It's Time to Man Up in a Whole New Way
It’s difficult being a man.
For most of us, there's really just one way to be a man -- being a dude. That model doesn’t leave a lot of the human experience on the table, and it absolutely limits our upward potential.
There’s just not a lot of variety we’re taught, or that’s made available to us if we want to be “successful” -- focusing on being strong, stoic, and emotionally removed. Bro culture. This shit might work when we’re kids and young adults, but it most definitely breaks down if you want to be an actual adult and impact the world in a deeper way.
Over the holidays I came across The Atlantic's article "The Miseducation of the American Boy" and it hit me right in the gut. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it if you want some insight into the current state of affairs for young men.
From the article:
"A 2018 national survey of more than 1,000 10-to-19-year-olds conducted by the polling firm PerryUndem found that young women believed there were many ways to be a girl...young men described just one narrow route (my emphasis) to successful masculinity. One-third said they felt compelled to suppress their feelings, to 'suck it up' or 'be a man' when they were sad or scared, and more than 40 percent said than when they were angry, society expected them to be combative."
Take a minute and digest that.
There's a powerful force influencing our young men out there, and it continues its influence into our adulthood if we don't actively choose to do some work to undo it.
I’ve spoken with more and more men recently that feel stuck in that narrow operating space. Stuck, meaning they know something’s not working well for them in life, but they have no clue how to move forward into something new. They talk about relationships failing, not feeling whole, the fear of becoming their dads, the inability to connect with their kids, and generally just getting angrier or more and more resigned to life being less than what it used to be when things were supposedly good.
Being stuck in this limited band of possibility removes a lot of options, isn’t foundationally enjoyable, and most certainly doesn’t help you express yourself in a way that can positively impact the world.
This sound familiar? Do you have similar challenges, or know someone who does?
I’ve spent the last decade dedicated to undoing this programming in myself by unearthing how I’m wired and building a toolbox of emotional, relational, and spiritual skills. It’s completely changed who I am and how I show up every day with myself and the people in my world.
And now, one of the major pieces of clarity I’m bringing into 2020 is that I need to help other men do the same thing I’ve done. There’s a critical need for us to learn how to connect inward so we can expand our range mentally, emotionally, and relationally in order to better serve ourselves, our families, our communities, and the world. If you want to connect with others more consciously, you have to learn to consciously connect with yourself first.
My #1 intention heading into 2020 is to help as many men as I can develop their self-awareness and EQ (emotional intelligence) so they can be better humans and more-skillful leaders.
So,if you’re interested in learning to man up in a completely different way, schedule your free Exploratory Call today. Let’s connect and do this for you together.
Questions? Feel free to email me if you have any curiosities prior to taking the leap, or just want to find out if it's the right step for you.
And please forward this along to anyone you know that might benefit. This is an important, heart-felt offering coming from a part of me that believes in the tranformative power of emotionally intelligent, skillful men. My sincere hope is to create HUGE impact in the world this year through these efforts, so I deeply appreciate your support!
The world is big, complex, multi-faceted, and ever-evolving. It needs its men to be the same. Men of depth and ever-evolving complexity. Not single-dimensional boys stuck in the same repetitive patterns.
It's time to man up in a whole new way. Let's change ourselves so we can change the world.