5 years ago, in November 2010, Bold and Determined published it's very first article.
The first article ever published was about lifting weights.
The second article ever published was about making money and taking advantage of opportunity.
So much for having changed.
When I look back on 5 years of Bold and Determined only one word comes to mind:
Wow!
When I started this I knew I would make a living at it, but that's all I knew.
I didn't know how much money I would make, and I never even cared. Enough to support myself was all I ever envisioned.
Let's backtrack 5 years though…
It was 2010 and I was 28 years old.
I had made money as an entrepreneur for a couple of years but I was burnt out, really I was bored.
I was suffering from what medical doctors describe as “being a mopey little bitch”.
It seems like all I did every day was lift weights, train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, walk my dogs, deposit checks and cook chicken wings.
I had downsized from a nice three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment in the seedy part of town.
I was trimming down to live Spartan. I didn't necessarily know why, but I was getting rid of everything I owned.
I wasn't working in any traditional sense. The business only required a few phone calls and trips to the bank.
I was so bored that I was out walking my dogs one day and I thought “I'd take a part time job walking dogs just to have something to do“.
Something was missing.
I wanted to go out and do something worthwhile but I didn't know what to do and I didn't know how to do it.
I had read the Four Hour Workweek and I knew that living abroad and making money online was possible.
I knew I wanted to travel and live abroad for a while, but I had no idea how to make money while doing it.
I just knew that it was possible, but I didn't know how.
I was still making a monthly income but it had started to dwindle and I knew it wouldn't last forever.
At lunch one day, a friend of mine told me that a mutual friend went to China to teach english.
I said “What? Americans can go teach english in China?”
I'd never heard of that in my entire life, but I thought it sounded interesting.
One night I was watching a movie called Red Rock West.
The movie is about a drifter who drifts into a murder plot. At the end of the movie he hops a freight train to somewhere new.
The song playing over the credits hit me like a ton of bricks…
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
‘Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be
-Dwight Yoakam, A Thousand Miles From Nowhere
Sounded just like me, I thought.
Two weeks later I was at the Chinese embassy in Houston getting my visa ready.
I had found a job on craigslist, teaching english in China for 5,500 CNY (about $800) per month. They provided a free apartment and took care of my visa and only wanted me to work on Saturday and Sunday.
China could not be further from the US and I thought that sounds like something new and interesting to try.
I didn't know anything about China, I didn't know anything about teaching English and I didn't care.
I just wanted to do something different.
I took a chance, I hopped on a plane (3 actually), spent 30 hours in transit, and flew 6,890 miles to the other side of the world.
I got to China and there was no place I would have rather been (even though the first night there was the loneliest of my entire life).
I had never even left the United States before then.
Victor Pride at the Great Wall of China, early 2011.
BOLD AND DETERMINED 2011
I started B&D in November 2010 and in February 2011 I was in China.
In China I had 5 free days per week, which I typically spent in the gym, writing, and still running business back home in America.
In China I ate two meals per day, every day.
There were no western snacks so for a year I didn't eat any snacks at all. I had abs of steel from that diet.
I would go to the gym a minimum of 6 times per week, but more often I would be there 10 times per week.
I'd be in the gym as many as 12 days in a row.
That entire year I developed Body of a Spartan at the gym in China.
For a whole year I did no other routine, I spent the entire year perfecting Body of a Spartan.
Victor Pride in China, late 2011 after a year of Body of a Spartan.
My time in China was like spending a year in boot camp.
I had no great food to eat, but I had the gym, I had a computer and I had the drive and the will.
Did China cure my malaise?
Yes, it did.
I didn't care for teaching english, but the experience in China had me burning for more out of life.
I came back reinvigorated.
I was on fire for bigger success.
2011 was the first full year of Bold and Determined.
At the end of that year in China is when Bold and Determined really started to take shape, and it started with 10 Reasons to Stop Using Internet Porn in October 2011 (it is still the most popular article on B&D).
I had spent that year writing, but towards the end of the year I started learning digital business.
My English teaching contract was expiring soon and I didn't want to live on savings, I needed to put the time in to learn digital business.
That's when I started putting the pieces together about how to actually make money online, not just write.
I put everything I learned into The No Bullshit Guide to Making Money Online in December 2011.
BOLD AND DETERMINED 2012
I spent exactly one year in China…
After a year in China I went back to America for 6 months.
When I got back to America I worked my ass off, on the computer and in the gym.
After a year of starving myself, I ate like a king and my body soaked up all the calories it had been deprived of in China.
I went from a low of 170 lbs in China to a high of 207 lbs in America (with some help).
I was finally able to get good haircuts, so instead of cutting my own hair I'd get a nice high and tight every week.
That 6 months in America was an epiphany, it was as if destiny revealed herself to me, and it was truly the real start of Bold and Determined. China was just a warmup.
I had written 30 Days of Discipline in China and gave it away on Christmas day, but in America I learned how to sell it.
During that time I also put Body of a Spartan on paper and sold it.
And that's all she wrote, boy.
