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Samurai Philosophy: The Warrior Mindset for Fearless Men
CT Dool
February 19, 2025 • Read Time: 10 minutes
Modern men are lost.
Softness has replaced strength, hesitation has replaced boldness, and fear controls the mind.
Reading ancient samurai philosophy—it hit me.
These cats are some hard motherfuckers, by design—and it’s due to their mindset.
If you’ve found yourself asking:
How to handle fear of death
How to be a fearless man
How to stop being weak minded…
Read on.
In This Guide
Samurais are raised to be the way the are. From childhood, they’re instilled with their ethos of boldness, action, constant training, and acceptance of death.
Contrast that to the typical modern man—fearful, passive, aimless, and paralyzed by his fears of failure, risk, and death.
This guide distills samurai philosophy into modern, actionable steps so you can liberate yourself from fear, develop a warrior mindset, and live.
1. Face Death: How Samurai Philosophy Conquers Fear Forever
“The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily.”
—Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Most men fear death—which means they fear life itself.
Samurai warriors embraced the idea of Memento Mori ("Remember you must die").
This was not morbid—it was empowering.
What’s worse, dying from chasing your dreams, adventuring, and squeezing all the juice out of life—or safely retiring at 65 only to look back and realized you never really did anything?
How to Handle Fear of Death Like a Samurai
Accept death as inevitable and neutral—nothing to fear. We see this in Stoicism as well. Samurai’s simply take it further—they act with this mindset every day, ready to day at a moment’s notice.
When you stop fearing death, you stop hesitating in life. Worrying about death is like worrying whether it’s going to rain tomorrow—it’s out of our control, so let’s move on.
The weak man avoids risk. The warrior acts with boldness. Imagine if you lived life completely free from fear. What would you experience? Where would you travel? What would your career look like?
Action Steps
✅Assume you’ll live to 85 years old. Now, subtract your age from that and multiply the result by 365. You now have the number of days remaining in your life. With this frame of mind, reflect on what you want to accomplish.. How special is each day now? (Shoutout to ManTalks for this exercise.)
✅Each morning, ask: If I died today, would I be proud?
✅ Identify areas in your life you’ve been avoiding risk—foregoing what you want in favor of safety. Which fear will you face first?
For more on fear-facing, check out Facing 30 Fears in 30 Days—my journey to go from passive to bold.
2. How to Live Like a Samurai: Unshakable Confidence in Every Decision
“Fixation is the way to death. Fluidity is the way to life.”
—Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai
Samurai made decisions without hesitation—because hesitation is death.
If you’ve ever sparred before (boxing, MMA, Muay Thai), you’ve felt this feeling. Hesitate and get hit. Second guess yourself and miss an opportunity.
The samurai felt this at the extreme. A wrong move or a hesitation, he’d have his arm severed or be killed.
How to Develop a Warrior Mindset in Decision-Making
Perfectionism is cowardice. The longer you wait, the weaker you become.
Act with full conviction. A wrong move with confidence beats indecision.
The enemy of action is doubt. Kill it.
Action Steps
✅ Many times when we put off action to some vague, distant future (“I’ll quit my job in two years”), it’s simply to avoid confronting the fear. Take inventory on any decisions or actions you’ve assigned an arbitrary future date to, and consider if you can do it now.
✅ When speaking (including your internal voice), never weaken your words with “I think” or “I can’t.” Check out our deep dive on self-assuredness.
✅ Move first. Think later. Most thoughts are excuses in disguise (i.e., cognitive distortions to keep you stuck in “safety”).
3. How to Stop Being Weak-Minded: Strength Through Hardship
“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.”
—David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me
Weakness comes from avoiding discomfort. Samurais knew that suffering strengthens.
While it’s not your fault that modern society is structured to keep us soft, sick, and scared—you can take accountability to build yourself up.
This involves intentionally engaging in difficult, unpleasant tasks—and incorporating them into your daily routine.
Discipline, structure, and a bit of suck will be required.
Why Modern Men Are Weak (And How to Fix It)
Hardship is not an obstacle; it is the way.
Your mind is weak because you protect it. Stop avoiding discomfort.
The body follows the mind—train one, and the other obeys.
Action Steps
✅ Start daily discomfort training: cold showers first thing in the morning, fasting, brutal workouts to start your day. As the mind becomes akin to that of a warrior, so will the body.
✅ When pain comes, welcome it as a sharpening stone. Consider the fact that pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin—when one is experienced, the other must balance it. Welcome suffering—in your workouts, your confrontation of your emotions, and your facing of fear.
✅ Go on a complaining fast. That is, vow to not complain for one week. This will help you to:
Notice how often you complain (in your head and to others)
Purge your habit of complaining—suffering in silence builds strength.
Consider a strong man you’ve encountered in life—your grandpa, a church leader, a neighbor.
Take note on their habits (or lack thereof) of complaining, confronting hardship, and seeking out discomfort.
4. The Code of the Fearless Man: Finding Purpose Like a Samurai
“The difference between a brave man and a coward is that a brave man faces his fears and overcomes them.”
—Inazo Nitobe, Bushido: The Soul of Japan
A man without a cause is already dead. Samurai lived for something greater than themselves.
How to Be a Fearless Man With Unshakable Purpose
Most men drift through life without a mission. Samurai did not.
If you don’t have a cause bigger than yourself, you will break.
A warrior fights for something—family, honor, legacy.
Action Steps
✅ Write down your life’s mission in one clear sentence.
✅ If you died tomorrow, what would your legacy be? Act accordingly.
✅ Live by your own code, not by society’s expectations.
5. The Warrior’s Library: Books Every Modern Man Must Read
A warrior sharpens his mind as much as his blade. These books, combined with taking action on the principles, are guaranteed to harden your mindset.
(Affiliate links included—if you buy after clicking, I might earn a small portion of the price, at no cost to you.)
📖 Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai – Yamamoto Tsunetomo
📖 The Book of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
📖 Bushido: The Soul of Japan – Inazo Nitobe
📖 Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
📖 Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
📖 Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink
For the full list of hard-hitting books every man must read, check out the Grow Dangerously Book List.
Bonus: The Bulletproof Mind – Free Journal Prompts for Warrior Mentality
A true warrior trains his mind as ruthlessly as his body. That’s why I created The Bulletproof Mind, a free eBook packed with 34 hard-hitting journal prompts designed to:
Forge unbreakable mental discipline
Eliminate self-doubt and weakness
Build absolute clarity and boldness in your life
Get it delivered straight to your inbox when you subscribe.
Final Words: Choose the Warrior’s Path
You have two choices: continue being a victim or take ownership of building yourself into something serious.
The world is soft. Be sharp. The world is plastic. Be steel.
The modern warrior trains daily, eliminates hesitation, and walks with boldness…
Your move.
To your growth and travels,
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