How to tap into your inner Badass

People should find a balance which is hard to do. It is possible to do that, plus your significant other must be supportive of your mission, if not you shouldn't marry her/him in the first place..

Oh I love reading biographies of successful people..

I think mission in general is more important for men but there are such women too.. The quote is about being a Man so mostly it's about men though..

Women? Love them! Wonderful creatures (although capable of bad things too). Support of a woman is wonderful thing and is according to some the best help there can be to achieve one's goals.
And I agree with second part, why not share. I am talking about this already BUT I still say that while it is incredibly important it is not the most important thing. Bu they, I might change the views once I have family...

That "How to be a Man" post should be in most men reading lists, men have gotten such wimps.. I know cuz I've been earlier in my life too...
You are a woman, I'd have no respect for you if kids came second for you. There is something wrong with a woman who doesn't love kids and nurturing.

And I've read Bransons biography, he does care about his family much and is thankful and appreciative of them, but still, he has missed a lot of time with family, with kids..he can't always be there cuz he has tons of stuff to do..

You also misunderstand in what sense a word "badass" is used here..

I still think you did some if not all things from this list on your way to success! And that is not bad..

Glad to see you are still here Adrian. Many people would have gotten hacked off and not come back. I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. I looked through the post at the link. I also followed that post back to the original poster. I do mean no offense here, but you guys are a different group and are speaking to a different audience. Your audience is single young men. Good for you. However, that's not the majority audience of active participants here. As a result, the same blog will not work here.

A main part of blogging, writing, and public speaking is know your audience.

Now, when you ever buy and manage rental real estate, come back and tell me about not tolerating a lot of BS. A lot of real estate books have been written about that same thing, "Don't put up with a lot of BS." Great in theory.
Problem is, when you are in business and your business involves people, there will be BS. It just comes with the territory. You will not change people. You will have to change yourself or you will be in jail, mental institution, or out of business. That's just my experience.

I understand not everyone will agree with my opinion, but I still express it (that's a nice exercise actually for those who are afraid to get criticism). Anyone can critique me as long as they keep it respectful and constructive. I am open for change. But I can defend my opinion (and defend it hard sometimes :P).

As for that blog, yeah, it's not for this audience but still the article is still universal enough for those who can see patterns in life ( I tend to..). Cuz the truth is, I don't care if you are rockstar, basketball player, real estate agent, entrepreneur, best nanny of the world or best cleaner of the world, once you choose your topic, your specialty and decide to become successful at it, you will have to learn the same stuff as everyone (control emotions, persist, deal with people, etc,etc...).. So people should really look deeper into things...

BTW, that post of How to be a Man is from totally different blog. So my stance on priorities is not based on Badass article

As for BS, I think it is still possible not to take but it's damn hard... Other people get offended if you talk straight sometimes as they can't handle it. You can get a lot of heat for it, but still gotta keep BS to a minimum. Plus, seeing how much BS your business partner tells is a good indication of whether you should or shouldn't partner with him (that's from my experience as I tend to stay away from those who look for excuses and other BS)... It's like a filter

This thread has evolved in a interesting direction. I have some thoughts on what I've read:
Runum has made several good points and shared a lot of wisdom.
GymJunkie is, understandably, exploring what it means to be a man.

Being a "real man" has very little to do with muscles and intimidation and being cocky (I know you didn't say this, but this is a prevalent belief among young men). Some of the most gentle men I know are very manly and very tough. That toughness is on the inside, where it counts. They treat others kindly because they know who they are and know their own inner strength.

Most people, throughout their 20's, change their outlook on life by several degrees about once a year. It's a normal process in figuring out how the world works, and how they fit with the world. My guess is that your attitudes will change over time, especially as you acquire new experiences. You will probably become less chauvinistic. Knowing more women, particularly a few strong ones, will change your attitude about who they are and their role in society and your life. The toughness of women will absolutely astound you someday - talk about badass!

Getting married and having children will (and should) change your priorities completely. Using your manliness/badassness to better the world should, at that point, begin at home with your own family and expand from there. If you're single, change the world however you like, but once the family comes along, understand that your focus will shift toward home.

I would argue that being a true man (and husband and father) is much more challenging than simply being a "badass."