From that day forward I was a full time “blogger”.
I liquidated my remaining real estate holdings, I put everything into B&D and after 6 months in the States I moved to Thailand for some fun in the sun.
America was and is great, but I had the itch for something more.
In August 2012 I moved to Bangkok, Thailand.
The first article I wrote in Thailand was Why Your Testosterone Levels are Lower Than You Think (and what to do about it).
That article took me weeks to write.
For the first year and a half of B&D I tried to focus on quantity of content. I would start writing in the morning and I would publish in the afternoon.
But after the first year and a half, after I moved to Thailand, I tried to focus on quality of content.
The Testosterone article was the first of the articles that took me days, weeks and months to write.
Each article now takes weeks to write (I'm writing this very sentence 16 days before this article will be published).
The quantity brought the readers and the quality kept them.
BOLD AND DETERMINED 2013
After 2012, I lived on easy street.
The time that I put in in China and the US paid off.
2013 was quite a busy year for me, but it wasn't a hard year.
I spent basically the entire year traveling.
2013 was fully recapped in 3 Years of Pride (Happy Birthday to Bold and Determined).
In August 2013 I partnered with John Doe Bodybuilding to start the best bodybuilding blog in the world.
John Doe Bodybuilding now has a book available, and it happens to be the best bodybuilding book about steroids on the market.
BOLD AND DETERMINED 2014
2014 was a year of hammering out all of my “how to make money from a blog” articles, and there is no better “make money” content online than the 2014 B&D archives.
It was in 2014 that we opened BADNET.
(If you want to start a blog, but don't know where to start – BADNET will start it for you).
In November 2014 I sat down to write the 4 year recap, but I couldn't.
I steamrolled through 4 years without ever looking back, so when I tried to look back in 2014 I was shocked by how far I had come. I was up, then I was down, then I was up again – way up.
In December 2014 I was finally able to recap 4 years of growth in About: Bum Mentality, Money, Mansions, Girls, Heart and Soul, which I feel is the pinnacle of Bold and Determined.
BOLD AND DETERMINED 2015
2015 may have seemed like a slow year to the B&D good news bears, but it went by like lightning for me.
It really went by in the blink of an eye.
In November 2014 I sat down to write the 4 year recap and had such trouble.
That was a year ago like it was yesterday. It's unbelievable that it was an entire year ago.
2015 gave B&D the best financial year we've ever had, and we opened a lot of new doors to new businesses.
Much of the year was spent at Pride Castle in Vietnam, hosting guests like Mike Cernovich.
The most successful independent, personal development book of the year, Gorilla Mindset, was finished at Pride Castle.
Left to right: Victor Pride, Tucker Siegert, Samuli Tapio, Mike Cernovich. 2015 in Saigon
I did spend a chunk of time in the United States as well, visiting with my good friend and associate Chris Deoudes in Los Angeles where we brought Red Supplements to life.
Iron and Tweed
In 2015 I partnered with Iron and Tweed.
To make sure you're stylin' and profilin' like the man himself grab his book Casual Style 101.
Pictured: Nate from Iron and Tweed
Why I do what I do + why it's easy
I recall having a real job.
I recall waking up at 5am to get to the drive-through at the bank by 5:45am.
I recall hating to wake up, hating to drive to work, hating to be at work, hating to come back to work after lunch and hating to do it day after day after day after day after day after day.
Because I've been there, everything I do now is beyond easy.
I say it all the time, because I mean it – the whole process was really easy for me.
That's because I'm doing what I was destined to do.
I never really fell on hard times.
There were times when I saw my bank account running low and thought “I need to fix that” but that's as hard as it ever got.
It wasn't hard for two reasons:
- I had money when I started – I wasn't waiting on a payday from B&D to eat food.
- I was never going to give up, I didn't care how long it took or how much or how little money I made. The message was always first, the money has been a gigantic bonus.
It's a hard life, but someone's gotta do it. V. Pride, late 2012.
How to be productive
I've tried everything to increase productivity, from fasting to modafinil to kratom.
They all work, but there is always one thread that holds my productivity together.
Each and every time I'm laser-focused, I'm drinking coffee.
Each time I have a big article I'm working on, I have mug after mug of coffee.
For me, coffee is and always has been the best productivity enhancer.
Start with an idea and add coffee.
Loving coffee like I do, I'd love to bring RED Coffee to you.
2015 may have seemed like a “slow” year, but I'm always busy behind the scenes working on something.
My newest something is RED Coffee.
I feel it's the best tasting organic coffee ever, and that's why I'm releasing it.
How to learn
People always ask me how I learned and who I went to for guidance.
The answer is google.
I spent hours and hours and hours in China learning from google.
I spent hours researching and learning from anyone and everyone.
I never had a mentor or a teacher. I taught myself through the wonderful power of the internet.
How to write
I might be the only professional writer in the world who doesn't enjoy writing.
Well, let me clarify – I don't enjoy the physical act of typing.
I love words.
I like painting a blank canvas with words and nothing into something.
