When was the last time you did something hard that you were proud of? Something that was actually productive? If you haven't done something productive recently, don't beat yourself up about it. If you're like a lot of other modern men, you were never taught to value your time and energy.

Look around at all the boys of the modern day. So many grown men do what kids do almost every day: indulge in pleasure.

They spend so much time castrating themselves with instant gratification, yet they wonder why their lives are so shit. It's no wonder why they're like this.

As a man, you need to learn how to value your time and energy. Across my journey, here are 3 tips that really helped me with exactly that.

1. Know what you want

If you want to value your time and energy, you must first know what you want to put it toward. With the overstimulating environment of the modern era, it's no wonder so many people's attention isn't put on what they want. In order to gain control over your time and energy, you must know what you want.

I remember growing up that I never really thought about the specific details of the woman I wanted to be with. All I knew was that I wanted a pretty girl.

Once high school rolled around, this worked against me. If I liked the look of a girl, then I'd develop a crush on her and my attention and focus would be pulled away from me.

Now, as a high schooler, expecting big things from me wasn't exactly on the table but that shouldn't have stopped me from pursuing ambition. Problem was, my attention was so divided that I basically had no ambition.

As a man, your ambition is your lifeblood. Without it, you become weak and impotent. 

Once I really sat down and asked myself what I wanted out of life, I found it gradually easier and easier to focus on my goals. I've gotten to the point where I don't feel right if I'm not making progress toward my goals.

As a man, progress is vital to life because progress will bring you closer to success.

You can't make any progress if you don't use your time and energy properly, and the best way to know how to use your time and energy is to know what you want.

2. Limit your Inputs

The sad reality of the modern day is that we are overloaded with information. Modern technology has the potential for so much good, but unfortunately, it's being used to destroy our attention spans instead. The good news is that 99% of things don't actually matter, including things you hear online. In order to truly value your time and energy, you must be strict with what information comes in.

I don't exactly remember what it was like back when I was a social media consumer since it was so long ago. However, I do remember feeling very meh toward life in general.

Life would continue to be like this for a while. Life felt as if it didn't really have any meaning as I'd scroll down Instagram looking at yet another fitness model in tights and a sports bra.

Funny enough, it was Instagram that motivated me to get off Instagram. I'm sure you know of the Georgre Floydd incident.

Yes, it was a tragic event. Yes, the cop shouldn't have killed him the way he did. No, that doesn't give Instagram the excuse to turn the discovery feed into a wall of black squares.

Even in my own feed, there were so many black squares. My first thought was, "What does this accomplish? This is so stupid."

And so, after that day I decided to delete my Instagram and Snapchat. 

Within a few days, I noticed a world of difference. All of a sudden, it's like life flowed back into me.

I had the motivation to do things once again. I no longer felt meh toward life. 

Years later I would discover that the reason this worked was that I removed the obsessive consuming behavior I was doing on social media. Deleting social media does you no good if you keep obsessively consuming content, whether it be on Instagram, YouTube, or Reddit.

Most people these days struggle with their focus because they spread their energy too thin. Limit your inputs and your focus will improve very quickly.

3. Make a conscious effort

As a man, you are expected to put in the effort. As a man, you are expected to perform. This is how it's been for men since time immemorial. As a man, your burden is the burden of performance. To truly value your time and energy, you must embrace your burden and make the effort.

During my red pill phase, I was completely absorbed by the contradiction of the modern feminist message. They preach equality, yet they still want men to perform.

This messed me up for quite some time. It got to the point where I'd focus more on justifying my rage in my head rather than using my focus to make progress toward my goals.

The irony of the red pill, as I'd learn later, is that they were just like the feminists. They wanted equality, but in a way that was convenient for them.

Once I really dove into my studies on human nature and behavior, I learned very quickly why women still expect men to perform, even when feminists preach equality.

Since the dawn of time, men have always had the physical strength to conquer and solve the world's problems. Men are designed to optimize the survival of the human species.

Women, on the other hand, are optimized for child-rearing. Hence why they have breasts and wide hips.

We seek the other for what they are optimized for. This is why women are attracted to ambitious, strong men: men who are ambitious and strong are more likely to be able to provide what is needed for survival.

The burden of performance that we have as men is simply a measure of our strength and ambition. The better you can perform as a man, the better an option you are.

Modern men get no action because they simply don't perform. The red pill criticizes women for wanting men to perform even though it's simply in women's nature.

To truly become a man of value, you must be able to embrace your burden of performance rather than complaining about it. Remember, complaining is feminine, and taking action is masculine.

"Do the Hard work, especially when you don't feel like it" - Hamza

As men, we are expected to put in the hard work. We are expected to be the pathmakers for society. Even though the red pill wants to convince us that the juice is no longer worth the squeeze, the alternative isn't exactly attractive either.

Men in general are happier when they have some sort of ambition in their lives. Hell, people in general are happier when they have some sort of ambition in their lives. Keeping busy keeps us happy, especially as men.

When you value your time and energy, you end up putting it toward the things that matter for your future. You end up working toward something that has dividends for years into the future. This is why you need to put more value on your ambition. 

- Karl