The Alpha Male Delusion
Prince Pumpernickel Had Everything—Except What Actually Mattered.
There once was a prince named Pumpernickel. He had everything society told him a man should have—wealth, status, charm, and an impressive chariot with the biggest, most unnecessary wheels in the kingdom. He was revered, envied, and admired. But every night, alone in his oversized, gilded bed, a strange emptiness gnawed at him. He had played the game perfectly—so why did it feel like he was losing?
In his desperate attempt to fill this void, he did what any self-respecting prince does—he chased more. More power. More status. More superficial relationships with women who looked perfect on his arm but left him feeling utterly disconnected.
But there was one woman who intrigued him beyond all the others. Her name was Penelope. She was nothing like the other women he pursued. She didn’t care about his status, his shiny trinkets, or the way his cologne smelled like gold-plated musk and desperation. And no matter how much he turned up the charm, she remained unimpressed.
Why?
Because, to her, Prince Pumpernickel was nothing more than a child playing dress-up in a man’s body. He wasn’t real. And real women don’t fall for men who are pretending to be something they’re not.
The Culture Game: How Men Get Trapped in Superficiality
Pumpernickel’s story isn’t just a fairytale—it’s a reflection of how many men live their lives today.
From the moment we’re old enough to understand the game, we’re given a script:
Be dominant.
Be powerful.
Be successful.
Be desired.
These are the benchmarks of modern masculinity. Men are told that their worth is measured by how much they can conquer, acquire, or impress. It’s not enough to be good—you have to be the best. Not enough to be attractive—you have to be wanted by all. And so, men play the culture-level game. They chase wealth. They flex status. They perform masculinity like it’s an audition for a role they don’t even want.
And what happens?
They attract exactly what they put out: superficiality. Empty relationships. People who care about their image, not their essence. And when it all feels hollow, they wonder what went wrong.
The Real Alpha Male Doesn’t Play the Game
The term “alpha male” gets thrown around a lot—usually by guys who have no idea what true leadership actually looks like.
Let’s be clear: the alpha/beta/sigma framework is nonsense. It’s a made-up system designed to categorize men into roles they never agreed to play.
The real alpha? He’s not the loudest guy in the room. He’s not flexing his watch or trying to dominate every conversation. The real alpha male is simply a man who knows himself.
A man who plays his own game.
A man who does not seek validation from external markers but instead radiates an unshakable sense of self-worth.
A man like my father.
My father isn’t wealthy. He doesn’t own fancy cars or live in a mansion. He was never the most physically imposing or outwardly dominant man. But he is the most respected and admired man I know. Not because he chased power, but because he chose his own path.
He structured his work schedule to be there for his kids. He volunteered. He took people in when they needed help, without ever seeking recognition. He was present. And because of that, people naturally gravitated toward him and still do. He was, and is a father, not just to his own children, but to anyone who needed guidance. That is his purpose. And he chose it.
The most powerful man in the room is the one who needs nothing from it.
How Prince Pumpernickel Found His Way
Pumpernickel never got Penelope—at least, not in the way he originally thought he would.
She didn’t suddenly see past his antics and fall for him in some contrived, Hollywood-style romance. That’s not how life works. Instead, Pumpernickel had to go through something much harder.
He had to stop performing. He had to let go of the persona he built and actually see himself for the first time. He had to sit with his loneliness, his insecurities, his unhealed wounds. And slowly, he began to change.
Not for Penelope. Not for anyone else. But for himself.
He stopped dating superficial women. He stopped trying to impress people who didn’t matter. He let his hair down. Grew a beard. Started painting again. He spent time in the woods, reconnecting with the part of himself he had buried beneath layers of bullshit.
And then, one day, while gathering herbs to make a healing potion for an old man in the village, he ran into Penelope. But this time, something was different.
She saw him.
Not the prince. Not the performer. But the man beneath it all.
And that’s when everything changed.
The Takeaway: If You Want the Girl, Find Yourself First
Men spend so much time trying to win women that they forget the truth:
Women aren’t prizes to be won. They are mirrors.
If you keep attracting superficial people, it’s because you’re leading with something superficial. If you feel like you can never connect with a real, secure, deep woman, it’s because you haven’t yet become a real, secure, deep man.
You don’t attract what you want. You attract what you are.
The game isn’t about power, status, or proving yourself. The real game—the only game worth playing—is the one where you become the most authentic version of yourself.
And when you do that, you stop chasing.
Because what’s meant for you will start chasing you.
PS: If you’re tired of playing the wrong game and ready to step into your real power, check out Next Level Human Coaching. It’s time to stop performing and start becoming. 👉 www.nextlevelhuman.com/human-coaching