The way I write is simple….
It starts with an idea.
When the idea has been brewing in my heads for days, weeks, or months…
I write it down.
Then I read it over and over and over again and cut out any unnecessary words.
After I've done that a few hundred times I publish.
Let go to get everything
People who say money doesn't buy happiness never had nothing.
Every day I see people who've got nothing.
Then I go online and see people who have everything – and all they do is complain.
I see people who have a house, dogs, family, cars – everything, and they are miserable.
I don't have any of that.
I got rid of everything 5 years ago. I killed the old me 5 years ago.
I'm as bare-bones, as Spartan as it gets.
I have nothing, all I have is a bunch of money and a mission and I wouldn't have it any other way.
You don't know what you got 'til it's gone.
And you don't learn to enjoy what you've got 'til it's gone.
So learn to let go to learn to appreciate.
My message 5 years ago was to be Spartan.
My message today is be even more Spartan.
Goal setting
I made a big mistake in 2013 when I set a goal to make X amount of money.
At year end I made exactly the amount of money I had envisioned…and it was an awful feeling.
If I had in mind to make X and I made X, why did I not have in mind to make XXXXX instead.
I accomplished my 2013 goal and realized the only goals worth pursuing are goals that likely won't be achieved, because then you can keep working, winning and grinning.
No goals, no end, always on, always working. It doesn't ever stop.
And if you are going to set goals, set them big.
There is no better feeling in the world than working hard all day, then going to the gym to work hard some more, then coming home to work some more.
Going to bed tired and hungry is the only way to live.
Join the Bold & Determined Brotherhood
Start your own badass blog using BADNET – You get a free domain, free WordPress setup and 4 free ebooks that show you how to make that money online.
If you're a coffee lover, get your RED Coffee.
If you're down with the SPARTAN life, grab your SPARTAN shirt.
Read a book. Superdrive Publishing now has 6 titles available.
Until next time,
With all the heart, soul, blood, guts, perspiration, pain and pride I have to give.
Your man,
-Victor Pride
Victor this article spoke too me. It inspires me to read how it simply took an idea and hard-work to build your empire.
If it weren’t for reading B&D several years ago I would still be trying to figure out my path. Since finding B&D I have had the great pleasure of:
– Learning that a blog can be used to build a business
– Having a someone to look up too and get the slap in the face when needed
– Having my eyes opened to such an amazing opportunity: Digital Business is the present and future
– Getting to have contact with Chris (GLL), Mike (D&P), and you
Something else that I have seen first hand is that if you have the will you can craft your life to how you desire. While I do drift off from time to time my life has improved 110% as I spend every day building my site (thanks BADNET), working out, and making moves.
I plan to move out to Bali in 2016 I am in the process of starting a Private Label business and getting some other things going before I do so.
Thank you Victor for what you do.
Your friend,
Dylan Madden
Thank you Dylan.
Congrats Victor. Cheers to many more years of B&D.
Hopefully your next book is on schedule, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Thank you Seth.
Damn 5 years already,this made me tear up,like I was part of the whole thing, and to see how far I have come as well as you fucking WOW!! is right. Happy birthday B&D!!!
Thanks for Everything Victor,You have my Sincere Gratitude.
Thank you Scooter.
You mentioned, in “how to write”
You dont like physical typing, there’s apps you can speak and it types for you, you know that right??
I’m aware. I don’t care for talking either, if I did then a podcast would be my weapon of choice – not the written word.
“The quantity brought the readers and the quality kept them.”
There’s your answer if you’re asking, “Oh, I too can be a successful blogger, but how long will it take?”
There’s no way to create quantity and quality content overnight. Even if you were up 24 hours for an entire month. This takes time, but only those who stick with it will get the REAL answer to how long it takes. Good article, Victor. Happy birthday to B&D.
-Alex
Thanks Alex.
Happy birthday!
Thank you Jonas.
This is great news happy 5th blog birthday
wow you just like dipped in. No analysis paralysis.
Just going to China fresh new as a foreigner straight on. That takes new level of bravado. When I travel to foreign countries, I always worry about whether I’m going to get beat up, mugged, tagged, scammed, etc and I do extensive research upon research.
I just never had that fear of other countries. I never do any research, I just get on a plane and go.
Said like a real Man and Warrior. Respect.
This small reply does not do you or your work justice. I have been following your work for over a year now and like all here thank you for alll you do.
Happy birthday to the best fucking blog out there!
I can still remember reading your early articles Vic. Like you’ve said, they may have been rough, but they were diamonds underneath.
Amazing to see how much you and your network have grown in that span of time. Looking forward to seeing what the next five years of B&D have in store. Keep hustling brother.
Thank you David.
Congratulations, Victor. You have inspired and given so much to so many guys. Keep it coming.
A proud member of the BAD Brotherhood.
Thank you Daniel.
Happy Birthday to B&D!
Good job Victor, you changed many lives.
I discovered this blog in 2014 and learned many things; let’s see if I can create some action myself now and provide some good service.
