(ThyBlackMan.com) Do you want to be happy? Develop a happy consciousness. Do you want to be wealthy? Develop a wealth consciousness. Do you want more friends? Develop a friend consciousness.
Do you want to be a better dad? Develop a better man consciousness. The fact is becoming a better man dwarfs becoming a better dad by ten times. Becoming a better dad requires that we expand our idea of what it means to be a man. ‘Dad’ then becomes the construct and context we form to improve our understanding of the crucial role we play in the life of our children and community.
We need better men for our children and families; we need better men for our communities and for our country. A better man consciousness requires difficult mental labor and soul-searching. Most of all, it requires a desire that transcends one’s excuses.
Here are four principles for developing a better man consciousness.
Principle One
Rise Above Your Challenges
The first step in developing a better man consciousness is to understand you were not meant to remain where you are. Your present situation is just that: where you are now. Your challenge is rid yourself of ‘excusitis’ and move forward. Obstacles were not made to conquer you; you were made to conquer obstacles. It’s the stuff in you that will make you rise – the intestinal fortitude that will transform you into a winner.
Principle Two
Engage the People Around You
The second step for increasing our better man consciousness is to engage the people around us. Why is it important to engage the people around you and how does this increase your better man consciousness? In a word: opportunity. Increasing your better man consciousness opens you to new avenues of expression and being.
When you make the right connections, you underscore your desire to win. What’s important here is ‘right connections’; don’t waste time trying to please people who do not like you. Invest your time with proven winners. If you are the smartest person in the group, time to get another group!
Principle Three
Seek Productive Inlets
The third way to increase our better man consciousness is to seek productive and creative inlets. Inlets lead to outlets. Outlets lead to an increase in better man consciousness. Inlets are simply ways to improve your current standing in the world, whether it’s something as simple as honing your financial skills, reading self-help books or mentoring a group of young men. An inlet deepens your self-understanding and awareness. Whatever is invested inwardly is outwardly manifested.
Principle Four
Lift as You Climb
The final step in developing our better man consciousness is to lift as we climb. One of our greatest milestones in becoming better men is not what we do for ourselves only, but what we do for others. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Life’s most persistent question is, ‘What have you done for others?’ We rise only in proportion to how we lift. Our community needs men who not only want to be better but help others progress as well.
We can transcend our excuses and increase our better man consciousness by rising above our challenges, engaging the world around us, seek productive inlets and lift as we climb.
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.
