Mental Strength Habits Of A Purpose Focused Man – Part VII

Welcome back to the continuation of this series entitled “Mental Strength Habits Of A Purpose Focused Man”

We’ve been breaking down 21 habits, one by one, of men with a purpose driven life.  These habits are in 5 categories:

• Mental
• Physical
• Emotional
• Financial
• Spiritual

If this is your first time here the link back to “Mental Strength Habits Of A Purpose Focused Man – Part I.

Once more my mantra about “mid-life crisis” for men…there is none…well generally speaking.

What I think a “mid-life crisis” for men is, is a lack of focus and purpose.  When we lose our purpose, we lose our focus.  When we lose our focus we feel lost.  And many men attempt to find themselves in unproductive behaviors and this is where men’s issues arise from.

My main intention of these posts as well as my private intensive, The 2^nd Passage, is to help men realize and discover their mission and purpose in life.  And once they find it they can live a life of power, purpose, passion and perseverance!

My hope is that through these series of posts and The 2^nd Passage Intensive, I will help men who, admittedly or not, are experiencing a mid-life emptiness and have related men’s issues and guide them back to manhood and step into their masculinity…without becoming a jerk.

In the last post we started to look at the emotional habits of a highly focused purpose driven man, so let’s continue with the next one.

Inner-Directedness

Purpose Focused Man

• Burning desire to achieve, excel, expand and improve

• Intrinsically motivated

• Takes responsibilities of their actions and their results and determines how to get the results they want if they didn’t get them.

• They recognize that no one can make them feel anything, they allow themselves to feel that feeling

• If they don’t like a feeling they set out to change it

• Rides and control the crest of life’s wave instead of being helplessly washed ashore by it.

A man who is living a purpose driven life doesn’t need external motivation, he doesn’t something outside himself to get motivated.  His motivation comes from within.  In motivation terms, this is the highest form of motivation.

A purpose driven man uses his mental strength to be in control if his own emotions and understand that no one can “make” him feel a particular emotion, he chooses to feel that emotion.

A man with a purpose drive life jumps out of bed on his own declaring “Alive, alert, awake….I am joyous and  enthusiastic about this day….I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm to do the things that ought to be done be me right now!”

Because of this control and management of emotions he is able to ride the waves of enthusiasm, inspiration and motivation to achieve his personal goals and personal success.

No Purpose, Unfocused Man

• Extrinsically motivated (needs to be told what to do or needs an external reward)

• Blames people, places, and things for their lot in life and kind find the good in any of it.

• Looks for the approval, acceptance and love of others before they will approve, accept and live themselves

• Mood is set by the way they think people will perceive them an outside source

A man without a purpose in life is controlled by others and believes he has no real control over his emotions.  This belief is at an unconsciousness level and erupts when something go as he planned.

He wakes up grudgingly to an alarm clock simply counting the days until Saturday when he can sleep in.

A man with no focus or purpose in his life plays the victim and points the finger to “others” outside himself for his moods.  He blames the government, his boss, the economy, the weather and even his dog!

He also rides a wave of emotions but is not in control of what they are and finds himself exhausted at the end of the day only to grab a beer to relax.              

Self Assessment

OK…looking at the above mental strength emotional characteristic for a man with a purpose driven life, take the below survey and see how well you’re doing… and please have the courage to be honest with yourself.

Inner-Directedness: The habit of taking responsibility for your actions and their consequences. The ability to create an internal driving force without becoming dependent upon the approval and acceptance of others for motivation.

1                            2                            3                            4                            5

Never                           Seldom               Sometimes        Often                   Always

OK guys, please tell me you’re beginning to get a sense of where you are in Life.  Again, there is not right or wrong place; it’s just where you are.  The question is, what are you going to do about it!

Are you courageous enough to take action and change?

If this post has raised some questions, consider investing in yourself, your vision and your life.  Take a look at The 2^nd Passage for a way to put your power, passion and purpose into action and life a purposed driven life.

I’ll leave you this quote:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”- Henry David Thoreau