The MANual: book one, the rules.

There have been many books like this one in recent years so why is The MANual so different? Simply put, the writing behind this book has not come out of an academy of psychology, the writer is not a media celebrity professor convinced of his own intellectual superiority but a man who has faced many challenges in his life. This book is written directly from experience and what is more, over the past 30 years many men have relied on this work to help focus and guide their lives.

This is a work written with some humour but designed as a serious compass for guiding a man’s life. Nobody needs to tell a man today that our role in our cultures and societies is changing. The traditional sense of what it is to be a man is under pressure from many different quarters and the word ‘toxic’ has even been associated with the male identity.

The MANual: book one, the rules, is a work that creates a point of reference for most of the situations men will and do face in their lives in the here and now. For many of us, there is a feeling of being under siege by life itself. That is not just unhealthy but in the majority of cases simply unjust. Many of our role model influences have been taken away from us by the actions of an ever-changing and evolving global culture. Where there were certainties in the past, in the present we find hesitancy and our confidence being eroded.

Perhaps we need to go back to basics and look at what really makes a man strong and stable. The MANual presents ten points of reference which help a man to navigate life and be a man. They exist to guide a man in the ways and means to look at situations in life, understand them and thrive in our lives of today. The most important thing to say upfront is that this is just a work of individual perceptions from an individual man. Wherever you are in your life, whatever troubles you have faced, remember that all experiences build your life in often unexpected ways.

One thing is certain though, change is something it is always within our own gift to enact. You are never really alone and it is never too late to let your life bloom. Often it is the late blooms grown in adversity that are the most beautiful. This work is designed to be accessible on different levels. The choice is left to the reader regarding how they wish to engage with the work. The MANual is conformed like a cake, filled with different ingredients, specific layers and flavoured for a range of tastes.

The MANual is to be taken with humour.

If you approach this work with a sense of humour, some understanding of irony and the ability to be self-critical then you are most likely to enjoy it.

Once you have this book, so feedback has told, you generally keep it on your desk, by your bedside or even, in the time-honoured tradition of men, in the toilet, somewhere so that it is available to hand for a quick browse. That is the thing about The MANual, this book is as much a ‘dipper’ as a focused read. Once you have read it, so most men have said, you go back to it continually and refresh and re-appraise what is being said. This book becomes the loadstone of the compass which guides a man through life safely and, most importantly, happily.

Please enjoy owning and reading The MANual. Don’t lie down passively in the face of life’s challenges. We men always need to battle our way forward, it is in our nature but we do not have to be violent or aggressive. What we need more than ever these days is the ability to be mentally strong and self-assured.