The Plan

What is the Better Man Plan?
You could say that the Better Man Plan is about creating new habits, and it is, but only to a point. A <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit_(psychology)”>habit</a> is a behavioral routine that you repeat regularly and tend to repeat unconsciously. I’ve heard that habits take 21 days of repetition to cement into place, others who say it’s 28, and I found a more recent study that says it’s variable and typically takes 66 days.
It doesn’t matter. The Better Man Plan is about getting there, about learning, about acting, thinking, adjusting, and figuring out what you care about and what can help make you a smarter, cooler, funner, happier, more effective man.
The plan is to create a structure for constant improvement.
The premise is simple: Focus on one thing for one month, break it down, understand it, learn from it, and incorporate it into your life.
And the next month? Choose something new and do it again.
Imagine how far you’ll go in a year, in five. There’s power here, in this simple idea, and all it takes is for you to act.
So that’s what I’m doing. I’m acting. I’ve giving it a shot, and I hope you’ll do the same. You can pick my topics and read about what I learn along the way, and you can even join in — and I hope you will — adding your own comments to posts and responding to others.
If you hunger to learn, if you hunger to be more competent, if you think you’re in a stagnant rut, the Better Man Plan might be for you.
So, what’s on tap? The boundaries are wide open. In fact, there’s only two rules: first, the topic must be attainable in a compressed timeline. Perhaps not all topics are possible in just 30 days. You need to understand that, and the risks going in. For instance, you can’t learn to be an astronaut in one month. It’s just not going to happen, even if you buy your way into the Russian space program. But is OK to choose a topic that you know will take longer, say two months. Just write it down. Make the timeline real. And begin.
The second rule?
Easy. The thing you’re exploring has to be something that has the power to affect the way you stride through the world.
In other words, will it make you a better man?
Think about that. It’s wide open. Will it make you a better man?
My First Topics
I should note, I’m doing more than one topic each month. Why? I’m looking for more action. Plus, I work from my home office, which means I don’t waste large portions of my life driving to work. I’m really good at filling in the gaps. Besides, I want to share this, and that means I need to produce.
For my first month, October, I wanted one really difficult topic along with a simpler, easier topic. The difficult? Indisputable abs. Frankly, for a lot of guys, indisputable abs isn’t possible in 30 days. If you’ve got more than two inches of fat around your waste, I’d say impossible without some amazing time and self-discipline. But if you’re in decent shape like me, with a pinchable inch, 30 days is tough but should be attainable. We’ll see, of course.
The second? A deeper voice. Why? Chicks dig deeper voices and men tend to give deeper voices a bit more respect. Besides, a well-tuned voice can be a powerful tool. And my voice isn’t particularly tuned. In fact, I sometimes mumble for no good reason. Lack of confidence? Used to be that, occasionally, but often enough it’s just not paying attention. It turns out I change my voice and inflection often for a variety of situations, but I lack awareness. Can I turn my voice into a tool? I think I can, and I’m breaking that bigger, longer goal into a short, attainable one: a deeper, more resonate voice.
All right, then. Let’s go. Man up.

What is the Better Man Plan?

You could say that The Better Man Plan is about creating new habits, and it is, but only to a point. A habit is a behavioral routine that you repeat regularly and tend to repeat unconsciously. I’ve heard that habits take 21 days of repetition to cement into place, others say it’s 28, and I found a more recent study that says it’s variable and typically takes 66 days.

It doesn’t matter. The Better Man Plan is about getting there, about learning, about acting, thinking, adjusting, and figuring out what you care about and what can help make you a smarter, cooler, funner, happier, more effective man.

Focus on one thing for one month, break it down, understand it, learn from it, and incorporate it into your life.

The plan is to create a structure for constant improvement.

The premise is simple: Focus on one thing for one month, break it down, understand it, learn from it, and incorporate it into your life.

And the next month? Choose something new and do it again.

Imagine how far you’ll go in a year, in five. There’s power here, in this simple idea, and all it takes is for you to act. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m acting. I’ve giving it a shot, and I hope you’ll do the same. You can pick my topics and read about what I learn along the way, and you can even join in — and I hope you will — adding your own comments to posts and responding to others.

And the next month? Choose something new and do it again.

If you hunger to learn, if you hunger to be more competent, if you think you’re in a stagnant rut, The Better Man Plan might be for you.

So, what’s on tap? The boundaries are wide open.

In fact, there’s only two rules: first, the topic must be attainable in a compressed timeline. Perhaps not all topics are possible in just 30 days. You need to understand that, and the risks going in. For instance, you can’t learn to be an astronaut in one month. It’s just not going to happen, even if you buy your way into the Russian space program. But is OK to choose a topic that you know will take longer, say two months. Just write it down. Make the timeline real. And begin.

The second rule?

Easy. The thing you’re exploring has to be something that has the power to affect the way you stride through the world.

In other words, will it make you a better man?

Think about that. It’s wide open. Will it make you a better man?

My First Topics

I should note, I’m doing more than one topic each month. Why? I’m looking for more action. Plus, I work from my home office, which means I don’t waste large portions of my life driving to work. I’m really good at filling in the gaps. Besides, I want to share this, and that means I need to produce.

For my first month, October, I wanted one really difficult topic along with a simpler, easier topic. The difficult? Indisputable abs. Frankly, for a lot of guys, indisputable abs isn’t possible in 30 days. If you’ve got more than two inches of fat around your waste, I’d say impossible without some amazing time and self-discipline. But if you’re in decent shape like me, with a pinchable inch, 30 days is tough but should be attainable. We’ll see, of course.

The second? A deeper voice. Why? Chicks dig deeper voices and men tend to give deeper voices a bit more respect. Besides, a well-tuned voice can be a powerful tool. And my voice isn’t particularly tuned. In fact, I sometimes mumble for no good reason. Lack of confidence? Used to be that, occasionally, but often enough it’s just not paying attention. It turns out I change my voice and inflection often for a variety of situations, but I lack awareness. Can I turn my voice into a tool? I think I can, and I’m breaking that bigger, longer goal into a short, attainable one: a deeper, more resonate voice.

Just remember, The Better Man Plan is not only about skills, it’s about experience — it’s the combination that makes the man. Ability and a life lived. And the living happens now — right now — in the big moments and small moments, in the time you can carve out.

All right, then. Let’s go. Man up.

–Chris Maxcer

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