I’d like to point out your patience. It took years to make your blog a winner, to make yourself a winner. Right after I saw Holm beating up Rousey, I thought of this blog. Holm became a champion through hard work, patience, sweat, and tears. That’s the “trick” you told everyone on this blog. Yet, as you say, the world wants to think of Holm as someone who became a champion in one night. Now I can see that it’s not true, she became a champion because she worked for years, and years, and years.
Good job Victor.
Thank You EA. I have been thinking about Holly a lot lately. She’s a true pro, she’s a great athlete and she’s a great role model. It only took her 10+ years of dedication.
I admit that I didn’t know her well. She taught a lesson to all of us, and she’s extremely classy. I loved how prepared she was, putting perfect spacing between Ronda and herself, amazing timing, and deadly punches.
I think that the fight itself is a good allegory for what Holly did. News focused on the (amazing) kick, but Holly won the fight block by block during the entire duration of the match. It was like an innuendo of skills, a buildup of footwork, power and strategy. Impressive.
I am sorry to see Ronda out for so long, but now we have the opportunity to see if she’s a true champ or just a big ad for UFC.
She was an overnight success who prepared for over a decade. She’s a perfect representation of dedication and consistency.
That is a great analogy EA!
Congrats V!
Thanks DKB.
Thanks Victor for the 5 years of inspiration. It’s been a blessing having your words in my life and getting to see you grow as well.
This was a really powerful article. Thanks for reminding me to put the mission first. The money is just a huge bonus. Also thanks for the tip about goal setting.
You are right, shoot for the stars.
Cheers man
Thanks Russ.
Great work as always man. :)
Thanks Nate.
Great article Vic! Always love reading some B and D!
Thank you Nick.
What is the most successful blog you’ve seen that’s come through Badnet?
BADNET has been around about one year, there’s no such thing as success within one year.
I was looking at starting a website through badnet but the host you use doesn’t allow topics such as gambling and sex. I didn’t go through with it because of the terms of service, if I wrote something too risque they would take it down. Are you aware of the terms of service?
No upscale host will allow gambling or p*rn. You gotta go black.
Victor if it wasn’t for your blog I’d have been stuck following the herd, doing what my parents wanted me to do. Thank you for everything, happy birthday to Bold and Determined.
Thank you Roman.
I love your Blogs. I believe I have read them all and again love them.
Thank you Brady.
Thank you Victor for all your hard work. You are the only blog I follow religiously besides RMS. I was a deadbeat stoner, living at home, watching porn daily, in a relationship with someone that was killing me and playing video games all day. All of this due to the small vision of myself and the my reach in this world. 30 days of discipline was a part of the catalyst for changing my life. I initially failed multiple times trying to do it, but once I didn’t give up and went all the way great things began to happen in my life. Porn was the hardest habit to kick. I still take cold showers daily and I am close to the body of a spartan.
The great things turned out to be what society told me I should want and enjoy. A corporate job making 6 figures, chained to a desk and feeling completely emasculated. I still feel empty and I know that something has to change. I am still grinding everyday to find the next steps in my life, reading, lifting, writing and connecting with others on the same path. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you brother, you really helped me in my struggle to become a better man.
Thank you Paul.
Great job, Vic and I wish you continued success! Looks like your empire just keeps growing.
Thank you Jacob.
Congrats on reaching the five year mark! Looking forward to many more years of B&D.
Thank you Edward.
Vic,
10 Reasons to Stop Using Internet Porn is how I found the blog. It is what started my recovery as a lifelong hedonistic crybaby. I haven’t missed a single article since and have grown a lot myself, but still have a long journey ahead at the age of 23. As Mike says, “the work is never done.” Why would you want the work to be done? Waking up every morning hungry for success; You, Inc success, is the best feeling in the world.
On that note, is it just a coincidence that B&D’s birthday is also on the same date as International Men’s Day?
Thank you Duke. Yes, it is a coincidence.
But it’s a magical coincidence!
Few thoughts here.
I always thought the world was going to be doomed and descend into Hippie-dom, anti-religion, and anti-masculinity. It’s happening. During the last 5 years, as B&D has grown, we’ve thankfully also seen a strong voice from men who do not tolerate the new age bullshit. We have some staunch Alt-R champs like RamZPaul (check him out on Youtube, I think he’s phenomenal and I trust him more than I do any major media outlet, no joke).
The other point that’s important to note…you had a job while working on B&D. That’s important-you have to build yourself up financially and mitigate risk. If you’re in your early twenties, I think it would be best to get a well-paying job and grow a business on the side. Don’t have energy? Quit fucking around at nightclubs and spend your night growing the business.
Last thought-it was so satisfying to see Holly get the win. Ronda is a foul-mouthed misandrist who won the hearts of the liberal establishment…so nice to see her knocked out by Holly, who has the heart of a warrior but still has this beautiful sense of femininity and vulnerability to her. I seldom list female athletes among my role models but she’s right up there. What a classy champion!
Thank you Stanley.
Did you check out RamZ? I think he’s fantastic.
