Skills for Men

A while back, I found an article online titled "The 75 Skills Every Man Should Master". I bookmarked it because I really liked it, and I just rediscovered it today while looking for something else. I reread it, and realized that I'm almost halfway through this list (I can confidently check off about 30 of these). You can read the whole list at the link above, but what follows are some of my favorites (regardless of if I've accomplished them or not), and a bonus one that's not on the list, but that I feel should be.

• Give advice that matters in one sentence.


• Name a book that matters. (My suggestion? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Seriously. Also, I disagree with the assertion that Catcher in the Rye doesn't count - any book can matter, so long as you can argue why it does.)


• Show respect without being a suck-up.


• Throw a punch.


• Make one drink, in large batches, very well.


• Approach a woman out of his league.


• Be loyal.


• Play Go Fish with a kid.


• Speak to an eight-year-old so he will hear. (This one, and the previous one, are absolutely important - you need to be able to work with kids.)


• Break another man's grip on his wrist. (Everybody, man or woman, should know how to do this.)


• Break up a fight.


• Shake hands. (I learned how to do this properly in 5th grade, and I've never forgotten.)


• Iron a shirt.

And my bonus one (inspired by a few on the list):

• Cook a handful of meals well. (Being able to cook for other people is an important thing, and you need to have a few different options at your disposal. I'm still working on this one, though I did add Fish Tacos to my repertoire recently.)