Table of Contents
Foreword Sherri Lynn 15
A Very Important Introduction 17
Keeper of the Garden
The Poster 23
Masculinity Is about Taking Responsibility 28
We Need You Out Here, Man 32
A Quick Word about Toxic Passivity 38
The Ancient Art of Blaming Other People 40
The Scariest Thing 45
The Six Decisions That Will Set You Apart
Decision 1 Forsake the Fake and Relish the Real
The Fake Life and Where It Leads 53
"That's Not a Girl. That's a Piece of Paper." 57
Here's Some Good News about Pornography, No, Really. 62
A Tale of Two Men, and Every Single Woman 68
About Video Games: I Love Them, and They're Just Too Awesome 71
Decision 2 Protect the Vulnerable
Your Neighborhood Should Be Safer Simply Because You're There 79
Lessons from Mouse Utopia 83
What You Do Actually Matters 87
The Ultimate Betrayal 91
Yes, You Should Shelter Your Children 95
Setting the Tone for the Vulnerable in Your Home 100
The Most Vulnerable Person I've Ever Met 104
Decision 3 Be Ambitious about the Right Things
Reality Is What Hits You When You're Wrong 111
If You Feel Meaningless, It Might Be Because You're Investing Time and Energy in Meaningless Things 114
Women Care about This a Lot, FYI 118
How to Be Incredibly Awesome and Somehow Less Attractive to Women 122
Ambition and Work: Even Terrible Jobs Are Great 125
Relationships Require Bravery 129
"That's Awesome, and I Don't Have to Have It": The Ambition for Contentment 133
Allow Yourself to "Lose" 137
Don't Be Afraid of Commitments-Be Afraid of Not Making Commitments 141
Decision 4 Make Women and Children Feel Safe, Not Threatened
How to Treat Women: The Bridger Master Class 147
How to Treat Women: The Jesus Master Class 150
Understand What "Love" Is and Isn't 154
Don't Live with a Woman Unless She's Your Wife 158
Protect Them … from You 161
If/When You Have a Wife and Kids, Remember, They Need You Right Now 165
More on Being a Husband and Father: Stay at Your Post 170
Decision 5 Choose Today Who You Will Become Tomorrow
Attention Is Everything 177
Foolishness = Pain 181
Walmart Shopping Cart Attack Guy Never Set Out to Be Walmart Shopping Cart Attack Guy 186
We Don't Need More Needy Guys-We Have Enough of Those 190
Become a Man without Fear (Seriously) 194
Don't Follow Your Heart-Open Your Eyes 199
Decision 6 Take Responsibility for Your Own Spiritual Life
What God Is Looking For: Loyalty 207
Angry Men Aren't Attractive to Women, but Men of Action Are 212
Don't Confuse Your Emotions-or Lack of Emotions-with Spirituality 217
You Know Enough to Act 221
The Dangerous Myth of "As Long As I'm Not Hurting Someone Else …" 225
People with Self-Control Are More Interesting 229
Boldly Ask God-Sarcastically, If Necessary 234
Conclusion: A Final Word about Adam … and Us 238
Discussion Questions 241
Acknowledgments 246
Notes 248