Also, what were your thoughts on Holly’s win? I’ve never quite been able to picture a “good girl” who is feminine and thoughtful (not to mention sexually restrained) who also has the heart and tenacity of a warrior. She’s a gem, isn’t she?
RamZPaul is one of the only yt channels I watch. Read the comments in this article for my comments on Holly.
Happy 5th birthday to the best doggone website on the planet. That was a great recap, looking forward to a kickass 2016!
Thank you Joel.
Congrats on 5 years Victor. Extremely impressive portfolio you have created in such a short time.
Thank you Axel.
Your Website is like a Holy Book man.
Thanks for your Work you not only
Changed your live 5 years ago but the live of thousand Man from the brainwashed System.
Ps : Vic on your redsupplement page you sell a Osta supplement, can you put some more information about if we need cycle therapie. How many weeks to us etc..
Thanks Regards
From Swiss
Thank you Xhe. Article coming soon about osta.
“It seems like all I did every day was lift weights, train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, walk my dogs, deposit checks and cook chicken wings.
I had downsized from a nice three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment in the seedy part of town.”
Ah Vic, This is why you are a champion. God Bless you and B&D. Your story on how you made it is what great success is made out of. Never say die.
Thank you IIAM.
B & D Blog is the only blog I read. Best blog in the world.
Thanks Vic.
Thank you Zan.
Vic,
Thank you for all you’ve done in contributing to young men’s lives, including mine. You really show people how to do it, tangibly and intangibly.
Like Earl Nightingale said: the money we earn is in direct proportion to:
a) your product/service’s demand
b) your ability to do it
c) how easy it is to replace you
When you’re adding more to the world than it’s rewarding you with, the scales will balance. They have to.
That is exactly what happened with B & D and you deserve it.
Great 5 year wrap-up & happy 5th bday B&D!
– Evan
Thank you Evan.
Terrific statement, sir.
I have nothing to say but one thing: outstanding.
Thanks David.
It’s never over ’till it’s over.. Congratulations and gratitude for adding so much value to my life and others. Keep up the outstanding work thy fellow spartan, in 2016 we march forth to kick some more ass and take no prisoners. Peace
Thanks Taj.
Victor,
Happy birthday!
Amazing recap of 5 years of success.
Written with emotion, from heart and desire to achive more.
Have a nice day!
Thanks Milan.
Why do I think that you are looking back more that forwards?
Probably because you just read the article I wrote about looking back.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Steve Jobs
I admire your drive and what you have achieved. You are still young and not tied down with family responsibilities so you can and should experiment with your life! I also admire that you are not selfish with the knowledge you have attained, I wish you much continued success. Keep up the good work. I look forward to your posts and products.
Thank you Charles.
You should turn your precious dollars into hard durable goods before the dollar collapses. Such as a good gun and ammo
World War III is going live soon.
haha ”before the dollar collapses”. That shit as been repeated for so much years, they always say ”it’s going to be this year… or next year” and it never fucking happens. stop freaking out. Same thing for WW3.
Going to bed tired and hungry is the only way to live.
Great.
Thanks Israel.
Thank you for your great work Victor, you have changed my life, and Happy Birthday to your amazing website! Keep writing quality articles and keep it rockin’.
-Mike
Thank you Mike.
Amazing 5 year recap Victor. People sometimes just see where you are today and don’t see those years of hard work. You have earned every penny.
Happy Birthday B&D!
Thanks Lectomano.
Simply the best.
Thank you Geoff.
Hey Victor,
Pretty cool how it’s all come together for you over the past 5 years. I like what your doing and will always be a fan as someone who graduated 30 days of discipline.
I’m not sure what happened with our side project and I’d imagine you have your reasons for moving into other projects. If you ever re-consider launching something big in 2016 together you know how to reach me.
Question Vic,
I understand you gave up all possessions to live life like a spartan, but just wondering how you went about giving up your dogs? Probably the hardest thing a man will ever have to do.
Gave them to family. I see them when I return to Texas.
Man I always wonder what it would have been like for you just getting to China.
Like, I know plenty of asians, but the fobby ones are an entirely different breed, and to move to an entire country of “fobby” Chinese people blows my mind. haha no hate no hate!!
Did you make any Chinese friends your first time there or did you find any expats to hang with?
Anyone to spot you at the gym?
If you ever wrote a biography with just stories about your travels I’d buy it. I like the story of B&D.
I was a space alien in China. Anywhere I went people wanted to talk to me. It was easy to meet people.
Your content has changed here and there, but what it talks about are still the same principles. They never get old. Amazing job always providing quality. Happy Birthday Bold and Determined! Thanks for the help you provided along the way.
Thank you Florian.
You bastard, you made me cry with this one. “Make them cry, make them buy,” right?
This article resonated hard, and not because of my achievements over the past five years. It slammed me right into my place. Yes, I’ve accomplished things in the past five years, but I’m nowhere near where I wish to be.
