Ward Wilsey's Site

Always Get Better (Goal Setting and the 5 Year Plan)

A man’s got to constantly improve himself. You need to make sure you’ve got a plan to be better 5 years from now than you are right now. After all, 5 years is coming, whether you like it or not. You can either be living a better or worse life, the choice is yours. I’ve heard Dan Sullivan quote Charlie “Tremendous” Jones many times as saying “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I think there’s a little more to it than that, but that’s a pretty good summary.

If you agree that you need to be a better person 5 years from now than you are today, the next logical question you need to ask is “what does “better” mean?” Self-improvement is synonymous ultimately with setting and achieving goals. You can’t hit a target without aiming, so you need to be very particular about how you go about improving yourself. You need to define what better means, and write down what that looks like. You should have 5-year goals that you’re constantly evaluating and refining, and setting up your life to accomplish those goals. To be clear, these goals must be measurable and written down.

Your 5-year goals are ultimately determined by your shorter-term goals. Those are in turn defined by what habits you are creating today. It’s said that it takes 21 days to create a habit. That means you need to focus today on achieving goals that will turn into habits in three weeks or so. Those habits will then cumulate to help you achieve goals that will eventually determine where you end up 5 years from now.

Therefore, goal setting is the process of s turning short-term habit changes into long-termsults. Your goals should be (a) weekly (1-3 weeks time frame); (b) monthly (1-3 months time frame); (c) annually (1-3 year time frame; and (d) 5 year. Each of those time frames will determine the goals of the time frame immediately preceding it. In other words, you’ll start with what your life looks like 5 years from now and work backwards towards what you can be doing today to make that happen.

So start with what you want your life to look like 5 years from now? Then ask what do you need to accomplish in the next 3-5 years to get there? You’ll need to then consider what you need to accomplish in the next 1-3 months to put you on track for those goals. In turn, you need short term goals related to specific habits you’re working on right now, meaning today, to get you where you need to be. With each successive timeframe, you’re thinking about your 5 year plan.

Goals should be written by hand, rather than thought in the mind, or types on a phone note. That’s because there’s something magical about goal writing from pen to paper. I’ve heard this described by Dan Sullivan as some sort of neuro-link from the thumb to the brain. I’m not sure about that, but I have experienced the power of goal-setting in writing, and don’t want you to miss out on the benefits.

Goals need to be specific, measurable, and with a due date. Instead of “Lose weight”, you should set a specific number, like losing 5 pounds. Goals should be set in the present tense. That means that instead of “I am going to lose 5 pounds”, you write “I will lose 5 pounds”. Subtle difference, but important. You also need to set an end date to your goal, which will lead into what time category you choose to set it into. For instance, “I will lose 5 pounds by November 30th”. That’s a well written goal.

You should write down your goals once a week, and at the same time review the goals from the week before. This process will ensure that (a) you’re staying on course and (b) you’re still on the course you want to be on. Goals should not change drastically from week to week. Again, start with your 5-year goals, and work backwards to what you’re going to do this week to make that happen.

Don’t focus on too many goals. I’d suggest twelve total goals, consisting of three in each of the four timeframes: (a) 5 years; (b) annual; (c) monthly; and (d) weekly. That’s plenty of focus in your life. Realize that your weekly goals are likely to change every three weeks or so, as things become a habit. Your monthly goals will likely be updated every 3 months or so. Your annual goals will be updated each year, but maybe some of them take up to three years to complete, so they stay on there until then.

There are three areas of growth you need to address in your goal-setting plan (a) faith; (b) family; and (c) focus. You’re not going to have one of each category in each of your four timeframes. Furthermore, some of your goals are going to include more than one category. For instance, if you say “I want my family to attend church for the next 4 Sundays in a row”, you’ve obviously covered two in one. Some goals may even cover all three. Sometimes your short-term habits will key in on one specific category, ignoring the other temporarily. Just keep all three in mind, otherwise you’re likely to stumble in the long run.

Let’s examine these categories in more detail:

Faith

My sincere belief is that you’re going to have a much more difficult time operating in this world without faith as your guiding light. Your interaction with the world won’t be as sharp, and as a result, your results will be less than satisfactory. We have an intense focus right now on “mental health” which I think could be significantly remedied by a little more review of and adherence to Biblical principles. I think this is true whether (a) you’re a true believer in Jesus Christ like me or (b) you view the Bible as a collection of ancient wisdom that’s spelled out the way the world works in the most useful framework. Either way, you ignore what the Bible says at your own risk.

The Bible’s advice is so consistently adhered to by successful individuals and families that it’s very hard to knock it’s success rate. Sometimes we don’t see this because Christian’s “success” doesn’t translate to Wall Street Journal caliber wealth. Our problem as a society is that we view success strictly in financial terms. The Bible is not a one stop solution to material wealth, although it’s impossible to argue with the success Christians have had to adhere to financial principals. However, if you view success in a generational sense, meaning “have you had an impact that made your family and community better for your presence?”, it’s spot on advice.

I have a hard time giving advice on other topics (family, fitness, and financial) without reference to faith, hence my recommendation that you always consider spiritual growth goals in your 5-year plan. My first recommendation to anyone having trouble in their life starts with starting to attend church this upcoming Sunday, and then continuing to do so. Don’t worry at first whether you believe everything the Bible says or not. Just realize that there’s a lot of benefits you’ll get from Sunday service that can’t be found in a shrink’s office, self-help book, or pill.

Paul says something really interesting in Galatians 6:7-9 when he writes:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

What’s really appropriate for this writing is the line “a man reaps what he sows”. This farming reference is so strong you can apply that to every aspect of your 5-year growth plan. With regards to your spiritual life, the question is what steps are you taking now to make yourself a stronger Christian five years from now?

