In the modern world, many guys lack masculinity and courage. They struggle with being assertive, proactive, and standing up for themselves. They wish to stop being cowards and become better versions of themselves, but lack knowledge on how to do it.

You may currently lack courage for different reasons. Maybe your parents told you that your opinions don’t matter, and didn’t allow you to speak up. Maybe you were bullied at school by bigger kids and had no support.

Whatever the reason is, I want you to imagine how great it would be to become a masculine man. You will pursue your dreams without fear, stand up for what you think is right, and live without stress or anxiety.

Anyone can obtain courage, no matter where they are in life. In this article, I will give reasons you lack courage, explain how passivity holds you back, and tell you how to stop being a coward that people take advantage of. Let’s begin.

Why You Lack Courage

There are different reasons why you may struggle with standing up for yourself or pursuing dreams. The most common and damaging one of all is the lack of purpose.

1: Your Life Lacks Meaning

I don’t blame you if you don’t know who you want to be or what you want to work on. Modern society has made it harder to live a meaningful life, offering jobs that, in the grand scheme of things, are useless.

Most men don’t have a purpose or meaning. And that’s why they lack courage, numb themselves with substances, and escape to addictions.

I’ll be honest with you. If you ever wondered what the meaning of life is, there is none. Humans, plants, and animals live for the sake of living, flowing from one state to another. But this doesn’t mean that you should become depressed or allow circumstances to throw you around.

You may be wondering: why exactly do I need a purpose? How is it related to stopping cowardice? The answer is simple. A masculine purpose gives you a direction to move towards. It gives you a reason to live, work, fight, conquer, create, and achieve.

It transforms you from a spineless coward into a proactive person who shapes the world the way he wants it to look. That means, you might still be scared of obstacles ahead, but you still move forward, for you have a reason to do so.

2: You Put Others on a Pedestal

Another reason you struggle with cowardice is that you care too much about other people. You put them on a pedestal, treat them like gods, and put yourself down to please them.

Listen. There is nothing wrong with being empathetic or caring for others, as these traits allow us to solve problems and make our lives better. But there is a big difference between being selfless because you want to, and doing it because you want validation.

See, when you care too much about what others think, you suppress your true identity. You never take risks, try a new hobby, some new work, or do things your own way, because you’re too concerned with how others will react.

If that’s the case, remember that you’re a human being. You are just as worthy and capable of achieving great things as other people are.

If you have a tendency to worship celebrities, friends, or family members, I want you to realize this: they are just people. They simply put more effort and time into whatever they do.

Stop being obsessed with how others perceive you. It’s one of the most valuable life lessons you will ever receive. You likely have another question now: how exactly do I stop caring? This leads us to the next reason for cowardice.

3: You Have no Confidence

The next big reason you lack the courage to do what you want is that you lack confidence. You aren’t sure if you can succeed on a certain job or achieve a goal because you have no previous experience.

Lack of confidence is simply an indicator that you haven’t found your life’s meaning and haven’t yet accomplished anything significant. You aren’t sure if you’re just as capable as your peers, which makes you indecisive and leaves you in a state of paralysis.

It’s hard to gain confidence when you initially have no experience, but it’s not impossible. As I said before, you are a human like everyone else, which makes you just as capable as the people you admire.

Later in the article, I’ll give you strategies that will help you build confidence on a core level. If you’re thinking that it’s not possible, and that you simply can’t achieve anything, you are experiencing the 4th reason of cowardice – limiting beliefs.

Recommended article: 7 Signs You Hate Yourself (& What to Do About It)

4: You Have Limiting Beliefs

Almost every average person has a fixed mindset – a set of beliefs that limit one’s capabilities and draw a line of what’s possible or not.

Most people believe that they cannot be good businessmen, brave conquerors, or simply live how they genuinely want, because they’re unsure of themselves, their strengths, and how others might react to their pursuits.

Although it may seem reasonable to have a fixed mindset and live a stable life, such an approach leads to long-lasting misery later in life. Most of us trade decades of existence for working on jobs we hate and trying to please people we don’t even like.

Listen. No matter who you are or what you’ve been through, you can still make it and realize your dreams. Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.

That means, if you want to live an authentic life and create meaningful results, you can do it. You just need the right strategies that will slowly, but surely, turn you into a masculine man.

Recommended article: How to Stop Being a Feminine Man and Reclaim Your Masculinity

9 Steps to Stop Being a Coward

Transition from cowardly to bold is a slow process that takes weeks, sometimes months to bring results. However, my approach, despite taking a longer time to work, is effective in the long run, as it changes your self-image on the core level.