A year ago, I discovered Bold & Determined, and you motivated me to get off my ass and to create something. I’ve been feeling it for some time, but this post made me realize it needs to be faster. More. More time. More work.
Within five years, I WILL be where I want to be. Period.
Thank you, as always, for bringing us such great content.
Nick
Thank you Nick.
Victor I just want to say congratulations on your 5year mark and may you have many more years to push your message to people like myself I’ve read your content as if it were a bible I wake up every day brew a mug of coffee read an article or two and hit the weights at the gym thanks to you I finally have a clear vision of my own I now know what I have to do and I will stop at nothing to make my vision come to life I sometimes have the urge to tell people about my vision because of how excited I get but then I go back to what you mentioned about being silent about your endeavors because if you constantly tell peoples your plans you trick yourself into thinking you already achieved them slowly but surely I’m implementing everything I’m learning from your site its becoming second nature to me anyway I just want to say thanks and congrats again
Thank you Jesse.
Happy B day to B&D. Thanks for all that you’ve given us Vic. Great to be apart of this life changing blog! Can’t wait for more.
I see Osta-red in red supplement, will there also be an Anafuse “red” edition? :)
Thanks Benjamin. We’ll see what happens with RED.
Victor,
when I finished reading this article I said WOW! as well. You really have come a long way.And it really is obvious that you’ve worked hard at this article because it is put together very well.
By the way…do you ship overseas? I mean into Europe? I’m asking because I’m interested in buying your coffee and giving that Osta Red a try.
Bence
Worldwide shipping Bence. We’ll send it anywhere.
Awesome!
Happy birthday to B&D.
Vic, I want to thank you. It’s crazy but this blog actually changed my life, it helped me through some really tough times, and I’m forever thankful.
It’s like I found this blog at the exact moment that I needed it.
I look forward to many more years of B&D.
Chris
Thank you Chris.
Congrats Victor, I have learned from you how important it is to have a mission and to be obsessed
Thank you John.
Hey Victor,
Were you at Terminal 21 yesterday afternoon/early evening? Can’t be sure, but thought I saw you walking on the ground floor.
Should’ve said what’s up, thanks for helping me turn my life around (Along with Cernovich and GLL).
Yes, I was there.
It’s nice to hear a little more about the real details of how you’ve done what you did. You can say it was easy but lol I know otherwise from doing this myself for a year. Currently, I put in~80 hours a week doing manual labor in to save up the money I need to move on to my future plans, and BnD is one of the things that keeps me going. You’re doing good work here Vic and you deserve the lifestyle it’s granted you.
I didn’t make a dime in the first year. A year is nothing, it is simply a start.
You are a Champion.
Thanks Don.
Thanks for all your work. Happy Bday B&D!
Thank you Cody.
Congratulations, man. It’s inspiring to read about your journey and here’s to the best in the future!
Thank you Rich.
“There is no better feeling in the world than working hard all day, then going to the gym to work hard some more, then coming home to work some more.
Going to bed tired and hungry is the only way to live”.
THIS – Sums it up. No excuses. Drill it and Kill it.
Thanks for everything Vic you are the original and best.
Thank you Seamus.
Mesmerizing recap Victor. Since March 2015 you have done nothing except motivate and inspire me to reach for greater heights, tomorrow I should have my ducks (LLC and bank account) in a row to start talking to suppliers to start an online store via Shopify, recommended by one of your business articles. I lost 20 pounds and went from a 200 pound Deadlift to a 330 pound deadlift in a month and half thanks to Body Of A Spartan and I’ve even started a blog via BADNET. My job contract is done in late 2017 and I have no desire to renew it, I will bleed and bleed and bleed until I succeed. Thanks Victor.
Thank you Marcus.
This post made me wonder how long I’ve been reading your blog. Turns out, I’ve been reading since sometime in 2011. I don’t remember what I googled, but your Chuck Sipes article is how I arrived. You had only been in China a short time. I have enjoyed watching you morph and grow into your success online. I have been a successful entrepreneur for over 15 years offline. Point being, I have had, in some form or another, at least one website live almost as long as B&D but have never pushed hard enough to make them grow. Completely my fault. I still seem to fall in the, don’t need the money category of laziness, where building my online business is concerned. Every time you release an article that resonates with me personally, it makes me want to punch myself in the balls for not taking the time to write more. I say a very honest thank you for that. Congratulations on 5 years of growth and successes. Good luck in your present and future endeavors. You have truly made a mark on this world!
While I am not pro steroid, I don’t have any personal agenda against them. That being said, you are one of few who have sack enough to speak truthfully about them where you personally are concerned. For that, I also say thank you. As a competing power lifter, who is life time drug free, it is quite difficult to continually watch and compete against more and more drug test beaters in a drug “free” federation, but the pure, raw adrenaline from platform lifting is still worth it.
Thanks Chris.
Ha! That’s funny, I found this site a few years ago after googling info on Chuck Sipes too.
