Pellau Magazine

What makes a man a real man? It can basically be summed up by whether or not he makes great New Year’s resolutions and whether he is or isn’t able to keep them. New Year’s resolutions are for you and no one else. Your brother, your mother, your sister, friends and father could not care less whether or not you keep your resolutions. They are personal goals for you and only you.

New Year’s resolutions are promises you make to yourself to become a better person in a variety of ways. When you break the promises of your New Year’s resolutions this year, as you do every year, remember that the only person you are letting down is yourself. I can’t convince you to want to become the best version of yourself because no one can — other than you, yourself, that is. You are the only person who can convince yourself to break away from old habits and adapt to new.

While I cannot convince you to better yourself, I can provide a couple of good resolutions to get the ball rolling when you do decide it’s time to make a change this New Year.

1. Stop allowing other people to tell you what you need to do. This is your life and the choices you make are yours to make. If you f*ck it up, it’s your mistake, but at least it’s you f*cking it up and not some other schmuck.

2. Learn to appreciate and to maintain your home. The physical world you surround yourself with — the material things that take up space and the way they are arranged — does affect you on a subconscious level. If you want to learn to control your world, start with the things closest to you, the things that won’t push back.

3. Give up the people or activities that don’t benefit you. If they aren’t beneficial, then they are wasteful. Time is a commodity, which no one can afford to waste.

4. Never allow anyone to talk down to you. Once you allow people to place you beneath them, they’ll expect that you stay there.

5. If you’re interested in her, let her know. Things do, sometimes, fall into place, but only if some outside factor pushes the first domino. If she won’t, you’ll have to.

6. If it turns out she isn’t interested in you, move on. Life is short and shouldn’t be wasted on highly improbable outcomes. There is always another woman.

7. See the world in black and white. That’s not to say that shades of grey don’t exist, but they’re rare. The fact is, we like to imagine things as grey matter in order to avoid making difficult decisions that we recognize as inevitable. If it’s not right, assume it’s wrong.

8. Stop forgetting what purpose you had in mind when you woke up this morning. No more wasting your days — not a single one. Name your purpose in life and look to fulfill it every day from the second you open your eyes.

9. Cut crap food out of your diet completely. Although, one cheat-day each week never hurt anybody. Building a healthier body feels better. What other reason could you possibly need to treat your body with care?

10. Stop making new friends who aren’t useful in one way or another. You likely already have plenty of friends in your life. You don’t need more than a handful of supportive friends to count on. Work on maintaining the relationships you have invested in for years, rather than looking for new bonds.

11. Cut off the friends that have had a negative impact on your life. If they’ve negatively impacted your life and reinforced poor habits, they’re hurting you. Friends shouldn’t hurt you; if they do, they aren’t good friends and you don’t need them in your life.

12. Learn to focus on what’s important. Prioritize and constantly remind yourself of what matters to you. If you don’t remind yourself of the important things in life on a regular basis, you’ll forget what you’re living for. Let go of the petty matters.

13. Stop believing that good things will fall at your feet. If you don’t put in the effort, the work and the focus to attain your goals and get what you what from life, then get used to wasting your life away.

14. Learn to lie. Lying is not a skill that you should revert to on the regular. If you find yourself becoming somewhat of a pathological liar, then you’re doing something wrong. Ask yourself why you can’t face the truth. On the other hand, lying well could possibly save your life one day. Lying also helps you steer clear of any unwanted situations.

15. Start engaging in greater physical activity. You don’t have to run on a treadmill like some hamster on a wheel, but when it comes down to it, you are, quite frankly, an animal. Animals need to maintain physical activity in order to maintain both peak physical and mental performance.

16. Accept the tradeoffs that need to be made in order for you to succeed. You can’t actually have it all. Thankfully, once you get a taste of the real good stuff, you won’t be in need of the other stuff.

17. Speak up and be heard. No matter how brilliant you are, if no one hears what you have to say, you won’t make a difference.

18. Don’t work more; work more efficiently. Figure out new ways to complete tasks faster without having to sacrifice output quality.

19. Look people in the eyes when you speak to them. Forget cell phones, laptops and tablets. Hold conversations face-to-face and genuinely listen. Let the people you connect with know that you respect their opinions and recognize their acknowledgment of yours.

20. Keep in better touch with your elders. Let’s face the facts: The eldest individuals in our lives have the least amount of time left on this world out of anyone. Keep in better contact with your elders and appreciate them while they’re still around. Hopefully you won’t be forgotten when you’re older, either.

21. Accept responsibility for all of your actions. If you aren’t proud of something you did, admit to it and remember your remorse the next time you find yourself considering the same decision. Make up for your mistakes when possible and after that, remove it from your mind.

22. Strike at least one task off your bucket list. You may live to 100 years old, and you may not. There’s no reason to wait until you’re nearly dead to start living the way you’ve always wanted. Your bucket list is more than just a to-do list; it’s a way-to-live list. Cross things off as regularly as possible. You’ll always find new things to add to it.

23. Become a feminist. You don’t have to go on marches or rant on your blog, but if you see something, do something. Women are abused not just by the actions some men opt to take, but also by the inaction that the rest settle for.

24. No more evading your taxes. Maybe the government isn’t spending the money exactly the way it should be, but even if it royally screwed things up, the fact is that things are screwed up and something has to be done about it. If you live in a country and living in that country benefits you in some way, then give back to your country.

If you feel that after taxes, you aren’t making enough, figure out a way to make more. You can do it if you set your mind to it. If you simply cannot accept the ways of government spending, speak up and do something about it.

25. Most importantly, if you say you are going to do something, then get off your ass and do it. There are always excuses — always. Find reasons for taking action and don’t even consider a single reason not to. Men get things done. Talking the talk without walking the walk is for boys.:
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