Top 10: Ways To Be A Real Man

There's no question about our penchant for sports, our thoughtful -- and frequent -- reflections on coitus and a receding hairline we like to call a widow's peak. After all, we are men. So why does life often insist on treating us as less than such?


It could be that our conduct doesn't do us justice. Well, that's about to stop. As a proponent of our own success, we have compiled a small list of decorum dos and don'ts to ensure our words and deeds match the testosterone pumping through our veins. So if it's manliness you seek, it's manliness you shall have
Here are the top 10 ways to be a real man.

Start with No.10

No.10 - Learn to talk the talk
Slang can be cool, but if your vernacular is entirely comprised of colloquialisms, it runs the risk of being tuned out by your contemporaries. The wrong rhetoric can impede even the best ideas. If you're tired of your thoughts falling on deaf ears, ameliorate your speech with as much literature as you can eyeball. Novels, biographies, magazines, and newspapers will help you build a more developed vocabulary.

No.9 - Get the news
Short of reading the news, there is a lazy man's solution: watch news channels. The talking heads that feature prominently on 24-hour news networks are typically very polished and have a superior command of the language you'd like to speak better. Listening to them frequently will help you do just that.

While you're at it, forget lame catchphrases like "it's all good," "don't go there" and "you da man" from your vocabulary altogether. These buzz sayings had a place in the pop culture lexicon of the late '90s, but have since been exhausted by mall rats and MTV VJs.


No.8 - Develop your voice
While the tone and pitch of your voice are mostly out of your control, we have it on good authority that a squeaky voice isn't an aphrodisiac. If you tend to hit the high notes, try imitating Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood. Now those guys can talk.






No.7 - Hit the gym
Maintain some level of physical fitness. Don't have the time to be a chiseled underwear model? Who does? You don't need all that tone and bulk to be her Adonis. Sticking to a workout program designed by somebody who spends their days racking your weights will make you look better in clothes -- the first step in getting a woman out of hers. Furthermore, your general disposition will surge as endorphins are released through routine exercise. Your performance on the job, in the bedroom and wherever else you do your thing will also get a boost because of increased motor coordination and mental clarity. There are no downsides to being physically fit except for the discipline required to maintain it.


No.6 - Foot the bill
When on a date, always insist on picking up the tab. Despite a feeble grab for her Kate Spade purse, she really has very little intention of paying. This delicate scenario is best handled with just three clutch words: "I got it." Her mock resistance will continue in the face of your generous offer until you've assured her, just one more time, that you wouldn't have it any other way. With that, she'll smile a mental smile as she returns her wallet to her purse with laser speed and accuracy, never to be removed again.


No.5 - Forget the past
Don't inquire about your girlfriend's past. That kind of knowledge could send you into a tailspin of doubt and jealousy. No matter who she is, there are skeletons in her closet. Want to know about the time four frat boys ran a train on your special little angel? Didn't think so. Refrain from broaching the subject altogether and concentrate on what really matters: you and her in this moment.

Your restraint will net quantifiable results: She will marvel at your self-assurance and the good example you've set will stop her from prying open the mental safe where you've stashed the details of your own checkered past. Believe me, nothing good will come of her having intimate knowledge of your days as a chronic masturbator or Club Med cabana boy.


No.4 - Don't write anything
Love letters? Big mistake. Women want men, not carbon copies of themselves. Leave sentimental composition to the fairer sex while you go about your business of owning a penis. There's nothing wrong with showing emotion -- not enough men do -- but choose an alternative forum to Hallmark. Cards are fine for marking milestones, but when it comes to expressing your feelings on a day-to-day basis, stick to the same instrument you use to quote stock prices and rattle off NBA stats.


No.3 - Drink hard
Back in the day, men retired to wood-panelled parlors where they would congregate to smoke and drink (they were called gentlemen's clubs). Although the particulars of their liaisons are only speculative, it's a safe bet that their glasses of amber cognac didn't have toothpick umbrellas sticking out of them. Neither should yours. A clean glass of vodka will assuage the tension of the day and put a stumble in your step better than a Sex On The Beach any day. Best of all, you won't look like a fancy lad drinking one. So take a cue from those mustachioed embodiments of machismo and drink like a man.


No.2 - Shake with authority
Your handshake gives you away. So what does yours say about you? Firm and assertive or weak and submissive? Never has a first impression faux pas been more telling than interlocking hands with a dead fish. Right away your future employer or father-in-law will be left to wonder if there is any substance behind that loosey-goosey grip.





No.1 - Look 'em in the eye
If etiquette were a family, then eye contact would be the first cousin to the handshake. Not maintaining it is equivalent to a confession of guilt. No one will actually come out and accuse you of being culpable, but if you can't look somebody directly in the eye, they'll reason that you have something to hide. You may be of the noblest intentions, but if you can't stand cornea to cornea with a man, your integrity will be in doubt.

Lay any objections to rest by making a strong handshake and knowing gaze your standard operating procedure.

source: askmen.com