Great blog Vic, I’ve been hooked on your articles since the first one I read. I don’t always agree with everything you say the first time around, but the more I let it sink in and the more I read your posts, the more I find myself nodding in agreement, realizing that you hit the nail on the head pretty much every time. Keep up the awesome work!
Thank you Dave.
Hey Vic,
In July 2015 I was looking for how to live like a Spartan (I was reading Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield), when I first saw the B&D. It was a boom in my mind. I was struggle in my life, I knew I had to do something about it, but I didn’t know what.
After some B&D articles, I discovered how I could change. My mindset changed, and it is still changing, for a way better.
Those words are fixed in my mind: If it isn’t for improve myself, I don´t do it.
Thanks Vic, I really appreciate your work.
Happy B day B&D!
Thank you Jon.
This article didn’t motivate me.Thats how i know its good.This article just pushes me to keep going.No fluff,no emotion.It gets the job done,i don;t know how to explain it better.
Hi Mr Victor,
_Those who took actions earlier are witnessing now some good results like you do.
_ Those who just sit and watch will come back in five years again to see you succeeding even more.
End of story
Happy 5 year anniversary Victor. It’s been a pleasure to find motivation, inspiration and practical know-how advice from your blog over the years. You put your nose to the grind stone for a year in China and now reap the rewards. Your success and portfolio of different business are well earned.
I would not have started my blog and gotten into online entrepreneurship without your crew at BADNET making things so streamlined and easy.
Keep on rocking. All the best.
Lee
Thank you Lee.
Congratulations and Thank you Victor for creating such an inspiring and honest website. Since I found it I have managed to:
* Complete 30 days of discipline (I still abide by the habits in there)
* I have cut off every kind of unhelpful nonsense in my life: idiot friends, TV, youtube
* replaced all of that with books
* I have gone from obese to fit. Lean but not quite as ripped as yourself. However, I’m getting there.
Most importantly:
* I’ve become extremely minimalist and frugal
* This has made me much happier and more fulfilled. You can enjoy life so much more when you can focus on the things that truly make a difference.
Thank you and please keep inspiring people.You’re great at it!
Thank you Shaun.
You are changing lives Victor. Thank you.
Do you still read Tynan’s blog?
Thank you Daniel. Sometimes I check out Tynan.
Congratulations, Vic! Your website truly changed my mind. The way you write is unique. A combination of raw power and a spartan use of words. I want to let you know that there’s people like me who wish you the best. Thank you.
I meant “I want you to know”. Still learning English.
Thank you Matias.
Happy birthday, Victor.
It’s nice that you’re honest and true and bold enough to show that, how you were a ‘nobody’ way back when, and how you worked and never stopped working. And how you will not stop working.
Thank you Erik.
Love the website. I been reading now for almost a full year. Appreciate everything you have done with this site.
#LongLiveB&D
Thank you Craig.
Congratulations Vic.
It has been a pleasure to follow the Bold & Determined story since my first comment on your ‘How Prisoners Get So Muscular’ article back on June 24, 2011.
I’m still cranking out daily pushups Spartan style 4 & ½ years later and will still be at it in another 5 years’ time!
Stuart
Thank you Stuart.
No wonder you’re such a confident mother f%#ker…..one day, five years ago, you touch your finger to a keyboard not unlike what billions of other people did that day, but in your case it was different. As the keys kept being pressed, and bold and determined was birthed, so did your new life begin. True inspiration. If your company ever sells stock, I’ll be the first to buy.
Thank you Dan.
Happy anniversary and thanks for this inspiring article!
Thank you Xeno.
Great stuff Vic, it’s been interesting watching your progress and expansion over the years and how you’ve evolved B & D into your own mini empire.
I love how you always say a year is absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things (such as when building a blog). As far as my own experience goes it’s so very true; but most people have the opposite mentality.
In my first year online (2006) I made chump-change as you did in your first year of B & D. By that point most people would have thrown in the towel and moved on. But I knew that eventually it would pay off, and it did.
The long-term “1 year doesn’t mean shit” mentality that you instill into your readers is absolutely EVERYTHING.
Here’s to another 5 years of success to you and your crew, you deserve it and all the best with the new Coffee. Looks solid.
Thank you J.
Victor-
You are the face of discipline and determination. You have achieved everything and will achieve all that you want because of GRIT. There is no other way to success. Any other way that *may* be possible will not build the discipline, skills and perseverance that having real grit provides. Hope that you have many more successful years. What is your marketing angle with the RED Coffee? How do you differentiate from the rest? Just taste?
Thank you Tom. More to come on RED, later.
My man,
First off, thank you for helping me set up my blog. I have yet to read all the books you sent me but I will be reading them soon.
I love Bold and Determined. It is a fantastic site. You should be proud of it.
I realized several days ago I need to focus a little bit more on quality myself. So I have been working hard on my up-coming post. And I feel optimistic.
Although I am older than you, have no doubt you are a big influence on me.
So a big congratulations from me to you.
Keep up the great work.
This article is one of your best. I shall read it several more times thru the next couple of months.
Take no prisoners, Victor.
Until next time, peace.
Thank you Ed.
