Table Of ContentBe the Alpha Male: Boost Your Testosterone, Confidence, and
Success
by
Max Vance
© 2014
Ace the interview!
Make the sale!
Approach and seduce the beautiful woman!
This concise report based upon scientific reasearch is proven to...
--Increase testosterone levels
--Decrease cortisol (stress hormone) levels
--Improve performance
--Increase risk-taking behavior
All in just two minutes, without drugs, supplements, or exercise.
This a valuable life hack that will empower you to perform better under stress,
displaying increased levels of performance, dominance, and Alpha Male body
language.
Research on Testosterone and Success
This booklet is based on the research of Dr. Amy Cuddy, who outlines several
key concepts:
1. Alpha Males Succeed
Aplha males show dominance, confidence, and powerful body language. These
are the men who get the job, score the sale, and get the girl. On the other hand,
Beta males are submissive, timid, and socially awkward. They display body
language that is closed and contractive, assuming poses that make them appear
smaller and weaker.
I had always assumed, as many men do, that it is the good-looking guys who
succeed with women. I also believed that a nice guy who was open with his
feelings and unafraid of commitment was the type of guy women look for. In
both cases I was wrong. Success with women is not a matter of good looks,
kindness, being yourself, telling her how you feel, treating her like a lady, or any
of a dozen other clichés. It all boils down to being an Alpha Male. Women do
like sensitivity –in an Alpha Male. It's a good idea to be yourself –if you're an
Alpha Male. It is not what you do; it is who you are that matters.
Like many guys, I wasted too much time trying to get women to like me,
thinking that if she liked me, I was in. The brutal truth is that it doesn't matter if
women like you or not, as long as you are Alpha. Monica Lewinski had an affair
with President Bill Clinton even though she didn't like him. She called him “The
Big Creep,” but that didn't stop her from having sex with him. Don't work on
being liked –work on being Alpha.
It's not just a matter of getting the girl: the Alpha Male is also more likely to get
the job, or to make the successful sales pitch. Research on winning presentations
shows that it is not what an entrepreneur says, but the way in which he says it,
with genuine enthusiasm and a lack of awkwardness. In Dr. Cuddy's research,
she found that speakers with high testosterone, an Alpha trait, are successful not
because of the content of their speech, but because of their powerful presence. In
her words, “These people are engaging, enthusiastic, and charismatic. The
content doesn't matter. What you're saying doesn't matter.”
This is consistent with what pickup artists from the seduction community
universally teach, that successful seducers appeal to women not based on clever
lines, but by conveying Alpha traits. Some pickup artists will make a point of
this by successfully engaging women while spouting corny, nonsensical, or
random lines. The key is a confient, powerful demeanor.
People judge you in a very short period of time, as brief as a split second, and
make judgments of your worth based on your non-verbal behavior. The problem
of many men is that they try to say the right thing on the date or the job
interview, but the signals they send with their body language betray them in the
first second, and they lose the job or the girl long before it becomes apparent to
them. On the other hand, the Alpha Male conveys charisma, dominance, and
relaxed control from the first instant. He has won the job, the sale, or the girl
before he even opens his mouth, and the ensuing conversation is just a formality.
2. Alpha Males Have a Specific Hormone Profile
Alpha Males have high testosterone levels and low cortisol levels. Betas have
the reverse, low testosterone and high cortisol. Most people are aware of the
effects of testosterone: increased lean body mass, confidence, and aggression,
but there are also lesser known effects such as increased risk-taking,
concentration, goal-setting, and goal-achieving behavior.
The unfamiliar hormone is cortisol, which is often called the “stress hormone.”
Psychology Today labels cortisol as “public enemy number 1.” Why is cortisol
so dangerous? Psychology Today explains that “elevated cortisol levels interfere
with learning and memory, lower immune function and bone density, increase
weight gain, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease...”
Low levels of cortisol are a key component of the Alpha Male's hormonal
profile. While testosterone creates a man who is dominant, charismatic, and
adventurous, low cortisol levels mean that the Alpha Male is cool under
pressure. Betas are nervous wrecks during the job interview or while
approaching a beautiful woman, but Alphas are calm and self-assured. This is
why Alpha Males are leaders –when lesser men are panicking and running for
the exits, the Alpha has a reassuring sense of control.
