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George Washington: The Founding Father by Paul Johnson

March 11, 2013 by Nick Leave a Comment

Part of the “Eminent Lives” series, George Washington: the Founding Father is a succinct (123 pg.) and compelling reflection on the life of perhaps the greatest American to have ever lived. British historian, Paul Johnson objectively recounts and reflects on Washington and takes the reader through the great periods in his life. From his youth to early experience in the French-Indian War, his development as an agrucultural pioneer in the colonies, centered around his Mt. Vernon estate and what are surely the most momentous of periods in his life and our nation’s history, the Commander and Chief during the American Revolution in victory over the British as well as the first presidency. No one is more responsible for guiding and setting the nation upon its course and his legacy endures to this day.

What struck me while reading the book was both how much more real Washington was made to me and yet how truly exceptional the man was in almost a supernatural way. His decisions seemed providential in their visionary execution. As a farmer he recognized the inefficiency and shortsightedness of tobacco farming which ruined the soil over time and perpetuated ties with England. Washington kept his eyes to the west, the Ohio River Valley and beyond as America’s natural direction of growth. As Commander in Chief, he assembled what may have been the greatest general staff in military history and outmaneuvered the formidable British army and navy, culminating in the establishment of the thirteen colonies as the United States of America. As president he set the precedent for the use of executive power and most importantly, he stepped down after two terms, rejecting an earlier proposal to basically make him a king.

Some things I didn’t know about Washington that surprised me was his involvement in freemasonry (he was buried according to masonic rite), his progressive views on slavery, his success as a farmer and possibly being the wealthiest landowner in America upon his death. Washington’s sense of providence led him to meticulously preserve virtually all his writings, papers and receipts, even hiring an archivist to organize it, making this the most complete documentation of any individual in the 18th century. I knew George Washington was tall, but I learned his exact height, 6’2, for the first time. His stature (colossal by the standards of the time) surely made a critical difference in his projection of confidence and power which propelled his life along its superb course.

I think now is as good a time as any for Americans and others to rediscover the man that was George Washington. The founding of America was guided by many truly extraordinary men, but Washington may have been the one truly indispensable player. It’s a great shame that the recently passed President’s Day was thus renamed from the original holiday, Washington’s Birthday. In my humble opinion, the rest of the presidents combined could scarcely hold a candle to the man.

Buy George Washington the Founding Father on Amazon

**Contest**

I have a free book to give away. It’s my personal (unmarked) copy. Leave a comment about what periods or event’s in American history you want me to write a post about. I’ll pick the most interesting suggestion for a future post and send the commenter the book. The contest is open until notice is posted here.

Filed Under: History

Daygame by Tom Torero

February 13, 2013 by Nick Leave a Comment

Daygame by Tom Torero is a memoir of world-class seduction, centered in London. The book also serves as a guide to daygame and seduction in general, as stories of Tom’s trials and triumphs are reinforced by sections devoted to topics such as: first texts, logistics, the dating bubble, etc.

The rule of thumb for mastery is 10,000 hours devoted to developing a skill. It’s not a stretch to assume that Tom has approached 10,000 women or spent 10,000 hours approaching and dating (or some combination of the two). Since Tom is just in his early 30s, the book focuses on his development as a seducer from his late teens through the present. I found the book compelling because I could relate to many of the challenges Tom faced in high school and college. Tom slowly but surely begins to learn the fundamentals of game as the years progress and begins applying a more systematic approach to learning how to meet, attract and bed beautiful women.

The title of the book refers to Tom’s preferred method for meeting women, daygame, that is meeting women on the street, coffee shop, public transportation, etc. The meat of the book consists of over 100 short stories describing how Tom met, attracted and slept with a variety of women. As time progresses we see how Tom consistently refines his game, but even when he appears to be at his best, he’s humbled by how overconfidence can backfire. Not one to settle, Tom seeks ways to improve his skill set and his mastery of game leads to greater social confidence, new opportunities and a plethora of women.

My reactions to this book were very positive, though there were some things that were left unsaid. Tom briefly mentions that the thrill of the chase eventually became more satisfying than the sex and the reader is left to conclude that seducing beautiful women, like anything else, reaches a point of diminishing returns. Women can be a great complement to a man’s life, but never his end goal.