Nothing on Ronin?
Great Read. Thank You Victor for changing my life. You are my biggest inspiration.
Thank you.
Thank you Ambrose.
Happy birthday B and D! I am now the proud owner of 30 days of discipline and body of a spartan. Can’t wait to get started to kick turning 40 right in the nuts! Congrats Mr Pride
Thank you Adam.
This article was very inspiring. I found myself relating to a lot of the things you said, as I’m currently experiencing those exact stories. You’re the real deal brother! Wishing you continual success in all that you do.
-Alex
Thank you Alexander.
Congratulations, Mr. Pride. I’m a huge fan of your work and look forward to what’s in store!
Keep Killin’ It.
Thank you Hoz.
Hey Vic! thanks for the 5 glorious years so far!
My question to you is, I’ve bought one og your oldest books years ago called “Spartan Entrepreneur”. All I wanted to know wether it is still a legit method to generate some type of “income”?
It was 2012 when I discovered you BLOG. I can’t recall on how I found Bold and Determined. Back then, I was a pussy, a loser, getting bullied and had a poor mindset, etc. All I know is that I’m tired of being a loser and I want to be the BEST VERSION OF MYSELF that’s when I read every articles on your blog and discovered entrepreneurial books. I’m 21 now, Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom hopefully you come visit the philippines and start a group meeting there I’m from Makati.
Hey Vic, you started TRT in China if I read correctly the chronological line? I don’t think I could ever trust chinese doctors and health system over something that important. How come you trusted them? Am I being too skeptical?
I did not start TRT in China.
Ok I read it incorrectly then, but would you recommend doing that sort of things in the West and avoid doing it in SE Asia & co.? Or am I exaggeratingly skeptical?
The soil that you’re standing on makes no difference.
Victor,
I read your blog a few times over the last couple years and it helped motivate me to write and publish my book. The funny story about the SJW attacking your writing and inadvertently driving a lot of traffic to your site was the first one I read. I could only hope the SJWs get ahold of my book and blow some fuses over it. I also started a blog to promote it and remember your pointer not to publish blog posts unless they were well-written and had something useful to say.
I put my book on Amazon Select and it will be free for download maybe this coming Nov.27. If you are on Kindle or Prime it’s available now for free. I am lining up a series of essays from material I removed from the book and will post regular features, but can’t really make a full-time thing out of it. It’s been an interesting experience though, writing the book and learning about online marketing. I have only made a few nickels but what the hell those are good nickels.
But those Chinese barbershops, I mean I never went in one but they certainly look full service.
Amazing. I’ve been a reader since 2012.
I remember eagerly waiting for new articles to be published and I remember exactly how I felt when I would finish reading each individual one. I spent 2013 and 2014 drinking coffee, putting together blueprints, hitting the gym and reading B&D. 2015 has been busy.
I can agree that the Internet has been my only guidance and I am grateful that it led me here. The process has been so slow because I’ve gone through much more harder times and have had my fair share of traumatic events within the past few years.
2010 and 2011 were the darkest years of my entire life. I’m still unsure as to how I made it through but I’ve come a very long way. Without you, I think I would have given up a long time ago.
I’m grateful for you, Vic. I hope someday I can say that I’ve made you proud!
I started reading Bold&Determined in 2013. It’s been two years since I first entered this site because I was searching how the prisoners got muscular.
I have become a new person since that day. It’s shocking to realise that I wasn’t even a man by the standards I have now. I was a weak, almost effete kid.
I have change in many ways: improving my health, behaving like a man and going throught the world with a high sense of pride, of fierce determination. I have being working as a freelance writer and other ways of making money I didn’t think before.
The difference between having the mind and teachings of a man who is teaching you important and basic lessons is great. These days some of us grew up with weak or twisted fathers, lacking a real guidance, even a basic lesson of what it is to be a man.
While I am writing this I am listening to music to get pumped to go to the gym, and reading Body of Spartan and taking notes of what muscles I am going to exercise today.
Cheers and respect for this blog.
Never quit this empire you build from the scratch.
Maurice S.
Thank you Maurice.
BIG, VERGY BIG CONGRATULATION Victor!
I am really a true follower of your works and I am really looking forward to your next book!
Stay hungry, stay strong. Someday we will drink some red coffee together. thanks for everything!
Thank you Marcello.
Happy birthday Vic
I’ve been stalking all your pics on Instagram and I must say, you’re really, really super freaking HAWT. It’s a damn shame you’re in Asia sleeping with women who have purple nipples and smell like fish — a sexy Bama mama like me could be cooking you Chateaubriand and baking you homemade American apple pies in pink lingerie while calling you daddy. Oh well, baby. ;) Xoxo
Victor-
Job well done brother. You are a true inspiration.
I loved the 4HWW. I have been following Tim for 10 years now. I love his human guinea pig approach to life.
Victor needs to write a book like Cernovich.
Just got RED Coffee today. Boy this stuff is good. The aftertaste leaves me wanting for more. I’ve never had any coffee do that.