ready’”. You can make sure you have the right shoes, right shorts, right t-shirt, right socks, right deodorant, but if you don’t get your ass out of the door, you’ll never make it to the gym before it closes.
When meeting people, your ultimate goal is to not consciously have a pre-determined destination in mind. The conversation should really “flow like water” and whatever subject matter strikes the interest of the two of you, go with it. You might subconsciously want to go home with her, but if she gets those vibes that you are going to hump her leg like the pug at her Aunt Peggy’s house, she’ll be gone faster than a Friday paycheck.
Man Law #63 – Be “Of The World”
The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine
As far back as I can remember, the simple act of travel has proven to be irresistible to women. Your ultimate goal is to be a Renaissance man. A guy who can not be pigeon holed into a particular category and one who defies all sense of normalcy. You want to be seen as genuine. One way of doing this is by increasing your worldy knowledge (i.e. turning on the BBC instead of CNN). Simply knowing what goes on outside of your backyard increases your “attractive points” exponentially and if you can say that you’ve visited the birthplace of Beethoven or the museums of St. Petersburg, you will instantly be seen as a “worldly” man.
With women like this running around the streets of Russia, who needs more of an incentive? It's also generally understood that what happens in another country, stays in another country!
Why is this important?
It will transform you from “Joe the Plumber” from around the block to “Joe the World-Traveling Philanthropist”. Despite Joe’s financial status in this world, the fact that he has visited other countries is very attractive to many women. Think the two are the same? Think again. One will be struggling to go home with a phone number, while the other will struggle to fit all of the dates in his calendar in one week. How many bums have walked the Paris streets of the Champs-Élysées.
Of course, traveling cost money, so be sure to check places like Hotwire and Expedia for awesome deals. And if that doesn’t work out – learning a language is the next best thing. Expand your worldliness by listening to music of other cultures. Some of those German Rappers may have grew up listening to Tupac and Biggie! While this should be common sense, make sure you don’t just visit the bars and clubs in Greece and Italy when you visit. Take your camera and snap a picture by the leaning tower of Pisa. Upload these types of pictures to Facebook, not the ones of you doing keg stands after you won the kickball tournament!
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