What does healthy masculinity look like today?
How should we best live our lives as men?
Society gives us two basic options:
1. The way of the asshole
2. The way of the coward
The first way is the way of the Asshole. The Asshole is the man who relies on brute force to get what he wants. He is High Strength, Low Love.
The second way is the way of the Coward. The Coward is the man who plays “nice guy” in hopes someone will throw him a bone. He is High Love, Low Strength.
We reject these two equally shitty options.
We choose option three.
The THIRD WAY MAN lives a life of BENEVOLENT POWER: for his own sake, and the sake of those he serves. He is High Strength, High Love. He is the full package.
Third Way Man is a tribe of men who aspire to live lives of benevolent power.
Lives characterized by strength and love in equal measure.
Men who refuse to emasculate themselves (the Second Way) or to return to the dark ages of male/female relations (the First Way).
The legacy of First Way masculinity is destruction.
The legacy of Second Way masculinity is impotence.
The legacy of Third Way masculinity is CREATION.
Our purpose is to help men remove the shit that keeps them stuck so they can come into their full power as strong, loving CREATORS: radically free, inspired, alive.
To learn more, click on the links below.
Bryan Ward, Founder
Third Way Man
Black Paper: LIT: How To Get Your Soul Back
About Bryan: Founder Bio
Third Way Man Facebook Page
Third Way Man Articles
Glad to see you expanding. I appreciate your work brother. Keep it the fuck up!
Looking forward to seeing how this site turns out. Hope it does your content and message justice!
Finally someone who can teach me something of value popped up on a sponsored ad in my facebook feed; How did you find me or should I ask how did I find you. You have a wise mentor.
I just bought your LIT black paper and when I tried to download it using the PDF viewer on my phone, it said “Error, cannot download” and then kicked me back to facebook. I haven’t received an email from you yet, so how do I go about accessing LIT?
Hi Trenton, judging from our email conversation I believe this has been sorted out. Please email support@thirdwayman.com if you have any other issues.
I like what you’re saying. This reminds me of what I discovered about 9 years ago. Let’s call it the way of the Authentic man. This is a man who has discovered he has in him a boy, and a wild man. Those two affect his energies as a Warrior a Lover a Magician and a King. Each of those play a part in making a complete man.
The warrior is a powerhouse of energy, he is a doer not a thinker. The one who gets shit done.
The lover is tuned into his senses, he is the part of us that seeks to give and get pleasure, comfort, connection.
The Magician is the wise man, the sage, the one who knows the secrets and solves mysteries.
The King is the source of order in the kingdom. He can make the kingdom glorious or he can destroy it.
Looking forward to more of what you have to say…
Thank you Tony – that book has been sitting on my shelf for 2 years now… your comments remind me to take a look and get back into it!
What is the title of that book? Sounds interesting.
Way to go Bryan…caught me at the right time. Thanks for the gift of your prose…..Definitely one of the things I am grateful for today!
I haven’t read it all, yet, but it sounds like you are onto something, here.
– Father of Four, Failed Inventor and Entrepreneur.
Interesting ideas. I will pay attention. Very Frankl/Nietzsche/Yalom for the modern age. I hope to see more and contribute where I can.
Intrigued by these ideas, it resonates with me! Wondering if/how married life plays into this?
A good reminder of what it means to be engaged with life….something sorely missing among the masses of men (people generally). Consider also “Siddhartha” (1919) by Hermann Hesse and “The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are” (1966) by Alan Watts. Both excellent books that have proved their test against time.
Agreed.
I am intrigued and skeptical. Let’s see what happens. Here I go…
How’d it go?
I tried to buy Lit the download, accepted the video also, came to submit payment, then nothing. I waited for a minute and nothing. Checked all my info, everything was there, and still no reply to pressing the blue button.
Hi George, I just replied via email. You should be all set.
Hello Brian and the rest of the Third Way Tribe!
I’ve got the LIT paper and got a couple of great pieces of treasure from it. I have recommended it to my tribe down here in Venice Beach.
Interesting point on the Two Ways (asshole and coward) is that they directly coincide with the Mythopoetic poles of Goodness and Strength as well as the archetype poles of Peace and Power. In Mythopoetics the balance point (or Third Way) is that of the Hero and in Male Archetypes the balance point (or Third Way) is called GRACE. Either way its really cool to see a cadre of other contemporary men finding this wisdom from other paths and arriving on the quest at the right time. Welcome all.
My name is Philip Folsom and I run a leadership development program here in LA called Fulcrum ( fulcrumleadershipinstitute.com )and am also the co-founder of a warrior PTS(D) program call The Sparta Project ( thespartaproject.org ).
I look forward to participating and contributing to this community on an ongoing basis.
Blessings,
Philip Folsom
Bryan, love what you are doing here man. Good men are dying in numbers by the minute…or at least getting lost in a new generation of boys. Love your topics and the way you write… you write as I would speak and it feels familiar. I’ve written about similar topics in the past, but have never been able to master the concept of nailing it in so few words. I have only read a few articles so far, but there is a certain fusion of philosophy and poetry that really resonates in our present day. Keep that fire LIT and I will definitely be sharing!