Tom’s story is ultimately a hopeful one, because it’s a detailed case study of how one man can totally transform himself from introvert to extrovert with patience, determination and willingness to learn from one’s mistakes. I think Daygame is an excellent read, not only as a guide to seduction, but an exceptional example of dramatic personal growth in action.

Daygame is currently only available in print form from Lulu.com with the possibility of an e-book later this year. I combined my purchase of Daygame with Daygame Nitro by Nick Krauser (review forthcoming) and found a coupon online that saved me 20% on my order.

Check out the Daygame Book Documentary:

Filed Under: Game, Reviews, Self-Improvement

The Girlfriend Game

February 5, 2013 by Nick Leave a Comment

The Girlfriend Game by Tom Torero and Steve Sapporro is a brief but informative introduction to getting a girlfriend and meeting and dating more women in general. Tom and Steve are also co-founders of GetaGirlfriendYouWant.com, which offers pickup and dating advice, though it’s geared towards promoting particular, paid products. I became familiar with Tom Torero through Daygame.com which runs bootcamps for approaching women during the day. I’m in the midst of reading Tom’s memoir Daygame (review forthcoming) and along with his articles, videos and podcasts, I know Tom to be an excellent source of information on meeting and seducing women.

The chapters of The Girlfriend Game are organized around the five “mistakes” that men make about women. These are: Neediness, Romance Before Sex, Not Knowing What Girls Think About Sex, Male/Female Polarity, Lack of Action.

Many men have a scarcity mentality when is comes to women. They believe that a narrow window in their 20s in the best time to solidify a relationship with a girl on the path to marriage. Lots of guys settle for the first, best girl that they meet and attract, thinking that it’s the best that they can do. The irony is that a committed, monogamous man runs the risk of losing his treasured “One” by becoming needy. As stated in the book, “replacing neediness with abundance is the most important mindset when it comes to finding a girlfriend you want.” Not until you’ve met and dated many women will you have the experience necessary to know what you want in a woman and then keep the one you choose.

Men have many ideas about what women think about sex and many of them are wrong. Women think about sex just as much if not more than men do. You’d have to explore evolutionary psychology to learn the dynamics of this behavior, but men are often confused about this because theres a social stigma attached to women being open about sex which is not the case for men. The basic thing to remember is that pursuing women with sexual intent is not just normal but it’s part of our biological make up. Women aren’t as open about sex up front, but it’s a dominant part of their thinking, just as it is for men.

The Girlfriend Game on Amazon

One of the challenges facing modern men is the blurring of male and female roles in society. This manifests itself in a variety of ways, but the consequence is that men fail to play the masculine role in polarity to the femininity of women. Men are responsible for approaching a woman, getting her number, setting up a date, taking her home, escalating physically, sex, etc. Tragically, many men defer to social conventions and end up losing women that they didn’t push the envelope with. Women will be clear if they’re not interested or unsure about a man whether it’s after the initial approach, on the date or in the bedroom. The only way you’ll ever know is to honestly express your desires through your word and actions. Timing and technique are important, but you have to try and make mistakes before you learn.

The final chapter on taking action is also a good summary of the theme of the book. Life is short, “When you die there will be…No chance to take back those wasted days…No chance to realize that looks don’t matter at all…No chance to create what you want to create…” We only have this one shot to create the life of our dreams so there’s no time to delay. When it comes to women you must approach many of them, overcome your anxiety and reap the rewards. Some women won’t even want to talk to you, while others will be thrilled that you stopped them. Though the title of the book implies finding one girlfriend, the lessons contained here apply if you’re looking for just one girl or you’d like to date many women. Whatever your choice, it’s clear to me that having many social interactions with women is just as critical to monogamous, long-term relationship success as it is to doing well casually dating a variety of women.

The Girlfriend Game is book that I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly because I haver read a lot of pickup and game advice over the past year, so it helped to refresh many concepts in my mind and showed how they related to one another. Since I’m interested in self-improvement as a whole, I liked that this book also challenged the reader to improve themselves beyond just learning to attract women. Ultimately a man with an attractive lifestyle will pull all sorts of women into his orbit. The challenge is to “Take action now. Take one small step. Just one and then keep taking a small step each day. Stop living like you are going to live forever. You aren’t.“

The Girlfriend Game on Amazon

Filed Under: Game, Reviews, Self-Improvement

Principles of Personal Defense

January 29, 2013 by Nick Leave a Comment

“In war there is no substitute for victory, and this is equally true of personal combat, which is, after all, a microcosm of war. When a coward is offered deadly violence, his reaction may be to surrender, or cower, or flee, or call for help; not one of these choices is likely to obviate his peril.

