SOME PRE-AMBLE

I’ve deliberated for months…. even years….. as to whether I should start writing again. I’d always worry that I’d never find anything to write about, let alone make it sufficiently relevant and interesting enough for people to sit and read and take notice.

But I finally decided to take the brave pill. I’m not just doing this for selfless entertainment for my readers. Writing consistently will help me too. Making the decision every day to sit down and type will help with my discipline. And that’s not something I’m particularly strong at.

Any excuse to do something that’s a little more comfortable for my mind, I’m in! And then there’s the creativity side too.

Over recent months I’ve become ever increasingly concerned with my inability to think….. to focus….. and to actually do any real work. I was reading ‘Deep Work‘ (by our man Cal Newport, author of the fabulous ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You‘), and it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve literally stopped doing shit I’m good at (thinking, creating and executing).

Now to be fully transparent here…. I’m no pro when it comes to writing stuff. I’m out of practice for a start. Sure I’ll get better over time, so be patient with me. My English isn’t the best. My grammar is even worse. But that’s never going to be my purpose. I’m not in this for a gold star from the teacher. I’m here to share my journey… the shit moments and the a-ha moments. And hopefully there’ll be plenty of the latter.

WHAT I’LL BE WRITING ABOUT

Anything and everything that can help me and you improve – your mind, your body, and your business.

I believe in performance…. high performance. And as many 30+ year old males (like myself) will testify, most of us are a million miles away from realising our true potential.

Dreams we had whilst growing up have long since disappeared. Priorities change. We stop doing the work (on ourselves). We stay late in the office. We stay busy because that’s what career people do. We ignore relationships with family and friends. We eat food that we know we shouldn’t be eating.

Things start to slip, mostly unnoticeable at first…. but over time, the telltale signs start to appear in your career, your relationships, your performance and your waistline.

I don’t need to spell it out to you what I’m talking about here. You already know. And you find it frustrating…. perhaps embarrassing. You never thought it could happen to you. You were always different. Well my friend, unless you keep doing the work, ‘it catches up’ with the best of us!

But, it’s not the end of the road. Far from it. And that’s what this site, and more specifically this ‘oh shit to a-ha’ blog is all about. Whether you need to lose 40lbs from your waistline OR redefine what fitness is at 45 OR eat for optimum mental clarity and focus OR kick-start a flagging professional career OR jumpstart an all new entrepreneurial career….. we’re going to be talking about it right here.

WHAT I WON’T BE WRITING ABOUT

Anything political or defamatory. There’s enough of that tabloid stuff elsewhere. Yes i have my opinions and I’ll be expressing them here, but my plan is to keep this site relatively clean and somewhat useful for others.

WHY I’VE CLOSED THE COMMENTS

Time is precious. And after following many blogs and sites over many years, I’ve very rarely seen much value-add discussion taking place in the comments section. It’s mostly junk. So I thought I’d follow in the foot steps of James Clear and Leo Babauta…. and instead of spending all my time responding to good comments and deleting the junk, I thought I would dedicate my efforts on writing better content instead.

I remember a blog I authored many many years ago. Over time I started getting 20-30 comments every day. I responded to each and every one of those comments – with more than just a thank you. It was difficult to manage, especially in full-time employment. It took an hour or so every evening just to catch-up before I could actually start doing any real work on the business! It became a huge burden for me. And in the end I just eventually quit.

It shouldn’t be that way. Wring and sharing my story should be fun! That’s why on Rebel Male I’ve switched the comments OFF. And they’re going to stay off. Sorry.

I think that’s a good trade. Some may find it a little selfish or anti-social. But I won’t lose any sleep about it. You shouldn’t too. Read the article. Take notes. You can even share it (I’d like that). But most importantly learn from it and start to apply it. That’s what’s important, right!?!?

THEY’RE MY THOUGHTS…. YOURS WILL BE DIFFERENT

It’s Rebel Male, so things are going to be a little different. Not different just for the sake of it. That’d be a little boring and tedious. I just believe that Conventional Thinking leads to ‘average’ at best OR ‘miserably mediocre’.

It’s conventional thinking that would have us believe that grains (found in pasta, bread, breakfast cereal) are healthy…. when the reality is something completely different (check out Mark’s Daily Apple…. you’ll see what I mean).

It’s conventional thinking that the route to success is do well at school, get good grades, get a good job and the money (and success in life) will roll in. The stats say otherwise.

It’s conventional thinking that the super-successful sportsman and musicians, etc. were born with an innate talent. Evidence suggests that these guys did something different to the rest of us.

That’s just three examples. There’s plenty more. I hope to help open your mind to what you’ve been conditioned to believe. Some things will resonate…. others you may just think are utter junk. That’s your prerogative. That’s you thinking for yourself. And that’s what I’d like you to do (think for yourself, create your own ideas, and execute them). If you’re looking to upgrade your mind, your body or your business, you’re going to have to start doing things different. Otherwise – same actions = same result! That’s insanity.

It wasn’t the sexiest of posts. I’m just getting started. Sharing my thoughts and ideas. Stick with me. This’ll be fun. I’m sure!

David Gregory | founder Rebel Male