The Man Zone: Advice for the Modern Working Man

As more and more men are graduating from college -- or getting ready to graduate college -- they are entering a whole new world full of unwritten rules in fashion, dating, fitness, love, wealth, health, and even style. Even for men that graduated many years ago, this world moves at such a fast pace that it's sometimes hard to keep up with. To top if off, those of us who embrace these new rules of style and health quite often rise to the top of the employment ladder much quicker and easier than other counter-parts.

It can be rough for us guys to find time with how many hours you work each week to keep up with all these trends. Not to mention that it can be hard for us to reach other goals that we have such as traveling more, dating more, or just plain making more money. You are also probably wanting to get healthier, fitter, and just lead an overall better life. So what do we do...what can we do? Well this is the place to keep an eye on for easy to understand tips to help you acchieve those goals in your life with advice from men who understand where you are coming from.

So you have probably dated your share of women who have treated you like their own personal Ken Doll. They just loved to dress you up and tell you exactly what you could, and couldn't wear. I myself have dated such women, and fortunately those relationships did not last long. You should feel comfortable in what you wear because most time comfotability = confidence. However, your other half may have had a point in some areas of dressing yourself for success. If you look at any wealthy man you will usually see someone that is not only confident, but well dressed. There really is truth to looking the part, and all of us would like to someday be rich enough to look that part.

You don't need millions of dollars to look professional. Chain stores such as Target are now carrying expensive styles for an easy-on-the-pocketbook price. Still scared that you're going to pick out the wrong duds? Well, you can take a female friend along with you (may sound strange, but this can be a great date idea, just make sure that this prospecive female does not put you back in fashion prison...you still want to be able to wear your "tried and true" jeans and t-shirt look when not out trying to make money).

Ok, so you don't trust any of your girl-friends to help you pick out a new wardrobe so here is another way to see if you're ready to pick the perfect clothes out on your own. Go to http://www.menshealth.com/patterns/ to see if you have what it takes to pick out clothes that will put you on the road to success.

Sorry guys, gone are the days when a beer belly was a right of passage. Too much research has come out nowadays that shows that the extra fat around your midsection can cause some serious complications, not to mention the beer belly is probably a sign of an inactive lifestyle, can you say heart attack at 40?

I don't mean to be pessimistic, but just because you're not the star quarterback on the high school football team anymore, doesn't mean you have to let yourself go. I'm not talking about eating carrots for the rest of your life, or giving up beer, or spending 60 hours in the gym each week. There are a few simple things that you can do that will help keep the weight off, keep your energy up, and make sure that you will be around for many, many years to tell the stories of your high school football glory days to your grandkids.

Your first step to changing your lifestyle habits is getting active. A diet without exercise is pretty pointless in my opinion, so let's start where it counts. All you really need to do is get up, and get out and do something for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You don't even have to go the gym. Just go outside and go for a walk with your wife, or significant other or by yourself (great way to clear your head). Go shoot some hoops, go grab a couple buds and play some flag (or tackle if your brave) football in a park somewhere. Working out does not have to mean being bored in a gym running on a treadmill.

Next step is changing up what you eat. This is where most men bail, but just hold on and hear me out. I'm not asking you to give up steak, or hamburgers, or fatty foods at all. What I am asking is that you add in some sort of vegetable with your fatty foods and slowly try to cut the fat down to a semi-barable level for your body. What does that mean? Well, if you eat out 7 days a week 3 times a day, maybe try to make a couple of those subways, or opt out for a chicken sandwich (without the mayo) for your normal triple bacon cheeseburger. Maybe it's time to move from the super size to the large size, you still get more food but the fat and calories that you're cutting out will be significant over a year's time.

You don't have to take drastic steps to change your lifestyle. Little steps that you can do everyday are going to have a much more dramatic effect on your future than huge steps that you can't keep up for more than a week. So get off the couch, turn the TV off, and go outside for a little bit. Your Tivo will keep your shows waiting for you.

So all of us guys dream of retiring in the big mansion with a golf course view, eight luxury and sports cars in the garage, and the money to do pretty much whatever we want. Well, that may not seem like a reality now, but honestly there are few thing that you really can do now to help you get on the right track to that exact future...unless you really do want to end up living in a van down by the river! I truly do miss Chris Farley.

So here are some basic things that you can do now, to help you prepare for riches in the future.

#1.) Right now there is a serious lull in the stock market because of fears of a recession. Though your gut may be saying that only a fool wants to buy stock right now, the truth is, that in some ways this is a perfect time to buy stock. The past has shown that recessions are usually only temporary, and once the market has recceded pretty much as far as it can go, it can only go up. Even if it only rebounds to what the stock prices once were, if you buy them now, that could be a serious gain on your part. Now, I'm no stock expert, and really you should only invest if you have the money to invest. So don't make your kids go hungry just so you can buy stocks, and don't get mad at me if you still lose money.

#2,) Diversification is the word. Honestly you're an idiot if you put all your stock in one barell. Spread your money out over not just different named stocks, but different stock genres. What do I mean by that? Well, put some money in energy, some in merchandising, maybe some in technology. Also vary your money between your well known stocks such as coca cola or microsoft, and less known stocks like start ups. Start ups are very risky but can bring about huge dividends if you they do well. They can also disapear off the stock market in a very short amount of time. So spread the money around.

#3.) Invest into your retirment. A lot of companies nowadays are matching one-to-one of what you put into your 401-K. Take advantage of that. It's pretty much like free money. Be smart and put away as much as you can afford up to what your company will match.

#4.) High Yield Savings Accounts: This is my little money maker right now. HSBC and ING both have pretty high yield savings accounts (I believe HSBC is above 3%) if you are good enough at keeping that money in there and also good enough to put away money every month into that account, it will add up over time.

#5.) Any other savings vehicles such as CD's or Bonds. Anything that will garuntee you a return and is federally insured is usually a great bet. Unless you really like to live large, don't invest a lot of money into an account that is not federally insured. Sure they may advertise a higher percentage return, but they also cant garuntee you that you will reap at least the amount of money you deposited back.

Honestly guys, it's all about patience and time. There really never was such a thing as a "get rich quick" idea for the average man. Most people who got rich quick, it was only because they had a "get frickin' lucky" idea not a "get rich quick" idea. So invest and wait, your day baskin in the sun by your olympic sized pool will come. Just watch out for stray golfballs.