But this booklet was not written for cowards.” -Jeff Cooper

In reading game blogs you may have come across the term “lizard brain”, referring to your primal instincts and subconscious. It’s often used in the context of pick-up when describing the raw desires and masculinity that is so appealing to women. Another instincts as primal as the need to procreate is survival. Colonel Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense is the best available overview of a survival/combat mindset in existence. The strength of the book is in its singular focus on development of the mindset necessary to survive a violent encounter. The book is short but very dense in actionable information that you can immediately incorporate into your daily routine.

Jeff Cooper was an expert on small arms and inventor of the Modern Pistol Technique. He served in the Marines during World War II and the Korean War. While advising the Nicaraguan military in the 1970s, Cooper taught a series of principles which became the basis for Principles of Personal Defense.

The Principles described in the book are: Alertness, Decisiveness, Aggressiveness, Speed, Coolness, Ruthlessness and Surprise. Each principles is explained in several pages, including personal anecdotes and practical advice.

I’ve incorporated much of Colonel Cooper’s advice into my daily routine. In the chapter on alertness Cooper outlines what he calls “a tactical approach to life.” I’ve gotten into the habit of swinging wide when walking around corners and getting something solid behind me when I pause on the street. I try to never let someone approach me from behind. I’ve gotten into the habit of running “What would I do if?” hypothetical scenarios in my mind as a form of practice. This could include imagining your reaction to someone who’s walking in your direction, attacking you. How would you position your feet? Where would you strike back? etc.

The book is also a good introduction to thinking of personal defense in a holistic way. There is no one fighting system or martial art that is superior in every situation. Being trained with firearms, a dynamic martial arts system and developing a combat mindset are all important facets of your personal safety.

While he doesn’t explicitly describe this in the book, Cooper developed whats been termed the “Cooper Color Code” as a system to differentiate levels of readiness which influence a combat mindset, the most important weapon at our disposal. I strive to stay in “Yellow” a relaxed alert where I stay aware of the possibility that I may need to defend myself today.

Though this is a short work, I can’t recommend it enough for the wealth of information it contains. I think all readers, including those with martial arts and self defense training, will greatly benefit from Colonel Cooper’s wisdom. The books message is that our personal security is not only our own highest obligation, but that decisive and aggressive resistance to criminal violence is among the greatest responsibilities of a free citizen.

Buy Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper

Additional Reading: Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries

Filed Under: Personal Defense, Reviews

Don’t Look Back

January 7, 2013 by Nick Leave a Comment

Heartiste posted a short and sweet piece “Stop Looking At Girls From Across The Room“. It gives good advice on getting rid of the needy behavior of frequently checking out attractive women in a room. This could be a coffee shop, classroom, waiting area, etc. Many guys have the secret hope that if only they catch a woman’s gaze it’ll somehow captivate and attract her. The reality is that if you don’t approach her and open your mouth, nothing will happen.

Since I’ve gotten into day game here in Warsaw, I’ve been working on overcoming a similar habit, that is looking back at cute women who walk past me on the street. The beautiful thing about day game is that it gives you a way to meet the beautiful women you’ve always seen walking around, but never knew how to approach. In day game you have to make a quick decision when you pass a girl if you want to turn around and open her. Since you’re going in opposite directions you have to decide within a few seconds. Turning around and looking at the girl, but not pursuing her is a copout. You might rationalize it by thinking she isn’t that cute, or you have other things to do or the logistics aren’t right. Taking a second look isn’t going to give you much more information if seeing her from the front didn’t affect you enough to make a move. If I decide not to approach then I force myself to keep moving forward without looking back. If my first look at her didn’t create a magnetic attraction that told me I have to approach, theres no sense in dwelling on it.

When you first start out in day game, the experience of approaching women in the street will be so new to you that you’ll inevitably approach women who turn out to be less attractive then you first thought. As time goes on you’ll begin to get a sense of what types of women you’re most attracted to and should approach. Part of learning the process of day game is realizing that you don’t have to approach all the women you’re attracted to. Once you’ve met a number of women, gotten numbers, dates, etc. you’ll begin to put women in their proper place and see them as one aspect of your life, but not your greatest goal and aspiration.

