Starting; Stopping; or… just Waiting?

An Emerging Man is an Encouraging man, encouraging growth in others and… encouraging himself to continue moving forward.

In The Book of Five Rings, the legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, writes: “In the Way of victory through the Martial Arts, you are intent on taking the initiative – always the initiative – in all things.”

Regardless of what arena you find yourself, whether it’s the arena of personal health; personal relationships; personal finance; business; art; overall personal development; developing a manly character; or in an ancient samurai duel… being the one to “take the initiative” has been proven over the eons to be a huge factor between having a success or having a failure.

On our journey to discover “what being a man is all about,” you will find at times taking the next step is impossible… only because you have made it so.

I myself, have recently learned, and re-learned a critical lesson, and it’s one I hope to hammer home time and again… first to myself… then to those men who find me here on theemergingman.com.

The lesson is this… your feelings (yes, men have feelings) especially your negative feelings, will pop up on certain steps of the journey, you usually don’t see it coming, you’re moving ahead just fine and then the next step… you’re stuck.

It happens.

You become so mired down that you take a critical look at where you are and may determine that it is in your best interest to maybe… change course; re-evaluate your dedication; or just up and quit.

Now, if you have a plan mapped out and you have checkpoints on your map that allow you time for re-evaluating, or taking stock of your plan… that’s good. You need those.

The steps I’m describing are those steps you have to take that are off the edge of the map… and the only way you are going to move your plan, or map, forward… is by taking that step of faith, feeling your way through your next experience.

These steps are usually when your internal fears; personal inadequacies; and negative thinking return, some times en-force… and threaten to critically derail your confidence… so you freeze.

Here at theemergingman.com I would like you to learn that even with all the mental training we will go through… those parts of us never truly disappear… we have to learn to recognize them for what they are as they occur… and here is the main, crazy point… we can use them as tools in our favor!!

So there you are… stuck… afraid… with negative thoughts cropping up saying, “It would be easier if you just quit, you aren’t seeing any kind of fruit, or harvest, for all the work you’ve done, just start over, start something else.”

Many a man has been labeled a failure because he stopped short, because he didn’t recognize the crop he was working was due to come up later in it’s own season.

If you feel stuck in something right now, and you have some kind of “fear” about it, take a moment to truly, as a man would, and an Emerging Man definitely would, to assess… yourself first…then the particular details of what it is you are working on.

9 times out of 10 the problem is not with the details.

The feelings you are having now, after you have learned how to drive the tractor, learned how to plow the field, learned how to run the planter… are the same exact feelings you had when you decided to move on your plan of becoming a gentleman farmer.

Those same feelings now, take you back to that very first day… when you decided to make a better life for yourself, to make a personal business for yourself, to decide to work on a personal diet and fitness plan for yourself.

The feelings are the same… but you are not.

The feelings are the same… but your knowledge has increased.

The feelings are the same… but you are more mature in your thinking.

The feelings are the same… but your decision making skills have been strengthened.

The fear can be used as an indicator… like the fuel gauge on that tractor… that you are about to learn something new.

Look around. Assess. The fear is actually showing you something you need to learn about the crop you have planted. Maybe you didn’t know it would need a mid-season fertilizing; weeding; or extra watering… something.

Your fear and negativity are saying, “See, you missed something. I told you it wouldn’t work.”

But our new strength of mind; mature decision making; and strengthened self-confidence… allow us to seize the initiative and take the next needed step to increase our knowledge and moving us forward in our plan… allowing us to add to the map.

Recognize then that every kind of “crop” has a different growing season; resulting in a different “harvesting season,” including developing your manliness… so whatever the project is that you are working on take a moment to recognize where you are in your personal growing season… have you planted the seed (started)? Have you cultivated the rows (marketed)? Have you determined the germination timeline (waiting)?

As an Emerging Man are you starting; stopping; or waiting? Are you taking the initiative to… Encourage, Equip & Engage?