Maybe it’s as simple as committing to attending (or maybe even finding) a church in your area within the next month. Maybe it’s committing to reading the Bible for 30 minutes each day this week. For me, right now it’s committing to becoming an official partner of our local church after 4 plus years of attendance. I’m working on cutting out a few things in my life that distract from my growth as a Christian as well. I’ve got a vision of what 5 years looks like, and it’s more involvement in the Church and making more decisions based on the Bible as opposed to worldly thought processes.

What Paul says here about pleasing the flesh causing destruction is so true. Think of it in terms of what your life will look like in 5 years. If you continue to attend to matters of the flesh, i.e. casual sex, pornography, drugs and drinking, and other frivolous pursuits of pleasure, you’ll end up in much the same place you are now, except 5 years older and more burned out. If you focus on matters of the Spirit (meaning follow Jesus’ advice), you’ll pursue heavenly matters like long term marriage and family, meaningful work, involvement in your church and community. I can guarantee your life will be much better 5 years from now in the other 3 topics (personal, financial, and physical) because of your focus on the spiritual. That’s why this one is listed first. It’s that important.

Family

We don’t take the family seriously enough as a society. Our impulse is to pretend that all sorts of possible family arrangements are equivalent to a married man and wife raising their children. It’s just not so. You need to take your current or future family seriously, right now. It has consequences not only on you, but on your children (born or yet to be born) and successive generations to come. That’s a huge responsibility to your family, regardless of whether or not you have one right now. It’s also a huge responsibility as a citizen, as men going around having kids out of wedlock has had disastrous consequences. It’s not fair to kids who grow up without parents and it’s irresponsible as a citizen.

Take it seriously. What do you want your family to look like 5 years from now? Not one man is going to say “I’d like to leave a bunch of single mothers and fatherless children in my wake.” But so many men end up doing exactly that, because they don’t have any family goals. They have foolish short term lust goals.

If you’re single, what kind of a woman would you like to attract? Since we’re talking 5 years from now, this is likely a wife. Working back to right now, what do you need to change in your life to attract that kind of spouse? Do you need to get in shape? Show more ambition and earn more money? Quit hanging out in bars on Friday and Saturday night and go join your local Church? Do you need to kill stupid habits, like video games and pornography? Work backwards from the spouse you’d like to attract to figure out what you need to be doing now.

If you are married, what would you like your relationship to look like in five years? You as the husband are the leader of your family, whether you like it or not. Your wife will respond to you as you become more masculine, despite what society says. I don’t mean that you should grow a beard, drink more craft beer, and maintain a he-shed outback. I mean that you need to become stronger, in faith, physical strength, career, and focus (which we’ll discuss in a minute). Weakness is unacceptable for men. Your wife won’t respect it, nor should she.

Envision what the perfect family would look like, and take steps to create that. How much more independent and read for life on their own will your children be 5 years from now? What does your family’s involvement in the church look like 5 years from now? What are you and your wife’s fitness goals 5 years from now? Imagine this in your head, and work backwards to make it happen now. Lead your family, or society will.

Focus

Focus means what you choose to take action on, and what you choose to ignore. The top topics most people will choose are fitness, career, and financial goals. However, there’s plenty of other goals for different seasons in your life, like education, career, networking, travel, charity, etc. This is where you choose what you’re going to do with your life. The topics will change frequently, but they all revolve around what you choose to spend your time on, in other words, your focus. To be blunt, this is really a catch-all category for goals not related to faith and family.

For the vast majority of unsuccessful men, their focus is on the wrong things. Porn, video games, cars, junk food, racking up debt, lack of saving, drinking, etc. Men must learn to switch their focus to goals that will actually improve their life. Change little poor habits into good ones with clearly defined written goals, and you’ll be amazed at the change in your life.

I tend to find that poor habits that lead to sin are often the result of a lack of direction. The whole point of goal setting is to give yourself direction. The focus category really accentuates the faith and family categories, because it helps you identify areas that are keeping you from the best possible faith and family lives (now or in the future).

Your focus determines the direction your life is going to go. You can’t hit anything you’re not aiming for, and the purpose of clear, written goals is to set a direct path for your life that will lead to success. Make sure you update your goals (especially short-term goals) frequently in order to consistently have a battle to fight in your day to day life. This will keep you from devolving into laziness and apathy, sins that often are simply a function of lack of vision, effort, and integrity.

Your focus goals should always help you accomplish, and never conflict with, your faith and family goals. Many men focus on specific material things, more money, women, cars, etc., but they end up unhappy because they have not put faith and family first. Don’t make that mistake.

Summary

Goal setting is one of the most powerful devices I can give you to improve your life. Traditionally, goal setting is focused on money and career success, and that’s great for your focus category. But there’s more to goal setting if you want to truly be successful in life. I’ve intentionally included faith and family as separate categories because they’re two that are (a) often overlooked but (b) are so crucial to achieving true success and happiness. There’s so many men who have achieved their focus goals, but are unhappy and unsatisfied because they’ve had little or no growth in their faith and family lives. Make sure you adequately address all three. Make sure you write down your goals, on paper, with a pen, and watch your life change for the better.

To help you out, here’s a worksheet you can use as a tool for your goals: GOAL WORKSHEET.pptx

5 Minute Challenges

The 5 minute challenge attempts to solve a complex problem I’ve always had with CrossFit (or similar workout programs). On one hand, there’s no doubt that CrossFit works. On the other hand, I (and many others) get injured doing CrossFit. I’ve started three times, and ended up on the disabled list after three months with shoulder and elbow injuries. The elbow injury still nags me years later. It’s just never been a long-term solution for working out for me.