If you’ve never tried day game and just the thought makes you anxious, it’s worth at least developing the habit of not looking back at pretty girls that pass you by. Tell yourself that the only time you’ll turn around is if you’re going to approach. For this reason it’s also better to immediately turn around once she passes by you and begin moving to get in front of her. Stopping and pondering the best place to approach her, relative to other people, buildings, crosswalks, etc. is just an opportunity to psyche yourself out. My most successful approaches have been the ones where I pass a girl, my mind registers that I want to meet her, I pivot around and pursue. From the moment the lightbulb goes off in your head that says a girl is worth approaching, to when you’re stopping her and delivering an opener, should last less than 10 seconds.

Filed Under: Game, Self-Improvement

Zen to Done by Leo Babauta

November 23, 2012 by Nick Leave a Comment

If you’re familiar with the concept of minimalism, you’ve probably come across Zen Habits, the blog of Leo Babauta. I’d read a numer of Leo’s posts in the past and though I don’t see myself following some of his lifestyle choices, I appreciate his honesty and explanations of the principles he lives by.

I was recently scanning through my Amazon.com wish list and I came across Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen. I haven’t read the book but have heard good reviews. What held me back from buying it were some criticisms that the GTD was less goal-focused and didn’t help you prioritize tasks of lesser or greater importance. I’ll have to get the book and give it a thorough read-through to asess this for myself, but in the meantime I came across Zen to Done (ZTD) Leo Babauta’s take on productivity and time management, inspired by GTD. Knowing Leo’s writings on minimalism I knew that his book would be a valuable and very focused system. For $4.99 for the Kindle edition, it was a very small but worthwhile investment.

ZTD focuses on forming 10 habits: Collect, Process, Plan, Do, Simple Trusted System, Organize, Review, Simplify, Set Routines, Find Your Passion. Another criticism of GTD and similar systems is that they expect readers to form a multitude of new habits at once, which often leads to failure. Leo however encourages readers not to attempt more than 2-3 new habits per month and states that not all of these habits are critical to productivity. In the spirit of minimalism and simplicity, he suggests the first four habits: Collect, Process, Plan, Do, as a bare-bones but highly effective productivity system. After having read the book I plan to develop all ten habits over the course of the coming months and this is made easier by the fact that I already engage in some of these habits and other habits are really refinements of those previously learned, so their adoption doesn’t require learning a whole new behavior, just modifying an existing one.

A key component of ZTD and many productivity systems is the “collect” phase. Each of us have goals, tasks and ideas that come to us over the course of the day. Although we can’t do everything at once, we can record all of this incoming information in one place to process, plan for and execute later. The device I use for the “collect” phase is my iPhone, specifically the Clear and Calendar apps. Until recently I used to put all of my tasks in my calendar, even if it wasn’t a time sensitive event. I found that it was far too easy to postpone doing these things by simply moving it back on the calendar. Since discovering the Clear app I now put these unscheduled tasks into specific lists. In Clear I have a list for “today” and “someday” as well as lists for the three goals I’ve chosen for the year. Each night I review my lists and add tasks to my “today” list. These tasks are usually smaller actions that advance me towards achieving my goals. One of my main goals is to write 100 pages for my PhD dissertation by next August. A task that helps me with this goal is reading a book on my dissertation topic. Since I won’t be reading the book all in one day, I set “read one chapter” of a book as a “today” task. Over a period of several weeks I will have completed the book. Once that task is completed I can check it off my list and move on to other tasks that advance me towards my goal.

Buy Zen to Done

Another thing that appeals to me about Leo’s book is his emphasis on simplifying (one of the habits). Many productivity systems view people as machines that are to be tuned to the highest level of productivity possible. What gets lost in the mix is whether the additional tasks you’re efficiently accomplishing are worth your time and effort. Since moving to Poland in August I let go of most of my obligations in California. When I return I could take many of those obligations on again, but after assessing what is really important to me and how much work achieving my goals will take, I don’t have any desire to take on old or new obligations. I’d rather focus my efforts on several goals that mean the most to me. The quality of your achievement beats a large quantity of accomplishments.

If you’ve never really taken time to set definite goals for yourself because you didn’t know where to start, I also recommend that you download Mark Manson’s Life Purpose Guide on PostMasculine.com in which he outlines a great goal setting exercise that you can complete in about an hour. I went through this exercise several months ago and for the first time in my life I was able to clearly see what my goals were and what it would take to achieve them. If you dedicate some time to assessing your goals through Mark’s advice and then organize your daily routines and tasks through Zen to Done, you’ll be motivated to success like you never thought before.

