Before a trip, journey, or expedition you look at “where am I now?”
Then plan accordingly to get to where you want to be.
Understanding that you will need to garner information, supplies, and equipment, to help you reach your desired destination.
Even the most manly banner, waved by the manliness movement, of one Mr. Teddy Roosevelt understood the importance of this process.
In her book ‘The River of Doubt’ author Candace Millard does an excellent job of walking us through Mr. Roosevelt’s preparations for his trip he was planning to take into the Amazonian jungle, in search of a, as of yet, undiscovered river.
He could envision himself on the river, in the jungle, mapping his way to yet another once-in-a-life-time experience.
The preparations do not come together smoothly and threaten to derail the trip. In his Teddy Roosevelt-ian way, he was undeterred.
If you read the book you will see one of the critical pieces of equipment doesn’t come through. He was, up a creek, alright… but at least he had a paddle.
To envision our improved, manly, lives… requires a brain that can create the proper picture for us to use, to properly outfit ourselves with the proper equipment and training that will allow us to traverse whatever terrain we are working through, whether it’s… spiritual, physical, business, relationship, or community.
The brain creates the picture, our decision making leads to proper actions, that push and pull us in the right direction, away from Oyster Bay and all the way down into the middle of the Amazon jungle.
But… but…
The picture must be believable… by you. And you must believe the “right” picture.
Researching the brain and it’s ability to create this picture for us to follow, I have discovered, that we can be using the wrong picture, one that is already there, like using the same inefficient, heavy, dug out canoes that Teddy did on that miserable river, trying to get to our desired destination.
As awesome as our brains are, they do have a glitch, they are easily tricked.
There is an exercise that we can do to strengthen our brains and train it to see the tricks it plays on itself.
Read.
How many men have you talked to that say, “I hate reading.” “Reading is boring.”
Reading is to the brain as barbells are to your biceps.
It’s exactly the same.
As you workout with a barbell and weights your muscle fibers fire off, heating up, sweating… and getting stronger.
The studies of the brain have positively shown… reading does the same for the brain… when a brain is reading it is firing off, creating new pathways, sweating… and growing stronger.
Mr. Roosevelt was more than an avid reader.
Our current pictures in our brains can be hidden. Hidden by the “battle-smoke of life” that covers our brain like drifting grey smoke of a lazy campfire.
It may take some time for us to get to the original picture our brain is hiding with that smoke screen.
When we do get to it, we may not understand why we were following that particular picture, when we can clearly see that it is only a negative, an old black and white, undeveloped snap shot, from days gone by.
After reading, after exercising our brain, we can fully develop for ourselves any picture that is required to get us from where we are now… today, to where we want to be… tomorrow.
I myself am working on a new picture for myself, after discovering I was still using an old outdated mental picture from when I was young.
I am developing a new picture… a picture of a man… a successful man… a reading man… using reading as the main tool to garner the needed supplies, skills, and techniques to reach my desired outcome.
Real men read.
Teddy read.
Even the Marines have a saying, “If you’re not reading… you’re not leading.”
Lead yourself to start reading, read to strengthen your brain, take that brain and use it to create a clear picture, use that picture to manifest your desired manliness outcomes.
theemergingman.com 