However, there’s no doubt CrossFit works for a LOT of people. The main benefit is the inclusion of heavy weights combined with high intensity interval training (HIIT) in CrossFit Workouts of the Day (WOD). Many other programs use the High Intensity Interval Training, but they cut out the heavy weights. The results, judging by the participants of these programs, are lackluster after initial exciting weight loss results. There’s no doubt that the low weight HIIT programs can help overweight people lose weight, but there’s not the muscle development associated with CrossFit.

How do you combine HIIT with heavy weights while avoiding injury? My suspicion is that the reason for the injuries many experience in CrossFit has to do with the durations of the WOD, rather than the actual lifts themselves (although I’m not a fan of skipping pull-ups). The WODs last too long, which leads to poor form, as well as breakdowns in a molecular sense (I’ll let the science guys argue over that).

My solution, that’s worked for me, is to limit HIIT training to 5 minutes with a five minute challenge. This would always be at the end of my workout, and I tend to refer to them as “gassers’”. This is mainly a cardio/fat burning exercise, designed to help me burn fat long after the workout has ended.

Here, I pick on exercise, and perform for 5 minutes. With most exercises, I’m looking to perform a certain number of repetitions, and move up in weight when I hit that number of reps. In that sense, it’s progressive, you build up to a higher weight over time. But really, you’re not increasing strength so much as capacity to train at a higher weight.

Kettlebells are tailor made for the 5 minute challenge. A great one is the one arm kettlebell swing. Perform 10 swings with one hand and then switch hands and perform another 10. If you hit 100 repetitions within the 5 minute limit, move up in weight next time. Simple. This works great with kettlebell snatches, cleans, and goblet squats as well.

With the above kettlebell exercise, I like to do my five minute challenge with a time that rings every 30 seconds. I perform my 10 reps with one hand, rest for the remainder of the 30 second period, and then start with the other hand on the next ring. This ends up being very much like the tabata, which is a 20 second on, 10 seconds off, protocol I first learned from Dan John’s books. Tabatas work wonders for useful cardio capacity and fat burning. By the way, you should read every book by Dan John. I have them all on my kindle, and frequently refer to them, because they’re not so much specific workouts (although there’s plenty of those in there) as general weightlifting and workout theory.

You can also perform this with Turkish Get Ups (TGUs), but you’re going to limit yourself to 10 total. You’ll still get smoked cardio-wise, but it’s definitely a different sensation. Just be really careful on your 5th rep with each hand, as TGUs can have disastrous consequences if the kettlebell falls on you. Note that Pavel Tsatsouline has a great workout book called “Simple Sinister” that’s definitely worth looking into that essentially is a 5 minute challenge of one-arm swings combined with a 5 minute challenge of turkish get ups. Highly recommended, as is everything Pavel writes.

You can also do a five minute challenge with running. This is best on a track or an assault runner, which is great if you have access to one. We got an assault runner at my office gym, and I can’t get enough of it. A rower or bike can work as well. Just go as hard as you can for five minutes. Make sure you log your distance, and try to beat it the next time. You could also do bodyweight stuff like air squats, burpees, etc. using a weighted vest to add load.

Another thing that the 5 minute challenge does is it gives you more time to focus on lifting heavy weights during your workout. A lot of workouts I’ve done in the past consist of a warmup, one lift like a squat, bench press, etc., and then straight into a 20-30 minute WOD. My problem with that approach is that while you leave the gym feeling drained, over time you haven’t built up much progressive strength in your main lifts (bench, squat, deads, etc.) because you’re only doing them every couple of weeks. I like doing 2-3 main exercises and then hitting an extremely hard gaser in the last 5 minutes.

The 5 minute challenge solves for the HIIT “WOD” style workout without causing breakdowns in form and fascia that lead to injury. If you’re a 20 something phenom, by all means go out there and kill it. As we get older, those 20-30 minute WODs become counterproductive, eveninjury-causingg. However, let’s admit that prolonged HIIT with weights works wonders, so let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Implement some 5 minute challenges into your workouts at the very end, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Workout 9/22/2021

WARMUP (10 minutes)

Foam Roll Complex (back,IT, hamstrings)

Lax Ball Glutes

20 Jumping Jax

10 Air Squat Hamstring Stretches

10 PushDogs

Lunge Knee Circles (10 each way)

10 Rollover V Sits

Dirty Dogs (10 each way each leg)

Windmills (10 Each Direction)

Leg Cross Sits

Warmup Lift

Overhead Squats 3×8

1 minute rest

Main Exercises

Deadlift 45-25 only (10 minutes)
Standing Press 45-25 only (10 minutes)

Gaser

5 Minute One Arm Kettlebell Swing Challenge

10 swings per arm, switch every 30 seconds.

Move up in weight if you hit 100

45/25 Only. You may only use 45 and 25 pound plates on the bar. Use nothing if you can only do the bar. Warm up with some light sets, and work up to a max of up to 10. Then two two more sets, after 2 minutes of rest. You’re likely going to be able to do less reps than the first set.

Increase to the next plate level when 10 reps are reached on your first set. For instance, if you can do 8 reps max first set on the bench at 135, stay there until you can hit 10 reps. Then up to 185. The next interval would be 225. Remember, you can only use 45s and 25s. Don’t use 2 25lb weights in a row to cheat. This works best on big complex exercises like bench, standing press, squats, and deadlifts. With deadlifts, only do your one max set, don’t do any followup work. There’s something cosmic about the deadlift, you can’t handle too much.