Of course, every guy knows he needs to act confident and in charge in order to
get the girl, the job, or the sale. Interviewers will test job candidates by throwing
a loaded trick question into the interview. The aim is to create a stressful
situation to realistically measure the guy who is only acting as though he is a
confident Alpha Male. Women will create stress in order to measure men, using
what pickup artists refer to as a “shit test.” A woman will ignore a man, make a
disparaging remark, or even feign eagerness in orer to see if a man maintains his
composure. Some men will pass the initial test by displaying (or faking)
dominance, but fail when subjected to stress.
Pickup artists teach a concept called “congruence.” This means that a man may
try to talk like an Alpha Male, but is his body language congruent, or consistent
with, his talk? Will a man who poses as an Alpha Male crumble under pressure?
The aim of this booklet is to help you be congruent, meaning that your body
language, sense of well-being, and state of mind match the words you are saying.
In fact, if the preceeding are all aligned, so that you feel upbeat, confident, and at
ease, what you say really doesn't matter.
Lastly, we return to the previous point about Alpha Males and success; it's not a
matter of being smart enough, or rich, good-looking, nice, sincere enough, and
so on. Success is a matter of being an Alpha Male, which is a matter of the
correct hormonal profile, being the man with higher testosterone and lower
cortisol than other men.
3. You Can Change Your Hormone Profile to Become an Alpha Male
I had always assumed that some men were just born winners, that they were born
handsome, tall, athletic, outgoing, and so they would always get the girl, the
awards, and the promotion. I also assumed that cetain guys like me were just
born without the looks, the height, the athletic build, the outgoing, charismatic
personality, and were just doomed to go through life struggling to get women,
while working hard but never getting ahead.
I saw the pattern repeat itself throughout my life: I was a schmuck teacher
getting a pittance while the “leaders” and the administrators got the money and
the recognition. I went to church and experienced the same dynamic: I was the
organ grinder's monkey passing the tin cup, washing dishes and mowing the
lawn, while the Alphas were up front, receiving the recognition, calling the
shots, and never stooping to menial labor. Keep in mind that in these scenarios
the girl will always go for the leader, the Alpha, the minister, the administrator,
but never the teacher, usher, menial, lackey, and follower.
Well, you don't have to settle for that mediocre existence. You don't have to
subsist on the crumbs that fall from life's table. You can change your hormonal
profile to become an Alpha Male.
Evidence shows that this change not only can be made, but is regularly made. In
the animal kingdom, the Alpha Male has higher testosterone and lower cortisol
than Beta Males. But if that Alpha Male is defeated, his testosterone levels with
plummet, while the testosterone levels of the victor will rise. The former Beta
Male will assume the hormone profile of the Alpha Male, and actually become
an Alpha Male himself.
How to Change Your Hormone Profile
1. Assume a Power Pose
Dr. Cuddy had a key insight: If Alpha Males with a certain hormonal profile
exhibit strong, dominant body language, could mimicking that Alha body
language create physiological changes in Betas, making them become Alpha?
She describes it simply as “Fake it until you make it.” There is reason to think
that a Beta adopting the body language of an Alpha Male will experience
hormonal changes, because research shows that if subjects are instructed to
smile, they will actually begin to feel happier. Even if subjects are instructed to
hold a pencil between their teeth, they will feel happier. Why? Because holding
a pencil between your teeth activates facial muscles involved in smiling, which
in turn triggers feelings of happiness. If being confident or happy creates certain
body language, then perhaps we can do the opposite, creating confidence or
happiness by acting out the correct body language.
Here is the exciting take-away: Dr. Cuddy showed that by having subjects
assume power poses for just two minutes prior to a stressful event, that their
testosterone level increased by 20%, their cortisone level decreased by 25%, and
their willingness to take risks increased. Risk-taking ability means that you are
more likely to approach the attractive woman, more likely to ask for a raise,
more likely to go for the better job, and so on. Not only were hormonal levels
changed, but subjects who assumed the power poses for two minutes were rated
more highly by blind evaluators, who didn't know who had assumed the power
poses and who had assumed the weaker postures.
