A man should understand that success is not all about money. And if you’re going to spend a majority of your time working, you might as well enjoy what you’re doing. This week, Dumb Little Man posted 5 Steps to Choosing a Career that Fits You.

If you’re thinking of changing careers, these are some things to keep in mind: location, interests, lifestyle, relationships, and personality. Maybe after these requirements are satisfied should money become a deciding factor.

I’m a big fan of “lifehack” sites. I’ve got a few in my blogroll, and Dumb Little Man is one of my favorites. They point to lots of interesting sites on the web, as well as create original content.

Last month, they posted about self-esteem. We risk damaging our self esteem every time we take risks and fail. Does that mean we should stop taking risks? No way. That’s what successful men do. The key is to learn to incorporate failure into your plans, and know how to move past it and start again.

They linked to a giant list of tips from Ririan Project, Wake Up Feeling Great With These 22 Tips for High Self-Esteem. Well worth a read.

If you’re interested in learning how to fix cars in a general sense, this series from automobile enthusiast site Jalopnik is a good read: Fixing Your Car

It’s not as good as a Haynes or Chilton manual for your specific car, but it’s a nice way to get an understanding of how the various parts and systems fit together.

A man should know how to fix a car, even if it’s just enough to change his oil.

I found a wonderful site called Elemental Truths, which is written by life coach Reginald Adkins.

Adkins shares Three Secrets of Success, in which he advises people to stop thinking of success as a goal set by others, and to start thinking of success as an ongoing plan with measurable goals. To create that plan, he suggests you:
1. Pick a target — identify someone who is successful and pattern yourself after them.
2. Find a mentor — ask someone successful to share their knowledge. Retired people are often happy to do this.
3. Start reeling in that target — identify the person who’s just ahead of you, and pull yourself even with that person, as if you’re reeling them in like a fish. Then move on to the next person ahead of you, and reel them in.

Setting goals, measuring success, and reaching your goals is a very important step toward manhood. Men are happiest when they succeed, and can feel “like a man” only when they feel they have done so.

Wet, weak, squirmy or harsh. Those are not good attributes for a manly handshake (or a womanly one, for that matter). Lifehacker points to an AskMen article on how to give a good handshake. Now, I’m not such a fan of Askmen, since I’ve always thought of it more as a lad-mag site like Maxim or FHM than about teaching ways to act like a real man. But this is sound advice.

“A handshake is a very simple gesture, but can be a determining factor in interviews and social gatherings. Just make sure you firmly shake the person’s hand and look at them straight in the eye.”

I may actually have to re-think my stance on AskMen, since they do offer a good amount of manly advice in their How to succeed in life section.

Most of us do it every day, or nearly every day at least. Shaving can be a mild inconvenience, or a self-imposed daily torture, depending on your technique.

Over at Lifehacker, they’ve shared their thoughts on shaving, and linked to Merlin Mann’s Shaving tips, or, “how I remain Gillette’s bitch”.

Tips include using plenty of water, and using a shaving brush. Several commenters are raving about the virtues of a shaving brush, so that sounds like a good tip.

Conversation just comes naturally to some people. Others struggle. Being able to hold your own in conversation can be very empowering to a man, and can help you stop thinking of yourself as a boy, and start being a man.

Marcus Vorwaller, in his Best Tool for the Job blog, has a great post on How to Have Better Conversations.

Some tips include:

• Don’t be selfish.
• Prepare for good conversation.
• Don’t manipulate, or in other words, be honest and up-front.
• Reciprocate.
• Avoid gossip and complaining.
• Don’t be afraid to differ.
• Know and use your sense of humor in moderation.