The 45/25 Only

The 45/25 Only is a great workout concept I learned after reading a Pavel Tsatsouline article. The idea is to eschew small incremental progress in favor of massive jumps to really stimulate the body. It’s about learning to “own” a certain weight prior to moving up to the next level. I’ve adapted his method, which is a little different than mine, into something that has really worked for me, and hopefully works for you as well.

This concept works best on big complex (many muscles) exercises. It’s going to be difficult to meet this standard with smaller lifts, i.e. biceps curls, and you might tear something. This is all about screaming at your muscles to reach another plane of effort, in order to stimulate growth. Some great lifts for this include:

Bench

Squat

Standing Press

Deadlift

Power Cleans

Pullups (use a chain)

Hang Snatch

Front Squats

In this concept, you may only use 45 and25-pound plates on the bar. Nothing else. Use nothing if you can only do the bar, although since we’re doing complex exercises, if you can only do the bar, Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength might be a better place to start. Warm up with a few light sets, and work up to a max of up to 10 reps (or as many as you can do at that weight). Then rest two minutes and complete another set of however many you can do. You’re likely going to be able to do less reps than the first set. Then rest 2 minutes, and complete a final set. With deadlifts, only do your one max set, don’t do any follow-up work. There’s something cosmic about the deadlift, you can’t handle too much.

Increase to the next plate level when 10 reps are reached on your first set. For instance, if you can do 8 reps max first set on the bench at 135, stay there until you can hit 10 reps. Then up to 185. The next interval would be 225. Remember, you can only use 45s and 25s. Don’t use 2 25lb weights in a row to cheat. Remember that you’ve got two follow-up sets, with only 2 minutes rest. With such a short rest interval, you’re really going to need a spotter on your lower rep exercises. Make sure you get at least one rep in your two follow-up sets, even if it’s assisted.

Perform each exercise you choose to do here once a week, with two exercises per workout. Stick with this concept for 8-12 weeks. Try to pick exercises that don’t really clash, like bench with deadlifts, pullups with squats, etc. What you’re doing here is increasing volume significantly for each exercise over time. If you workout 3 times a week, you can choose 6 exercises, 4 times up to 8. I like to follow these two up with a 5-minute “gasser” like a 5-minute max distance row, run, kettlebell swing, etc.

Some exercises will be high reps and some will be low reps. If you can do 8 reps at 185, your follow-up sets might be 6 and then 4, for a total of 18 reps. That’s a decent higher rep volume that should stimulate some muscle growth. It’ll probably take you a couple of weeks to get up to 10, where you can move on to 225. At that point, you’ll probably only be able to get 3, and then maybe 2 or even 1 on the follow-up sets (make sure you’ve got a spotter). You may be at 8-10 reps in the first exercise in a workout, and then struggle to get to 3 in the next. It’s a great way to really ramp up your intensity.

The 45/25 only is a great way of drumming up some serious intensity for an 8-12 week period, and I’ve found it really helps me develop some power in lifts. Definitely, worth a shot, it should lead you to some good muscle and strength gains.

Walking : The Most Overlooked Exercise

If there’s one exercise that’s more consistently overlooked than all others, it’s the value of the hour-long evening walk. That’s probably because it’s so simple, it doesn’t even really feel like working out. But the reality is that walking burns calories, and can help significantly with your fat loss plan over time. There’s a ton of benefits, which I want to walk you through.

The average person burns between 300-400 calories per hour walking. Walk 5 days a week for a year, and you have the potential to drop over 20 pounds of fat, assuming your caloric intake remains the same. That’s powerful stuff. For overweight Americans, with over 30% body fat,

A very effective fitness solution would be nothing more than restricting calories and walking an hour a day. At that level of body fat, muscle growth would be secondary to fat loss anyway.

Another great thing about walking is that it’s so low impact that it won’t affect muscle growth and retention from other workouts you’re doing. That’s why it’s such a preferred method for professional bodybuilders looking to cut fat to get in contest shape. I remember seeing a picture of bodybuilder Shawn Ray several years ago walking on a treadmill during contest preparation. As I recall, he would spend a couple of hours a night on the thing to trim those last few pounds of body fat. You would think that those athletes do nothing but HIIT Training, but that’s not necessarily true.

Walking is also an excellent way to work out soreness from lifting and other sports activities. I get really sore from hour-longu sparring sessions on Saturdays. By Sunday, I’m usually really crushed. I enjoy walking around Sunday early morning or late evening, because I feel like it works out soreness from my body, and makes it easier to go back to lifting and training come Monday.

For married couples, it’s an excellent way to connect with your spouse, and talk about each other’s days, family plans, or just general chatting. I really enjoy the time I spend with Katie a few times a week when we go walking, either in our neighborhood or several trails around the Austin area. When she can’t join me, I usually put on headphones and listen to a book on tape, which gives me extra reading time I wouldn’t get otherwise. When I’m in the mood to zone out, I’ll often put on a podcast, which helps the time fly by and take my mind off the general stress of life.

I hope I’ve convinced you about all the benefits of walking. I’m sure you (like me) have overlooked its power for most of your life, and I hope you commit to getting out there. It’ll keep you off Netflix, enhance your health and well-being significantly, and help you achieve your fat loss goals.

