You have to eat, at least, every couple days.
You need to drink water, at least, once a day.
You need to have a roof over your head, nightly is best.
And, unless you live in deepest, darkest Africa, with a little known tribe… or find yourself in Brazil on a nude beach… you at least need… blue jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes… or you could find yourself being picked up by the cops.
It’s frowned upon to run around naked… “just cuz’.”
So… a young man out in the world needs to work for “the bare necessities,” like clothes, food, water, lights, and heat.
If he’s alone he may decide to skimp on one or two… depending on his focus.
If he is a young dad, and has accepted being responsible for his family… he’s obligated to provide the whole list, to provide the best environment that he can, for those he is responsible for, and loves.
Depending on his resources it might be a bountiful environment, or a “nip and tuck,” environment.
Today, let’s focus on the young man who is still at home, working, and looking to launch out into the world.
He got “a job,” because that is what you do after graduation.
He is a couple years into “life,” made some money, and has now… spent… some money.
And after having his fun, he has looked around, and starts to wonder, like many men, of many ages do… “Is this it? Why am I working?”
How does a young man, aimlessly working, determine his life direction?
If you do an online search for “success” “happiness” “passion” or “how to make money,” you will be buried with information, mostly good, but it’s not “the best” information you need right now.
Being a young man you are most likely, like I was, feeling a little bit anxious to get going, and figure this life thing out.
Let’s start there. I know, I know, you want to get going… but just hang on a minute.
If you are having “the feeling” that there is “something more,” then you might be ready to hear, WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR, versus WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR.
Let’s start with that “anxious” mind of yours.
To move forward as an emerging man, we need to corral that stallion energy we have, that’s running circles in our brain.
Lasso it, bridle it, and try to slap a saddle on that bad boy, so we can get some real work done.
And just like a wild mustang, your brain is gonna buck and snort the whole time you’re trying to wrangle him.
For a specific mental picture of such a routine, watch the 1979 film, The Black Stallion.
To wrangle your mind you need to get a handle on “you,” the you, you are. NOT the you, you think you are, and NOT the you, you think others think you need to be, but the actual “you.”
Can you communicate well, what your “personality” is?
NOT the thin, sometimes fake, “personality” we present to the world.
AND NOT, the super fake “personality” you pose to your male “buddies.”
Do you know the real personality buried within yourself, the “clinical” personality, the one you take “personality tests” to find?
Have you ever taken a personality test? A real one, NOT one of Madam Zelda’s Helping Horoscopes for $9.99 over the phone.
In the past, for a past job, I had opportunity to take a few “real” personality tests, and working with my small town, city council, for business owner personal improvement.
In one, the test revealed I was a cross between a lion and a beaver… “strong of heart, and industrious.”
In the other, the test revealed I was, “the color green.”
GREEN
“Analytical, intuitive, and visionary. These are traits of the Green Personality type. “Greens” find innovative thinking and problem solving exciting. If you’re a Green, you tend to be able to see the big picture and able to effectively analyze situations. Thinking outside the box is a real strength. You also have an extreme need to be right.”
But at those times in my life I was unable to “direct” my personality strengths into a focused, and determined, “WHY” or “LIFE DIRECTION.”
It wasn’t until I stumbled upon, well, I didn’t stumble over it, it was staring me in the face when I started my last, new job. It was sitting behind, the nice HR lady, who was filling me in on the daily routine.
She had a bookshelf behind her, and on it were two, or three copies of, “Strengthsfinder 2.0 from Gallup and Tom Rath.”
I had just met her, and I don’t know what possessed me to ask, but I asked her, “Could I borrow one of those copies?”
She immediately turned, reached back, and said, “Here take it. You can have it.”
Told ya she was nice.
This book explains the goal of a real personality test. It explains, you need to put some work in, and really dig through the upper, thinner layers, of our perceived personality to get down to the “you” you need to find, for you to move you… into a life direction you can be proud of, and excited to live out!
It was a bit of work too. I almost quit 3/4 of the way through, because I couldn’t see the end in sight, like the other shorter tests provided.
Because I didn’t know how it would end… I felt unsure of the whole thing.
That’s when my other Emerging Man training kicked in. I was uncomfortable. Right where growth, and understanding, meet up.
I pressed on through to the end.