I highly recommend Zen to Done as the most straightforward and easily utilized productivity system that I’ve come across. Even if you don’t have a lot of personal experience with goal setting, time management and planning, Zen to Done is the best synthesis of the well-known systems, streamlined and enhanced with Leo Babauta’s insights and approach.

If you’ve read Zen to Done, what did you think? What’s your productivity routine? Let us know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Reviews, Self-Improvement

Day Game in Warsaw: An Introduction

September 19, 2012 by Nick Leave a Comment

Many readers of pick-up and game-related blogs will be at least vaguely familiar with day game. Since so much focus has been placed on night game or club game, day game has gotten relatively little attention. This is unfortunate, since in my experience the results from day game have been much better than at any club or bar, the options are far more vast, and you avoid the negative aspects of a night game environment (bouncers, cover charges, loud music, fake atmosphere, bitch shields and competition). During the day you come as close as possible (short of intimacy) to seeing her as she really is. Many women will be pleasantly surprised by being approached and your conversion rate from approaches to numbers and dates will be much higher than at a bar or club. Much has been written about day game, namely by Nick Krauser, Steve at Authentic PUA, and the guys at Daygame.com. Here I’ll present some of my observations from my experiences so far in Warsaw, Poland.

When approaching a woman during the day I prefer directly approaching a woman who is walking. Approaching women who are sitting in a coffee shop or waiting at a bus stop is also doable, but you have to be more sensitive to the fact that she’s unable to leave easily if the approach doesn’t result in attraction. When you stop a girl on the street she’s free to stay and talk or to politely excuse herself and leave. The worst thats happened to me is that a girl will briefly make eye contact and walk around me.

I assume that women will react in different ways to such an approach depending on the country and culture. Here in Poland I’ve found that I’ll either get a very positive response, having even been complimented about how “nice it was to be approached by you, very American”, or a neutral/negative response where the girl will politely hear out my observation/compliment and excuse herself or just continue walking past me. I haven’t done enough approaches to say for sure that these are normal reactions, since there is always more I can do to improve my body language, tone, eye contact, etc. during the approach, but I’ve had enough success with getting numbers and instant-dates (to a coffee shop, for a walk) to know that I’m on the right track.

Here in Warsaw there are a lot of leaflet distributors, people collecting for charities and salespeople (e.g. students selling shoe inserts), so this is the primary experience of women being approached in the street. I’m sure this is a factor that leaves some women less open to approaches, since they’re skeptical of your intentions. Though there is no way to overcome this completely, perfecting the approach factors that you control is the best way to improve your odds that you’ll be successful.

I have the advantage of knowing the Polish language (albeit not as well as English) but it has been helpful. I still start all of my approaches in English. Most women in Poland under 30 know some English, so I’ve rarely had to switch to Polish on the initial approach. Knowing Polish has given me an additional communication advantage later in the interaction, but I haven’t found it to be a critical one, since many women are happy to be able to practice their English. A girl I met calls me her “teacher”.

Polish women are among the sweetest and most loving women in the world. One of the girls I’ve been seeing just texted me “hugs and kisses… that’s all ”. I don’t see the same type of affection and femininity from American women in California, where I’m from. Since my heritage is Polish, I plan to spend much more time in the country, one of the primary reasons being that I like the women. If you have the chance, I recommend visiting Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, to see for yourself the difference between women here and those in Western Europe or America.

Wherever you live, I highly recommend day game as an alternative to night game. I’ve given up bars and clubs for the time being, and along with getting a better night’s sleep and drinking less, I’m seeing great results with meeting women through day game. I set a goal for myself to go on dates with 10 different women by the end of October and I’m already at 8 after several weeks. For a guy who hasn’t gone on that many dates in the last 4 years, the results are excellent. I’ll go into greater depth on my experiences in future posts, but just wanted to get the ball rolling on the concept. For additional information I highly recommend the sites linked above. If you really want a thorough education on daygame, outside of an in-person bootcamp, you can’t do any better than the Daygame Blueprint, put together by Andy Yosha. That program got me started on this path and I’ll always be grateful for making a dramatic and positive change in my life.