Workout 9/21/2021

WARMUP (10 minutes)

Foam Roll Complex (back,IT, hamstrings)

Lax Ball Glutes

20 Jumping Jax

10 Air Squat Hamstring Stretches

10 PushDogs

Lunge Knee Circles (10 each way)

10 Rollover V Sits

Dirty Dogs (10 each way each leg)

Windmills (10 Each Direction)

Leg Cross Sits

BAR COMPLEX (1 set 3 minutes)

(use just the bar and finish all exercises without putting down bar)

Hang Snatch * 8

Overhead Squat * 8

Back Squat * 8

Good Mornings * 8

Bent Over Row * 8

Deadlift * 8

Main Exercises

Bench Press 45-25 only (10 minutes)
Standing Press 45-25 only (10 minutes)

Gaser

5 Minute Distance Run (Max Distance in 5 Minutes)

Kettlebell Workout 9/17/2021

Warmup

Foam Roll Complex (back,IT, hamstrings)

Lax Ball Glutes

20 Jumping Jax

10 Air Squat Hamstring Stretches

10 PushDogs

Lunge Knee Circles (10 each way)

10 Rollover V Sits

Dirty Dogs (10 each way each leg)

Windmills (10 Each Direction)

Leg Cross Sits

Goblet Squat Complex

5 Goblet Squats

3-5 Presses

5 Minute Turkish Getup Challenge

5 Minutes Snatch KB Challenge

Pistol Squat 45/25 only

45/25 Only. You may only use 45 and 25 pound plates on the bar. Use nothing if you can only do the bar. Max to 10. Increase to the next plate level when 10 reps are reached. For instance, if you can do 8 reps max on bench at 135, stay there until you can hit 10. Then up to 185. The next interval would be 225. Remember, you can only use 45s and 25s. Don’t use 2 25lb weights in a row to cheat. NOTE: With Pistol Squats, you can start by holding the 25 lb weight out straight in front if you can’t do a pistol squat. This will act as a counterbalance. If you still can’t do a pistol squat, put as small a plate as needed (hopefully only 2.5lb, 5lb or 10lb) under your heel.

Workout 9/15/2021

Warmup

Foam Rolls Back
Foam Rolls IT Band
Foam Rolls Hamstrings
Foam Rolls Abductors
Rollover V Sits
Lunge Knee Circles
Jumping Jacks (20)
Arm Windmills (10 each way)
Bent Knee Iron Cross
Seated Piriformis Stretch

Goblet Squat Complex

5 Goblet Squats

3-5 Presses Each Arm

Deadlifts

1 set of 5, several warmup sets working up to one heavy max set of 5

Overhead Press

Work up to 3 Sets of 5

Gasser x 4

6-8 Front Squats

400 M row

How to Choose a College Without Ruining Your Life

OK, it’s clear that there is some connection between higher education and success. However, it’s also true (despite what anyone says) that going to college can ruin your life. There are millions of Americans who paid WAY too much for worthless degrees, and to make matters worse, carry around student loan debt that they will never be able to pay off. Colleges, the media, parents, etc. seem to point young people to college as the holy grail of future career success, which is patently untrue. It CAN aid you significantly in earning a higher income. It can also become an albatross around your neck, in the form of student loan debt.

Here are some precepts about college and higher educational degrees. First of all, a degree can help you in your career, no doubt. However, you must realize that the combination of (a) worthless degrees; (b) no-name schools; and (c) student loan debt is a crippling combination that will drive you under if you follow the lies that society tells you, namely “any degree is a good degree”.

I’m more successful financially because I went to college (B.A. in Economics at U.C. San Diego) and law school (University of San Diego). There’s no doubt that I immediately had more credibility in the workforce as a result of those degrees, and was able to earn a higher salary as a result. This is the benefit of a college education. A degree, from a good school, can open doors.

However, it’s also true that (with rare exceptions) I didn’t learn anything of value that I couldn’t have learned by reading a book or (nowadays) watching an online video. There’s nothing magical about the actual information and learning material in most classes in college. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of classes/professors who were impactful enough where one could honestly say that they were really superior to anything one could get from outside sources. The reality is, you’re reading some textbook, trying to learn in class what’s important to the professor, and regurgitating that on a test. Not rocket science. It’s absolutely the case that the educational material in college should be available for a much lower price, particularly with modern online technology.

So why go to college and beyond? What’s a degree worth? First of all, a college degree forces the student to gather an amalgamation of basic subject matter to prove to outside employers that the student has the basic skills (writing, arithmetic, science, etc.) to function in the work world. School also proves to employers that you can learn information (studying) and apply it in context (tests). Absent the degree, you will have to prove these skills, generally at a lower level of employment, than you would otherwise. That’s why college students are often hired in positions that non-college students have to work themselves up to.

Therefore, a college degree provides useful information to an employer that you are capable of assimilating information and using that information to provide the employer with value. It doesn’t prove that you’ll be a good employee, but it does provide an indication. Therefore, and this is important, the ONLY value you should be focused on in selecting a college and navigating your college experience is the value of the actual degree you will earn. Yes, you should hopefully get a few classes you enjoy, but remember that if learning for the sake of enjoyment, personal development, etc. is the goal, you should look to cheaper sources. They are definitely out there.

The question you should be asking yourself, in order to get your money’s worth out of college is “How effective will this degree be in getting employers to hire me”. However, this is only the case if you graduate (a) with a worthwhile degree and (b) from a school that proves your value to employers. Let’s look at these two factors.

The degree you graduate must be either a STEM subject or professional degree (i.e. accounting, business, nursing, etc.) that will indicate to an employer that you’ve obtained the requisite skills necessary for work. Engineering, for instance, shows that you understand math, physics, and a host of other subjects that indicate you will be able to think critically. On the other hand, if you graduate with a degree in Political Science, Communications, English, Philosophy, etc., you will not have proven the ability to think critically. Those subjects are “soft”, and while taking some classes in them (especially English Grammar) would be a good idea as part of a well-rounded education, they don’t indicate that you put much effort into your degree. Worse, is anything that has the word “studies” or “science” at the end of the degree name. If you have to remind the reader of the resume that you were studying or that something is a “science”, it’s because there’s not too much value to the course of study. That’s not a political comment, simply an observation that millions of college students are graduating from universities shepherding them into worthless degrees (with associated student loan debt) that will subject these students to a lifetime of hardship. Often this comes along with silly opinions and worldviews drilled into the students’ brains by professors. Worse, federal law stipulates that student loan debt is nondischargeable in bankruptcy, leaving the student no way out for bad decisions made in early adulthood. The school, of course, is off the hook for peddling worthless degrees, thus having absolutely no skin in the game for shoddy degrees. No wonder they reinforce the lie that any degree is a good degree. What do they care if you graduate with a worthless degree?

