Amerika

Everybody makes those New Year’s Resolutions. They are typically unreasonable and therefore backfire. The last couple of days have gone a bit slower at the gym I go to. I’m waiting for the machines and weight racks I want a few times more often. This, combined with a seemingly completely innocuous event that occurred where I work, gave me an insight on life.

The event at work involved a talk I had with a guy at the coffee table where a lot of us line up like the cattle between 7:30 at 8:00 to have that cup of Joe we’ve chipped in our monthly $5 to enjoy. When it comes to the effective self-improvement through pumping iron this dude is who I will be if I ever grow up. He works his 40 to 50 every week and raises a family just like I do, but damn! The dude is a stud, beast-mode, big schwingin dick, et al. Pick your metaphor. Not huge or completely disproportional the way men who compete in boby-building shows, but obviously solid and muscular. Be careful. He’ll turn you either gay or jealous. All joking aside, the guy obviously does the perfect workout.

Not only that, he also is one of the most trusted people in the office. As a work-flow contractor, he knows where every task sent to our organization is and how the people working it our doing. If he were a Nazi or a Communist, he’d be damn dangerous. That’s when Mr. Logic kicked me right in The Jimmies. There is an obvious correlation between where this man is in his gym life and where he is in is professional career. He doesn’t handle Gantt Charts better because he can probably bench a small Volvo. Never confuse correlation with casuation. But he does manage resources better because he has his defecation in sequence.

You see, his ability to accomplish what I wish I could accomplish in the gym but cannot is an outward manifestation by which you can identify this guy as an effective human being. Being surrounded by effective human beings enables you to become more like them. In fact, it will somewhat enjoin you to. It was Davis Aurini who made an off-hand comment in one of his YouTube talks that you are the average of your five best friends. Assuming this is a fair and accurate assessment, you can then extend it with a loss of too much generality. Pick your friends based upon intelligent standards. Go about in a way that is similar to how Bill Bellichek or Eddie Jones would choose who plays for them.

So you want a group of friends that serve the purpose you want them to. You want them to be resolute and not quit. You want them to have a genuine desire to continue with your friendship. You don’t get this by letting the crowd pick. You don’t get this with whatever just happens to be popular.

So you decide to be selective and somewhat demanding as to who joins your Mannerbund. You want the solid individuals who can guard your back in life’s savage Viking Circle. So how do you find people like this?

Use indicators. An effective gym workout, an engaging speaking or writing style, even genuinely honed musical or artistic talent are good indicators. This is somebody who is applying their time as a finite, managable resource that must be set to work in order to get something worthwhile done. Watch what people do with money over time. It’s not an idol to be worshipped. It’s a valuable and necessary resource. Individuals who treat it dispassionately, like the important tool that it is, rather than a fetish object; are probably better human beings for you to be spending your time with.

And finally, back to that gym where I’ll temporarily have to either wait or work in with others in order to get my exercises done. Have some talks with these people and casually get to know them while making some mundane and unobtrusive observations. Some of these guys will still be there with you come March. They could be worth talking to more often. Particularly if they begin to pick off reps at higher weights or exhibit the visual characteristics of a reasonably successful workout hobbyist. This is an indicator of somebody who can also succeed and help you succeed in other areas of your life. That, after all is what you would ideally attract in your friends. Better frinds will help you have a better 2018. Best of luck.

Tags: covert homoeroticism, freedoom of association, friends, living, mannerbund