If I could offer just one piece of advice, it’s to just get out there and start approaching. Continuously work on refining your style, grooming, tone, body language, etc. but you just need to get those first approaches out of the way to realize that meeting women isn’t as complicated and becomes fun and even addictive very quickly. Even the best PUAs get blown out, but you won’t even remember the rejections when you’re enjoying the company of beautiful women who want to be with you.

What are your experiences with day game?

Filed Under: Game, Poland Tagged With: game, Poland

Safety Razor Shaving: An Introduction

September 4, 2012 by Nick Leave a Comment

Marlon Brando, photo by Richard Avedon

Shaving is a ritual that millions of men perform every day. We do it to show the world a clean-shaven face that reflects our serious demeanor and dedication to a presentable appearance. Though some women prefer facial hair, in my experience a clean shave is the look that appeals most to women. If you have a moustache or beard, you should still take care to shave the rest of your face. Neck beards are not acceptable for serious men.

A real shave requires a sharp blade and that leaves open the possibility that you’ll cut yourself. Disposable razors have been modified over the years to minimize the risk of cutting yourself, and in so doing have sanitized and emasculated this manly art form. Disposable razors are intentionally expensive and do not give you a better shave than a high quality, double-sided razor.

Victor Pride wrote an excellent piece, “The 2 Minute Guide to Daily Shaving: How to Get Rid of Neck Bumps” that convinced me to ditch the disposable razors and to begin shaving daily and with a safety razor. His article is a great starting point for switching to a safety razor shave. Based on my experience I’ve learned some helpful tips that have improved my shaving experience.

Equipment

-I use the Merkur Model 180 Long Handled Safety Razor. The longer handle gives me more control when I shave, versus the traditional, short-handle models. Invest in a tool that will last a lifetime.

-Feather Razor Blades are made in Japan and regarded as the sharpest blades available. I see no reason to use a lesser blade. It’s great for a close shave and a 50-pack, which will last you a year, costs $20. How many disposable blades would last you a full week of daily shaves? A disposable razor cartridge will cost you $2-4. Assuming you use 2 per week, that’s $200-400 per year on cartridges alone. Get the Feathers.

-The Tweezerman Men’s Shaving Brush is a fine choice. There’s no need to spend $50-60 for a brush, but be sure to care for it properly. If you don’t buy a stand, improvise to hang your brush upside down to dry, to prevent bristle loss and handle cracking. The Amazon reviews have good tips for brush maintenance.

-I use Proraso Shaving Cream and Proraso Pre and Post Shave Cream. I use the Pre/Post Shave Cream on my neck, which is particularly sensitive, after I’ve wetted my face and before I apply shaving cream. I also use it after I’ve shaved.

Preparation

-Wet your brush with hot water and brush it across your face. You’ll need to wet it several times to cover your entire face, warming up your skin and preparing it for the shaving cream.

-If your skin is particularly sensitive, apply the pre shave cream. You don’t have to put it all over your face, just where your skin is most sensitive (upper neck, middle neck, etc.)

-A small amount of shaving cream (the size of your pinkie finger to the first knuckle) in a cup/mug will mix into a rich lather that will be plenty to cover your face. Use your brush to mix, but shake it out a bit if it is too wet, so that when you apply the shaving cream, water isn’t dripping down your face and diluting the cream. Apply the shaving cream with brush strokes, like a paintbrush, and also dab it on your neck and other sensitive areas to be sure the cream is worked in between your whiskers.

Shaving

-You can start anywhere, but I prefer to start with my neck, moving from left to right. Most cuts occur when trying to shave with a single motion. Until you have experience and get a feel for safety razor shaving, first lightly press the razor to your face, rotate it so it is at a 45 degree angle, then begin shaving downward (with the grain of your whiskers) using light to moderate pressure. Depending an the elasticity of your skin, it may suffice to angle your face upwards to stretch the skin on your neck, or you may need to use your free hand to pull down on the skin, under the area you are shaving. This creates a smoother surface on which the blade can travel.

-Rinse the blade in hot water after you’ve completed a full stroke with each side of the blade. Sometimes hair and cream will get stuck to the underside of the blade. It helps to loosen the blade handle while you rinse or you may need to use a thin object to dislodge the buildup.

-Shaving the same area with multiple strokes can cause irritation and lead to cuts. A method I use is a slight overlap of strokes for a better shave. I’ve noticed that the area of the blade directly in line with the handle gets a closer shave than the outside edges of the blade. If you’re shaving your neck, instead of moving directly from one plane to the next, after you’ve completed a vertical stroke, take your brush and lather the area 1/2 in. to the side of where you will shave next. On your next stroke shave along the new area and slightly overlap the area you just re-applied shaving cream to. If you happen to miss a patch anywhere on your face, reapply shaving cream before you shave it again. You may not need to do this for less sensitive areas, but you’ll learn through experience.