On to the second factor, the school you graduate from. Let’s be honest, if you graduate from Harvard with a degree in underwater basket weaving, you still graduated from Harvard, and that means something to any employer. The overall reputation of a university comes from two factors. The first is the academic reputation of the college. The second (and most overlooked) is the name recognition of the college. By name recognition, I’m going to refer to both general public name recognition and alumni involvement (don’t ever overlook this second factor). There are many schools that are extremely well known and respected by the general public regardless of academics. This is generally (for better or worse) due to sports, particularly football. Everyone knows Harvard is a great school from which to graduate. Their academic reputation pours over into great alumni and public support as well. However, not everyone makes the connection that the University of Alabama punches high above it’s academic weight compared to similarly ranked schools because of the alumni network and name recognition. This, of course, is due to their football team.

This is an unpopular reality, but one that you should consider. There’s a ton of alumni (and non-alumni) who will give special consideration to University of Alabama graduates because of the school’s reputation as a football powerhouse. This school, and similar colleges with great name brand recognition, are far better to graduate from than many schools with superior academics. It’s common for employers to give preference to alumni from the same school as the CEO, hiring manager, etc.

The better the combination of academics and alumni support, the better the school. The University of Texas, for instance, is the ultimate combination of the two. Especially if one lives in Texas, this school may be preferable to graduate from even when compared to an Ivy League school. As a corollary point, there are many schools that are great academically, but have such low name recognition that it doesn’t matter. When I selected a school for my LLM in Taxation following law school, I chose Washington University in St. Louis over Alabama and SMU strictly because of the ranking of the program. However, outside of St. Louis, no one knows that ”Wash U” even exists. Either of the other two would have been better in the long run.

Also, consider community college. Absent getting into a top-tier university (Top 100 in U.S. News and World Report) or a school with a good alumni network (generally a good football school), you should not be paying to attend all 4 years at a school. If you don’t get into one of those schools, you should attend a 2-year community college, as these are generally 1/10th the price. You’ll find that you can generally transfer into a top-tier school upon getting an associates degree as long as you have decent grades. In addition, many community colleges are associated (at least informally) with major universities, and will allow for a quasi-college-like experience, complete with dorm-like complexes in college towns. This is a much better way of doing things than attending a four-year college right off the bat, and paying for a no-name degree. Many students actually get into a better school post community college than immediately following high school after raising their grades during those two years.

Now onto debt. If your family can afford to send you to any college for cash, then cost is irrelevant. If this is not the case, then cost is an extremely important factor because you must at all costs avoid student loan debt. Let me state this another way to be clear. Under no circumstances should you be incurring student loan debt to go to college. No way. You will be crippled financially for years (if not the rest of your life) if you make this mistake. There is no school, not even Harvard or Yale, where student loan debt is worth it.

Student loan debt is usually completely avoidable. Scholarships and grants are numerous, and there for the taking. In addition, public schools can be had for a much cheaper price than private schools. You should also always work throughout college, even attending night school. Not only will this help you pay the bills, but it will also prepare you, skill and attitude-wise, for working following school. People who argue that you shouldn’t work so you can have the “student-life experience” are referring to the period of wasting your time playing beer pong, there’s no long term benefit. Do not incur debt to attend undergraduate university. Be VERY careful about incurring debt to attend graduate school. Medical school? Possibly, if you’ve identified a practice area that will help pay the debt back quickly, like over a 3-5 year period. Other than that? Work and attend night school.

Choice of school and cost of school are extremely important choices that can cripple you if you’re not careful. Make sure you’re pursuing a worthwhile degree, in a STEM or professional subject. Remember, choose a school with a good academic and overall reputation. Don’t just settle for the one rated the highest in some magazine. Oftentimes your state school will be preferable in the long run to more expensive private schools. Always consider the community college route, as you may ultimately get into a better school (for less money). Never, ever, go into debt for a four-year college or most graduate degrees. The return is never there. It’s impossible to overstate how important school choice is for young men. Mistakes here ruin so many lives. There’s no one coming to cancel your student loan debt, and furthermore, no colleges care if you ever pay back your loans. Always make sure you take your education seriously, as it can make or break your life.

Career Advice for Young Men

I just had to give a pep-talk to a young man at our office who was put on a 30-day action plan by his manager for poor performance. One thing I value about our company is total honesty and transparency. We’ve done this young man a great service early in his career, and I hope he turns things around.

I like to speak to young men about the transition from high school and college into a career. Our education system does a terrible job, and young men without significant work experience in high school and college are at a serious disadvantage. My perspective when I speak to young men is to give them the same advice I’d give my kids, and I’d like to repeat that here.

Here’s what young men need to do to be successful in their careers.

Be Honest

Honesty is the highest virtue to which a man can aspire, in my opinion. You need to consistently demand honesty of yourself. Don’t ever lie, it’s never worth it. A man who won’t accept lying as a solution will develop better solutions to problems and become immediately more valuable. Trust is everything, don’t lose it by lying.

