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Paradigms of Time: Alphas, Betas & Omegas

I don’t understand people who waste time doing nothing with their lives. In my opinion, the only place you should be doing nothing is in the pub or on a beach in Thailand.

People spend their time differently. For the sake of fun, I’m going to look at the different paradigms male archetypes have when it comes to their time, using personal examples.

The Omega

One of my oldest children friends is sadly an omega. He has all the potential in the world, but is a complete waster. He has been unemployed since he left school (seven years ago!) and has nothing to show for it. He spends his days tottering around his house, listening to music, reading, watching movies and occasionally picking up his bass guitar, hoping that one day he’ll be asked to join a band.

Now 25, he’s never even kissed a girl – and he’s actually not a bad looking guy! It’s sad, but he does nothing about it. The guy won’t even read his best friend’s blog because he’s thinks game might compromise “being himself”.

"At least I have my morals.."

He expects that “someday” things will just magically work out for him ( maybe it will), but in the meantime, he’s busy doing nothing that will help improve his life. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy – he’s smart, talented and good-natured, but it’s frustrating when he refuses my help to pull him out of his stagnant existence. I’m worried if I wasn’t looking out for him, he could end up as a 60-year wino living in a council house and still a virgin (but I won’t let that happen).

He makes be appreciate my time more.

He inspires me to be more productive.

The Beta

Another one of my oldest children friends (and fellow pirate) is a definitive beta – and he’s not ashamed to admit it! The polar opposite of my omega friend, this guy bought a house at 18, started a pension, and has worked his ass off for the last 7 years – and even managed to get his degree and masters by doing evening classes. He has excelled in the field, gotten awards and promotions and even been on the cover of magazines for his achievements.

He is a reliable, good, solid man with a a bright future – the ultimate provider beta. He knows that one day, he’ll be the perfect catch for some lucky gold-digger who’s spent her twenties being pumped and dumped by bad boys life myself, but now wants to settle down, knowing that her clock is ticking and her beauty is fading.

(Barnacle B, if you’re reading this: sorry dude, but you’d even said this yourself! haha)

This pic says it all.

But his betaness comes at a cost. He’s stuck in the rat race, enslaved by his pay-cheque, has a mortgage to worry about, and will have to wait until his retirement before he can enjoy the fruits of his labour. He’s resigned to working in the office all day and going green with envy when reading about our crew’s adventures (but at least he get’s to join us for a few short trips a year).

He makes be appreciate my time more.

Like my omega friend, he inspires my to be more productive.

The Alpha

I honestly can’t think of a lot of people more busy or productive than myself.  I’m not the most alpha guy in the world, but I get more ass than 95% of men.

By day, I’m doing full-time Masters degree, trying to run a business, building websites, raring cattle on my grandfathers farm, helping out my parent’s business, and learning two languages.

By night, I’m working with my editors on my new book, playing soccer matches to keep fit, dating multiple women, reading, networking and socialising with friends when I can.

I can't wait!

I recently joined an established rock band as their new frontman, so I will be gigging and touring the country for the next year. As such, at the moment I’m busy practising my keys, guitar, sax and singing skills.

In the immediate future, I have zero room for anything else in my life.

You may have noticed even the blog has suffered – reduced to a single post once a week at moment.

By September however, I’ll have a book published, have finished my Masters and be literally living the rock star lifestyle – and jetting of to party pirate-style whenever I can.

It will all be worth it.

But right now, I have work like a dog.

However, all work and no play makes this nomad a sad panda. So in a fortnight, I’m off to Oslo and the Baltics for a few days with a crew of five strong – should be fun!

Don’t Waste Time

In conclusion, this post was really just a chance to rant about how busy I am.

But by offering you personal examples in the Omega / Beta / Alpha format, I hope I’ve given you something to think about it.

Are you wasting time?

Are you sacrificing all your time by slaving away?

Or are you being productive and having fun?

In the end, life is about balance. We all need our downtime, but think about your ideal lifestyle and what step you need to take to get there – sooner rather than later.

Time is precious, so don’t waste it.

We reap what we sow. Some plant oak trees and wait decades for a big pay-off. Some plant crops that yield every season.

Just don’t be the guy who eats the seeds.

😉

16 Responses to Paradigms of Time: Alphas, Betas & Omegas

  1. Jacob Ian Stalk March 23, 2012 at 10:25 pm #

    I love to spend my time sucking kangaroo dick. Is that Omega? I need a girlfriend.

    Maybe I should just kill myself.

  2. Daniel March 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm #

    We all all fit neatly into 3 paradigm groups? How convenient the universe seems to be. I am reminded of the the experimenter’s bias here…

    • Vallin SFAS February 3, 2015 at 2:11 pm #

      Thank You for that term “Experimenter’s Bias”, Daniel. I search topics and blogs/forums looking for that one golden needle in mountains of chaff. The one term that succinctly articulates my often undefinable sense that these glib pseudo-scientific definitions (a direct violation of Occam’s razor, but what else would people fill up the internet with?) have a rottenness far beyond the borders of Denmark.