-Victor Pride recommends shaving against the grain at the area where your neck meets your chin to avoid razor irritation. I don’t have a problem with this area so I shave with the grain, but you’ll soon notice where your skin is most sensitive and adjust accordingly.

-When you first start shaving with a safety razor it is inevitable that you will cut yourself. As long as you are careful, these cuts will be easily treated with a hot shower and post-shave cream and if need be, a small piece of tissue paper pressed onto the cut and left to dry. As you are learning, you can try shorter strokes in between rinses, rather than one long stroke for the length of your neck. A great amount of pressure isn’t necessary, but it will take time to get a feel for how much you need. The best way to avoid the most annoying cuts is to never slide the razor horizontally across your face. This is especially apt to happen around the chin when moving your blade to your neck if you aren’t careful.

-Ideally you will want to shave every day. It gives you the cleanest look and it’s easier to shave one day’s growth, rather than two or more. When you are first starting though you will likely cut yourself and irritate your skin. It will help to skip a day or two in between shaves to allow your irritated skin to heal.

Post-Shave

-I use the remainder of the shaving cream in my brush to lather my face after I’ve shaved. This soothes the face for a minute before you hop into the shower.

-Rinse of your brush, using you thumb and forefinger to gently squeeze out the excess water. Give it one or two light shakes to get the rest of the water out. Hang your brush upside down to dry.

-Disassemble your razor and lay the blade and head pieces on a tissue or towel. Don’t wipe the blade, at most dab it with a tissue to remove any gunk, but a good final rinse in hot water should leave it clean.

-Take a moderately hot shower to open up the pores in your face and minimize razor bumps. Since doing the 30 Days of Discipline Program, I always finish my showers with a cold rinse.

-After your shower, dry your face and apply post-shave cream. If you have very sensitive skin, you may want to re-apply the cream later in the day. Washing your face once in the afternoon and evening with mild soap will also help soothe irritation.

Filed Under: Game, Grooming Tagged With: game, shaving

My Introduction to Game

August 30, 2012 by Nick Leave a Comment

I first stumbled across Game years ago. It was Maniac High’s “No Nonsense Guide to Laying a Chick for Beginners“. I don’t remember how I found it, I was probably searching for porn. Though the Guide never got me laid, it was my first introduction to the idea that hot women could be seduced and being a male model, millionaire or “natural” wasn’t a prerequisite to success. Maniac’s website also provided me with a lot of reading material, but I never acted upon it. I was put off but what seemed to be a complex formula of tactics that had to be followed sequentially and executed with perfection to be successful. This parallelled a false belief I had for many years that picking up any girl at virtually any time was possible, but you had to know the right combination of lines to win her over and “naturals” understood this, while I never would.

Fast forward about 8 years and I was where I am currently (Warsaw, Poland) on the verge of flying further east to meet a girl I’d known for a year and a half. I met here through work in California, where she periodically visited. We spent a lot of time together over her two visits (3 weeks total), basically seeing her every day for dinners, walks, coffee, etc. But I never kissed her or even held her hand. I was a solid Beta back then. I thought that relationships were meant to develop very slowly. We kept in touch through emails and texts. I basically spilled my guts to her, eventually signing a couple emails with “love”. She reciprocated to an extent that kept me interested, but when I had almost finalized plans to visit her, silence. Right around this time I came across Roosh’s site, while running a search for “how to go to a club alone” and finding his “Definitive Guide to Going Out Alone (a.k.a. Flying Solo)“. Thank God I did. Rather than trying to sort something out and still try to see this girl, I sent her a short email saying I wasn’t coming. I probably should have just said nothing (the Beta was mortally wounded but still thrashing), but that ended it.

Upon further reflection and thanks to the brilliant writings of Rollo Tomassi, Roissy and others in the “Manosphere”, I learned that I had a hard case of “ONEitis“. It was a rude awakening, but I had swallowed the “Red Pill” and there was no turning back. As for the girl, it turned out she had gotten married at some point in the year of my prospective visit. The former me would have been angry and disillusioned, but now I could just chalk it up to female hypergamy and the fact that we lived a continent apart. For a 30 year old woman, fast approaching the “Wall”, I can’t blame her. I’m the one who has to take responsibility for my actions and foolishly focusing all my attention on one prospect.