Know Yourself and Where You’re Going

One of the biggest mistakes young men make is chasing money in a career for which they are ill-suited. Don’t make this mistake. Know your personality, likes, and abilities, and choose your profession to suit those traits. You can make money doing anything, there’s always a way. If you don’t like people, don’t be a salesperson. If you hate spreadsheets, don’t go into finance. If you hate conflict, don’t become an attorney. The amount of people who hate their job is incredibly high, and it’s generally because they put no thought into having a career path that suits them. Again, you can make good money doing just about anything, make sure it suits you.

Get Serious

Are you waking up at 8 am, eating Fruit Loops, cruising into work at 9:15 or so, leaving at 4:45 if you can get away with it, and playing video games all night? If so, you’re not serious about life, and you can’t expect to have a good career. So many people start off their adult life this way and wonder why they’re broke, fat, and unhappy when they reach 40. Get serious!

Get up early (5 am minimum), work out every day, eat healthy, and put in 10 hours of work per weekday minimum. When you get home, read, do something active, and get ready for the next day. Get serious.

Yes, leisure is fine, but realize that the discipline you demand of yourself will ensure more freedom than you have now. If you develop skills, advance in your career, and become valuable, you’ll still have plenty of downtime, but will have the resources for more virtuous pursuits.

Life is a competition, whether you realize it or not. You’re competing with others for scarce resources, and you’ll fall behind if you’re not serious. Don’t wake up when you’re 40, 50, 60, and wish you’d taken things more seriously in your 20’s. Most people make that mistake.

Add Value

Ask yourself every day how you can help your employer serve customers better and make more money during this workday. That’s the value. How can you add value to your job? Ask yourself that question every single day.

Do you walk into your job every day and not care if your employer is successful? Many people do, and it holds them back. You need to hold yourself accountable every day for serving customers to the best of your ability, regardless of your role, and helping your employer earn more. If you can’t adopt that attitude, you’re bound to fail, because you don’t care about adding value.

Develop Yourself and Your Work Ethic

How are you getting better today? This comes in many facets, mental, physical, skill set, attitude, etc. What are you doing today to improve on yesterday’s version of you? Are you improving your mind by reading books? Are you taking classes and watching online videos to improve your skills? Are you going to the gym and eating right everyday to improve your physical appearance and presence (which really matters, no matter what society says)? If not, you’re falling behind.

One of the things to note about work ethic is that it must be developed daily, and can be lost if you lose focus. Just like weightlifting, you should look to get a little better at your work every day. This means a little more focused, a little more knowledgeable, a little more valuable. This won’t happen overnight, but small incremental improvements will have huge long term effects on your value and earning capacity.

Distraction is your Enemy

Focus is a key factor in becoming more valuable at work. Distraction is your enemy, and the biggest distraction you have right now is your phone and social media. My recommendation is that you get off social media. There’s no value living in a virtual world, and you’ll have much great success in the real world by stepping out of the silly virtual existence that is social media.

At the very least, if you’re distracted at work, take steps to reduce your distraction levels. This could mean leaving your phone at home or at least in your car. It could mean exchanging your phone for a flip phone, which will automatically limit your usage. Does that sound silly? Will people think you’re crazy? Who cares, you’ll be more productive and make more out of yourself. Don’t fall victim to distractions, especially the virtual kind.

Do the Simple Things Right

Our HR Director has a list of 10 items on her dry erase board that are simple things that don’t take any talent to accomplish but will make you an extremely valuable employee. What’s interesting is that she’s commented that some employees have claimed to be “offended” by the list. That’s a sad commentary on the state of employees, particularly younger employees.

I want to repeat the list because I think it’s just perfect.

10 Things That Take Zero Talent, but Lead to Success

Be on time.
Work ethic – “I can”
Effort – “Try”
Body Language
Energy
Attitude
Passion
Being coachable
Doing extra
Being prepared

There’s the list. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy. Make sure you’re doing everything on that list.

Take Pride in Your Work

Your work is a reflection of you as a person. If you don’t care about your work product, you’ll be less of a man, to yourself, and eventually to your wife and children. Men are put on the world to work (in part) and there’s something cosmic about it. Take your work seriously and have pride in the product you put out.

If you don’t have pride in your work right now, you’re probably in the wrong career. Again, know yourself and where you’re going. If you can’t take pride in your current vocation, find one where you can.

Take the Ball and Run With It

One of the best traits you can develop is to be a person who can drive results in a business without having to be given every step of the process. Too many men are “tell-me-what-to-do-guys”. They wait around for someone to tell them what to do during their workday. They don’t figure out problems in their company, and then figure out solutions, on their own. This is a mistake.

When you’re given any task, make sure you take a step back and try to figure out what your boss is really looking for. You should learn more and more about your business, so you can add more and more value to your work product. Find unique insights to provide your boss that can help him drive results. You won’t provide much value here at first, but keep at it. Make sure you’re trying to drive results, and you’ll drive more and more over time.

It’s been really interesting to see the development of some of our younger workers in the office. At first, their insights were very basic and not very valuable. But over time, they’ve learned more about the business, and have been providing me with better and better insights.

As a boss, I try to encourage our employees to point out things, give insights, add value, wherever they can. If you have a boss who always shoots down your ideas, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.

Train Yourself

A lot of people complain about the training they receive at their job. Their complaint is that their employer doesn’t provide enough training. This is a farce, and shows a terrible attitude that holds a lot of people back. Yes, there is some job training at every good company, but it is going to be company-specific. It’s your job to get yourself trained about how to be a better employee who adds value. That’s an important distinction.

The training a company offers, by and large, is going to be specific operational training to that company. Some companies, including ours, try to go beyond this and offer developmental training, such as management training, but even that by its nature is going to be tailored to company operations.

