Sorry to tell you this, guys – as an adult man, reality will bite you in the ass more times than you can count. It's a hard truth about life that no man can escape.
Awful news, right? You're doomed to a life of mishaps, errors, and slaps around the face. You might as well jump in the grave now to save yourself the trouble.
Slow up there. Things aren't as bad as they might seem. As Winston Churchill once said:
Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.
Sure, as you go through life, some hard-hitting truth bombs are guaranteed to knock you down. But here's the trick – instead of trying to avoid them, aim to understand how to deal with them without crumbling at the first hurdle.
Today's article covers some hard truths about life and what men can do to learn and grow after experiencing them.
We'll be covering these hard truths:
- Hair Loss Is Inevitable
- Failure Is Guaranteed
- You'll Lose Friends
- Your Wife Won't Look 25 Forever
- The Younger Generation Will Outsmart You
#1. Hair Loss Is Inevitable
Even if your Pops had a thick head of hair until the day he died, chances are he experienced some form of hair loss throughout his grand ol' life.
It's nothing to be ashamed of. Every guy experiences it, and there's a lot you can do to stop the embarrassment of a patchy, balding crop.
Let me start by saying this – people WILL notice your hair is thinner than it used to be. No amount of combing, gelling, and styling will hide that your hair looks patchy.
So what's a stylish man to do?
You have two options:
- Go full Jason Statham and shave it all off. Be a man, take control and make your bald head a part of your everyday style.
- Seek help and apply treatments designed to nourish and thicken the hair on your head. This can work for men that aren't too far along the balding cycle. However, if you're clinging to the last few strands, no amount of product will save your crop.
Whichever option you choose, it's essential to recognize what you are accomplishing by accepting your hair loss. You are becoming a man of action who takes control of a bad situation and does something about it.
Whether embracing the problem or seeking a solution, recognizing hair loss for what it is, shows you are mature enough to show courage in the face of adversity and man the hell up.
#2. Failure Is Guaranteed
This is one of history's greatest hard truths about life. Every great man has experienced failure:
- Steven Spielberg – Rejected twice from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts
- Abraham Lincoln – Launched several failed political campaigns before eventually being elected President of the United States.
- Vincent Van Gogh – Only sold one painting during his lifetime. His paintings now regularly sell for upwards of $100 million.
So what's the takeaway from this? Every man is guaranteed to fail even if they achieve great things in their life?
That's one way of looking at it. However, I like to look at things more positively.
These men were all geniuses in their own right. They succeeded highly (some even after death), and they didn't let hard truths about life stop them from achieving their aspirations. You mustn't either.
What if Van Gogh stopped painting because he wasn't selling anything? What if Spielberg lost faith in his filmmaking as a result of rejection?
To requote Churchill:
Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.
#3. You'll Lose Friends
Think back to high school (you know, the time when you were young and didn't have to experience the hard truths about life!)
Remember all the friends you made from different parts of town? How many of those friends do you still keep up with?
If you're anything like me, you occasionally message one or two old buddies. But compared to the time you spent together during your teens, your relationship with them just isn't the same.
Now I want you to think 30 years into the future.
How many of your current friends do you think you'll still be in regular contact with? Chances are, not as many as you'd like.
I'm here to tell you that it's okay to lose touch with your friends. It's one of those unavoidable hard truths about life, but as you get older, your life changes:
- You move house – keeping in touch can be hard when you don't live in the same area.
- You or your friends have kids – the time you used to dedicate to having a beer with the guys now needs to be spent with your family.
- Careers change – your new role takes up more of your time. A beer with the guys after work just isn't possible anymore.
These are the sad realities of growing older. Heck, many of you guys have probably already experienced these changes. So it's essential to look at them positively.
You might not speak to your buddies as much as you once did. But now you've got a fantastic family, a stable career, and live in your dream house. As your life changes, so do your priorities, and that's okay.
Those old friends would still be there for you in a sticky situation. Remember, it doesn't take more than 30 seconds to send a catch-up text at the end of a busy day.
#4. Your Wife Won't Look 25 Forever
This is always a touchy subject with women.
You know the old saying – never ask a man his salary or a woman her age.
However, the fact is the love of your life can't avoid looking older as she reaches her 30s, 40s, and far beyond. If you've been together long enough, you will have seen her turn from a younger girl into a mature woman.
So she won't look like the smoking hot 25-year-old you first fell in love with, but, chances are, you're not the 26-year-old stud she told all her friends about either.
Growing old together means becoming closer than you ever were before. You see the ups and downs of life and take on the challenges of age as a team. The trade-off for this level of commitment is aging, and all the sins that come with it – but don't worry, the love you gain from a long-term relationship far outweighs the change in physical appearance.
In any case – with age comes experience, knowledge, and all the benefits of years of practice. Take from that what you will, gents.
#5. The Younger Generation Will Outsmart You
Or, at least, they'll think they outsmart you.
Every few years, a new generation comes up with something that I don't understand. Hard truths about life mean you feel more and more like an older man as the years go by.
Whether it be a weird new dance craze, social media platform, or nonsensical meme format, I've realized that I'm never going to fully understand the pop culture of today's younger generations.
I know – that makes me sound like a grandpa, but it's a fact of life that more guys should accept and deal with.
There's nothing worse than seeing a guy approaching his 40s wearing the latest generation's fashion or misusing new phrases because he doesn't understand what they mean.
There comes a moment in every man's life when he needs to accept he's grown up and can no longer keep up with the latest trends. If you know anything about the RMRS way of life, you'll know that that's a good thing!
Invest in a timeless wardrobe, act with manners and respect, and don't lower your standards in pursuit of fashion or pop culture. Being a stylish man means understanding the basic principles of what makes men great – regardless of age.
Do that, and you'll never have to worry about falling ‘behind the times' again.
Want to know more about what makes a man's style timeless? Click here to read my guide to the 25 timeless habits of stylish men.
Click below to watch the video – Hard TRUTH Pills Most Men Won't Swallow (Do You?)
