Awhile back, we put the word “hardihood” in a post and a couple of people asked if that was even a word. Well, not only is it a word-it’s a word that’s incredibly fun to say and is a real quality that every man should aspire to.
There are lots of quizzes these days designed to help you find the right field of work to match your proclivities and talents. The book How to Choose the Right Vocation, published in 1917, dispensed with the modern questions about creativity and being a “people-person” and asked men to rate themselves on things like their hardihood. The book argued that while hardihood was an absolute necessity in some vocations, it was a quality all men should seek to cultivate. How’s your hardihood? Ask yourself these questions and take some time to think it over.
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Hardihood is so often made synonymous in common usage with rashness, presumption and untoward boldness that its prime meaning is obscured in the minds of many people. This first meaning is—to speak by the book—”boldness and confidence in action, especially in encountering difficulty, danger or contempt; stout and persistent courage.”
Hardihood gives physical endurance; it gives to a degree immunity from exhaustion as it enables one to ignore the first onset of fatigue attendant upon vigorous physical activity or upon stressful mental application and easily to get one’s “second wind,” which makes prolonged effort comparatively easy.
Hardihood generates constitutional boldness in attempting difficult tasks or those where the outcome is doubtful; it drives one into actions that require courage and fortitude to attempt; it leads one to overcome opposition to one’s efforts and to exercise intrepidity without apparent fear regarding the consequences, to climb over obstacles that would daunt conservative judgment or ordinary daring, to set one’s teeth and make the Herculean effort that brings success from apparent failure. What could advantage one more vocationally than such “stout and persistent courage?”
Hardihood is daring rather than conservative in its nature. It is frequently a strong characteristic in men who have vision, or foresight, and also excellent judgment and strong, practical abilities…
Hardihood is a kind of mental toughness. It gives one the courage of his convictions and makes him capable of defense; it nullifies sensitiveness and makes one capable of withstanding rebuffs; yes, even more, it makes one to a great extent indifferent to criticism and opposition. This strictly mental and emotional—or, rather, non-emotional— effect of this characteristic on oneself regarding the attitude of other people is of immense vocational advantage, particularly in business and in the professions. Sensitiveness to the opinions of others, lack of Hardihood sufficient to hold one’s own in one’s every-day relations and dealings is the cause of many a man’s failure who in other directions is capable.
People who are quite deficient in this characteristic are usually sensitive to the opinions of others concerning themselves and their acts. Such sensitiveness is a dangerous vocational deterrent. Disliking harshness, these people are as a general thing mild, conciliatory and appeasing in their expression. They let themselves be imposed upon even tho they half recognize the imposition at the time and wholly recognize it afterward; when they do occasionally get aroused and resent imposition their resentment is apt to be exprest in a passionate, uncontrolled and ineffective way…
As a man who is not “fit” can harden his muscles and his resisting power by proper exercise, so a man deficient in Hardihood can tone up this characteristic by persistent dynamic expression.
Hardihood unassociated with judgment is foolhardiness—the weak extreme of an excellent personal characteristic.
Self-Measuring Questions Concerning the Characteristics of Hardihood
- Have I “stout and persistent courage” or am I only courageous under excitement or stimulation of some kind?
- Do I have to screw up my courage to meet difficult situations?
- Am I conscious of being mentally and physically rugged?
- Do I challenge hardships or do I try to avoid hardships and difficulties by following “the line of least resistance?”
- Do I hesitate about trying out my powers in unused directions that demand fortitude or courage?
- Have I the courage to blaze new lines of action when success seems reasonably certain or do I wait until others have occupied the “strategic positions?”
- Does the element of personal risk in sports, travel, adventures or vocations count greatly with me?
- Does that which is unknown or untried affright or allure me?
- As a child, did heroic deeds thrill me and was it my ambition to emulate them or was I an afraid to-dive youngster?
- Am I attracted or repelled by the hazardousness of life-saving callings?
- Am I resolute and clear-headed in the presence of imminent danger or do I quail or become panic-stricken?
- As boy or man, have I ever shown individual heroism or is my bravery always of the mass or mob kind?
- Do I struggle to master matters that test all of my resources?
- Can I stand and profit by severe criticism when I have been or seem to have been at fault?
- Do I, if necessary, court severe discipline as a preparatory course for a desired vocation or do I pamper myself and like to be coddled by others?
- Do I strive for personal efficiency, grasp at opportunities and recognize my right to advancement?
- Do I rebound quickly from defeat?
- Am I indifferent to supercilious fault-finding?
- Do I enjoy being in contests of fortitude and endurance and in intellectual combats?
- If I were a candidate for some elective office would defeat dishearten me or should I reckon each successive defeat as preparation for final victory?
- When confronted with unexpected difficulties in anything that I have undertaken, is my first impulse, or reaction, the desire to back down or to go ahead with greater energy than before?
- Do I stand by the presumption that I am to succeed, even when things look blackest?
- Have I a persistent resolution when once a careful judgment has been made?
- In making purchases—whether of neckties or machinery equipments—do I inspect the goods under consideration and form independent opinion of their merits or am I influenced unconsciously in my decisions by what I think the salesman may think of me?
- Do I sometimes accept less than I know I should for services rendered because I lack the stamina to stand up for my rights?
I like the idea and love the word, but is it possible to even know some of these things without having them tested?
Or is it like being in love: if you’re not sure you have “stout and persistent courage,” then you don’t?