Fast Forward eight months and I’m back in Warsaw, this time for the rest of the year. After reading a ton of material on game, implementing relatively little (mostly night game), I recently stumbled across DayGame.com. I’d been familiar with the concept of day game before, but it never quite seemed right to indirectly ask women for directions, opinions, etc. as a way to weasel your way into an interaction with her. For me it was a revolutionary concept to approach a woman you were interested in, compliment her and basically declare your interest in her in a direct, though friendly manner. Your intentions are clear.

Though my experience with this approach is limited, and I’ve only done about a dozen approaches, I can attest to the fact that it works. In the past week I’ve gotten numbers from 5 girls, taken two on “instant dates” (coffee shop or long walk after the initial approach) and today the hottest girl that I approached (an 18 y.o., 9+, who knows 5 languages) instant dated me when all I did was go for her number! I’m still early in the learning curve, and numbers aren’t anything to brag about, but for someone who for 28 years thought that you only met women who crossed your path by “chance”, or through your social circle, I might as well have just learned for the first time that the earth was round or that the earth revolved around the sun. It was a revolution in my thinking and worldview.

What really turned me on to Game was seeing that it was more than a scheme to pick up women. You don’t have to trick anyone or pretend to be someone you aren’t, but you must become a better man. That’s what appealed to me so much. I learned that women aren’t the prize and that your ambitions and goals are the real pursuit you should dedicate yourself to, women can only ever be a complement, never the completion of a man’s life and legacy. Learning Game improves your ability to meet and date women that are of higher quality than anything you “settled” for in the past. I don’t have ambitions to become a master PUA (Pick-Up-Artist), but I do plan to develop my newfound skills to interact with women from a perspective of abundance, and dating many of them so that if I finally choose to get married, I’ll have a very clear idea of what kind of woman I want.

For anyone interested in learning more about Game I can’t recommend strongly enough the three “R’s”, Rollo, Roosh and Roissy. Familiarize yourself with the concept of “Inner Game” which is basically your perception of yourself which manifests itself in your outward actions and appearance. A site that focuses on how to build an awesome lifestyle is Victor Pride’s Bold and Determined. Through these sites you’ll find links to others that will open your eyes to an understanding of the world that is totally opposed to what modern popular culture promotes.

Your destiny is in your hands. The information is out there, you have an obligation to use it. No excuses going forward.

Filed Under: Game Tagged With: game, manosphere

Moving to Poland

August 5, 2012 by Nick Leave a Comment

Old Town, Warsaw, Poland

I’ve made the leap and moved to Warsaw, Poland’s capital. It’s a trial for now (6 months), but it could lead to a longer stay. I lived here for almost two years as a kid with my family, and 20 years later I’m back on my own.

There are many reasons I’ve moved: a break from work, starting my dissertation research, Polish women, Polish food, Polish beer, learning about my heritage and trying something new. It’s easy to develop a routine that over time gets stale. Leaving behind friends, a job, family and obligations is a great way to reassess what commitments are really worth keeping. After doing something long enough you feel obligated to keep doing it, but you seldom reflect on the value it adds to your life. I’m excited for the coming months. In less than a week away from California I’ve felt a new rush of energy and inspiration that I’d never have gotten from taking a couple days off work or tweaking my routine.

With all this freedom comes another obligation though. It’d be easy to just relax, enjoy the scenery, have fun and get some work done, but I have greater plans than that. I’ve been thinking of ways to start working for myself. I have several writing projects that I finally have time to complete. I have a couple dozen books to read and reflect on. At the end of the day my biggest project is building myself up to be a better man. I want to be stronger, smarter, more confident and more ambitious. Getting things done every day towards my goals is the way to develop and grow. Such change can be painful, frustrating and challenging, but the more adversity you’re willing to face, the greater the reward you’ll reap in the end.

I think my greatest challenge during this trip will be discipline. The key is to focus on the several goals I’ve set for myself over the next year and accomplish the small, daily tasks that will help me achieve them in that time. There’s no need to get myself caught up trying to do too many things at once and ending up with little to show for it. I’ve got more time in front of me to do what’s most important to me than any time in my life. Step by step I’ll climb the mountain, it just requires patience and perseverance. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day…