And at the end, after all the review of the other tests, reviewing my color green personality, my lion/beaver personality, my “new manliness” thinking… the Strengthsfinder 2.0 gave me one word…
“Communicator”
Having started down a path of re-branding myself into an “author” a few years prior, this new information lit me up… on the inside… and made me feel I had found my “life direction” and my “why.”
Being young, being hungry to find the answer to your question, “Why am I working?” places you in an enviable position.
Being young, if you figure this out, you will have more time to really flesh out your “life direction.”
Do the work… before your anxious stallion bolts for parts unknown… chasing after “money.”
It doesn’t matter what you find your personality reveals… whatever it is, remember this… it will come with “WORK” attached to it… there is no such thing as sitting on a beach all day “AND NOT WORKING,” everybody has “A JOB TO DO” and with that job comes work.
Whatever your personality test reveals, the job it also reveals, will have work attached to it… you will have to decide if you can live with that specific work load, instead of aimlessly working… just to work.
There is no secret sauce.
Working through our personality test may not have had to be so daunting, if we had a set of parents who, when we were little, helped us to develop ourselves as we grew up, and who, didn’t place there own “life template” over us, in order to satisfy something in themselves, for themselves.
Without a mom… without a dad… or without any parents at all, puts an early hurdle in the “life direction” of any young man.
With your “real personality” info in hand, and a word from Stregthsfinder 2.0, like “communicator,” now you have some information that you can use to hop on that laser focused life lane you were looking for.
A lot of young men today, who are in their twenty’s, grew up and continue to play these new fangled, online games, with most of them available world wide.
Let’s use that as our next step.
You found in your personal testing you are a “problem solver.”
Ok… you have your current day job… but you want to “make money gaming,” that is pretty vague.
How can you be specific?
Being a “problem solver” solve the first issue… “how do gamers make money?”
As an Emerging Man you need to learn what “barriers to entry” mean, as far as different industries go.
For example… in order to become a doctor, I would need to be a lot smarter. There are all kinds of barriers.
It’s up to you to truthfully look at yourself and understand, not only your personality, but… what skills do you have, and what skills are you willing to learn?
You want to make money as a gamer? Have you done any of the leg work to understand the industry?
Where would one start to look, to break into it?
How does one get his start?
Where is the beginning, where is the middle, and where is the end… of a career in “gaming?”
Can you work at it all year?
Will it cover “the bare necessities” we discussed earlier?
Could it provide enough of an income to provide for a family?
Are there any other aspects of the “gaming” industry that you found, that matches up with your personality, and could provide you with a livable income?
And now… here is where we separate the Emerging Men from the boys.
You have your personality test, you have a life direction to head out into, NOW… WHAT IS YOUR NEXT ACTION?
ACTION is the difference maker.
Boys dream, and say, “I’d like to do something like that to make money,” EMERGING MEN set the next action to take, order the next book to read, go to work at their day job, knowing it serves a purpose, their purpose, allowing them to not worry about “the bare necessities” as they continue to make course corrections in life. Moving from a young man, “aimlessly working,” to a dedicated, and decisive, Emerging Man, as he tackles each hurdle as they pop up on his way!
Review and Take action…
- Wrangle that wild stallion of a mind of yours, get it under control, and “Ride boldly, ride!”
- Complete a true personality/strength finder test, the more precise… the better.
- Get the Strengthsfinder 2.0 book.
- Understand any passion, art, or interest, comes with a work load.
- Determine what work you are willing, and excited to do.
- Don’t flake out. But when you do, remember, “Gods mercies are new every morning.” If that wild stallion bucks you off one day… just know, if you continue to stick with it… it gets harder and harder for him to do that… and easier and easier for you to hold on for dear life!
A young man needs a life direction, for that wild stallion of his.
As an EMERGING MAN I’m here to ENCOURAGE, EQUIP, & ENGAGE those who are in search mode. Searching for themselves, and their personal gold.
Searching… like the knight, in the Edgar Allan Poe Poem titled… El Dorado.
I’m trying to help, to arm you with the knowledge that allows you to find your personal El Dorado… before it’s too late…
Before…
“[Growing] old—
This knight so bold—
And o’er his heart a shadow—
Fell… as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.”
theemergingman.com 