Nobody needs to tell a man today that our role in our cultures and societies is changing. The traditional sense of what it is to be a man is under pressure from many different quarters and the word 'toxic' has even been associated with the male identity. The Rules is a book which creates a point of reference for most of the situations men will and do face in their lives in the here and now.For many of us there is a feeling of being under siege by life itself. That is not just unhealthy but in the majority of cases simply unjust. Many of our role model influences have been taken away from us by the actions of an ever changing and evolving global culture. Where there were certainties in the past, in the present we find hesitancy and our confidence being eroded. Perhaps we need to go back to basics and look at what really makes a man strong and stable.The Rules present ten points of reference which help a man to navigate life and be a man. They exist to guide a man in the ways and means to look at situations in life, understand them and thrive in our lives of today.The most important thing to say up front is that this is just a work of individual perceptions from an individual man. Wherever you are in your life, whatever troubles you have faced, remember that all experiences build your life in often unexpected ways. One thing is certain though, change is something it is always within our own gift to enact. You are never really alone and it is never too late to let your life bloom. Often it is the late blooms grown in adversity which are the most beautiful.This work is designed to be accessible on different levels. The choice is left to the reader regarding how they wish to engage with the work. The Rules are conformed like a cake, filled with different ingredients, specific layers and flavored for a range of tastes. The work is also written in English and the spellings are those of the English language. If you approach this work with a sense of humour, some understanding of irony and the ability to be self-critical then you are most likely to enjoy it.
About the Author: As a writer, Jack has been producing material for 21 years now. Most of his output has been web-based, academic, reference or project-based deliveries. As of 2018, Jack is developing his own voice as an author. That voice is based on a range of experiences in life which do not speak of the ordinary. Jack has been involved with indigenous communities, been homeless, been walking long distances and travelled through many different landscapes and cultures. In this journey, he has used the ideas of Comparative Mythology as his compass and has navigated a way through a life of strange contradictions. In his career he has been a barman, a washing up person in a commercial kitchen, an insurance broker, a travel agent, a salesman, a small holding farmer, a caretaker in an east London tower block, a theatre porter in an abortion clinic, a support worked with profoundly disabled young adults, a personal carer for a tetraplegic man and a jobbing gardener. He studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and Girton College, Cambridge, he is a Churchill Fellow and he has worked with academics in Universities in the UK and beyond. Jack founded and ran the original HumanRightsTV, a project much copied by others, and in that work addressed a range of subjects in which he had the fortune to be mentored by leading experts in their fields. He has been an invited guest speaker at a conference sponsored by the United Nations in Mexico, the opening speaker at a conference in Tunisia and after speaking at the Queensland University of Technology was placed on the preferred speaker list. He is also a popular after dinner speaker. However, for Jack, such things are of much smaller importance than the well-being of the people around him. Jack's own personal happiness is to be found in his gardens, his library and in the kitchen where he cooks for his wife and his friends. In his world, life is about eating good food, being with friends and family and working at tasks you love. Jack does not own a smartphone or a television.