No matter where you are in life right now, how far you have come or what hurdles you have surpassed – hardly any one of you could say that it was all by yourself. Whether from near or far, from the past or present, in a passive manner or active, there have been influences all along who have shaped your life, your personality and your choices. This International Men’s Day, take a moment in your busy life to take a good look at these motivators – and thank the 10 men who made you the man you are today.

1. Your Father

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He was the first man to hold you and welcome you to life when you were born. The man who held your fingers and helped you walk, who took you for your classes and sports practice and gave you your first life lessons. He is the man who would not spare the rod when you were naughty – but who would also work himself to the bones to make sure you were always well provided for, without ever expecting anything in return.

2. Your Brother

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Own or cousin, brothers are the closest family that you grow up with – your confidants, your playmates, your tormentors and yet your protectors. Values of trust, loyalty, unity and friendship are qualities easily imbibed from childhood if you grew up with a brother. Life may lead you both to different roads later, but the bond never breaks.

3. Your Teacher

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That benevolent teacher from high school or that friendly professor from college, this man is another father figure in your life who told you truths whose values you realized much later and who lifted you higher to see the world from a better vantage point. The sounding board for ideas academic and personal and the source of seemingly infinite wisdom, these mentors more often than not fade away into your backgrounds as you move on in life. Try to never let that happen. Keep in touch. Drop in a hello.

4. Your Fitness Instructor

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Your PT teacher in school, your gym instructor, your sports coach – he could be anyone who has helped you push yourself a little everyday to achieve your dreams through sheer determination, grit and just enough stubbornness to not give up at the toughest times. Without you even realizing it, these men sharpened your will, your tolerance and your thirst for achieving your goals.

5. Your Friends

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You will have come across dozens of people in your life you could call your friends – but you know that when the chips are down, there always will be that one friend (or if you are very lucky, a couple of them) who will always be by your side no matter what. Protective like a dad, supportive like a brother and tougher than your worst critics, a man with at least one such friend will go quite far in life.

6. Your First Boss

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When you step from the threshold of your college into your first job, your boss automatically becomes a new authority figure in your life – and whether you realize it or not, goes a long way into shaping your career mindset years from now. They might be a strict disciplinarian or an encouraging relaxed type – you never forget your first boss or the lessons you learnt while working for him.

7. Your Childhood Inspiration

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Movie star, sportsperson, superhero – your childhood inspiration speaks a lot about the kind of kid that you were. Those very inspirations shaped your years of formation and the aspirations you grew up with. The real picture today might be very different, but never lose the spark that these icons lit in you.

8. Your Biggest Enemy

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When you reach a point in life when you can look back and see things clearly for what they were or are, when you are wise enough to know that things do not always appear as they are – you realize that the person who you count as your arch enemy was not only your worst critic, but he was also in a way your greatest motivation. The yardstick by which you always measured yourself, he was the one all along who made you push yourself a little bit more.

9. Your Son

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If you are not a father yet, you soon will be in the years to come. And as you raise your own son, you will find that you will probably learn a lot from him – or relearn, to be more precise. They say child is the father of man – and it is true in more ways than one. Even as a father, you will still be reshaping your own self as you raise him to be a man himself.

10. Yourself

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The last person you should be grateful for this International Men’s Day is you yourself. Give yourself some credit – it is not easy being a man in today’s world when the definition of a real man keeps changing over time. Toeing the line between chauvinism and political correctness can get pretty exhausting, but striving to be a better man never does. This is your day, decide for yourself what being ‘the stronger sex’ means to you.

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