Today's men face a meaning crisis.
We as a society are witnessing an increase in depression, loneliness, suicide, burnouts, divorces and escapism. Men are in desperate need of a path to follow, somewhere that offers them structure and stability, comfort in knowing what they need to do and how to go about it. As society transitions away from initiation procedures and shifts towards individualism, fewer fathers in the household, fewer male teachers in schools, and less attendance at organisations and clubs where guidance and structure could traditionally be found, where are they to turn?
They lack:
- Community and relatedness
- Purpose, direction and a sense of significance
- Clarity of societal role
- Duty and responsibility
- Challenge and discomfort
- Discipline, grit, strength, resilience
- Strong value systems
- Healthy ideals and role models
- Healthy daily habits
- Guidance and structure from male leaders
Unfortunately, this gap is currently being filled by social media influencers and grifters who offer immature and superficial advice on how to be a man in today's society. Outward displays of manhood are used to entice these young men, who are desperate for any kind of guidance, into imitating this behaviour and subscribing to payment plans that promise to help them get "there". These insecure and egotistical influencers exploit this desperation, leading young men further down the path of meaninglessness. The chase for material possessions, multiple girlfriends and an alpha-male physique only goes so far, and simply disconnects them further from experiencing long-lasting meaning and embracing their societal responsibilities. To them, however, this path looks far better than no path, which is what is currently being offered.
But there is a better path to take. Having observed this trend in society around me, I have dedicated the last five years of my life to developing this programme to counter this movement. No fads, no idolisation of myself, no sportscars. I don't do this for fame, or to fund a grandiose lifestyle on Ibiza. I do this because it needs to happen for the world to become a better place. I offer an initiation programme for young men transitioning into their adult societal roles, based on evidence-based research and theory. Without which, men remain in a perpetual state of feeling the need to prove their masculinity by displaying symbolic behaviours outwardly, rather than sitting comfortably in it.
This is a real, growing problem. The gap needs to be filled. It will either be filled professionally, or it will be exploited indefinitely.
Do you see yourself here?
Angry at the world, and quick to let it show. Anger has become the only feeling he still has full access to.
Controls everything around him because he trusts nothing, least of all himself. What looks like strength is really the fear of losing his grip.
Numb, withdrawn, going through the motions of a life without being truly present.
All toughness on the surface, with no access to what lies beneath it.
Chases pleasure, validation and material possessions without ever pausing to ask why. He is trying to fill a hole that no high can ever fill.
Never truly initiated. Still behaving like he did as a child, regardless of how old he's grown or the position he finds himself in.
Trains harder than everyone around him, yet the results stopped coming long ago. The problem was never his effort. It is everything effort alone cannot fix.
See yourself in one of these? Let's talk.
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