I think like a lot of guys I can answer “yes” to many of these questions, “no” to a few, and “I’m not sure” to others. When I come up against “courage” and “bravery,” I’m not sure mine has ever really been tested – which may mean I had them and didn’t recognize that they came into play because the situation was something I could handle, or that I’m living a sheltered life lucky enough to be untouched by dramatic stress.
I think I’ve confused myself.
Hardihood is a great trait to develop. Rebounding quickly from defeat just like Rocky, it’s so inspirational.
If I may offer a different experience to the final paragraph, regarding the characteristics of being deficient in hardihood.
In addition to the personality described, I believe the sensitivity to criticism can manifest itself in people who are the opposite of mild-mannered and conciliatory. I think sometimes people in this situation can think they are being strong, but they are, in reality, setting themselves up to be inflexible and brittle in character. It’s an unhappy state to be in, because I think it usually results from having chosen, with strong resolution, an action that is short-sighted and ultimately incorrect or too difficult. With that said, it is as you say; only partially realised at the time.
I think in this instance, true hardihood would be practised by remaining true to your goal and admitting mistakes so that you can begin again with something more reasoned and likely to succeed.
“Hardihood unassociated with judgment is foolhardiness—the weak extreme of an excellent personal characteristic.”
I think putting that line in bold was a great move. Because too many men think hardihood means simply being brash and moving forward even when one knows that the course you’re on is the wrong one. I can’t help but think of George W. Bush when I think of false hardihood. A man must combine courage with excellent judgment!
Your post has me a bit befuddled….agreeing with some and wondering about others. I think that resiliency runs parallel with character and can serve us all well to live a life void of apathy and rich with purpose. I would like to know, from you both, how inclusive “Hardihood” is or if it is viewed as an individual mantra? I am of the belief that for Normal Males to succeed in the role model battle…we have to demonstrate our willingness to persevere through collaborative means rather than through isolation. Too many men continue to think that they have to approach the world in a singular and non-communicative fashion. That approach retards our development as a gender and perpetuates the negative stereotypes we all have to deal with in the media. I would love to hear your thoughts….thanks for making me think.
Dr. Rod
http://twitter.com/thenormalmale
Theodore Roosevelt was using the term “hardihood” years before 1917 (he died in 1919). He often used it to refer to particular men he knew from his ranching days or the boys of 1898, the Rough Riders. From my memory, I would say he usually used in the physical sense, referring to physical strength and courage. I suspect he would have accepted the definition from How to Choose the Right Vocation.
So true is this, that every person, males and females alike, want to have “stout and persistent courage”. Since becoming a father, I am continually taking stock of the events and achievements in my life and identifying what I like and dislike about myself in order to pave the road to the life I want to live.
Hardihood is certainly one factor is this path.
Nice article. I think men especially would do well to use the measuring stick of hardihood and the related questions in this article when looking for the correct career or for any decision that needs to be made.
Great series…thanks. I’m looking forward to your future columns on how to develop this quality. I agree with some of the other posters, however, that it may not be a quality in and of itself.
LOVE the blog! I found AOM just as I was rebuilding my life from the ashes of a divorce, and it’s been a regular inspiration for me. (I’m also raising two boys.) Thanks for all the work you put into it.
Here’s another comment on the “hardihood unassociated with judgment is foolhardiness” statement.
There was a good story on NPR the other day taking a look at General Motors’ disastrously blind adherence to it’s short-term goal of gaining a 29% share of the world automobile market a few years back. They reached something like a 28.3% share, but they had to lower prices and reduce costs (quality) to a point where they were losing money on every sale and damaging the perception of their product by consumers. They also chased after the hot item of the moment (SUV’s) while ignoring the obvious big seller of tomorrow (hybrid-electric) … just to reach that goal.
GM was certainly hardy in pursuit of their goal, but they used very poor judgment. We’ve all seen how that turned out. Great post!
Hardihood is just plain having the balls to stand up for yourself, especially when you know you’re right; political correctness be damned! I’ve learned that the hard way (no pun intended, literally!) after spending my entire life – before now – trying to please everyone at the same time and make certain others are happy with me, instead of being happy with myself. I have very definite opinions on everything in this world and haved developed the courage from a lifetime of ridicule and shyness just to stand by convictions. American men have let themselves get pretty wimpy within the past 20 – 30 years; hoping to be more passive like females, instead of aggressive and determined as nature intended. God forbid if a man should talk back to a woman these days! It’s social suicide! But, I don’t care! Men and women are different; hence the AOM blog! Hardiness doesn’t mean being stubborn or insensitive. It just means being proud and certain in who you are and what you want out of life. You give and you take – all within reason and moderation. We all make mistakes, but it’s how you learn from those mistakes and what you do with those lessons afterwards that makes the man.
To Jamie Kennedy , If you are the same J.K. involved with J. L.-H. , you sir must have hardihood enough to spare . Although all the posts give great validity to the term , your hardihood in that endeavor is inspiring . not to mention your other achievments . Let’s all strive for a certain amount of hardihood sans boastful pride . If others recognize worthy deeds , they will talk about it for us .
This is just the kind of test I have been looking for. It is always necessary for me to reflect upon my values and personal characteristics.
I blame it all on my overbearing mother, and my weak passive father. now that it is out of the way, how do I get on with becoming hardy? what kind of thoughts do I think, what should I say when I talk to myself, how should I imagine myself in my mind?
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