30 Days To X

The days keep changing, will you?

Male Health Protocol

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“I hope to arm men with the basic knowledge of improving or maintaining their personal health.”

– Pill Scout

[Note: Today’s post contains a special offer for all readers.]

One of my favorite blogs is Pill Scout. It’s filled with all kinds of great information on health, nutrition, and nootropic drugs. When Pill Scout announced that he was releasing two eBooks about male health I was ecstatic.

I ended up really enjoying both the books and I learned quite a bit.

Male Health Protocol

Testosterone Black Book

Testosterone Black Book

This was actually my favorite of the two books. I’m always interested in boosting my T-levels and Testosterone Black Book had some great advice for me. I learned quite a bit about anti-aromatases. I also discovered that there’s a testosterone boosting activity called scrotum painting.

Additionally, Testosterone Black Book has a whole section on improving sexual performance. Being a 20 year old man, this was the chapter I found most interesting. There was a lot of practical information and I ordered some yohimbe after reading Pill Scout’s description of it. I’m pretty excited to try it out for myself.

I really enjoyed Testosterone Black Book and think that Pill Scout did a great job explaining both the supplements and science behind them. Everything was easy to understand, and I still learned a lot from it.

Because I only endorse products that I actually use, I’ll buy a supplement consultation for anyone who orders a copy of Testosterone Black Book.

Male Health Protocol

Male Health Protocol #1While I got more out of Testosterone Black Book, I still think that Male Health Protocol is still worth a read. The book covered a lot of dietary information and addressed many of the aliments that plague modern man.

Although I’m already pretty familiar with the Paleo diet and supplements like apple cider vinegar, I still found some good information in here. Additionally, I can vouch for Pill Scout’s dietary advice and his information on improving motivation. I’ve actually been taking Noopept, after he recommended it a few months back, and have seen my productivity skyrocket.

Male Health Protocol would make an excellent starting guide for men looking to improve their health and overall quality of life. It’s far more practical than The 4 Hour Body, and the strategies that Pill Scout uses can be replicated by almost anyone.

Because I can attest to this book’s effectiveness, I’m offering to buy a supplement consultation for anyone who orders Male Health Protocol. It’s a great book and perfect guide for improving overall health.

In addition to my own specials, Pill Scout is running his own discount. From now until January 3rd you can purchase both books for only $19.

Writing for Peanuts

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“Fiverr isn’t the most lucrative thing you can do with your time, but it’s also something that requires no specialized skills, aside from the ability to read, write, and think.”

– Matt Forney, Writing for Peanuts

[Note: At the end of today’s post are the rules for a special contest that I’m hosting. You might want to check them out.]

Writing for Peanuts Matt Forney

I once spent a Friday evening writing articles about anal fissures and how to treat them. After cranking out half a dozen articles on all kinds on anus related aliments I went to a bar. At the bar a girl asked me what I did for a living. “Write stuff for things,” was my response. She ended up flipping out with excitement over the fact that I was a “professional writer.”

I use that event as an analogy whenever people ask what my job is like. College kids who work at the mall and middle aged men who work in cubicles always imagine that monetized writing is some kind of magical occupation. Like I spend every night going out for cocktails and rubbing elbows with celebrities and artists. In reality I just pen mundane articles for foreign businessmen. It’s office work without Tacky Tie Tuesday.

Writing for Peanuts
I’m in the middle.

Writing for Peanuts: How to Make Easy Money on Fiverr perfectly captures this spirit. It’s a great guide to making money online, and probably the most practical and honest work that I’ve read in a long time. There are no grandiose claims, or “clever hacks.” The book is a straight forward blueprint for making money.

As someone who makes two thirds of their monthly income off of Fiverr, I can honestly say that the monetary methods laid out in Writing for Peanuts actually work. Additionally, all of the book’s ideas are very easy to implement and can turn a profit with hours. As Forney explains:

“The first thing you need to know about SEO writing is that your personal expertise is irrelevant. You’re not being hired for your knowledge, you’re being hired because you can sit at your computer long enough to pound out a 500-word article without passing out.”

When it comes to expectations, Fiverr sets the bar rather low. As such, it’s a great place to learn the basics of online freelancing. Writing for Peanuts does an outstanding job laying out the means to capitalize off the site’s easiness, while also capturing the frustrations that accompany such simple work.

I highly encourage any aspiring entrepreneurs to pick up a copy of Writing for Peanuts. It’s inexpensive and can pay for itself within hours.

Also, because I’m a nice guy, I’ve bought a gift copy of the book and will sending it to one lucky reader. Leave a comment below in order to participate, the drawing will be held tomorrow.

The 4-Hour Workweek: a retrospective

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“Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.”

– Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

Not A Morning Person
If you own a sassy Garfield poster you’ll love Tim Ferriss.

I was eighteen when I first read The 4-Hour Workweek. It blew my mind. I remember thinking about how awesome Tim Ferriss was, and how he got to spend all day jetting around the globe while his bank account piled up. He had all the privileges of a hard worker, without actually having to work hard. I wanted to be just like him.

After a few months of Ferriss super fandom, I decided the book was stupid and renounced it. For a short while I was a militant aferrissist (definition: a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in Tim Ferriss), denouncing him at every opportunity I could.

Since then I have become pretty neutral with my opinion of Ferriss’ books or blog. While I think his advice should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I also think he has some good stuff to teach. If you can get past all the brags, there’s value to be found.

To test my hypothesis, I decided to spend Saturday afternoon skimming my old copy of The 4-Hour Workweek. Here’s what I found:

  • I actually use Pareto Principle.

For the unfamiliar, Pareto Principle is a concept where 20% of the input yields 80% of the output. If you sell ten flavors of ice cream, only two will really be popular. In The 4-Hour Workweek Ferriss advocates cutting down to that crucial 20%. Following his advice, your ice cream shop would only end up serving the two popular flavors.

