That’s a good question. To begin, I’ll explain what Manning Up the organization is. Our primary goal is to support, encourage and equip men in becoming the best men they can be. This is done by training and finding ways to support men in manning up, which brings us to our next explanation. How often do you hear the term masculinity without toxic attached to it? There is nothing toxic about masculinity, but it is incredibly clear there are plenty of toxic men who abuse their power and influence to hurt others. Have you ever noticed that when you look at the men around you, and likely at yourself, there seems to be a lot of people living far below their potential? Whether it be a man who is successful at work but is in the midst of a failing marriage or the man who is having trouble building up the courage to get off the couch and start looking for a job, they’re both men who could be living far better lives if they would do the work to “man up”. What is involved in manning up? It has nothing to do acting tough or hiding emotions, but with developing the traits of a true man. Before the industrial revolution, boys would spend their adolescent years with their dads learning whatever trade the dad practiced while also learning traits of manhood from constantly being around their dad and the other men he dealt with. As this ceased to be common practice and men began working more away from their families, young boys lost those opportunities to see men in action and consequently had less opportunity to develop those traits themselves or be able to pass them on to their sons. Now we come to where we are today when so many men have very little idea of what it means to be a man, and what they do know is often coming from the wrong sources. To start, being a man does not revolve around physical strength, sexual prowess, career accomplishments, financial success or any other external characteristics. Being a man is all about character, and many of those traits have faded away and will require significant effort to develop them. While every person you ask will likely have a different definition of what it means to be a man, here are some traits I suggest are integral to truly being a man.

1. Real men keep their word. Often it is expected that people will lie or worse to get ahead, and often that is the easier way to get ahead. As often as television and movies tells us that those who lie and cheat will face immediate consequences, the world is full of those who take the easy road and lie and cheat to the top, and may never seem to experience any significant consequences, but being a man has never been about taking the easy road.
2. Real men fulfill their duties. This means duties at work and at home, as difficult as they may seem at times. This may mean understanding where your limits are and not taking on more than you can handle, but it also may mean skipping a weekly poker night to stay home with the kids while your wife goes out for a long-awaited girl’s night out.
3. Real men are generous. Being generous can mean with your money, but also with time or other resources. There are always those who need an extra helping hand and men need to step up and help wherever they can.
4. Real men treat others with honour and respect. This will obviously eliminate sexual harassment, womanizing and other abusive and belittling practices. Men who are confident in who they are will feel no need to assert their authority and dominance through these practice
5. Real men don’t back down from a worthy challenge. One of the most critical parts of growing as a man is figuring out what challenges are worthy. What is clear is that you are capable of more than you think when you can focus your energy and emotion on something important. When you discover what is worthy, don’t back down.

This was certainly not an exhaustive list, but a starting point for a dialogue. If you want to continue the dialogue check out my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages and hit me up with your ideas. If you want to check out future posts in video form, check out my Youtube page where I’ll be covering the same content as the blog but in video form. If you want to financially support what I’m doing, check out my page on Patreon and enable me to continue creating helpful content for men.