The two key buzz words in the twenty-first century when it comes to male personas are metrosexual and hipster. You may love your plaid shirts, skinny jeans, beard wax and braces. However, does this attire ooze masculinity or merely show your admiration for retail therapy, fashion and all things a little more feminine? While there’s nothing wrong with getting in touch with your feminine side, keeping hold of your masculinity should also be admired. It can be difficult to know how to act as a man in the twenty-first century. Society is telling you that you should be a feminist but also to man up if you ever show an iota of emotion. These mixed messages can make being a guy a tad tricky.
The most important thing is to be yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not simply because you read it in the latest issue of GQ magazine. At the same time, you may strive to get back to your more masculine roots. Showing off your inner alpha male traits doesn’t mean you need to be derogatory towards the opposite sex, out of touch with your emotions and merely use grunting as a form of communication. Being masculine is so much more nuanced than this. Take a look at how you can stay attached to your inner alpha male.
Get More Physical
A key alpha male trait is to be as physical as possible while knowing your limits at the same time. If you’re used to gorging on takeaways, playing your Xbox and relaxing with friends down at the local bar watching sports, the chances are you won’t simply be able to train for a marathon at the drop of a hat or begin a regimented bodybuilding plan. Being more physical could be something as simple as heading outdoors a little more often, whipping on your hiking boots and taking a trek in a national park or within another scenic vista.
If you fancy taking on more of a challenge, why not train for a 10k run. If you reminisce about the days when you were more active and fitter, it’s time to stop procrastinating and start doing. Work out a plan that will get those exercise-induced endorphins surging through your bloodstream again. You’ll feel fitter, healthier and have a newfound self-confidence. With exercise comes a loss of weight and a more svelte frame. With your pals commenting on how much better you look, you may naturally find yourself with a more masculine persona. At the same time, you don’t need to work on a designer stubble adorned jawline if you’re still keen on the clean-shaven look.
Have Fun
If you love settling in for the night on your game chair and playing the latest edition of Call of Duty to bludgeon and shoot the enemy on a monitor, you might be interested in taking this role play to another level. While joining the armed forces is the ultimate commitment to becoming an alpha male, you don’t have to take it this far. Why not head to your local paintballing facility with some like-minded pals and enjoy a spot of more friendly gun toting fun. With mammoth obstacle courses, war-like games and problem-solving activities to get stuck into, you can enjoy flexing your alpha male muscles.
Find Yourself
You don’t have to be taking a jaunt to Thailand, growing your hair and chanting Oms to find yourself. Instead, take some time out for yourself, and spend some time alone becoming more self-sufficient. While you might not be able to survive for any great length of time if stranded in the desert and you are irritable when hungry or thirsty, this doesn’t mean you can’t find yourself on a survival course. These activity weekends are designed for those people, male and female, who want to become more self-reliant and hone skills they never even knew they had. Although far from being a walk in the park, completing the feats of building your own shelter, foraging for your own food and locating your own water source, all the while being with like-minded individuals, can be life-affirming. You can then return to ‘normal’ life with a new sense of confidence and inner belief.
Be Individual
Never try to conform to society’s norms if this doesn’t feel right. Yes, corduroy, facial hair and the neanderthal look might be the order of the day, but that might not be the most comfortable persona for you to take on. The way your personality, physical appearance and self-worth develops should be organic. There’s no need to follow fashion trends and fads. Being individual in itself is an ultimate alpha male trait. You shouldn’t concern yourself with others validating your self-worth and should feel confident in your own skin.
As well as your appearance and personality, you could think about your day to day work life as a way to express your individuality. You don’t have to fit into the 9 – 5 box, and you can choose to break away from the security net of full-time employment. Many men now choose to enter the world of entrepreneurship to see a money making idea turn into a fully fledged business entity. While a challenge, launching your own startup and forging a name for yourself within your chosen industry is a confidence booster as well as an attractive quality to have. You are instantly more interesting at dinner parties, more attractive to others and seen as more courageous. You will garner respect and admiration, especially from those individuals who are keen to emulate your break away from the norm.
Getting in touch with your alpha male is less about taking off your shirt and beating your chest and more about being confident, becoming resilient and never being afraid to take on a challenge. Like most things, these traits are illustrated differently with different people. For some guys, this means taking part in a tough mudder, jumping out of a plane and launching a multi-million-pound business. For others, it may mean joining a gym for the first time, having a go at paintballing with pals and exploring opportunities within entrepreneurship. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to be an individual and enjoy getting in touch with your inner alpha male.