Thanks J!
love the concept and how you blend philosophy with the modern day man. curious as to how you got your start? how did you begin to develop you niche and tailor your message. im trying to put together a similar concept, targeting single fathers specifically. seeing subscriber growth slowly but surely in the last month or so- check it out at: manchamp.com. keep doing this- definitely an inspiration.
Sounds like another version of the Mankind Project
This is such an outstanding site, and the articles are well thought out.
Thank you!
My story is a protypical, fictionalized rendition of the comeback kid trope. However, it’s not fiction, it just reads like stories that never truly take place. I can spend a long time elaborating but in short…death visited early and I lost half my family when I was 7. I have aspergers and in conjunction with ptsd, life has been on the whole an unpleasant experience. I’ve always been the subject of high expectations and a cautionary tale. I was perfect for addiction which took hold as a teen. By the time I was 19 I had ruined my opportunities and spent my days fugitive from criminal charges, looking over my shoulder. But those high expectations people projected… I had a woman who loved me anyways, my fiancé. The law caught up and I did my time. I called her Xmas eve to tell her I was being released. This caused an anxious asthma attack to ensue. It was bad enough that she was hospitalized and even placed in an induced coma. Her ventilaitor failed one night and choked her to the brink of death. She was mentally retarded. After a year away from her I saw her one more time, the day they pulled the plug. I stayed clean. I move forward, new life new opportunities. I made a name for myself in non-profit as a substance abuse educator. I was given a full ride scholarship and countless public honors. Then I broke my back. Back onto pills, addiction again and mayhem. I lost everything. For years I mired in that hell. I died and came back twice. When I got clean again, it was all destroyed, I had nothing. Far be it from my high powered career, I was makin $11/hr. I fought and fought against mediocrity. I got a chance to sell the botanicals that had gotten me clean, I formed a company. A year later, I quit my job and lived as an owner. I met my wife, I adopted my son, I succeeded. Then I succeeded some more and more… now I’m “self made” and very well off. But I work 14-16 hour days. This writing is well timed, this was on my mind today. Some free time came up and I had no idea what to do with it. I’m conditioned as a drone. I play piano, I write, I build motorcycles. And inspiration for those comes but is fleeting. I wrote maybe one song a year. My bike has sat idle. My writings are incomplete, I never have enough inspiration to keep going. Everything you said, I know this already. My mind which was able to get me this far whispers secrets to me that I can’t act on. I always know. But I can’t do. This has to change. I’m not money obsessed, the money is not enough to make me feel like I’ve got it together. No, I need to rekindle. I’ve been trying a little, I began writing only 2 nights ago. But even tonight with my free time, I couldn’t ascend to that place where words unbound themselves from the trivial, mathematic role of my mind. I love what I do luckily but I wasn’t born for the explicit purpose of running this company. I’m trying. I miss my wife and son and I live with them. That’s just not good enough. I think more and more, we’ll be snapping out of it. I’m glad some are clearing a trail to exit the stony path of what qualifies as “success.” By modern metrics, I’m a lucky man indeed, have it all. I know better and hope to join you seen in the clearing.
Jeez Dude. I’m an early riser chasing this subject as well. My EYEs were glued to your reply. I pray that your piano sings like a songbird, polishing every pothole and cliff that stole your footings! She knew all along that you had wings.. The piano that is.. Thank you for sharing your writing.
Sounds awesome!! I’m telling everyone I know about this!!
Ah HELLO
If you made all that money in “quadrupling your own income in months) why do you need a “small cost” to “defray the costs of the advertising” when it is free to upload movies and data to Facebook?
Jake Warner,
Free things lay way at the side to be given no further thought!
Yet when the smallest of effort or means is placed into play, the path is followed more true…
Safe journey Brother
Good stuff
As a Christian, husband and father (see the order there…), I have immensely enjoyed this so far. I think that one of, if not the major problem in our lives today is the ineffectual lives of “men”, myself included, thirdwayman addresses his deficit. The world and especially the Christian parts of the world, separate the strength of manliness and love of Christ, this information shows that a man can be both, strong and loving, fierce and gentle, creative and supportive, not only that a man can be these things, but that he should be. It is odd and refreshing when you find something that you didn’t know your were looking for. Thanks for this..most all of us need it.
Interesting but of course American men and families at in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries had much larger families than today…often 8 to 10 or even 12 children which allowed not only the economy to expand but the personal household and personal economy. For instance a farmworker instantly had 10 helping hands for the farm, household chores etc. Or if the children worked part time beginning at age 12 or 14 they brought in income. This assisted the family unit. American men have far too small of families today to improve their personal household as an economic and social unit – not to mention this is what drove the expansion west. Now to keep the economy going the US is dependant on immigration, instead of being a net emigration country
I appreciate your work Bryan. Keep it up.
Gabriel
I enjoyed it. Simple message and a killer price.
Honestly raise the price to $57. The reviews plus income to write more great information will grow your efforts for us.
Wow, Why am I only finding this site now??
It’s awesome. Third way man concept = brilliant! Perfectly summarizing the ideal scene that is simply NOT broadly available to be grasped.
Definitely going to check out the rest of your work here and whatever else you have available.
Glad to hear it!