Of course it is, it is just a part of men that has been rejected these days. As I mentioned earlier there are a lot of wimps in the world. And learning to be themselves actually and discovering their "badassness" is necessary if they want to be successful...

As for tough women... if they manage to keep that femininity and be a great mom/business woman then all is good. But I don't like tough women who are masculine and aren't great with kids. I've met both kinds, dated one from the first type even...
I am not chauvinistic ( although a bit I might be), I just see that men need to toughen up.

Gymjunkie-

Others like Sparlin and Runum have explained themselves far better than me.

I keep trying to say stuff, but it's not coming out right.

When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I wanted to be a 'badass' in many ways (by your definition):

-I wanted to live on their own terms, free from the social constraints that keft others feeling inhibited.

-I wanted to exude confidence (I had low self esteeem).

-I wanted to get whatever it was that I wanted.

-I didn't tolerate BS.

-Above all, I wanted excitement, and a feeling of fulfillment in my life.

These are all pretty natural needs/wants when you first get out on your own. You are becoming an individual-- charting your own course, and figuring out life-- or what 'life' means for you.

I wouldn't call this being a 'badass'-- more growing up.

Girls and guys both go through this, BTW. Everyone does it a bit different-- but the desire to become an individual is the same.

I think perhaps that's where our disagreements are coming from on this thread-- you may define these characteristics as being a badass-- but we see it as normal growing up.

To many of us, a badass is someone who is mean or beligerant.

It's the classic movie hero-- does what they want, doesn't care who dies or gets hurt.

Gets their way, or hurts people to get there.

Doesn't give a sh*t about hurting others' feelings.

******

I'm not saying that's *your* definition-- but that's what I think of when I hear the term "badass".

******

-Russ H.

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That's the only problem because people are kind scared of that word or something. OP is originally written probably to open people's eyes to different perspective a bit.
Looks like this forum is more mature than others. It is smaller a bit but has way more successful mature people here. Which is great! Glad I joined this one! You pretty much nailed it with this post so Speed+!

I wouldn't say scared of the word. I actually like messing with "Badasses" on purpose. I think our aversion to the term is due to our experience. Thanks for the different point of view though.

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Whups... I meant

Cheers

Runum-

I had known a guy for years. A gentle giant.

Ladies loved the dude.

Wouldn't hurt a fly.

Or so I thought.

One day, we were out and about and this young punk started messing w/him.

Young guy considered himself a 'badass' in the original sense of the word: Demanded respect from others, didn't give a crap about what others wanted. He was a big guy, very ripped.

Gentle giant kinda grinned and humored him for a while, but the kid was just in his face.

My buddy finally said to the guy, "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness."

Kid just sneered and tried to push him out of the way.

My buddy laid him out cold with one blow. The single blow lifted the kid off the ground and knocked him about 6 feet back (kid was over 6' tall, not small by any measure).

He looked at the kid, made sure he was still alive, turned and said "somebody better call 911", and left.

THAT, to me, is more of a 'badass' than your definition.

But that's just me.

-Russ H.

That's great example. Sometimes one has got to be "bad"...

That's why I prefer "don't mistake my kindness for weakness", instead of "badass".

Because I never would use the word "bad" to describe my buddy.

He was a kind, gentle soul.

But he was not weak.

Perhaps that's more of what we're talking about here?

Not so much "badness", but "weakness"?

-Russ H.

Well, in OP "badness" means actually maturing and standing up for what you represent and want. It use word "badness" in a good sense, such as bad means good! And it encourages "badness" as part of growth...
I definitely don't think your friend is bad, he is just capable of being badass when needed!

bump.

-Russ H.

Oh...what a surprise.. I do have to read this again Thanx for reminding!

BTW, why you bumped it, mate?

Because I thought it was a really good topic.

And it brought on some good discussions.

One of the great things about this community is we come from different perspectives: men, women, younger, older, richer, poorer, retired, rat racers, etc.

And through our discussions, we begin to understand each other better.

This thread helped me understand you better, Gymjunkie (and I say that in a good way, even if my posts on this thread are pretty confrontational). And perhaps they helped me understand myself a bit better, too.

-Russ H.

I really will reread this whole thread! Maybe I will see some lesson I missed earlier

And hey, I'm always open for constructive criticism so don't worry about being bit confrontational, I appreciate it when people care enough to challenge me and help me out in that way!