First and foremost, we need to discover what your purpose in life is. Without it, no man can go from coward to warrior.

1: Find a Masculine Purpose

I want you to find time in your day when you’ll be completely alone and have time to think without restrictions. It will likely be in the evening, when you’ll be back home after a long day of work.

Instead of grabbing your phone and wasting time as usual, do something different. Sit down in a quiet room with no technology, grab a journal, and ask yourself these questions:

• Who am I?
• What do I want?
• Which problems did I once solve?
• What am I good at?
• What work do I want to do?
• If I had a year left to live, what would I spend it on?

I know, these questions are hard, even scary to some degree. But nevertheless, you must answer them if you want to stop being a coward.

Think about it: why would you fight anyone, stand up for yourself, or work on something, if you saw no meaning in it? Exactly, it is pointless.

That’s why you need a star in the sky that will guide you at all times of life. It will support you, keep you on the right path, and give you motivation to overcome any obstacles in the way.

It’s hard to discover your whole life’s purpose from the guidance I gave above. If you want to learn more about masculine purpose, click on the highlighted link.

2: Use Anger as Motivation

The next way we can transform you from a coward to a man is through anger. It is the opposite of fear – instead of wanting to run away from danger, you wish to face and crush it.

After you’ve discovered your dreams and decided what you want to do with life, do some visualization. Imagine all the people who look down on you, doubt you, and see you as inferior to themselves. Imagine them achieving the things you want, while you are left behind.

Yes, it hurts, but that’s the whole point. Imagine yourself still being the same person you were before, and others achieving their dreams while you’re stuck in the exact same spot.

Doesn’t this make your blood boil? How dare they take what’s yours and make fun of you? Who gave them the right to do so? Doesn’t that make you want to take what’s rightfully yours?

Of course, in the long run, anger is a negative emotion that must be minimized. But when it comes to starting long-term changes, it can be a powerful booster of productive motivation.

Use the frustration you’ve accumulated to come up with ways to improve yourself. Promise yourself that, from this day onward, you will strive to be the best version of yourself every single day.

The most essential step to be the best version of you is to gradually drop your bad habits.

Recommended article: 8 Ways to Overcome Anger as a Man

3: Get Rid of Bullshit Habits to Stop Being a Coward

Masculine men have little to no bullshit habits. They see them as pointless, useless time-wasters. And they’re completely right.

Time is the most valuable asset you have, and if you want to stop being a coward, you must use it right. Time will either make you a person you’ll be proud of or keep you in the pain of mediocrity.

Cut out all the bad habits that kill your time. Identify what habits make your life worse, throw out all stuff that reminds you of them, and focus entirely on your goals.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll never play video games or eat donuts again. It simply means that you don’t allow these pleasures to overtake your life. By indulging in instant gratification less, you save time and spend it on things that matter to you on a deeper level.

Life as a man is all about overcoming adversity. Either suffer now through the pain of discipline, or suffer later through the pain of regret. Now, how do you build discipline?

Recommended article: How to Quit Any Addiction (Without Relying on Willpower)

4: Build Confidence Through Discipline

Discipline is a quality that is necessary for success. Motivations like anger are great for helping you start the journey, but to keep moving forward for years, you must be disciplined and internalize this quality.

Discipline is willingly working or doing an activity, even when you don’t feel like it. Sometimes you must ignore your emotions and do the opposite of what they tell you.

You might think that this is unhealthy and that you should listen to what your heart tells you. The reality is, my friend: your feelings and your mind are your worst enemies. When it comes to doing work, they don’t protect you from danger, but from discomfort.

It is only through discipline and suffering that you transform into a better man. Men sculpt themselves like statues, and reap rewards later. You should do the same:

To be disciplined, pick little tasks that you’ll do daily, no matter how you feel about them. Start small and get used to doing work by yourself, regardless of how you feel about it.

Once you get more comfortable, get more tasks, and do them more intensely than usual. Repeat the process for a few months, and you’ll build discipline to pursue bigger goals.

5: Train and Become Dangerous to Stop Being a Coward

The next thing you must do to stop being a coward is train. People admire those who can beat them in a fight and look down on those who are weaker than they are. It sounds brutal, I know, but it’s not me who invented this rule. You either accept it, or you live the rest of your life like a worm.

Having a lean, muscular physique will make you healthy, gain you respect, and make more women want you. Aside from this, building a healthy and strong body will make you more confident and give you the additional energy needed to work hard.

Put your body through resistance training, such as weightlifting or calisthenics. If you simply want to be strong and don’t care about looks, do compound exercises with low repetitions and heavy weights.

