Balancing The Various Roles Of Being A Man Holistically

By Guest Contributor Ronald Mccarthy

(Image: iStock)

With culture shifting towards both parents contributing to running a household, the men folk also need to contribute in household chores and child upbringing while earning a respectful l0iving.

The challenges of work-family juggle faced by working fathers are typical. This generation of fathers remain to be the primary providers even in dual-income couples and have to work harder and longer because of decreased financial and job security.

To balance their role as a father and husband, many men participate in taking care of their children, attend school activities, cook, supervise bath time, help with homework, play and put their children to sleep when their better half is kept up at work.

However, corporate cultures do not seem to adjust well to this, and research shows that men who struggle to strike a balance between the two, face stigma and career consequences as they are considered not efficient enough or ‘unmanly’.

Many parents in their quest of becoming ‘successful’ miss out on or forget important family events and being physically present for their children. A 10-year old handed a list of 22 milestones including her birthday party, a concert in which she was dressed as ‘Snow-White’, parent-teacher meetings and so on, to her dad which he could not attend because of ‘important’ meetings, not being in town and so forth. Studies show that children equate love with time that their parents spend with them and not just material comforts.

Setting Priorities

An effective way to balance the various roles is making both marriage and children your priority, without overshadowing each other. But, with the commitments and pressures for a better future, it may be difficult to focus on daily tasks. To achieve this, you need to be disciplined and consistent.

Developing good habits whether it is at home or work can help avoid mistakes that may be temporary, but their cumulative effect may be disastrous. Forgetting to pick your child after school, grocery shopping, paying the bills or misplacing important papers can pose you as being unreliable.

Striking The Perfect Balance Between Professional And Family Life

Being a ‘star employee’ and a ‘fantastic husband and father’ for long periods of time requires concentrated effort, as time and energy spent in dealing with a small error and the resulting attitude changes further hamper productivity. Hence, if you list down your errands instead of making a mental checklist, and make certain must-do things as part of your habit, you are less likely to run into trouble.

Many business tycoons have highly unsuccessful family life; self-made men possess qualities like egotism, bossiness, impatience and obsess about their power as they climb the ‘ladder of success’. In their pursuit of acquiring wealth, such men lose connection with their wives whom they feel is no longer the right choice, leading to extramarital affairs and divorce. You can find a a few therapists from BetterHelp here that will help you to grow and improve your communication skills with your oved ones.

Take Out Time For Your Loved Ones

The home should be a safe haven where the family wants to return to and look forward to spending quality time together. Not having enough time for your children tends to affect them socially, emotionally and academically. An excellent way to keep healthy and prevent high blood pressure, diabetes or coronary heart disease, is to be involved with children in sports and physical activities. You get to spend memorable time with your children and also helps boost energy and happiness.

Being an involved dad and a good husband sets a good example for girls and boys to learn from what they see. A harmonious marital life provides children with a model for meaningful relationships later on in life.

It is natural to feel stressed out at times but the way men handle stress while managing work and family obligations helps children develop a healthy response to life’s obstacles and teaches them how to cope with anxieties.

Ronald Mccarthy is a lifestyle and manhood enthusiast and likes to enlighten people about the various ways to stay positive by sharing his personal experiences as well as expert knowledge on various health and lifestyle topics. For more updates Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.