While Pareto Principle works, it only works once you’ve reached a certain size. For example: I used to offer a slew of Fiverr gigs. It took up too much time, and a lot of them rarely saw any use. To streamline things, I deleted all the gigs that didn’t make me money. Sacrificing the rare client who wanted my underused services allowed me to build up my already successful review business.

Had I started out with the goal of only running 20% of the gigs I had made, I’d actually have never launched my review writing business. Instead I’d have been stuck with a less than lucrative content writing service, and an unused job where I would hyperlink and embed content on websites.

  • I sometimes outsource.

Within The 4-Hour Workweek there’s a massive section on the benefits of outsourcing work. The way this idea is presented makes it sound exciting and new. When I first read about it, I thought it was the most novel concept ever. A year or two later I realized that the mystical concept of outsourcing wasn’t even remotely new. Everyone who has a job is basically just doing tasks that their boss has outsourced to them.

Personally, I’ll occasionally outsource when I need something done that’s too complex for me. I can’t draw. When I need an eBook cover, I “outsource” the task to someone else. It’s not nearly as impressive as it sounds.

  • I have a location independent job.

Having a location independent job was the selling point for The 4-Hour Workweek. Location independence was talked up as being the greatest thing ever. You could spend the day racing speedboats and traveling the world, all because you worked off a laptop.

As long as there’s Internet reception, I can work wherever I want. On paper this sounds really cool, but most of the time I just end up typing away from my bedroom/office. If I try and work outside the house I get distracted. While my current situation is infinity better than having to spend all day at a job I hate, it’s still work.

The information with The 4-Hour Workweek isn’t bad. However, I do think that it gets exaggerated. All the various “hacks” and little tips to avoid actually having to put in an effort are stupid. They’re meant to attract lazy people and rope the into spending twenty-five dollars. The book appealed to me when I was younger, because I wanted shortcuts. My brain couldn’t process the concept that you “get out what you put in.”

Nowadays I actually like working. It’s fun to hustle. Like lifting weights, it’s a gradual process. You don’t notice the change until you look back on yourself and see how far you’ve come. The thrill is subtle.

While I’m sure Tim Ferriss is a cool guy and his books do have some useful content, I’m still not a big fan. I’ll read them for the information, but I won’t drool over them and treat every word like gospel. To me, The 4-Hour Workweek feels like it was written for someone who owns an “I Hate Mondays” coffee mug and who tries to coast through work.

Good information, just not my cup of tea.

How to Win at the Sport of Business

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“The sport of business is the ultimate competition.”

– Mark Cuban, How to Win at the Sport of Business

How To Win At The Sport Of Business

I tend to avoid celebrity books, even if they’re about business. Most of them are pretty lame and a little too self congratulatory. I’m not paying $25 to read authors patting themselves on the back. With that said, I’ll snatch up virtually any book if it’s cheap enough. For less than three dollars, I figured that How to Win at the Sport of Business, by Mark Cuban, would be worth a read. “As long as I get one useful thing out of it, the book will pay for itself;” I thought.

It turns out I was wrong. How to Win at the Sport of Business pays for itself many times over. It also gave me a new appreciation for Mark Cuban. Before reading this book, I’d always thought Cuban was kind of dorky. He was on Dancing With The Stars after all. But, by the time I got through the book’s first segment, I had nothing but respect for Cuban.

Mark Cuban On A Jet

Almost every single page of How to Win at the Sport of Business contains at least one great quote, and the whole book reads like a massive kick in the pants. I started reading it early Saturday morning, and got so pumped that I spent the entire afternoon hustling and racking up money.

My favorite section of the entire book was the title chapter “The Sport of Business.” It’s quote city with gems like:

“The edge is knowing that when the four girlfriends you had in the past couple years asked you which was more important, them or your business, you gave the right answer.”

and

“The edge is knowing that while everyone else is talking about nonsense like the “will to win” and how they know they can be successful, you are preparing yourself so that you will be successful.”

I really enjoyed How to Win at the Sport of Business and found it to be hugely motivating. If you’re looking for something to read this week, I encourage you to pick up a copy.

Life During Peacetime

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“I was terrified of what might happen if I shut my eyes.”

– Matt Forney, Life During Peacetime

I generally hate erotic literature, or, as I like to call it, porn in a book. When women write it, it reads like a goofy Mad Lid of sexual euphemisms. When men write it, it reads like a low budget skin flick written by a guy who typically authors instructional manuals for vehicle maintenance. Erotic literature, more often than not, is unsexy and poorly written.*

When I learned that Matt Forney’s newest work, Life During Peacetime, was a sex story, involving a blog groupie none the less, I scoffed. Based off my past experiences with “erotic” literature, I was prepared to endure the worst: a novelization of “I Just Had Sex.” Fortunately I was dead wrong.

Life During Peace Time

Life During Peacetime isn’t as much a sex story as it is a story with sex in it. It’s a memory. A slice in time. There’s humor, drama, conflict, and some genuine emotion. While there is a decent amount of fornication, the book has a lot more going on.

Initially the plot seems pretty straightforward, a groupie spends the weekend at Matt Forney’s house. Yet, as the action progresses, the plot begins to thicken. Matt’s groupie is a little bit different than what you might expect, she’s a mash-up of batsh*t craziness and small town innocence. As Matt puts it:

“You flew all the way to New York to lose your virginity to me and you think that’ll make you look crazy?”

If you’re looking for a quick and enjoyable read, I encourage you to check out Life During Peacetime. I enjoyed it immensely and think you will too.

* I like to flip through romance novels while waiting in line at the supermarket. Sue me.