  3. Hans March 24, 2012 at 2:41 pm #

    You are so right. A man can sit around and do nothing waiting and hoping for good things to happen, the omega, kind of waiting to die. Or he can work extremely hard, trying to get ahead, the beta, thinking that in the future he will have a good life, all the while not really living. But your way, the alpha way, is the best. You go out and do what you want now. You don’t wait. You work hard and work smart at something you really want to do. You play and party hard and ignore the prudes who would have us believe that sex, drinking can minor drug use is the road to ruin. You travel the world and see the things we all should see. You get the women we want. You live life to the fullest. You are an inspiration. Please keep up doing what you are doing. Your stories help men to realize that they do not have to believe the lies that either you are a born loser without any prospects or that you have to work like a fiend all the time postponing your life far into the future. A man does not have to lead a boring, conventional life.

    • SucksHere4Real March 16, 2015 at 1:05 am #

      Maybe but self improvement such as education and travel are expensive in the USA so many here have little choice and are stuck. NN your more like Zeta or Sigma, this lone wolf male archetypes who lives outside any hierarchy. An Alpha is successful but also tide down to his domain, granted he might travel and even marry outside of his culture but this isn’t necessary.

  4. Rebecca March 24, 2012 at 3:43 pm #

    Hows the cattle getting on?

  5. loon March 26, 2012 at 8:21 pm #

    Can you give me some tips on how to beat approach anxiety?

    • Naughty Nomad March 26, 2012 at 10:55 pm #

      Work on your inner game. Confidence comes with inner strength and your sense of self worth. It’s a long road.

      When you’re you should just keeping telling yourself “fuck it”.

      Shortcut: Get really drunk.

  6. Just saying hi March 29, 2012 at 1:05 am #

    With respect to the Omega friend you mentioned, I wonder if his lack of ‘industry’ or ‘productivity’ is a deep emotional or psychological issue, and if so, how one might go about helping him overcome it.

  7. Atlas Al March 31, 2012 at 11:36 pm #

    Without Omegas and Betas, there wouldn’t be any Alphas. Not everyone can or wants to live up to their full potential. It’s a personal choice. I too am worried about some of my friends who I fear will wake up one day when they’re around 40 and realize they could’ve done better. Each day I aim to advance somehow, some way, no matter how small the progression.

    If you did nothing for some greater goal today, you’re in the same spot as you were yesterday.

  8. Dan August 19, 2012 at 7:17 pm #

    Well it seems that there is a name for people like me: Omega. It sounds slightly more dignified that “sad wanker” or “pathetic cunt”. I can empathise with your friend although my problem isn’t that I don’t want to game, it’s that I’m too much of a tremendous fucking coward to do it. That and my complete lack of self esteem.

  9. Ali S January 11, 2013 at 5:40 pm #

    I am 19, a medical student and at the moment I’d describe myself – if I had to choose between the three categories you mentioned – as an omega. So far, I have had a sheltered middle-class upbringing that was largely laid out for me by my conservative parents (who I really respect and am on great terms with btw). It seems like I’ve been pushed onto a track that would – at best – lead me into a beta lifestyle.

    This article really opened my eyes. I have to admit, when I initially came across this blog I had a kind of curious resentment towards NN/Mark – I was envious of his hedonistic life (and he’s still in his mid-20s) and to some extent he came off as a self-glorifying asshole who gets the best of everything. But gradually I’m realizing that he has this life because he earned it – he knew what he wanted and went all out to get it without wasting any time. I read something quite similar in an interview with Adam Levine (the lead singer of Maroon 5) – so there’s a profile that such people fit which I don’t. I’m intrigued by this kind of mentality (the “alpha” mentality as this post puts it).

    I’m thankful that I’m still only 19 and still have the peak years of my life in my hands, but I’d like to ask you NN/Mark: given my situation, with a family who will not approve of a more adventurous – or ‘alpha’ – lifestyle, how do I break out from the life plan that’s been laid out for me and live life on my terms (to put things into more context, I’m from South Asia, and culturally speaking, our parents are somehow supposed to have their nose in everything their kid does even after he’s an adult).

    Long comment, but I’d really appreciate it if you read it and took the time to reply point by point.

    • Naughty Nomad January 11, 2013 at 10:52 pm #

      Simple: Just stand up your parents. A recommend you take a trip and do some soul searching. Book and flight for an adventure and tell them AFTER. Say you’re going and that’s that.

  10. giver July 18, 2013 at 4:28 pm #

    Alpha dominating human societies all around the world because not Ireland? It must be ecstatic to be a female member of your harem bonded together by jet fuel extracted in the middle east, plane steel mined in China and international travel arrangements envisioned in NYC. Alpha in ethology may mean getting more opportunities to conceive within a social group, but you do not seem to mention any conceptions.

    • Naughty Nomad July 18, 2013 at 4:48 pm #

      What?

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Linkage is Good for You: Week of March 25, 2012 - March 25, 2012

    […] Patrick’s Day: Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Man”Naughty Nomad – “Paradigms of Time: Alphas, Betas & Omegas”Xsplat – “Women Dig Wealth and Power“, “Why I Talk About Alpha and […]

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