To prepare yourself before a stressful event, such as a date, a job interview, a big
sales meeting, etc., stand in a power pose for 2 minutes prior. One power pose is
called the “Wonder Woman” pose. Assume the classic pose in the Wonder
Woman comics, standing tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, your fists on
your hips, your shoulders spread out, and your head held high. Another power
pose is the Laid Back Executive. Sitting at a desk, put your feet up on the desk.
Lean back with your hands clasped behind your head. Or try the Champion pose.
Imagine you have just won the big game, sinking the winning 3-point shot at the
last second. Raise your arms triumphantly in a 'V,' with your chin raised.
The wrong way to prepare for a high-stress event, yet one that is commonly
recommended, is relaxation techniques. As Dr. Eliot teaches in
Overachievement, “Butterflies are a good thing.” Relaxation leaves you
emotionally flat, so that you come across as limp and lifeless. The best athletes
and clutch performers use their nervous energy to fuel their performance. The
power poses serve this function, amping up your emotions and channeling them
in a positive direction.
Dr. Cuddy advises you not to spend your time prior to a big event hunched over
your phone. This hunched posture lowers your testosterone and your
performance.
2. Practice Alpha Male Body Language
Most men are completely unaware of their body language, and the hidden
messages it communicates. Women, however, will pick up those body language
cues, even if only subconsciously. Once I had just finished a date in the
Philippines and was talking directly to the girl, letting her know how unhappy I
was with the way she had ignored me on our date. Once I finished talking, she
asked me, “Are you serious? The whole time you talked to me, you never looked
me in the eyes.” Wow. Thank you for that gift. Women are not listening to what
you are saying, they are listening to your body language. Usually, you will fail
with a girl and not know why. For some reason, she decided to tell me where I
had gone wrong. Most guys will not get that kind of helpful feedback. I realized
that I had not maintained strong eye contact during my talk. We sat on the bed
together, and my posture was slumped and weak. How many other times had my
weak Beta body language sabotaged my efforts with women, only I was left
without a clue as to why I had failed?
If adopting Alpha body language two minutes before a key event can boost your
testosterone levels, decrease your cortisol levels, and improve your performance,
then there is reason to think that adopting Alpha Male body language on a
regular basis will constantly boost your testosterone levels and improve your
charisma, presence, and perceived dominance.
The first step correcting the non-verbal signals you send is to recognize what is
Alpha Male body language and what is Beta Male body language. Alpha body
language can be characterized as open and expansive, while Beta body language
is closed and contracted. Open body language means that you do not cover or
cross yourself. Expansive body language consists of positioning that makes you
seem larger. Any time you cross your legs or arms, you are closed, which is bad.
Holding your drink in front of your body is a closed shielding gesture, which
conveys insecurity. Instead, hold your drink at your side. Don't cross your ankles
when you sit or stand. Keep your hands out of your pockets –put them on your
hips. Don't touch your face or neck, because these are closed, covering gestures.
When sitting, spread your knees. Don't cross your ankles or arms. Spread out,
draping your arm over a nearby chair or the back of the sofa.
The problem with body language is that it is unconscious –most of the time we
are unaware of how we are positioning our bodies and how we are
communicating non-verbally. A further problem is that low status causes us to
assume small, submissive poses, which in turn reinforce lower testosterone
levels, higher cortisol levels, and feelings of inadequacy. We get caught in a
negative feedback loop, wherein low status and low achievement create lower
testosterone levels, poorer performance, and lower status.
You must begin to monitor your body language. Make an effort to pause and
examine your positioning throughout the day. You might set a random notice on
your phone to interrupt you so that you can stop to reflect on your body
language. Make a point of stopping once every hour, say at a quarter past each
hour, to stop and look at your body language. Also study the body language of
those around you. Who looks like an Alpha Male, and why? Keep those
reflections in a journal.
Practice the Gunslinger Walk, by Sebastian Drake. Here are the essentials of the
Gunslinger Walk:
Horizonview: Staring beyond the crowd and expecting it to part.
Thrown back shoulders: The essence of good body language.
Roll in the heels: An exaggerated roll of the heels at the end of each step.
Roll in the hips: An exaggerated push from the hips with each lift of the leg.
Slow movement: Moving extremely slowly through crowds.
Knowing smile: The disarming, self-assured smile finishes the look.
