The first person from whom you learn to become a man is your father. You learn more from his examples than his words. Though you may still learn from his words, that puts a child whose father never grew up mentally and emotionally at a serious disadvantage. if the person from whom you are learning to be an adult still acts like a child, then that is what you will learn.
Below are the core attributes of a man.
HONOR
This is the core or the all-encompassing attribute of what it means to be a man. It includes all the other attributes..
Honor means you tell the truth, even if it hurts. it means you take care of your responsibilities.
Honor means, you live up to any commitment you make, even when it's hard. Honor means, taking care of those weaker than you.
INTEGRITY
Integrity is about truth. this means being truthful everywhere and to everyone, including you. It means don't pretend to be something or someone that you are not. It means accepting the truth of who you are, and if you don't like it accepting the responsibility of changing it, not just acting like it's not even there.
A man of integrity is true to himself, true to others and true to his word. He doesn't need to swear an oath or make a promise, because his yes means yes and no means no.
RESPONSIBILITY
A man must take responsibility of his own choices, both for himself and others who depend on him.
That means that you cannot blame others for things you do or the way you are because they can only influence you to allow them.
If you accept responsibility for something, it is up to you to make sure it is done and to accept the blame if it is not, regardless of why it is not. if you cannot be sure that you can do it, then do not say that you will.
RESPECT
A man gives respect to those around him until they show that they are not worthy of it.
And even then he gives them the opportunity to earn it back. All interactions with others should be done inside the framework of respect... even if someone has shown by their behavior that they are not worthy of respect, You can respect their knowledge and or expertise in whatever areas they have it.
Also keep in mind that regardless of whether someone is worthy of your respect or not, you should still treat them with respect... Just be aware of it in your expectations of them and their behavior.
FAITHFULNESS
Responsibility is about following through on what you say and do. Faithfulness is about following through on things that you should do whether or not you have said you will.
Faithfulness is about going the extra mile to do the right thing in the right way, even if it means going beyond what you said you would do. Faithfulness is what comes after responsibility...when you don't just do things because you said you're stuck with it now, but instead you do them because they are right things to do.
COMPASSION
Compassion is one of primary things that differentiate men from animals and men from machines.
When you feel that other people are individuals and have their own value and are worthy of your help, your work, and your consideration on their own merit, then you have compassion.
Compassion isn't feeling sorry for people; it is feeling that they are worthy of your time and effort.
STRENGTH
Strength is another part of being a man that is commonly misunderstood. Strength isn't about not admitting your weakness (or mistakes). It's not about how much weight you can lift.
Strength is about following through on all of the things above. Strength is doing what you should be doing regardless of how hard it is or how you feel about it. It actually shows more strength to admit your weakness and mistakes. I cannot emphasize that enough... admitting weakness and mistakes may be hard but the reality is the strength to have and to fix it than try to hide them.
That's what it takes to be a man instead of an adult boy.
Go out there and be the man that you are...
