The polarity between men and women creates differences in what is valued on each side. A woman’s life can be optimized based on two main components: her level of femininity and outward appearance, and a man’s based on his masculinity and level of respect from peers (among other things). As for men, respect in particular serves as a foundation for a healthy self-image and is vital to success of any kind in life, whether with women, family, friends or business collaborations. Here is how to be respected as a man:
Clearly Understand the Benefits of Respect
It should be straightforward to men at this point that respect will improve your life. Personal experience should teach you this when you’re at your worst. If you either willfully ignored the signs or simply didn’t catch onto them, it’s important to understand why respect is so beneficial.
Respect to men is like validation to women. It’s like a currency or necessity.
You might have noticed that when you’re not in shape, not taking responsibility in life, not trying to make something of yourself or living antisocially, men and women treat you differently. Differently meaning worse.
If you speak, they won’t listen. If you listen, they won’t care. People who know you will walk all over you like you’re not there and try to take advantage. All because you have not taken your life seriously enough to garner their respect.
On the flip side, if you’ve gotten to the point when you’re respected as a man or are at least attempting to do so, it will have the opposite effect. Men and women will want to be around you and want to listen to you. Your self-image and life, by extension, will change dramatically. For the better.
Stand Up for Yourself
Some men are naturally assertive and disagreeable, so they won’t have a problem with standing up for themselves.
However others might find it harder to do so, and it’s exactly these types of men who get run over in life. The more you let it happen, the more it will continue to happen. Those who see your reactions can recognize that there’s no problem with disrespecting you since you yourself don’t have a problem with it.
Standing up for yourself is an act that goes hand-in-hand with self-respect. And self-respect is what enables others to respect you because no one will respect you if you don’t respect yourself.
If you’ve been talked down to, belittled, or made to feel inferior, it’s your right to set the other person straight or even clap back. This goes for any environment, professional or otherwise.
It will having a lasting impact on your reputation in the long-term. It also signifies that you value your life as much as anyone else’s, and people will always respond positively to that energy.
Walk Away from Anything or Anyone Not Serving You
If you choose to stay in a toxic or one-sided relationship, a woman will believe you have no balls. The same goes for managers who overexert their power at work in a demeaning way or friends that flop on plans all the time.
When you operate using a scarcity mindset, as if you have no other options, you’ll never be taken seriously. The other party has all the power and they’ll use it against you.
One of the most powerful ways to be respected as a man is to walk away from situations or people that are not adding value to your life. If someone or something has not proven to have benefited some aspect of it, you have no reason to stay.
Of course, it’s important to also reflect on your own actions or inactions to determine whether or not you’re the reason the other party is acting this way. Accountability is always important. But in the event that you’re honestly not the problem, you need to walk – especially when you’re uncertain about where to go.
Having the confidence to leave usually stems from the knowledge that you have someone or something else to fall back on. It takes a whole different level of courage to do so when you don’t have any other options; as a result it will strengthen character. In any case, you’ll be respected more and remembered as a dignified man.
Build Muscle
Muscles, particularly in the upper body region, are a classic masculine trait. They add a level of dominance to your presence and prove useful in activities like manual labor.
From the perspective of others, muscles are also a sign of your self-respect and discipline. For those that are in this category, it’s why you typically see people listening to you more and generally giving you more attention. Others respond well when you’re displaying the fruits of hard work.
Women put an emphasis on stature and perceived self-respect when determining your attractiveness. One, if muscles are a sign of self-respect and people respond well to those signs, there’s the first appeal. Two, the pull toward masculine characteristics is intrinsic for women anyways, so there will automatically be an attraction to muscle mass. A study done by the National Library of Medicine found that cues for physical strength (upper body muscle definition) determined over 70% of a man’s bodily attractiveness.
In this case being respected as a man in the stature department can also play into how attractive you’re deemed.
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Be Responsible
As men age they typically have to take on more responsibility. With career path, purpose, family, personal finance and so on. This means that you have to let go of your younger, more immature self and change your identity into that of an adult.
When you willingly embrace this concept and follow through with action, people take notice of it. They might notice you spending your money less on trivial things. They might notice you opting out of nights out to the club to work on a project. Once family, friends or coworkers get the sense that you’re devoting time and resources to more meaningful endeavors, it signals that you’re acting more responsibly in your life.
Since this is a mature approach, respect will come as a result. Maturity stems from acquired wisdom in life and the belief that it’s not to be taken as a joke. Naturally, men and women alike will come to respect that since they can attest, through their own eventual life experiences, life requires that outlook for success of any kind.
On the other hand, men who neglect responsibility to constantly pursue short-term gratification are not respected. If the opposite approach suggests life is to be taken seriously, then this approach implies a man is immature and naïve. Women generally won’t respond well to that type of man and find it hard to respect him just as friends, family or coworkers will.
Sources
- Sell, Aaron; Lukazsweski, Aaron W.; Townsley, Michael. Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men’s bodily attractiveness. National Library of Medicine. 2017 Dec 20; 284(1869): 20171819. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1819.