Young Men are Battling to Find Their Place in the World — A Pathway to Getting Ahead of the Pack

When I finished school in 1990, I had no idea what to do with my life, so I went into the army.

In the army, I discovered that people were differentiated by their rank, not their capability. I also learned that rank is a lousy measure of capability. I judged that men in the army could work the system to improve their rank despite having little ability other than to shout.

In the “real world”, rank is measured by your skills and personality traits like consistency and resilience.

On a recent Modern Wisdom Podcast, Chris Williamson interviewed Stern Business Schools professor Scott Galloway. Galloway spoke about how young men are battling to find their way in today’s world.

I wish I had heard podcast content like this when I was 18. Of course, this technology was not around then, but today there are hours of great content on this subject matter if you are looking for it.

Here are three of Galloway’s insights that can leap you ahead of the pack:

Insight #1: Challenge yourself every day to have a conversation with someone you have never met before. That means speaking to the person in the queue at the grocery shop. Two things happen; you are challenged to get out of your comfort zone and talk to people, and you will broaden your network. You never know who you will meet and what connections you will make that might be the leg up you need.

Insight #2: Pick something you can become insanely good at and tell the world about it. Again, there are two incredible outcomes from doing this. The obvious one is that you get very skilful at something. For example, playing a musical instrument, doing flick flacks, and reading a book a week. You might even choose to learn the lyrics of all the songs by your favourite artist. Telling the world about it is a form of practising in public and being consistent. The internet rewards consistency.

Insight #3: When in a room full of people, look around and ask yourself, if all hell broke loose, could you either fight for your life or run for your life? The insight here is to build your physical capability. Get strong or get fit or both. Building your physical strength and fitness is about building resilience. Resilience to illness, age, and stress. To do this, you must be consistent and show up daily.

The message for any man wanting to get ahead of the pack is to get out of his comfort zone, learn a new skill, build resilience, and be consistent. These are characteristics that will set you up for success in life.

The best part is that these are choices within your control; you don’t have to rely on anyone else.

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