Mark Manson, Postmasculine.com

Mark Manson, Postmasculine.com

Mark Manson

Medellin, AT

Male, 28

I am a professional blogger, internet entrepreneur, and world traveler. I've been to over 40 countries and am currently working on my second book about long-term travel and how to work/live abroad. On my blog I write about self development and creating a unique lifestyle for yourself. Feel free to ask me anything.

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Last Answer on October 05, 2012

Best Rated

Hi Mark, thanks for doing this. I am a 22 year old college graduate who wants to travel, but only knows basic Spanish/French. How important is it to know a country's language before you travel there?

Asked by toffee about 13 years ago

It depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. Most Spanish and French speaking countries it's fairly important. But if you're going to Thailand or Israel for example, then you don't really need to know anything. Knowing the local language absolutely helps your experience and the longer you stay there, the more advantageous it is. But if you're only going to pass through a place for a couple weeks, then it doesn't really matter.

What's your absolute ideal end-goal, career-wise? Do you want to continue writing for larger and larger audiences, or do you see yourself branching into other mediums? (I could def see you as an informed voice on TV, radio, podcasts, etc.)

Asked by Leslie_NYC about 13 years ago

My ultimate end-goal is to be regarded as one of the most important writers of my generation. Long-term business goals include selling over a million books and getting published in some of the most prestigious periodicals (Harper's, NYT Magazine, etc.). I'm sure radio/TV will come along as part of that success if I achieve it, but those mediums aren't my primary focus. I see myself as a writer first and foremost.

You said that entrepreneurship was serendipitous for you after quitting the bank. What if you were already planning to be an entrepreneur in college but wanted to be something else as well, like an actor, musician, comedian, etc.? What would you do?

Asked by Hunter about 13 years ago

Well, it kind of depends on what the "else" is here, but I would focus on one... or starting a business that relates to the occupation you want to pursue. When you're starting out cold, starting a business requires an insane amount of time and work to get off the ground. If you were splitting that with something else, I don't know if you'd get anywhere.

Dogs or Cats?

Asked by Gus about 13 years ago

Cats. You don't have to pick up their poop and they have much funnier Youtube videos. And cuter too.

If you had to pick one, which of the countries that you've lived in was the most surprisingly great?

Asked by elias about 13 years ago

You mean the one that exceeded my expectations the most? I would say either China or Russia. I really did not expect to like China. I was going there to do the tourist stuff and because it was a cheaper connection back home to the States for the holidays. I ended up really, really liking it there and wanting to go back for an extended period of time. Another one is Russia. Before I even got there I had dropped a small fortune on visas, language lessons, and an apartment in the center of St. Petersburg. When I got there, my immediate thought was "What have I done?" Nothing worked, everything was dirty, everyone was rude, no one spoke English, the food was horrible, the weather was horrible. I thought I was in for a very long month. I ended up loving it and actually if I didn't have a girlfriend in Brazil I'd probably go back to Russia ASAP.

Hey, Mark. What are your thoughts about the seduction community now that you're not as involved with it as you once were?

Asked by ap1 about 13 years ago

I have mixed feelings for it. I think on the one hand, it does a lot of good and has some admirable goals -- self improvement, increasing self awareness and self respect in men, helping anti-social men become more social and confident, a support group for men's issues and insecurities. These are all great things. I think some aspects of it are quite toxic as well -- the singular focus and obsession on sex, the objectification of women and occasional misogyny, the narcissistic tendencies some companies teach men to have, and the weird cult mentality many men develop as a result. The major thing that inspired my current site was creating a positive and healthy alternative to the seduction community for men.

Hi Mark, as a professional blogger at what time do you wake up in the morning ?

Asked by Nicolas about 13 years ago

I'm a night owl. Over the years, my sleep schedule usually ran from 4AM to 11AM or so. I usually made it a goal to be up by noon. Although the past few weeks I have been experimenting with polyphasic sleeping (google it), so I've been going to bed at 4AM and getting up at 7AM recently. Being up that early feels... weird.