Listen up, Men!
Here’s the brutal truth: too much availability kills your value. When you’re always accessible—always texting back immediately, always showing up whenever someone snaps their fingers—you lose your edge. You become predictable, ordinary, and ultimately undervalued. In this world, scarcity is power. If you want to be respected and appreciated, you need to master the art of making yourself less available.
Think about diamonds. Why are they so valuable? Because they’re rare. If diamonds were as common as pebbles, no one would care about them. The same principle applies to you. When you’re too available, you diminish your value in relationships, business, and life. People take for granted what they think they can have anytime. Your constant presence breeds complacency, not appreciation.
Being overly available also leads to disrespect. In relationships, if you’re always there for her—always answering every call, always prioritizing her over your goals—you’re teaching her that your time isn’t valuable. And here’s the harsh reality: if you don’t value your own time, neither will she. Scarcity forces people to earn your attention, and in that effort, they develop respect for you.
The same principle applies in business. Look at men like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Do you think these guys were available for every meeting or call? Absolutely not. They protected their time because they understood its value. Scarcity builds authority. The harder you are to reach, the more people respect what you bring to the table.
Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power nails this in Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor. Greene explains that over-availability breeds contempt. When you make yourself scarce, you sharpen interest and command respect. It’s a game-changing strategy that separates men of power from the average crowd.
So how do you master scarcity? Start by setting boundaries. Stop saying “yes” to everything and everyone. Prioritize what truly matters and make people earn your attention. Control access to your time—don’t be at everyone’s disposal. Sometimes, the most powerful move is to make people wait. Anticipation creates desire, and desire increases your value.
Being scarce isn’t about playing games—it’s about recognizing your own worth and demanding respect. Men, remember this: what is always available is rarely appreciated. If you want to be valued, make your presence deliberate, meaningful, and rare. Your time is your most powerful asset—protect it.
