How to Become Competent, Confident, and Dangerous - The Preparation Book is Here
A Radical Alternative to College
Monday, August 18th, 2025
Writing to you from Uruguay
Two years of work have been leading up to this point.
You can get your copy of The Preparation HERE: The Preparation book
If you don’t know, Doug Casey, my father (Matt Smith), and I have been working on a book for a program called The Preparation for the past two years.
This program is designed to fundamentally change a young man’s life.
Any young man like myself is told (directly or indirectly) that there are three main paths in life: College, the military, or a dead-end job.
College, being at the top of the list for bright young men, has been touted as the path to success. Recently, things have changed. At this very moment, college is not a path to success (not for most) but a 4-year purgatory where many come out the other end with an albatross of debt around their neck.
But, you can read more about that HERE.
Doug Casey - being a man with a wildly different and highly successful life - has had the idea to write a book about a new path for young men for several decades now…
He asked my dad to help him write this book, but he had little interest until he realized how badly I (at 17, lost, and not wanting to go to college) needed it.
In August of 2023, I (perhaps unknowingly at first) became the beta tester for The Preparation. At the time it seemed like I was placing a bet on my future, but now I see how resilient this path is. Long story short, it’s been a successful two years with lots of progress.
The simplest way to put it is…
The combined efforts of 3 generations - Doug’s life, work, writing, and ideas being the genesis…my father (Matt Smith) being the developer and writer…and myself acting as the beta tester for the program - has allowed for the creation of something truly special.
A battle-tested, adventurous, fulfilling, and resilient path which can lead any young man to become competent, confident, and dangerous.
So, what’s in the book and who exactly is it for?
5 key Points From the Book
Reject the Default Path – College is no longer a guaranteed ticket to success. The Preparation dismantles the myths around higher education and shows you how to create a life of opportunity without drowning in debt.
Become Competent, Confident, and Dangerous – This is more than self-defense; it’s about becoming a person who can think independently, act decisively, and adapt to any challenge.
The 16 Cycle System – Sixteen three-month programs—ranging from EMT training to sailing near Cape Horn—each designed to deliver immersive, hands-on skills while building a portfolio of achievements that compound over time. 16 “anchor” courses combined with academic courses taught by some of the best professors in the world will leave any young man miles ahead of his peers.
Important Lessons and Real-World Economics – Learn what actually matters: sound money, entrepreneurship, history, and the ability to recognize and seize opportunities—taught by men who have lived it.
Adventure and a Global Network – Instead of four years in a lecture hall, you’ll spend them in the mountains, on ranches, in the cockpit of a plane, on the deck of a ship—meeting exceptional people and stacking valuable experiences.
Going to college isn’t nearly what it used to be, and young men are more unsure than ever of what to do with their lives. This book is for those young men who are uncertain of what to do and for the parents and grandparents who love them.
Here’s How You Can Get the Book
We decided to self-publish The Preparation on Amazon. It’s the best and easiest way to get the book out in a timely manner…After all, a lot of you have been waiting a long time for this. So, getting this to you as soon as we could after completing the book was our goal.
You can get your copy of The Preparation HERE: The Preparation book
This book can change your life just as it changed mine.
-Maxim Benjamin Smith
Congrats! Been following since you first started the vlogs on great men!
Suggestion on something to put on your radar. Consider looking into amateur radio. Since you're using these things in EMT and Aircraft it might be helpful to get yourself licensed and learn a bit more about the communication tool you're using on a regular basis.
You can test online it's very easy and fast plus very little cost. I think $15 per test x 2 tests. I got a general license this year and it took me just a few days of review for the first test, then passed the general a week or two after with no background in this stuff at all. Just look at hamstudy.org, you could do this in Uruguay or wherever.
License is good for 10 years so you can take your time experimenting whenever. I was chatting with a guy 2,000 miles away last night over JS8Call, a digital mode keyboard to keyboard. It ran flawlessly for several hours before I shut down. I have hit listening stations out of Uruguay but no successful 2 way communication yet (bit random finding someone on in various places), but it was encouraging the listening station could pick me up from the midwest!
It could be a nice tool to have in place to stay in contact with your family down there if infrastructure ever went down. With JS8Call you can drop message with another station if your folks were offline at the time you were transmitting and leave them a kind of radio mail they could pick up later and vice versa. It's a pretty handy tool for someone like yourself that's often thousands of miles away
I am exited to buy several copies, for my son, my nephews and any other young men I come across who are searching. Thank all of you for your efforts, wisdom and experiences that made this book possible! It’s SO needed right now.