In case you want both a strong and beautiful body, learn about the best muscle groups to train. Pick exercises that grow muscles the most, and focus your efforts on them. Additionally, you need to learn how to fight and land a punch through boxing or practicing other martial arts.

If you want more reasons to start exercising, it will not only make you stronger and more masculine but also make you much happier. Exercise clears your mind and boosts your immune system, which will give you the necessary conditions to be in the Now.

Related article: How to Properly Rest After a Workout

6: Clear Your Mind Through Mindfulness

Speaking about the Now. Presence is one of the most important qualities you should possess. It is the basis of all happiness and masculinity.

Presence eliminates bullshit thoughts, kills stress, and clears your mind from distractions. It allows you to experience life fully without missing a single moment of it.

When it comes to masculinity and beating cowardice, Presence makes you focus on analyzing the problem and beating it effectively. By eliminating panic and fear, it conserves mental resources and helps you spend them on productive activities.

The best ways to build Presence (and improve your mental health) are meditation and gratitude journaling. After waking up early in the morning, focus on your breath and observe it without judgment. Then, express your gratitude for the things you have, and start your workday.

This simple morning routine will make you a calm person who, instead of fearing problems, faces and crushes them directly.

Recommended article: How to Always Be in The Present Moment: 9 Best Ways

7: Learn and Increase Your Value

Last, but not least, you need to learn more about the world. In case you wonder how it’ll help you stop being a coward, learning makes you more rational and certain.

Why would you fear a certain problem or person if you know how to deal with them? Instead of being scared as usual, you’ll focus on eliminating the threat.

Aside from this, learning will simply make you a better person. It will help you reach success in professional pursuits, fulfill your purpose, fix problems, earn more money, and discover new perspectives about life.

You don’t have to learn all day long. It’s enough to read 10 pages of a good book and watch an educational video daily. Pick topics that interest you, like business, psychology, military, and history, and learn more about them.

Even if you aren’t enthusiastic about it now, you will become one later. Knowledge is power, but even bigger power is using that knowledge to achieve your goals.

8: Be Decisive and Bold to Stop Being a Coward

Tons of guys lack decisiveness. Whenever the time to solve problems comes, they overanalyze options and end up picking nothing.

There is nothing wrong with wanting the best possible option, but know that this approach often leads to paralysis. Doing something is always better than doing nothing at all.

The next time you’ll need to decide, stop messing around. Identify your desired outcome, pick a good option, and focus on executing as well as possible.

For example, instead of overthinking every possible business idea, just pick one that has reasonable conditions and put in massive effort.

An OK or good idea executed amazingly is much better than an amazing idea that remained an idea. Realize this, and you’ll find it easier to live without fear.

Recommended article: How to Remain Calm Under Pressure

9: Change Your Self-Image to Stop Being a Coward

Last, but not least, if you want to stop being a coward, you need to change your self-image. You currently see yourself as a weak man who isn’t capable, valuable, good, and confident enough.

This mindset kills you from the inside out the longer you hold it. You disarm yourself and take happiness away from yourself in the future. And instead of pursuing dreams, you use your low self-esteem as a justification for remaining in your comfort zone.

Change how you perceive yourself. Imagine who you want to be in the future, and what traits that future version of you possesses.

Get a clear image of what type of person you want to become, as this will help you gain direction and confidence. Once you have the plan, change your daily actions so that they match the future you.

To fall asleep, you first need to pretend that you’re sleeping until you’re actually doing so. The same approach works here: work hard and fake it till you make it. That’s how you become an unrecognizable beast.

If you want a more detailed guide on changing self-image, I highly recommend reading “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz. It explains how our mind works in detail, something that I can’t do in this post. Other than that, it’s simply an amazing book that I believe every man should read.

Recommended article: How to Change Your Self-Image: 5 Steps to Boost Your Confidence

Become a Man You’ll Be Proud of

Many guys struggle with standing up for themselves and pursuing their dreams because they have little masculine energy. To cultivate it, follow this step-by-step guide:

• Find your purpose
• Use anger as motivation
• Discard limiting beliefs
• Build discipline and do the necessary work
• Train your body and fight
• Clear your mind through mindfulness
• Learn and increase your value
• Be decisive and bold
• Change your self-image

You can either implement the advice, slowly change your character, or remain the same. Time will pass by anyway, so use it wisely.

If you delay gratification, do good habits, and invest in improving your life, you will stop being a coward, become a better person, and receive amazing rewards. I believe in you, brother.

If you liked this article and found it useful, share it on social media and leave a comment below. See you next time.