It’s your responsibility to seek out further education on how to be successful, add value, and progress in your career. Don’t rely solely on your company for training, because your personal development is crucial. The good news is that it’s also very cheap. You can get a ton of great books on subjects like goal setting, time management, business theory, etc. A reader is always developing into something greater than the present, and it’s crucial you develop this habit to always be reading something.

You should particularly focus your self-training efforts on the three pillars of business success, management, finance, and sales. These three skill sets are what you’ll need to develop in order to progress further in your career.

Be Direct

One of the biggest flaws in any company, and this exists to various degrees, is a lack of communication due to ambiguity. People, for a variety of reasons, are not as direct and blunt as they could be. As a result, information is not passed in a truthful manner, and cannot be used to advance the common goals of the organization.

Here’s a goal you should work to achieve. Be brutally honest, while developing a compassionate approach to delivering that honesty. If you’re dealing with a flaw in the business, you must be courageous enough to identify the flaw and communicate it to company leaders in a way that they’ll receive the news positively. This takes a bit of sales talent because you must communicate your insight in a way that leadership will see the value of moving forward with your ideas. I personally love it when people come to me with problems in our business they’ve identified. I do push them to think through their analysis and I try to communicate factors in decision making that might not be on their radar to see how that changes their thinking. If you’re in a company where leadership does not value your input, it’s probably (a) because you need to develop better input (always assume you’re not performing well enough before blaming others) or (b) a bad company and time to move on.

If you’re managing someone, you must complement their strengths, and be very direct about their shortcomings. You must also be very direct about your goals as a manager, what you’re trying to accomplish, and what must be done to be considered a success. Be very blunt and direct, and leave no room for confusion. The worst thing you can do as a leader is to allow a report to continue with unsuccessful behavior in a way that will hold them back. You have a moral responsibility to those left in your charge. Don’t let them fail.

It’s a little trickier when you’re dealing with someone you don’t have authority over. You still need to be direct, but here’s where sales skills become important. You need something done, but you must communicate that in a way where you get the other person to see the value of your input. This means you must think about what you’re asking from their perspective. Be sensitive to the fact that you’re interrupting their day and taking up their time. By the same token, make sure you’re able to communicate the urgency of what you’re suggesting. It’s important to stress that you must develop the skill of adding value in order to be taken seriously. If you’re someone who has a reputation for insights that add value within the organization, you’ll have a much easier time leading others to help implement your guidance, even without any direct authority. If you have a reputation for foolishness, no one will help you implement your ideas. Again, always assume you suck and make sure your insight into your business gets better and better. This is why self-training (see above) is so vitally important. Be one of the people everyone listens to because you add value.

One of the big mistakes men make when delivering criticism is a harsh tone. No one wants to hear that they suck. But they need to hear it nonetheless. Be direct, but be compassionate as well. If you’re harsh, people may know you’re right, but they’ll work to thwart you nonetheless. You must be understanding of the shortcomings of others because you have a ton yourself. Jesus once said something to the effect of “before you point out the speck in someone else’s eye, pull the log out on your own”. Wise advice that goes far beyond carpentry situations.

Be Someone I Can Count On

If you want to develop and progress within a company, there’s no better insight I can give you than to be someone your manager can count on. When given a task, be the one who sees it through to the end with a minimum of instruction and input from your manager.

This means that you’ve got to figure things out and be able to work on your own, with a minimum of instruction. If you think you’re right, be confident, and present your work as right. Don’t ask for a review at every single stage of a project.

Also make sure that when things go wrong, you’re there to fix it, and are willing to work late to get things right for tomorrow. I need to know that in those times where there’s a major issue, you’re going to help get things fixed.

There’s a balance here. I’m a firm believer that human work and life suffers when work takes up more than 50 hours a week. Maybe some humans can work 60 hours a week, but that’s pushing it. Make sure you’re not in a job where you routinely have to work late every single day, that’s just a poorly run business.

Watch Who You Hang Around

Every business has A-players, meaning that the top 10% of the workforce that really makes the business run. Make sure you try to hang around these types of people, both at work and in your personal life. You’ll find that your work ethic, morality, and every facet of your personality is directly shaped by those with whom you surround yourself.

Choose your associations very carefully. If you’re constantly hanging around lazy, complainers at work, you’ll drift into becoming a lazy complainer. It’s an easy slippery slope to slide down, so guard yourself carefully. It’s better to stick to yourself than hang around losers.

Assume It’s Your Fault

A final point, and perhaps the most important (although I feel that way about the other various points at times) is to assume everything is your fault. When you assume everything is your fault, it gives you the power to take control of your life. This is true both for work and personal life.

Assuming problems are your fault forces you to focus on how to solve those problems rather than just let the world happen to you. That phrase “let the world happen to you” describes 80% of people, and is responsible for their lack of success. They muddle through life with no direction, no goals, and no aim. It’s always someone else’s fault, and problems are someone else’s responsibility. Don’t let that be you. Take more responsibility, and assume everything is your fault.

A good indicator of adopting the trait (of assuming everything is your fault) is that you will no longer complain. If everything is your fault, why would you complain about yourself? People who complain about their lives are letting someone else control their fate. You need to avoid this.

This is not an invitation to avoid conflict. There’s a big difference between complaining and honest feedback to someone who’s reducing the quality of your life. Open, honest communication, with bosses, spouses, neighbors, etc. is the key to effectiveness and is just a good practice in general. Don’t use this philosophy as an excuse to be passive and pretend you’re just taking on extra responsibility. You cannot be responsible for the misbehavior of others, so don’t try.